It has been said that good food knows no language barriers. We, on the other hand, most certainly do. We felt, therefore, that this week we were making ourselves particularly vulnerable to our own ignorance for the sake of higher dining.
In search of highly reputed Korean food, we ventured into Montclair's Arirang Korean BBQ, an establishment which makes little effort to announce its moniker to those who don't read Korean. We were, however, ultimately able to find it, largely by virtue of our two guests, who had been there several times prior.
We are not easily suckered by flashy service and excessively hospitable facades. This is not to say, however, that we do not appreciate the fundamental value of service as a requisite and enhancing complement to good food. Given this, we find ourselves staring down the barrel of a strangely inarticulable conundrum. Allow us to explain.
As we had hoped, the food at Arirang was very good, despite the fact that we found the menu to be largely impenetrable. So good was said dining that we would in most cases recommend such a restaurant unhesitatingly. And yet, we found ourselves quite unnerved by what seems to be an incidental, almost cosmetic blemish on the evening.
When we were first seated, we found four sets of standard-issue chopsticks conventionally dispersed on the table. In this we found nothing unusual, considering that there were four of us and this was indeed an Asian restaurant. When the waitress returned to take our order, however, she rather presumptuously placed two sets of no- fumble silverware on our, the decidedly Caucasian, side of the table.
At first, we all just shared a concerned look, then laughed it off. But as the evening progressed, the incident became increasingly unsettling. Where we simply observing another instance of the Kishi Phenomenon, in which patrons are assumed to be culturally ignorant? Perhaps not, for at Kishi they are equally condescending to everyone, Asian-looking or not.
The irony of the situation is that the waitress' assumption about our party's distribution of manual dexterity was completely wrong. Not only is BB in fact one-quarter Asian -- not to mention 100 percent chopstick-certified -- but our Japanese-American guest ultimately preferred to use one of our two superfluous forks due to her self- proclaimed ineptitude with chopsticks, to boot.
To be fair, despite a lingering feeling of being somewhat shirked as patrons during the course of the meal, we did find the food to be excellent. In the interest of time we elected not to use the cooking apparatus recessed into the center of our table to cook our own meat, although it's worth pointing out that only the more apparently Asian half of our party was actually asked whether they would prefer to do so.
Although the meal was by no means inexpensive, we were served in addition to our orders of BBQ meat a set of (as yet unidentified) appetizers, soup, rice, and at least ten different bowls of what can only be described as Korean garnishings, including various grades of kimchi. Dinner came in at about $14 per person including tip, which we found quite palatable in light of the amount of food available. In addition, we noticed that Arirang offers daily lunch specials at about half the price of the average dinner entree.
Given the nature of our qualm with the place, a generalization about disparate service is perhaps the last thing we should be making. It could have been that we just happened to look particularly dorky and uncoordinated compared to our counterparts that evening, and the waitress took pity.
On the other hand, perhaps a counter-generalization is in order as a response to the waitress' presumptuousness. To that end, then, we should simply say that Arirang is the perfect place to go if you don't look Asian, can't use chopsticks, and are always embarrassed to ask for alternate utensils. If, on the other hand, you're an Asian-looking person who can't use chopsticks, you might want to bring along one of your more apparently Caucasian friends.
Either way, if your primary concern is food and not service, we would definitely recommend this place to you, provided that you can find it.
Arirang Korean BBQ is found at the business end of 4232 Holt Blvd., in Montclair. If you call (909) 621-0336 before 6 a.m., no one will probably answer.
It has been said that good food knows no language barriers. We, on the other hand, most certainly do. We felt, therefore, that this week we were making ourselves particularly vulnerable to our own ignorance for the sake of higher dining.
In search of highly reputed Korean food, we ventured into Montclair's Arirang Korean BBQ, an establishment which makes little effort to announce its moniker to those who don't read Korean. We were, however, ultimately able to find it, largely by virtue of our two guests, who had been there several times prior.
We are not easily suckered by flashy service and excessively hospitable facades. This is not to say, however, that we do not appreciate the fundamental value of service as a requisite and enhancing complement to good food. Given this, we find ourselves staring down the barrel of a strangely inarticulable conundrum. Allow us to explain.
As we had hoped, the food at Arirang was very good, despite the fact that we found the menu to be largely impenetrable. So good was said dining that we would in most cases recommend such a restaurant unhesitatingly. And yet, we found ourselves quite unnerved by what seems to be an incidental, almost cosmetic blemish on the evening.
When we were first seated, we found four sets of standard-issue chopsticks conventionally dispersed on the table. In this we found nothing unusual, considering that there were four of us and this was indeed an Asian restaurant. When the waitress returned to take our order, however, she rather presumptuously placed two sets of no- fumble silverware on our, the decidedly Caucasian, side of the table.
At first, we all just shared a concerned look, then laughed it off. But as the evening progressed, the incident became increasingly unsettling. Where we simply observing another instance of the Kishi Phenomenon, in which patrons are assumed to be culturally ignorant? Perhaps not, for at Kishi they are equally condescending to everyone, Asian-looking or not.
The irony of the situation is that the waitress' assumption about our party's distribution of manual dexterity was completely wrong. Not only is BB in fact one-quarter Asian -- not to mention 100 percent chopstick-certified -- but our Japanese-American guest ultimately preferred to use one of our two superfluous forks due to her self- proclaimed ineptitude with chopsticks, to boot.
To be fair, despite a lingering feeling of being somewhat shirked as patrons during the course of the meal, we did find the food to be excellent. In the interest of time we elected not to use the cooking apparatus recessed into the center of our table to cook our own meat, although it's worth pointing out that only the more apparently Asian half of our party was actually asked whether they would prefer to do so.
Although the meal was by no means inexpensive, we were served in addition to our orders of BBQ meat a set of (as yet unidentified) appetizers, soup, rice, and at least ten different bowls of what can only be described as Korean garnishings, including various grades of kimchi. Dinner came in at about $14 per person including tip, which we found quite palatable in light of the amount of food available. In addition, we noticed that Arirang offers daily lunch specials at about half the price of the average dinner entree.
Given the nature of our qualm with the place, a generalization about disparate service is perhaps the last thing we should be making. It could have been that we just happened to look particularly dorky and uncoordinated compared to our counterparts that evening, and the waitress took pity.
On the other hand, perhaps a counter-generalization is in order as a response to the waitress' presumptuousness. To that end, then, we should simply say that Arirang is the perfect place to go if you don't look Asian, can't use chopsticks, and are always embarrassed to ask for alternate utensils. If, on the other hand, you're an Asian-looking person who can't use chopsticks, you might want to bring along one of your more apparently Caucasian friends.
Either way, if your primary concern is food and not service, we would definitely recommend this place to you, provided that you can find it.
Arirang Korean BBQ is found at the business end of 4232 Holt Blvd., in Montclair. If you call (909) 621-0336 before 6 a.m., no one will probably answer.