Stop Bringing Me More Food! Language Barrier Frustrations

I never thought I’d say that, as I LOVE food to its core, but last night was one of the most frustrating experiences I’ve had in a long time.  I was craving spicy Korean BBQ, so the boyfriend and I decided to try out Korean Hometown Restaurant, off of Convoy in the heart of Asian madness.  The restaurant is in a plaza full of other Korean/Chinese shops…a couple karaoke studios, a smoky pool hall, bakeries and restaurants, and even a gaming cybercafe where you can play Counter-Strike (and yes, I’ve played there before!).  All the signs are in Korean, so it was tough to figure out which restaurant it was, especially in the rain, but thankfully they did have small letters below the sign stating “Korean Hometown Restaurant.”

I was warned of this by Yelp reviewers, but one thing I was not warned of was that I would be pointing to menu items and communicating through nods and hand gestures.  Our waitress, who also cooked our food, could barely speak a lick of English!   It really couldn’t get more authentic than this!  I had no idea that the beef bulgogi (bbq) came with all the kim chi  (pickled vegetables) and rice  I wanted.  I attempted to ask, but all I got was gibberish and “yes…mm..no…mm…sorree” types of responses.  I should have stopped right there and just made an order, but I went on the assumption that the bulgogi did not come with the stuff and proceeded to ask if the kim chi stew was an actual soup or just the pickled vegetables in the sauce.  Again, similar responses. It didn’t help that I also asked about the seafood pancake but decided not to order it.  As clearly as possible with a “let’s cancel everything I said before” hand gesture, I said, “OK, let’s start over. 1) Beef bulgogi, 2) Kim chi stew, 3) Rice with kim chi.”  There!  I felt like at least I would get kim chi in some form that I wanted!  I had heard of the copious amounts of food they had there, but had no idea which came with which, until it all started to pile on.

First, the beef bulgogi DID come with all the small dishes of kim chi and rice.  Wait, was that #1 and #3 off my list or does that normally come with the bulgogi? Then the stew came…ok, I ordered that…let’s try it!  Delicious as well!  I figured, perfect, got all 3 things I ordered.  Theeeeen the pancake came. Oh boy, I remember saying “let’s cancel that and start over.”  As politely as I could, I said, “I’m sorry, I did not order this, but that’s ok, I’ll pay for it. No more food right?”  And a confused look glazes over her and she nods and smiles.  A few minutes later, out comes the rice and stew. OH MY GOODNESS!  I had no more words as those definitely didn’t help.  Instead, I grabbed my face in a rather FOB-like way and crinkled my forehead thinking, “How did I f*ck this up so much?!?!?!?!”  A couple sitting nearby, a Korean woman and American man, had overheard and seen what was going on and was so kind to take this plate off our hands and buy the dish, as they had absolutely loved the food (and must have realized bulgogi DOES come with all the extras).  Had the hand-made crayon and marker menu stated this, all confusion would have been averted!  Mind you, the menu was in perfect English and rather neat, with pasted in pictures of the dishes…bulgogi sans extra dishes!!!  Methinks it was probably a son or daughter who created the menu.  Where was he/she?!?!

I stared at our table.  Not one piece of it wasn’t covered with a dish.  To be fair, she did technically bring out everything I ordered, but the pancake was extra.  I felt horrible that from Asian person to another Asian person, communication had failed.  I didn’t think these kinds of things happened anymore.  My head was spinning with questions.  Why was I so ignorant?  Why is there a restaurant that can’t answer questions about their menu?  Why did I have to ask so many things?!  ARGH!  Why does this kind of miscommunication happen mainly with Asian people?  I go to the nail salon, and it’s a similar experience, but they at least know the basics where they can hold a generic conversation and understand if I want French manicure vs. a solid color.  But if I go to an authentic Italian restaurant or a Mexican one, which is everywhere, it’s not nearly as rough of a time.  I have grown up with language barrier issues as I always had to translate for my mom and I could tell people were frustrated with her broken English.  I was upset at myself that I couldn’t handle this situation better.  It makes me wonder if I’ve assimilated so much to American culture that it’s hard for me to accept it when others can’t speak English.  I think if you are a business and are able to draw American customers, you should at least have the basics down.  What are your thoughts?

Finally, I have to say, the food was delicious, and that was what I was looking for, so mission accomplished.  I do recommend this restaurant, but know beforehand what you want.  It will make the experience significantly better!  Time to heat up that seafood pancake for breakfast!

Coast to Coast and Back! (Part II)

Next Up: CALIFORNIA!!!

