Street Vendors and Restaurants

I cannot count the eating establishments in my immediate neighborhood. From street vendors to fancy restaurants there must be hundreds of places within a mile in any direction. Hundreds - I exaggerate not!

And yet - I don't frequent them that often. Usually I am by myself to eat. I feel conspicuous going into a restaurant alone, so I usually don't, especially if it's a Korean place (I do occasionally go to Western places.) But when I have company I love going to these restaurants. If any of you come to visit, we'll go!

It's easy to order because there are usually pictures of the food posted in front. And many of these places are cheap! One thousand won (the Korean currency) is worth about 85 cents, so a 4,500 won meal is just a

little under $4.00. Many delicious and ample meals can be had for 5,000-10,000 won. Lots of side dishes usually go with the main dish - many times at the end of a meal uneaten food goes back to the kitchen.

So here is a sampling of just a few of the places along a main thoroughfare in my immediate neighborhood. (On the little back streets restaurants are even more crowded together and more numerous.)