Alrighty, what is happening today?
Oh my gosh.
Today is a special day.
We haven't had Korean food in ages.
Ages!
We were actually racking our brains and thinking like when was the last time and we believe
it was in Pokhara, Nepal.
Which is months ago.
Months ago.
That is half a year ago.
So when we came to Kiev (Kyiv - Київ - Киев) and we're kind of here for a little while.
Yeah.
We actually researched online to see if there was any Korean restaurants.
We've been craving it for ages.
Uh huh.
And we found one.
There is actually one that is quite highly rated.
It is Arirang (아리랑).
Arirang.
I don't know if you can see that up there.
And you know what is so funny?
For a second I thought Sam had finally learned how to read cyrillic.
No.
But no.
I was reading the Korean.
He was reading the Hangul.
I was reading the Korean.
Yeah, and then of course there is the typical Korean sign as well beside it too.
Alright, let's go in.
Anyways, we're hungry.
Let's go in.
Let's eat Korean food.
So excited.
Okay, orders have been placed and I don't think they're going to be very many surprises.
We have our favorites.
We tend to order the same things over and over again.
But we do get six free little dishes.
Side dishes.
Banchan (반찬 - 飯饌).
Banchan.
Surprise.
Yeah, and there was other things that are authentic about this too.
The little bell.
The bell when you're ready to order.
And you want to get more drinks or anything.
Ding dong.
Ding ding.
So excited.
And one thing I did order a little bit different that I normally tend to get Dolsot Bibimbap
if I haven't had it for a while but I ended up getting Kimchi-Bokkeum-Bap (김치볶음밥)
which is the kimchi fried rice.
And yeah, we ordered mandu as well.
No!
We got the pajeon (파전) instead.
Oh right.
We got pajeon (파전).
Right.
Okay, so we are mixing it up a little bit.
Yeah.
And I got sundubu jjigae which is what I always get.
I just love my tofu stew.
And you know it is like August here.
It is getting a little bit chilly in Kiev (Kyiv - Київ - Киев) so yeah.
Yeah, barely it is under 20 most days now.
Korean food!
What what.
So our food has arrived all at once.
But we're going to start out with the banchan (반찬 - 飯饌).
So we got lots of free dishes.
We've got our sweet potato here.
It looks like sweet potato right?
Yeah, I think it is.
Let's check.
It is either kokuma or gamja.
Mmmm.
Goguma.
It is sweet potato.
Nice.
It is almost like in pancake form.
Yeah.
We've got our pickled radishes.
Yep.
Over here.
I've already had a few.
Nice and spicy.
Mmmm.
So good.
And this one looks a little unfamiliar.
What is this?
Let's try it anyway.
Mmmm.
Maybe some kind of mushroom.
Oh, wow.
Looks good.
That is what I was going to guess.
And then we have the beansprouts of course.
Beansprouts in they go.
Those are so tasty.
And of course we have kimchi (김치).
Oh, seaweed.
Let's not forget.
Our seaweed.
I think it is called in Korean that is gim.
I'm starting to forget words.
It is kind of sad.
Gim is the dry seaweed sheets.
I'm not sure it would apply to this.
We do have the classic kimchi (김치).
Mmmhmm.
And you know what?
This kimchi has some kick.
I've already been having some when Sam is not looking.
Sneaking in food while I've been filming.
Mmmm.
And what is the last one?
To the left of it?
Spicy.
And other food too.
Oh man.
That is like a spicy kimchi?
This also looks like Kimchi (김치).
It looks like a cooked form of it.
Let's see.
Yeah, it has some onions in here as well.
Plenty of onions.
Is it warm?
No, it is cold.
It is cold okay.
Mmmm.
And that is sweet sauce.
Okay, it is a sweeter kind.
But similar?
Mmmm.
What is the name?
Oh man, I'm so bad.
We're getting so bad with our Korean.
I know.
It is kind of sad.
Sweet red sauce and like spicy and sweet that you add to your bibimbap.
Oh, gochujang (고추장).
It is gochujang.
Gochujang.
It has got lots of gochujang on it?
Yeah.
Oh, throat is on fire now.
I'm starting to get my runny nose.
