Chapter 11

Chapter 11

The True Nature of the Rip-off Restaurant

[Jajangmyeon – 13,000 won]

[Jajangmyeon double portion – 18,000 won]

The parents conflicted all night repeating peeling and sticking the paper, but in the end the one who decided was Jin Myeong.

They couldn’t break the son’s stubbornness.

The next day’s business that started half with worry and half with resignation like that.

But contrary to the parents’ worry, the restaurant formed a bustling scene from morning.

Of course there were those who harbored doubts at the changed price.

“Eh? It was clearly 7,000 won··· suddenly the price doubled?”

“Isn’t this too much?”

Some foreigners furrowed their brows and expressed blatant dissatisfaction.

But their complaints didn’t last long.

“Hururururuk! Tseup!”

Their thoughts completely changed as soon as they ate.

“If it’s this taste, it’s understandable.”

“To begin with, experiencing this taste at a price under 10 dollars is sorry to the extent.”

“Just with jajangmyeon, the Korea trip is fully satisfying!”

But the problem wasn’t the foreigners.

“No, what is this? 13,000 won for one bowl of jajangmyeon?!”

Neighborhood people who stopped by out of curiosity because of the crowding foreigners were shocked at the price tag of high-end Chinese restaurant level.

“This house’s boss is crazy. Just because some foreign transient customers came, he’s openly doing rip-off business!”

“Doing neighborhood business like this, you’ll get heavenly punishment! Let’s go, go! Too dirty to eat!”

People who opened the restaurant door, saw the price, spat double curses and turned back were countless.

Even amid that, the reactions of some neighborhood regulars who had recently happened to taste Jin Myeong Gak’s jajangmyeon were quite different.

“The price rose sharply so it’s regrettable··· but thinking of the taste, honestly that price is understandable.”

“Right. Once you eat it, you can’t curse.”

But to the majority of people who had never experienced the taste, those words just sounded like nonsense.

***

[Korean Black Noodle Chef (Crazy Wok Skill)]

A short 20-second shorts video uploaded to YouTube by one of the foreign customers who stopped by here was gradually raising views.

Hwaaaaaak!!

The intense opening of the flame rising along the wok.

Even amid this, the appearance of the young-looking chef indifferently and lazily handling the huge wok lightly.

The delicious-looking jajangmyeon placed on the table.

And the crazy reactions of foreigners slurping while smearing jajangmyeon all around their mouths.

The ripple effect of this 20-second video that exploded appetite was terrifying.

In just a few days, the video’s views lightly surpassed 4 million, and likes were continuously hammered as it rapidly spread even to Korean netizens.

The comment window was already plastered with characters from various countries.

-Oh my god! That chef’s hand movements are art!

-Where is that? I’m traveling in Korea now, I want to go eat unconditionally before going back!

-Is that black noodles the jajangmyeon that regularly appears in K-dramas? But is it that delicious??

Amid the enthusiastic reactions of foreigners, Korean comments began running one by one.

But the Koreans’ gazes were fixed on the menu board price of 13,000 won.

-Eh? This is our neighborhood ㅋㅋㅋ But the jajangmyeon price is crazy. 13,000 won???

-Wow, a typical rip-off restaurant catching foreign suckers.

-Even in tourist spots it’s absurd, neighborhood Chinese restaurant jajangmyeon 13,000 won? Did they sprinkle gold powder?

-A restaurant dropping the national image. Shameful as a neighborhood person. Don’t go. Completely a rip-off!

-Prices are crazy these days but neighborhood jajangmyeon at that price crossed the line. Raised the price double just for doing a bit of fire show. ㅋㅋㅋ

Koreans’ fierce criticism and ridicule began covering the comment window.

They couldn’t tolerate the price tag of 13,000 won for jajangmyeon, the commoner food of a neighborhood Chinese restaurant.

There were also not a few who cut it down saying it was manipulated viral marketing.

When malicious comments poured in an instant, the video owner who had been quietly watching stepped forward himself and left a pinned comment at the very top.

-I also know well how much the average jajangmyeon price in Korea is. But this chef’s cooking cannot be evaluated by that standard. Honestly even 13,000 won is ridiculously cheap compared to the taste. If suspicious, please go and try it yourself.

This pinned comment became like pouring oil on a burning house.

-The video owner is in cahoots too ㅋㅋㅋ How much did you receive?

-How much would a foreigner know about Korean jajangmyeon taste. Tomorrow I’ll go eat myself and expose it.

-No matter how delicious, jajangmyeon is jajangmyeon.

-But I’m really curious. What on earth taste is it that foreigners go crazy like that?

The shorts video comment window was transforming into a fierce battlefield surrounding price and taste.

***

[The noodle-seeking channel that finds hidden true tastes from every corner of the country! Today I’ll dig into the true nature of that controversial rip-off restaurant at the center of the controversy recently heating up YouTube!]

A national-level restaurant exploration YouTuber with 400,000 subscribers.

Commonly called Myeondosa.

There was no hidden noodle restaurant in the country that hadn’t passed through his tongue.

It was in a way natural that he chose Jin Myeong Gak as the next target after seeing the recently popular shorts video.

The steps of Myeondosa who was entering the remote alley where Jin Myeong Gak was located while holding the camera stopped.

“Wow... it’s a weekday afternoon now, look at the line. Not a joke?”

In front of the old restaurant, already over ten people were lining up.

Of course as a waiting line, the number wasn’t that many.

But this place was a Chinese restaurant in an ordinary neighborhood.

