WHERE IS MY SPAGHETTI

Hello friends,

Welcome to my rant about spaghetti in Korea.

There is no spaghetti in Korea.

Okay, I lied. There definitely is spaghetti here, but it’s just different.

Korean Pasta is Korean Pasta

You can get Koreanized pasta, which is usually extra creamy or adapted for Korean cuisine by adding 명란 (pollack roe) or 깻잎 (perilla leaf) or some similar Korean twist. I don’t mind that because it’s clear what it is. Korean pasta is Korean pasta, the same way Korean pizza is Korean pizza.

But the spaghetti. All I want is some simple, no-frills, hearty, American spaghetti and meatballs.

What is Tomato Spaghetti?

The spaghetti served at the school cafeteria tastes fine, but it’s just not spaghetti as I know it. Sometimes it has broccoli or shrimp in it. The sauce is really watery and it’s a plain tomato sauce. There is no other flavor there except tomato. Hence the Korean name, 토마토 스파게티 (tomato spaghetti).

If you’re looking for something resembling spaghetti marinara, there’s only 토마토 스파게티 (tomato spaghetti) in Korea as far as I can tell. Or you can try finding a good Italian-style restaurant and get some lovely pasta that tastes delicious. It will have huge depth of flavor, with roasted garlic and pepper. If you’re really lucky, it might even be served with some fresh Parmesan cheese. A lot of good pasta places here are actually brunch restaurants.

But this is still not American spaghetti. It’s fancy and on the pricier side. It’s served on a pretty plate in a nicely designed restaurant focused on branding and atmosphere. Couples go there because it’s a nice, upscale date spot.

I don’t want nice, pretty, fancy food. I want rustic, cheap, homey, comfort food. I want the most unpretentious, unimpressive, uncomplicated plate of plain American spaghetti. Like you’d get at someone’s home or in a diner.

Why is American spaghetti different…

I’ve been thinking about why I feel American style spaghetti tastes different. I never even realized it was different.

The sauce is richer and meatier. It’s cooked with beef and onions. It’s thick and hearty, almost like a stew. It has Italian spices in it. Also Parmesan cheese exists in the U.S. It’s much harder to come by in Korea.

It’s irrational that this bothers me so much because I very rarely eat pasta, whether in the U.S. or Korea. When I was in America, I really didn’t eat spaghetti that often. It’s not like it was a favorite food of mine. But now it’s completely inaccessible.

I even bought the ingredients at a store here and made it at home. First of all, this is not a budget meal in Seoul the way it was in NYC, and I went out of my way to get to a store that supplied Western ingredients. Secondly, my kitchen is tiny so maybe I wasn’t able to cook it as well as I would have back home. Third, all I could find was a Parmesan cheese blend that tasted quite a bit different from Kraft Parmesan, and I wasn’t able to find fresh Parmesan at all.

But the biggest problem for me was that there was no ground beef or meatballs. Maybe I could find some ground beef if I looked a little harder, but I really wanted meatballs. I even checked Coupang, which has everything. No luck.

So unfortunately, even trying to cook spaghetti at home did not satisfy my craving. My craving isn’t entirely about flavor. It’s also about the setting and the price and the convenience.

Burger King???

In New York, if I wanted cheap, mediocre diner food, I could get it at any time of day. I could get pancakes or spaghetti or buttered toast. It would be cheap and fast and uncomplicated.

Now the only Western food is either really nice Western food, or big chains like McDonald’s and Burger King. And a side of buttered toast at a brunch restaurant is not that cheap because it seems like butter is more of a luxury here and bread is not as common.

Also someone explain to me why Burger King is so popular here?? There’s a Burger King in like every neighborhood. Apparently, the geographic density of Burger King locations in Seoul is massively higher than in any major American city.

The best American diner in Seoul

Luckily, even if I’ve given up hope on spaghetti, there is a pretty good American breakfast diner in Seoul!

Travel Maker in Hongdae hits the spot every time. They don’t have corned beef hash or omelettes, but they have some basic American diner breakfast menu items.

The Obama Breakfast includes white toast and butter, scrambled eggs, two pork sausages, and hash browns.

I wouldn’t say it’s entirely immersive, especially because of the random America themed paraphernalia on the walls that make it feel like a fan shrine of the U.S. It’s not 100% believable as an American diner, but it’s as close as you can get and the food tastes pretty good. I would definitely recommend it to anyone missing some simple American breakfast. It’s not fancy, but it tastes like home.

There are also a few locations of The Original Pancake House in Seoul, but I’ve been told to avoid the one in Itaewon because the quality isn’t great. I’ve never tried The Original Pancake House back in the States, but it’s on my list to check out at some point.

For now, I trust Travel Maker to be there when I need it. Although they still don’t have any spaghetti.

Love,

B.