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Did anyone else catch Tony Bourdain's No Reservations last night? I did. He went to Korea and I was slightly disappointed.
First, let's do a little recap of the episode.
Tony has been to several places in Asia, both for the show he did for the other network, and for No Reservations. He's been to Vietnam, Japan, China, and India. Nari Kye, a producer on the show, has been hounding Tony about going to Korea, her Mother Land, so he decided to go, and takes her along as his tour guide.
Right away, it was obvious that Tony wasn't excited about being there. He admits that he's beat from the actual plan trip, and in the cab, he looks absolutely wiped out. Nari is chattering away because she's excited to be back in Korea, which she left when she was five. Tony looks like he wants to punch her to shut her up.
The first thing they do is stop off at one of the many street food stands that look like they are accustomed to having travelers as customers. Tony and Nari pull up to the "bar" with their rolling luggage and sit right down on top of their suitcases as seats. They eat bowls full of spicy broth, noodles, and a mix of fried things, including soon-dae, a Korean blood sausage. I have never eaten soon dae, and don't think I could stomach the stuff myself, though it's something that many people absolutely love. Perosnally, I would have gone somewhere for galbi-tahng, a brothy soup made with the same kind of shortribs that are marinated and used in Korean barbecue.
Nari and Tony visit one of the fish markets, which is similar to the Tsukiji Fish Market in Tokyo, though I'm sure it's nowhere near as awesome. They watch the live auctions, Nari picks up a very pornographic squirting sea slug, and for a snack, the two eat octopus tentacles that are still wiggling. Hey, I think we've seen that before. In fact, you don't even have to go all the way to Korea - they serve live octopus tentacles at The Prince in Los Angeles, too. It doesn't seem like Tony liked it.
Later, they try tae kwon do with the K Tigers. Now apart from the obvious non-love that Tony has for his trip in Korea so far, here is where I started to get a little disappointed with the episode. There was way too much information about all this other stuff in Korea besides the food. Granted, the show is on the Travel channel, so the purpose is to show a lot of things, but I guess that's just something I miss - almost every segment about food.
Nonetheless, they did go out to the countryside to watch kimchee being made the old-fashioned way, fished near the DMZ between North and South Korea, ate mae-eun-tahng, a spicy fish stew, and even went out for late night food and karaoke.
The other thing I didn't love about the episode is that the food and activities they chose to highlight didn't seem to get the real experience of what it's like to be in Korea. Tony in Japan was fast and exciting! Tony in China was fast and exciting! Even Tony in India was fast, exciting, and funny with the whole bit on Bollywood. But Tony in Korea made the country seem so totally back asswards with disgusting food. Of all the things they could have eaten on a late night out, Nari chose dahk-ddong-jib, which is basically stir-fried chicken anus. It's sort of street snack, but why would they show something that doesn't sound appetizing, and also show the show's star cringing at the taste? It would have been different if he had loved the stuff, but it was clear that he didn't like it from what he said and how he looked on screen while chewing it.
They didn't show much that made Korean food seem incredible, which to me, it is. The only point at which Tony looked like he enjoyed hinself was at a charcoal factory where they ate Korean barbecue. But that again makes it seem like the only food worth eating in Korean cuisine is the barbecue.
I was disappointed.
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6-13-2006 @2:18PM Mike G. said... But isn't it always that way with the show? Seldom is there as much food chatter as I'd like to see - too many non-food related segments.
FYI, my wife and I both thought that Nari Kye was cute as a button.
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6-13-2006 @2:56PM Franz Hemingbeck said... The girl was deeply annoying and Korea is not that interesting of a country to begin with. I've been there 4 times in my life and there's little to recommend it.
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6-13-2006 @3:02PM Cheryl said... You forget that he really liked the chicken feet. And I thought he was moved by Nari's interaction with her family.
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6-13-2006 @3:06PM sarah said... thank you franz, for saying that. i actually thought she was annoying, too. like she way trying WAY too hard.
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6-13-2006 @4:12PM TedSez said...
All the food they ate looked the same -- some sort of fish or meat in a broth spiced with lots of red chile.
What would have really livened up this episode is if Tony and Nari had slept together in the end. (There were times when she looked as if she wouldn't have minded.) Maybe if the cameras weren't there.... But I'm sure Bordain doesn't want to take his "sleazy old guy" onscreen image too far.
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6-13-2006 @4:12PM Len said... I agree with Mike G on both counts (not enough food, and Nari Kye being cute). It's the Travel Channel though, so I guess we have to expect the former - I think Bourdain even mentioned this on one of the non-travel episodes this season.
As far as the food - it doesn't bother me if it doesn't sound appetizing, or if Bourdain doesn't care for it. I want to see what he's discovered, whether it's wonderful or not. I wouldn't expect him to put on a happy face if he wasn't really pleased with something - that bluntness is reflected even in his non-food writing.
I didn't care for the China show at all, BTW, it seemed far too "arranged" or "officially approved".
