The Nomz, I Must Have Them

A Halal Guys branch just opened up in Seoul.

Seriously considering a Christmas visit up to the capitol now.

Meanwhile, young Koreans who can't find decent work and Korean restaurant owners coping with the same sluggish economy are locked in dubious battle over all-you-can-eat restaurants:

"But while happy eaters might be glad to pay less for more, many restaurant owners are biting the bullet to keep up with the high demand. 'They’re struggling to make a profit,' said Kim Sang-hoon, head of the business consulting firm Start Business.

As more all-you-can-eat joints open up, the increased demand for raw ingredients raises their prices. So even though the restaurants might see more customers, the owners have to spend more than half their revenue on buying ingredients to keep up, according to Kim. 'Quite often, they’re left with only 10 percent of the sales as profit,' the consultant said, while most restaurants in Korea make margins of 25 to 35 percent. 'In the long run, they just can’t survive.'”

In my college neighborhood, the all-you-can-eat joints actually aren't all that popular among my students.  Even with little money and a 20-something's appetites, they know that the "bottomless" restaurants are serving a lower grade of meat.  The most crowded restaurants are usually the same four or five mom-and-pop joints serving large portions for under 6,000 won.  Hell, I go to those places.