It always happens whenever I have Korean food.
Urgh.
I know.
We love it but we haven't had it in so long I guess we're just not quite used to the spices
again.
That was like when we first came back to Korea again last year.
It was like oh my gosh my tongue is on fire.
The first few days we were having some digestive issues but then we got used to it.
We won't get into that.
Yeah.
Okay, what are you going to tuck into?
Oh, this is so exciting.
We've got pajeon (파전).
Pajeon.
Which is like Korean pancakes and it is beautiful.
It has already been sliced up but I don't want to choke on this so I'm going to slice
it further once more.
Mmmhmm.
Do you want to tell us some of the ingredients.
Yeah, so the main ingredients of course is the pa which is the green onion the scallion.
And then actually this is kind of like hamul pajeon because it has got I can see that there
is seafood in here.
And we've got red pepper and we've got probably onions and other just kind of assorted seafood.
Nice.
So let's take that for a swim here.
I believe this is kangjang sauce that is like a soy sauce mixed with vinegar.
It should be really nice.
It looks like some spices.
Oh yeah and a little bit of chili powder.
Yeah.
You have to absolutely dunk your pajeon into this.
It doesn't taste as good otherwise.
Mmmmm.
That is awesome.
Yeah?
Mmmm.
Very authentic.
Nice and thick.
That is how you can tell that it is being served basically as a main dish as opposed
to just like banchan.
Because they make it nice and thick.
Ooh.
You're going to really like it.
I want to try some of that.
You're going to like it.
Do do doo do.
Dun dun dun.
Your turn.
In we go.
I'm just going to dunk it.
Dunk it.
Proper dunk.
Oh yeah.
Oh la lah.
Oh yeah.
Mmmm.
This is one of my favorites.
We arrived really hungry today.
We were actually going to come earlier.
We skipped breakfast.
We skipped breakfast and we were going to come around 11 and we ended up having a super
long Skype call and now we're here at closer to 2pm.
So yeah.
We've brought our appetites for sure.
This is really authentic.
I know.
For Korean food in Ukraine.
So authentic.
Mmmm.
So authentic so far.
And now time for the main.
What did you order?
Time for the main.
I ordered the Kimchi Bokkeumbap (김치볶음밥) which is kimchi fried rice.
Oh yeah.
And man this looks it looks so good.
I can tell that there is chunks of meat in it already.
It has got lots of kimchi.
It has other vegetables.
We already mixed in the egg.
Yeah, and the kicker is that they made it super authentic by giving us a runny egg.
That is how you finish that is how you basically how you plate how you top kimchi fried rice.
And Sam can't deal with runny eggs unless.
If it mixed it is fine.
I actually like it if I can't see it.
I have really weird like the foods that I don't like I have really weird conditions
for them.
Like it if is just runny eggs on their own.
Uh uh.
But like mixed in with rice.
Totally fine.
No problem.
Totally fine.
So let's see how is this.
Mmmm.
That is good.
Yeah?
Um, it is very compared to a lot of other Kimchi-Bokkeum-Baps (김치볶음밥) I've
had it has got quite a bit more sweetness to it.
But it does also have a lot of spice.
Oh man.
It really does.
So you've got like very intense sweetness which you kind of it kind of hits you right
away but then as you're swallowing it it is more intense the spice.
And yeah it has it is very spicy.
Oh la lah.
My throat is on fire.
Oh, and it came with a little side as well.
You ordered your bokkeumbap and you know what.
I got a little soup.
I think this is maybe like gyeran-guk.
Like a little egg soup.
I'm not entirely sure.
It looks like a broth with egg whites and some spring onions.
Yeah, that is exactly what it is.
Yeah?
Nice.
And that is kind of nice for cooling your palate a little bit.
Yep.
This isn't spicy.
Alright.
Yeah.
And because sharing is caring.
I feel like we say that a lot.
Sharing is caring.
That is one of our very cheesy lines.
We seem to have a number of those.
Oh, that is hot.
That is hot.
Woah.
Not spicy hot but just hot?
Hot hot.
Do you know what I mean about the sweetness?
It hits you hard but then the spice.
Yeah, it is sweeter than any other bokkeumbap that I've had.
