[Buddha's belly]Thai food tailored for Korean palates
Tom yam goong from Buddha’s Belly. By Cho Jae-eun
Back then, anything except pizza, hamburgers or meat loaf was “ethnic” and felt very adult. I remember feeling like the female version of Rudolf Valentino the first time I went into a Thai restaurant with a friend, ordering the dishes in my practiced Thai accent.
It is more than a decade later but every time I go into a Thai restaurant, it still feels exotic and sexy. Buddha’s Belly, a Thai restaurant in Itaewon, with its maroon, velvet interior and authentic Thai menu, fits this grown-up image. The food, including tom yum goong, yam munsen and pad thai is the same, with a no-nonsense, genuine Thai mix that beats most of the watered-down fusion menus found in many other Thai restaurants in Seoul.
I visited the Buddha’s Belly take-out branch near Noksapyeong subway station. There are also branches in Itaewon and in the Hannam district.
My tablemate and I ordered the tom yum goong (9,000 won, $9.60) first. Ordering this dish is sort of like ordering spaghetti with garlic and oil, in which one can foretell the quality of the restaurant by looking at the basic ingredients and cooking methods. The tom yum goong at Buddha’s Belly passed the test.
The basic broth contained all the aromas and textures required of the dish and fresh herbs, including lemon grass and shallots, blended well with the chilli and fish sauce. Unfortunately, the restaurant didn’t provide a tom yum nam goong version (the soup including coconut milk) as Koreans are not particularly fond of coconut milk in main dishes.
Satisfied by a robust helping of the clear soup and a bowl of rice, we continued with the green curry with chicken (8,000 won). Customers can choose between chicken and beef.
The restaurant offers three curries ― green, red and panang. The green curry is the least spicy of the three. Besides green curry paste, it contains coconut milk, fish sauce, lime leaves and basil. The rather creamy dish went well with the yam munsen tale (10,000 won), a spicy, sweet and sour seafood salad with glass noodles.
After finishing my sweet ice tea, a nice counterbalance to the bold, spicy meal, I walked out content that I had broken my recent, rather routine meal schedule. With the hot Thai spices rolling around in my mouth, I promised myself not to eat a grilled cheese sandwich for a while.
Buddha’s Belly takeout menu is offered at a 10 percent discount. Call (02) 793-2173 for more information.
By Cho Jae-eun Staff Writer [jainnie@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
To write comments, please log in to one of the accounts.
Standards Board Policy (0/250자)