I've heard that diners like Kimbap Nara and their clones re-served unused side dishes, but I had grown to treat it as just another foreigner urban legend, like the one about all 다방 selling handjobs. So this makes me uncomfortable:
A restaurant worker in Seoul puts leftover side dishes into a pot in front of customers to prove the dishes are not re-served, Monday. This is part of a campaign among 502 restaurants in Gangnam, southern Seoul, to stop reserving leftover dishes. Some restaurants here have come under fire for alleged “food recycling” practices.
South Korea leads the OECD in the number of new tuberculosis infections, and with 137.8 cases per 100,000 people in 2002, it ranks among developing nations in that regard.
7 comments:
The food doesn't worry me half as much as the constant coughing and sneezing in public, without a thought to cover their mouths.
Have no fear, Kimchi protects against all kinds of disease, such as SARS, HIV and TB.
My wife saw one of the owners/workers do it at a kimbab chain restaurant. I didn't because my back was to the side dish station. They wouldn't think of recycling if they didn't give out so much in the first place. I think the workers/owners just don't want to have to keep getting asked to get more of this or that sidedish to bring to customers. They should just make the serving dishes smaller to make the side dish not look too small.
I have it on very good authority to never order a soju cocktail in a restaurant unless it comes with an unopened soju bottle. If they just serve you the little kettle then it is (most likely) filled with soju from bottles left by other customers.
Now considering it is soju and very few bacteria can survive in it long, and that very few drink it from the bottle, that is not so bad but still...
Hygeine is a much bigger problem in the Korean food industry though. And the comment about smaller side dishes is valid as well. One of the big issues with Korean food culture, I think, is that they try to imitate a king's table and their mother's table in a restaurant -- a king always has too much in front of him, and your mom can always seal up the leftover sidedishes and put them in the fridge.
It has always bothered me in restaurants when I ask for a bit more of, say, garlic or lettuce for the meat, and the server can see that there are only a few pieces left to eat but bring in a handful of the stuff - a completely inappropriate amount given the situation.
unopened bottles won't save you. I saw a TV show of restaurant owners pouring the remains of beer into those big old bottles, and then recapping the bottles to appear new.
You have to open it and see if there is carbonation, but even then the owner might argue that it's new.
Yet another reason I'm glad I cook about 80% of my meals.
- Driftingfocus
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