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6-13-2006 @6:42PM heidi said... i agree w/Len about not caring too much if the food sounds appetizing (i remember an episode on the food channel where he went all over mexico and thought the iguana was disgusting) -- i like his straightforwardness.
i'm just sad that he didn't get to eat more of the interesting and amazing food that IS there (it's the korean hostess in me) -- because that's what i miss most about korea. the food! the street food and the high end cuisine too.
oh, and i'm not 100% sure, but i think dahk-ddong-jib is chicken gizzard not chicken anus - and it's not bad, chewy - fun texture.
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6-14-2006 @3:50AM Druchyun said... The trick to dak-ddong-jib is that you have to simmer them until they're tender, drain, and then sautee them with whatever spices (garlic, sesame oil, etc) and then and only then are they edible. Japanese like gizzard yakitori which it's like chewing on... anus. Not that I have any base comparison. :P
Min sok chon, Garden Grove CA - best Dak ddong jib.
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6-14-2006 @2:45PM Big Mark said... Lets face it, we all wanted to see him go to Korea and eat dog, and they just didn't go there. That would have been awesome. And they do still serve and eat it despite what popular culture would have you believe.
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6-14-2006 @2:45PM Big Mark said... Lets face it, we all wanted to see him go to Korea and eat dog, and they just didn't go there. That would have been awesome. And they do still serve and eat it despite what popular culture would have you believe.
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6-14-2006 @4:45PM SkyMom said... I thought that all of the food looked like something caught in the sink trap.
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6-16-2006 @8:34AM Imjin Scout said... I absolutely feel in love with Nari. I have been to Korea 3 times. Once in the army in 1968, once on a tour in 1999 and once when I was interviewed for a History Channel Documentary. I thought Anthony was rude, crude and boring. Nari was beautiful, exciting and informative. I vote to fire Anthony and give Nari the show. She'd be a Korean/American Rachael Ray. PS. Nari will you marry me?
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6-17-2006 @2:57AM Chin Yi said... I can't believe what im hearing! I thought the show was awesome. The fact that you could see Tony's pessimism throughout some of the journey made the show that much more fun to watch. The best part of the show was seeing Tony slowly yet surely beginning to respect and admire the Korean culture as well as its delicious food in which he began to desire! Not to mention the soju and beer. I could go on for days but let me end with this. I was on a jet blue plane flyin from NY to Cali with one of my buddies who happened to be sitting a few rows away and when we landed we both asked what we were watchining on the flight. Low and behold, we both saw the episode twice and he wanted to go to the next korean restaurant asap! And he happens to be Chinese/Ecuadorian..... and of course... we did'nt stop talking about Nari. BTW, eating squid here or Korean food in general here as opposed to Korea is different 10 fold. Trust me, ive been there, done that, got drunk... Oh and that story about Nari's grandfather... what an unexpected tear jerker. I was pleasently surprised in so many ways.
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6-17-2006 @3:29PM Joey said... The show was typical No Reservations, and that's why it was so good. Tony's grumpy-self going through a country with a funny/interesting guide who takes him to the not-so-obvious parts of the country. And with Nari, Tony got just that, and then some. She was adorable and appearingly so, his exact opposite; and it was obvious that Tony slowly began to give in to her personality. If you've read his books and watch the show, you know he's into trying the interesting and weird, while getting to the heart of the country through its food. And I think he got just that with his first trip to Korea.
But yeah, i was hoping for one dog joke...
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6-18-2006 @2:42AM Tae Kim said... I like to clarify something..
Even though it looks like one, "dahk-ddong-jib" is not chicken anus. :) It is a part of chicken stomach.
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6-20-2006 @3:02PM ANNA said... TONY BOURDAIN WAS AND IS HILARIOUS, GAME FOR ANYTHING, AND SARCASTICALLY FUNNY. WHAT MORE COULD I ASK FOR? PERHAPS HE WAS JUST TIRED WHILE HE WAS IN KOREA. ANYHOW, THAT KIMCHEE MAKING SCENE WAS MAKING MY MOUTH WATERING & WANTING TO RUN TO GROCERY STORE TO GET A JAR OF IT. I GUESS IT WAS MY PMS CRAVING! NARI WAS A KNOWLEDGABLE GUIDE & QUITE ADORABLE AT THAT. KEEP IT COMING, TONY. HOW ABOUT A STOP IN THAILAND NEXT TIME. WAIT A MINUTE, THINK YOU HAVE BEEN THERE BEFORE. BUT YOU CAN ALWAYS GO BACK. THERE ARE SO MUCH MORE GOOD FOODS TO BE DISCOVERED STILL.
ENJOY THE SHOW VERY MUCH!
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6-22-2006 @5:47PM jack hus said... Very simple, the show was funny, entertaining, and always interesting.
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6-24-2006 @6:53PM Kundun said... Franz, you're an idiot. The reason you couldn't find anything "interesting" in Korea is because you lack the ability to look beyond your ethnocentric narcissism. I bet you just stayed in the hotel the whole time you were there and ate at KFC or McDonald's.
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6-26-2006 @3:53PM Suriya said... I finally caught the Korea episode and I thought it was quite entertaining. The martial art scene should have been deleted(come on, this is the Travel channel about food, if I wanted to see more of this, I could have just pop in Chuck Norris or the Karate Kid movies).Besides that, the making of kimchee,street market and Nari's grandfather was worth it.
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