Friday, June 17, 2011

Getting Crabby In Itaewon

Raw Crap? Raw Crab!

Bizarre English signs can be fun, but sometimes they fill me with despair...

The backstreets of Itaewon are going through some rather major redevelopments at the moment and where there used to be tiny alleys and houses, we now have boutique clothes shops, restaurants and a brand spanking new length of tarmac for drivers to speed down. There are new shops and cafes popping up on a weekly basis, including a new Brazillian place and a branch of HBC's Gogi Jip, but my story involves a Korean restaurant that has opened up just down the road from me.

At first glance the sign for Sam Gol didn't seem too bad. Fairly coherent English, no better or worse than the usual signage. And then I spotted the "p"...

Raw Crap? Raw Crab!

Mmmh, the "Indongcho-seasoned raw crap" sounds... well not as appetizing as it should have, if spelt correctly.

I had a quick chat with the owner, found out he didn't speak any English and so explained in a very gentle manner that his new sign for his new restaurant was offering sewer fodder instead of the usual sea food.

Raw Crap? Raw Crab!

Fortunately he took heed and a few days later the sign had been neatened up. It may not be perfect, but at least it's describing a more palatable main course. I'm glad he changed the sign as most people refuse to take crap from restaurant owners...

Raw Crap? Raw Crab!

3 comments:

Eve said...

Very sweet of you to correct the owner. I'm not sure I would have bothered.

Roboseyo said...

nice pun there at the end.

Some places respond, but not all do, when I bring in a spelling correction. I usually try at least once, though.

My most recent: a hand drip coffee from Costa Lica.

kushibo said...

That was very cool of you to take the trouble to do that.