Thursday, September 18, 2008

A Kimchi Free Coincidence

SodaBoy and I went out to eat this evening, a very rare occurrence on a week night, but it just seemed right. We had initially been planning to go to a chain restaurant with a yummy salad bar. However, at the last minute, we decided on the Korean steakhouse instead. We often drive by the place and always talk about going there, but had never quite gotten around to it. SodaBoy had never been there before, and I had only once, about a year and a half ago. My one previous trip had been at lunch, with a few work friends I was just getting to know, including S. and L.

Shortly after we placed our order for bento boxes, S. and her husband came in and were seated at the table right next to us. It was the strangest thing--she hadn't been there in over a year either, and also rarely eats out on weeknights. We don't live in the same neighborhood, and there are literally hundreds of restaurants we could have chosen instead (and almost did). How in the world did we wind up there at the same time?

The bento boxes contain small portions of lots of different things, so even though they are a bit pricey, SodaBoy and I both ended up ordering them. It made deciding what to get a little easier--everything sounded so good. Although I could have lived without the greasy tempura, the rest of the food was delicious.

I was a little disappointed not to get any kimchi though. It seems like something we should have tried, something that would be in a bento box for newbies like us to sample. Next time I'll have to make a special point to order some.

5 comments:

Mary Stebbins Taitt said...

Oooh, sounds wonderful. I've never had a Bento Box.

Momma Val said...

I have no idea what all that means but it sounds absolutely fascinating. Is it all raw? cooked? spicy? cold?

Debbie said...

You my dear, are much braver than I am! I wouldn't have even slowed down at the door.

Thanks for coming to visit. I'm having a rough blogging time too!

I'm also glad your boss appreciates you and treated you and hubby to "FANCY" high priced dinner!!

Woman Warrior said...

That restaurant sounds Japanese to me... There are no such things as bento boxes in Korea... And no kimchi? I'd say that's downright un-korean!! But I guess if it was good... who cares?

BerryBird said...

WW, you are right, of course. The restaurant serves both Korean and Japanese food. The combined menu is large and somewhat overwhelming, so we went with the bento boxes to sample the maximum amount of items. There were lots of items served with kimchi on the Korean part of the menu, but no combo platters like the bento boxes. And except for the tempura, everything in the bento box was great, so I was pretty satisfied. But I do really want to try kimchi--next time I will just pick something that comes with it.