So . . . What's It Take to Find a Good Chinese Restaurant around Pohang, Korea?

This past weekend, my wife and I had the pleasure of returning the favor of hospitality to our new friends from Seoul, Kurt and J.Sun.  They had traveled Friday along with their friends, Sam and Suzanne, over to the southeast coast to tour in the beautiful island of Tongyeong.  Then, Saturday afternoon, they gave us a call to let us know that they were on their way driving north and anticipated arriving at Handong in a few hours.  We had made reservations for them at the Pine Beach Hotel on Chilpo Beach. (This particular hotel gives all guests from Handong a 30% discount, so we thought that this would be an ideal place for them to stay).  Chilpo is one of several less crowed areas (at least at this time of the year) to the north of downtown Pohang. The hotel itself sits back from the sandy beach with a beautiful, unobstructed view of the sea to the east.

As the time for their arrival drew near, we walked across campus to greet our visitors in front of the University's chapel -- the prominent landmark that greets everyone at the top of the entrance drive leading up the hillside from the new highway that now runs through the valley below our campus. I had suggested to Kurt that he might want to by-pass Pohang as they drove up from the south around the city on the new highway and come in from the west. What I did not realize, though, was that the highway is so new that all the its interchanges have not been completely constructed, and when our friends tried to enter on to the new Interstate (since there are no "states" in Korea, I guess I should call it the "Interprovincial" highway), they could only travel east back toward Daegu, and not west toward our campus.

This unfortunate bit of misdirection resulted in their arrival being delayed until a little after 6pm. Once they did arrive, though, we were able to take a nice strolling tour around the campus with notable stops at All Nations Hall to see both Sandy's and my offices. Then, we continued our walk along the south campus drive and reached our apartment for a short time of light refreshment and conversation, and yes, all six of us were able to squeeze into our studio, though some of us had to stand. (By this point in the story, you might be asking yourself what all this has to do with finding a Chinese restaurant, so here is where the plot thickens).

Our friends had been traveling quite comfortably over the past two days in their Honda Accord – adequate room for four, but six would be a bit tight. So, I called my trusty TA, Mr. Mok, who in turn, summoned a taxi in which Sandy and I would ride through the countryside to Chilpo Beach – the taxi being the guide for our friends to follow in their Honda. (Have I mentioned the tendency of Korean cabdrivers to drive as excessive rates of speed along even the narrowest of roadways?) Picture this – the time is about 7:30 in the evening. The sun has set and darkness is now covering the countryside. One lone taxi speeds along a narrow road followed at varying lengths by a Honda Accord that is clearly doing its best to keep up with each twist and turn along the way. Finally, we drive into the parking lot of the Pine Beach Hotel as the beach is shadowed in the dark of night.

In the distance, the flickering neon sign in the window of the hotel’s famed Chinese restaurant glimmered, and just as we step out of the cars, that sign’s light was extinguished. I suggested that it might be a good idea for our friends to go ahead and check-in so that we could confirm that the room reservations my TA had made were in fact being “held” (those of you familiar with the Jerry Seinfeld Show will recall that what is important is not just the “making” of the reservation, but the “holding” of it) through the evening. Thankfully, the rooms were still available – although one had only twin beds and not a single full-sized bed. Having secured the rooms for our guests, we now set upon to find a Chinese restaurant since the one that we had promised to them in the lobby of the hotel had indeed closed its kitchen just moments before our arrival.

My first thought was to call Mr. Mok and have him order from another nearby Chinese restaurant that I knew delivered to Handong; so I hoped it might also deliver to the hotel where we were on Chilpo Beach. When the innkeeper learned of my plan, though, she recommended that we drive a short 5 minutes north into the next village where she assured us we would find a delightful Chinese restaurant that would be quite suitable for our needs. What I only just then learned, however, was that our friends had not stopped to eat a regular meal all day. They were – and I think this is the first time in this blog that I can actually use this word in all its fullness – famished!

So, rather than waiting for a delivery from a restaurant that I knew, we – all six of us – piled into the Accord – the taxi was long gone by now – and set out to find that Chinese restaurant in the next seaside village up the coastal roadway. True to the innkeeper’s estimation, J. Sun spotted the sign for the restaurant within a short 5-minute drive. But as we turned into the yard in front of the building, we noticed a lady coming out the front door onto the porch. It looked as if she was just about to close and lock the door and turn-off the light.

In a flash, J. Sun pealed herself out of the front passenger seat she had been occupying with Suzanne and ran over to the restaurant owner with what must have been perceived by this dear little lady as a dire request for dinner. I didn’t overhear the exchange, but within mere moments, we were all warmly welcomed into the restaurant as the lady and her husband turned the lights back on and began to fire-up the stove in the kitchen.

What a relief! For the next hour or so, we all sat cross-legged with chopsticks in hand around the center table in the restaurant’s single dining room and enjoyed a wonderful feast of several entrées, including but not limited to, sweet and sour pork along with hand-made noodles and black beans – the local substitute for fried rice in these parts. At the end of this very long day for our new friends, we were able to share a delightful meal together with fervent fellowship around the table of a well-found Chinese Restaurant on the eastern seacoast of beautiful Korea just a tad north of Chilpo Beach.

That’s what it takes.