Moreover, what was even more surprising was that more than half of the waiting line were foreigners.

But Myeondosa’s expression was filled with strange skepticism rather than expectation.

“It seems hot among foreigners for sure. But.”

His camera zoomed in on the menu board on the wall inside the restaurant.

[Jajangmyeon – 13,000 won]

[Jajangmyeon double portion – 18,000 won]

“You see the price? Ordinary neighborhood Chinese restaurant jajangmyeon is a whopping 13,000 won. Double portion is 18,000 won. Honestly this is a bit... too much, right?”

As soon as his words fell, the chat window of the real-time live broadcast began burning.

-Is that the controversial rip-off restaurant? ㅋㅋㅋ

-Recently regional festivals are making a fuss on the news for ripping off, exactly that pair.

-What kind of act is that toward foreigners? Let’s go educate them right now!

-A conscience-lacking shop that raised 7,000 won to 13,000 won just for doing fire play a bit flashily ㅉㅉ

Watching the chat’s agitated reactions, Myeondosa nodded.

“Foreigners might open their wallets tempted by the flashy wok work or fire show performance. Honestly how much would those people know the real taste of Korean jajangmyeon? They’d just say it’s delicious if it’s sweet and stimulating. But my tongue that has been to famous Chinese restaurants nationwide can’t be fooled. Today I’ll taste it myself and clearly evaluate whether this is a dish truly worth 13,000 won, or just a rip-off trick extracting money from transients.”

After waiting roughly 30 minutes like that, he could finally enter the restaurant.

Ding!

As soon as he opened the door and entered, an ajumoni wearing an apron approached with quick steps.

“Aigo, sorry. You waited a lot, right?”

She continuously bowed her head with a face full of apology, then soon looked around the packed shop inside with an awkward expression and asked.

“There, customer. By any chance... would it be okay to share a table with that customer over there?”

Myeondosa readily nodded.

“Ah, yes. It’s fine. Ah, one regular please.”

“Yes.”

Myeondosa who approached the guided seat sat opposite where a foreign young man was sitting.

The foreign young man had set up a smartphone on a tripod on the table and was deeply immersed in his own self-video filming while making a fuss.

“Smell is crazy! Micheosseoyo!”

The young man exaggeratedly made a fuss while smelling the smell coming from the kitchen.

A strong fire aroma also struck the tip of Myeondosa’s nose watching that appearance.

Certainly the smell alone was amazing.

But smell alone is insufficient.

These days tricks deceiving the sense of smell with various chemical fire-taste sauces, flavor oils and such are everywhere.

What’s important is the real taste the tongue feels.

“...”

He maintained coolness and skillfully moved and fixed the small camera onto the mini tripod.

“Okay, everyone. Finally sat down. The smell passes for now, let’s see how the taste is.”

Seeing that skilled appearance continuing the broadcast comment, the foreign young man opposite was surprised and temporarily stopped his smartphone recording.

The young man blankly stared at Myeondosa continuing real-time communication with eyes full of curiosity, then soon made a thick-skinned smile and lightly waved his hand.

“Streamer?”

“Yes.”

“Oh, hello!”

Myeondosa also chuckled and lightly bowed.

“Ah, yes. Hello. Nice to meet you.”

After exchanging a short greeting, Myeondosa adjusted the camera angle and glanced around the restaurant.

The restaurant was in a crowded full state.

Here and there on the tables, foreign customers of various nationalities were gathered in threes and fives.

The scene of each turning on smartphone cameras and watching the kitchen side, or cheering while slurping jajangmyeon.

Certainly it was a global hotspot that burst among foreigners.

Myeondosa glanced at the menu stuck on the wall again and said.

“Single menu in a Chinese restaurant··· is it confidence that he can make at least one jajangmyeon the strongest in the universe?”

-Confidence my ass... it could be that he can only make one jajangmyeon.

-Right, the chef was too young. If such a young kid is the chef, maybe he had no choice...

-Disrespecting jajangmyeon?

“Right. Even jajangmyeon is hard to make properly delicious.”

While he cynically smiled and chatted with viewers, a tremendous sound and red light flickered from inside the kitchen.

Hwaaaaaaaaak!!

“Eot!”

Myeondosa’s body flinched on its own.

At that moment, the surrounding foreigners all cheered and filmed the kitchen with their phones.

Certainly the performance is amazing.

But Myeondosa snorted.

The essence of cooking is taste, not a show.

A moment later.

Tak.

“Jajangmyeon is out!”

Soon one bowl of jajangmyeon was placed on Myeondosa’s table.

“Okay, finally out. The controversial 13,000 won jajangmyeon!”

Myeondosa who brought the camera close to the bowl showed a determined face and lifted the chopsticks.

Glossy and shiny.

There was a charm that pulled the appetite.

“The visual passes for now. But nothing else special. Receiving this price with these ingredients? The feeling is already...”

Muttering like that, he mixed the noodles and chunjang up with the chopsticks.

But.

“...!”

The smell surged and struck Myeondosa’s nose.

“···Eh?”

Myeondosa’s eyes momentarily widened round.

Extreme savoriness, sweet aroma, and fire aroma.

‘What? This crazy smell······?’

An alien sensation where reason is paralyzed just by the smell and instinctive gluttony stirs.

He as if entranced wrapped a lot of black noodles on the chopsticks.

Then hurriedly pushed the noodles into his mouth.

Ujeok, hururururuk!

“...!!”

In an instant, Myeondosa’s whole body that stopped chewing stiffened rigidly.

© 장성필#15r3d