My husband took me to a pool hall Saturday night. It’s in the next town over which is largely Korean. Most stores and restaurants there have signs written in Korean. People come from all over the area to get Korean barbecue, bulgogi, kimchi (fermented vegatables), and a lot of other great specialties.
The pool hall is located in one of the few shopping centers in town which does not have Korean stores or signs. It’s been there a while, we went there once or twice twenty years ago when they served French fries that they swore had been air fried and were low fat. (I took them at their word because the fries were amazing.) I’m not very good at pool so it’s not something we generally seek out.
I was surprised that not much had changed in twenty years. The bar looked a little run down, the furniture was mismatched and dated. It looks like they must have taken over the business next door and had added a darts room.
The pool room had about six or eight pool tables separated by a large TV screen and a few Formica tables with plastic chairs. We ordered some drinks, chose a pool table and asked for a menu. Once settled in, I had time to survey the scene. And a scene it certainly was. Now I know we live in an extremely diverse part of the country, but it’s very rare to see every walk of life represented in one room. But represented they were here at the pool hall. Young, old, Korean, Hispanic, tattooed, conservative, man buns, transgender, an infant, and a few other assorted characters. It was a people watcher’s Heaven. A place my friend Mary would refer to as a “Star Wars bar.”
We took a look at the menu and almost overlooked the one nod to Korean food – the “cusion fries.” (A play on pool cue and Korean fusion food which is popular in town. Cheese fries with bulgogi and kimchi. Although we’ve had some pretty bad Korean fusion food, some of it actually containing hot dogs, we decided to give the cusion fries a try. I’m still terrible at pool, but I think I have a new favorite food.
The pool hall is located in one of the few shopping centers in town which does not have Korean stores or signs. It’s been there a while, we went there once or twice twenty years ago when they served French fries that they swore had been air fried and were low fat. (I took them at their word because the fries were amazing.) I’m not very good at pool so it’s not something we generally seek out.
I was surprised that not much had changed in twenty years. The bar looked a little run down, the furniture was mismatched and dated. It looks like they must have taken over the business next door and had added a darts room.
The pool room had about six or eight pool tables separated by a large TV screen and a few Formica tables with plastic chairs. We ordered some drinks, chose a pool table and asked for a menu. Once settled in, I had time to survey the scene. And a scene it certainly was. Now I know we live in an extremely diverse part of the country, but it’s very rare to see every walk of life represented in one room. But represented they were here at the pool hall. Young, old, Korean, Hispanic, tattooed, conservative, man buns, transgender, an infant, and a few other assorted characters. It was a people watcher’s Heaven. A place my friend Mary would refer to as a “Star Wars bar.”
We took a look at the menu and almost overlooked the one nod to Korean food – the “cusion fries.” (A play on pool cue and Korean fusion food which is popular in town. Cheese fries with bulgogi and kimchi. Although we’ve had some pretty bad Korean fusion food, some of it actually containing hot dogs, we decided to give the cusion fries a try. I’m still terrible at pool, but I think I have a new favorite food.