But I remember I think the one we had was it in Nepal.
Mmmhmm.
That one the sweetness was just wrong because they had put in ketchup in there.
Haha.
And this is more authentic.
Yeah I've had some kind of sweeter Kimchi Bokkeumbap (김치볶음밥) in Korea but
it tends not to be that way.
It tends not to be as sweet as this.
But it is still good.
The presentation and the spiciness and the other ingredients are definitely on par.
On track.
I like it.
It is different but I like it.
Yeah.
But it has definitely got a little bit more sugar than what we're used to.
I'm going to try this as well.
Yeah.
It is just nice for cooling the palette a bit.
It is very very light.
Mmmm.
What say you?
Yeah, nice mild flavors.
If you need a little bit of a break from the spice.
Exactly.
This is really good so far.
Alright, so impressed.
Let's move on to your jjigae (찌개).
Are you ready for your jjigae?
I sure am.
So for my main I ordered the sundubu-jjigae ((순두부찌개)) which is a tofu stew and
it also comes with oh this is so hot.
Arrgh.
Oh my gosh.
It comes with a bowl of rice.
Plain white rice.
And that is a very authentic Korean rice bowl.
Haha.
And the soup, I have to say it looks a little bit different from what I'm used to.
Like it is not as red.
It is not as red.
There is very little broth.
It is mostly all tofu.
And I'm used to it being like the soft tofu like the big chunks but this one looks more
curdled.
Is there an egg?
There was an egg.
I've already mixed it in.
And also it looks like there is some meat.
Which is unusual in the sundubu one.
Sometimes you do get meat in sundubu.
But sometimes not.
Spicy?
Or just hot?
Mmmm.
It tastes quite eggy.
Like an egg dropped soup.
Okay.
With tofu and a little bit of spice.
It is not overly spicy.
I prefer that rich red spicy broth.
Right.
It makes your eyes run, it makes your nose run.
Everything is watering.
Also, it seems to me that the tofu is a little bit different.
Normally it would be more like the silken tofu that looks more like curdled.
I would say.
Yeah.
Yeah, it is different.
It is a bit different.
But, it does taste good.
I am not complaining.
Haha.
At all.
Okay, Sam let's see what you think of the sundubu jjigae (순두부찌개).
Mmmm.
Will he like it?
Will he not?
You know what.
It tastes to me more like a Doenjang-jjigae (된장찌개).
Like the soybean jjigae.
Mmmm.
But um it is good though.
It is good.
Yeah, but I think that they made it as a Doenjang-jjigae (된장찌개).
To be honest.
It is tasty though.
Yeah.
Honestly, this restaurant has been such a pleasant surprise.
Mmmhmm.
We were not expecting to find amazing Korean food in Kiev (Kyiv - Київ - Киев).
I know.
And we have.
We're in our happy place.
Happy place.
Very happy place.
This right here is our happy place.
Yeah.
Now we're just going to chow down on it guys.
No more filming.
Just enjoying.
Oh, that was so much food.
So so much food.
Yeah, we did a pretty good job I think finishing the mains.
We polished off the mains.
We put a really good kind of struggled with the side dishes.
We put a good dent in the side dishes.
Yeah, we didn't finish them though.
But yeah, we are done.
Defeated.
Time it is time to ring the ding dong.
Ding the ding da dong.
(ding sound)
Here they come.
Well, well.
What a beautiful way to end the meal.
They brought complimentary watermelon which I think might supak in Korean.
Correct me if I'm wrong.
Isn't that pumpkin?
No, hopak is pumpkin.
Oh, okay.
A lot of paks in there.
Yeah, anyways, it came to 491 which was $19 USD and I thought that was great value because
we got three main dishes, we got tonnes of banchan (반찬 - 飯饌).
Tonnes of side dishes.
We forgot to show you, I had Georgian red wine and we also got a big thing of tea to
share.
So yeah, that is pretty good.
I mean we're talking about like nine something a person to have a really nice authentic Korean
meal here in the Ukraine.
Yeah, that was awesome.
I would come back here again for sure.
Highly recommend this place.
The name is Arirang ((아리랑)).
Arirang tata.
Tata.
Bye.