Eastern Interpretations
I’m down to one Korean meal a day. I’m really sick of eating kimchi, which the Koreans seem to eat three times a day without fail. When eating ‘ethnic’ food they must have an ‘ethnic’ substitution such as a bowl of sliced pickles with a pizza or a small seaweed salad with sushi.
When I want burgers, I want Lotteria. Most of the burgers have a Korean twist, but they’ve also out-done the West with some of our own ingredients, such as with my favorite, the European Frico Cheese Burger.
Take a slice of good cheese, bread it, fry it and insert it as an extra patty = absolutely brilliant. How could North America have overlooked this? Also included is a slice of yellow pepper and black olives. I’m not a fan of olives, even on pizza, but it’s great on this burger. A few other noteworthy Lotteria burgers:
- Kimchi Burger: Janet likes this one, a breaded patty of spicy cabbage.
- Bulgogi Burger: A giant patty of famous Korean BBQ.
- BBQ Paprika Burger: The sauce is quite good on this double patty burger.
- Chuncheon Dakgalbi Burger: More of a typical chicken burger than the spectacle of dakgalbi.
Of course, the local interpretations can be less pleasing. Potatoes on pizza are popular. The last pizza we had included a ribbon of rubbery cheese with mashed sweet potato piped on top. At least the traditional ingredients in the middle were good.
July 18th, 2006 at 8:15 am
What? You are sick of kimchee? I remember when you used to eat Korea Gardens for lunch almost everyday. Well, except for the days you had Chubby Chicken from A&W.
July 18th, 2006 at 9:04 pm
I had nearly forgotten about Korean Gardens. Their offering was almost Chinese food. I always wondered what the Korean kids were ordering with the egg on top. Now I know, bibimbap.
And for the record, I may have eaten Chubby Chicken once, but no more. I usually alternated between Ray’s, Dairy Queen Ultimate Burger, and Korean Garden. My stomach is churning at the thought of that DQ burger, and not in a good way. Did you read our post about Ray’s?
July 19th, 2006 at 4:04 pm
That may be the most delicious-looking burger I have ever seen. Simply lovely.
July 24th, 2006 at 11:02 am
I did read your post about Ray’s. I agree it is delicious and still fits my under $5 lunch criteria.
Are you sure you didn’t eat Chubby Chicken more than once? I seem to recall a Chubby Chicken frequent eater card floating around your desk. :-)