nosh nook #96 - monday, july 27, 2009

report: nkorea opens 1st fast-food restaurant (link)
07.25.09 - the ny times - by ap

hans brix? oh no! oh, herro. great to see you again, hans! why don't you come in & enjoy one of our tasty north korean hamburgers? excuse me...north korean "minced beef & bread." they're really tasty & wouldn't you much rather have a tasty minced beef & bread than worry about which countries have nuclear technology & which ones don't? which ones are letting inspectors in & which ones aren't? which ones need to have people-crushing sanctions imposed on them & which ones don't?

that's right, folks. last month, with the help of a singaporean company, north korea opened up pyongyang's first fast food restaurant. it looks like your average fast food joint, but as the times reports, the menu at the restaurant--samtaesong--"is careful not to call its signature fare a hamburger--lest it give the impression north koreans had embraced the american icon." i know the hamburger's an american icon & all, but i really hope that north koreans aren't over there behind the il curtain, thinking that americans dine on is hamburgers. we're so much more than that. we also like fries with our burgers.

the average north korean can't even afford to eat there, what with the messed up economy & food shortages & whatnot that the country's having. the times notes that "the minced beef and bread at the new fast-food restaurant costs only $1.70...but that would eat up more than half of the average north korean's daily income. south korea's central bank put last year's average per capita income at $1,065." it's too bad, really. the restaurant also has kimchi, waffles & draft beer & "plans to add croissants and hot dogs to its menu in the coming months." it's like a smorgasbord of food items with no discernable theme...except for the NOT AMERICAN theme. after all, we are basically the devil or something & nobody wants a devil-themed restaurant...or do they?