No visit to a new destination is complete without sampling the unique cuisine of the place. We were fortunate indeed to have had unique culinary experiences in Gyeongju...
Our first full course meal in Gyeongju was a multi-course Korean meal after we visited the Bunhwangsa temple yesterday...
We visited this traditional Korean eatery - multiple side dishes, mainly seasonal vegetables, seaweed, mushrooms and sprouts, alongwith curried fish, pork, tofu, seaweed soup and rice. And that is what I loved about Korean - it is rich in fibre and is spicy!
The quote reminds me of our trip to Turkey last year...
Our destination for dinner last night was Curry Hut in the heart of Gyeongju's commercial area...
Curry Hut is ornately decorated with Indian motifs...
When we were in India, I used to loathe eating Indian cuisine while dining out, but it has been a different story since we shifted to Korea...
The place advertises itself as an Indian restaurant but as we discovered, the owner is a Pakistani from Lahore. Pakistanis hate Indians and dare I say, we have similar emotions for them but then why the hell would they call the food they sell "Indian"...
A Korean friend here told me that there is a bit of stigma that the locals have towards Pakistanis given their involvement in terror. That has forced Pakistani restaurant to peddle their food as "Indian". And that is also a big indicator of India's immense and unquantified soft power that even Pakistanis bow down to, even though they would hate to admit it (frankly, I don't care!)...
Palak paneer, dal makhni and curried aloo gobhi with rotis and yogurt...
All plated up...
Koreans have a deep fascination for foreign food, especially European and this Nordic cafe that we saw on our walk back to homestay proved this...
And this morning, we had a few hours to kill in Gyeongju, before heading back to Seoul, we stopped by at Nahbi Brunch & Books Cafe, after reading all the positive reviews on TripAdvisor...
And trust me, we weren't disappointed...
The brunch menu, ideal for a lazy Sunday...
Read through the books as you sip on your coffee...
And if you donate books here, you get a free drink...
The atmosphere around the cafe was extremely lively, with books all around, soft music playing, patrons enjoying their food and the owner TJ serving everyone with an infectious smile...
The food was quite good - fresh and delicious...
Would recommend Nahbi to anyone who visits Gyeongju! A big thumbs up to the owner TJ for living his dream!
Another Indian place - Didi's Curry...
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