The Picture of Dorian Gray

When I was in the tenth grade, my mother took me out for a birthday lunch to Mother Tucker's, a restaurant that wisely had an approximately 90-foot-tall sign to discourage the obvious vandalism a name like that begs. She took me there because they used to offer a free lunch if it was your birthday, a promotion which absolutely blew my wife's mind when I told her the story.

신씨화로, near Miguem Station in Bundang, doesn't run a similar promotion, and it's a tad pricey (for a Korean barbecue place, that is), but it's worth it. They serve the best meat I've tasted in my life (my apologies to the good people at Hormel, makers of SPAM). Juicy sirloin, some other choice cuts, and 오겹살 that magically turns red when you cook it. If I were rich -- and it's really only a matter of time -- I would eat that every other night (I'd alternate between there and Corn Flakes in strawberry milk, garnished with processed cheese).

Last winter a colleague of mine (full disclosure: he's my life coach) took me there, and I think there's a post somewhere from December or January in which I called the place the bomb like Ishtar. It is. Besides serving orgasm-inducing meat (that makes two of us, har har), the interior and design is great: low lighting, screens to separate dining parties, and seating which allows you to dangle your feet below floor level.

I can't wait to go back. I would have taken more photos, but I don't work for the place and they're not paying me, so why bother? But if you're in the mood for some excellent Korean barbecue that puts all other places to shame, check it out. They also have a few restaurants in Seoul and other cities throughout Korea. Just like McDonald's!

So that was dinner. Afterwards, because it was such a lovely evening, we walked home. When we arrived my wife presented me with a cake, which is sort of like that Simpsons episode where Homer gives Marge a bowling ball, because my wife knows I never eat cake. Unless it's of the cheese variety. It wasn't.

All in all, despite the Miami Heat being embarrassed by the New Jersey Jay-Zs (the Suns won, at least), it was a good day. Here's hoping tomorrow Shaq, Wade and Co. have a belated gift for yours truly. Rest assured, I'll let you know either way.