There’s always so much hype about California. There’s the Red Hot Chili Peppers — my loves of course — who dream of Californication. Phantom Planet who rock the beginning of every O.C. episode with their claim of coming to California. Beach Boys have long known about the Californian girls. So what’s the big whoop? Fantastic wine, beautiful shoreline, exquisite food, weather that doesn’t make you suicidal, and breathtaking scenery…just to name a few. Seriously, what’s there NOT to like about Cali? (NOTE: If you’re a CA native or recent migrant and can answer this question, don’t take my sunshine away plz k thx .)

I got quite the whirlwind sampling of northern CA, courtesy of Emily Cohen and family, who were absolutely the best hosts ever. Although, “home” was Sacramento for the time being, we realized we didn’t even spend more than one day there! Here’s a brief glimpse of each stop:

Wine It Up: Napa Valley

You cannot leave California without getting your drink on at a world-class winery or two. For my fellow New Yorkers and lovers of the Finger Lakes wineries, this obviously pales in comparison. Amidst the beautiful golden rolling hills lie endless rows of vineyards just teasing you to come take a taste. After some big pours at Louis M. Martini Winery and Markham Vineyards, we couldn’t resist complementing our burgers with some more wine at the famous Taylor’s Refresher — a Napa favorite according to our food critic friend who accompanied us. Can we say wine buzzzzzzzzed?!

And Now For A Little Un-’Wine’ding: Pacific Grove in Monterey

To be fair, wine was paired with probably every meal we had in CA. Perhaps that’s the secret behind the California high (or should I call it a Cali-dorphin? See windorphins if you’re lost on that. Shame on you if you are.) Moving on.

Cooler, fresher air. Coffee with a view of waves crashing. Pelicans gaze over up above. If you’re really observant, dolphins jumping in the far distance. Ahh…that is the life of a Pacific Grover. I was fortunate enough to get the chance to spend the weekend at the Cohens’ friends’ retirement beach house that overlooked the ocean. What a great way to get in touch with nature. We went tide pooling early one morning and discovered some stunning creatures that got washed up and left behind — an abundance of sea stars, jelly fish, anemones, hermit crabs, and an assortment of seaweed. On a hiking trail in Point Lobos — “the greatest meeting of land and water in the world” — we also spotted some sea lions sun bathing in a private cove! For probably one of the best jelly fish displays, I’d recommend the Monterey Aquarium followed by a soothing sourdough bowl of clam chowder. Oh what I’d give for one right now…

Ding! Ding! San Francisco!

First, the trolleys are so much more fun than they look. Tourist or not, it’s best done hanging half off it breathing in the fresh air from the bay. We got lucky and went on quite a sunny day, a rare sighting for the foggy SF apparently. Started it off with some delicious dim sum at Yank Sing in Rincon Center. Chinatown is by far, the best (and probably most expensive) I’ve ever seen — spoken from a frequent Chinatown-goer of Toronto and NYC. No secretive whispers of Gucci purses in dark alleys there! The very crowded Pier 39/Fisherman’s Wharf is of course mobbed for its street-long tourist shops and eateries, view of the Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge, and my favorite: the very noisy but playful sea lions that haul on the dock side.

Last Stop: San Jose/Silicon Valley

After sushi’ing at Blue Fin in Richmond, San Francisco, I decided to shindig it up with some IBM Extreme Blue interns during their last week at a very, how do you say….COUGAR…type bar. Although they were a lively bunch, there wasn’t much to my travels/stay in San Jose except for a quick glimpse of what seemed like a stretch of suburban nothingness. I’ve heard Research Triangle Park, NC being described as the Silicon Valley of the East, so with this in mind, I had pictured Silicon Valley to be…well…a consolidated area of high-tech corporations? Maybe a mini NYC-ish skyscraper type community where you could almost see people leaping from one job to another. Yeah, it’s def not. The companies are quite spaced out with not much of anything else in between. It’s so quiet, I can hear the sprinklers. ‘Nuff said.

To Move or Not To Move?

And herein lies one of the main motivations for my vacation in California: Could I see myself working/living there and loving it? I think for the most part, California has a ton to offer and it’d be pretty difficult to end up not finding something you’d enjoy. It’s almost like its own little country. They say New York City-ers don’t ever have to leave NY because everything you need is there. Well California is that within an entire state! With access to mountains, beaches, city life, good food, spectacular weather, plentiful jobs, and its own culture, could it get much better than this? And so the dream of Californication lives on.