Korea Life Blog - Carnes Station

Carnes Station is a Korean franchise buffet restaurant. For the current price of 22,000 Won per person, around $18, you can eat and drink all you want until 10:00 or 11:00 PM, depending on how busy it is. At first it may seem a little expensive but it's worth it as you will see. (I apologize for the lack of clarity in these photos - for some reason you're not supposed to take pictures in here, so I had to take these quickly and on the sly.) We went to the one in Jongro. Get off from line 2 at Jongro-5. Take exit 2. At the top of the stairs go straight down that road for a few minutes until you see a big church. Turn left in front of the church. Then look to your right. It's hard to see, but it's downstairs in that building.



Here's a shot of part of the buffet. This side includes bulgogi, garbi, and various other meats which you can grill up at your table. Also, there's a large selection of kimchi. On the other side there are several pots of korean soups. There's also American style chicken wings, spaghetti, and you can even make burritos, albeit not the best quality. And of course there is a salad and fruit bar as well.



Now here's where the money pays off. Looks at this! It's a self-serve bar complete with the hard stuff, draft and bottled beer, bek se ju, and soju! Holy shit!



Hmm, at the time I thought this looked appetizing. I guess that's what happens when a bunch of foreigners cook for themselves after all-you-can-drink.



Here's my friend Eric fiddling with a cigarette. He doesn't yet realize there's no smoking in here. He's just downed a plate of food, 2 beers and a cocktail within minutes! Note the peculiar plate of food there. That's mine. I cooked that! Hey - help yourself!



A sneaky shot of a table full of Korean people enjoying themselves and engaging in the ever popular "bottoms up" and "one shot" ritual with soju. It won't be long now before someone loses control of their body, starts an argument, or vomits outside on the street. One thing is for certain, however, I'm positive they're doing a much better job of cooking than we are...

Yes, it's a little expensive, but you can certainly get you money's worth, as did one of the people I was with. I left early, but found out later he blacked out for an hour, passed out on the street, and then had to be carried home by several people.