(Travel) Zucchini stew

This was the first zucchini stew restaurant I visited during my trip to Gwangju. I arrived right on time for the opening, but there were already about 20 people waiting in line ahead of me! Oh~ I thought, this must be a famous place ^^ It was even a weekday.. Waiting there, my expectations were sky-high!!! How much zucchini would be in it? What would it look like? I wondered as I went inside!!!! The restaurant was super cool and refreshing inside!!! There's only one menu item.. zucchini stew..

I'll just skip the side dishes... This is just my personal opinion, but I really wish popular restaurants wouldn't use ready-made (store-bought) side dishes...

The zucchini stew has arrived. It's served gukbap-style, with rice already in the bowl. My first impression was— Wait, isn't this just like the stew Mom used to make back in the countryside? So I took a bite... and it is similar. Similar, but something feels missing. It was a bit greasy, and the chili oil made it feel not quite clean. I think you could describe it as a stew from the old countryside, made with gochujang or gochugaru your mom or grandmother used to make, with zucchini and onion added in. Of course there was meat in it too, so the texture was nice to chew on, but the pieces of meat were, well, haha ^^ Anyway, the taste wasn't beyond my expectations, but it's been a while since I had this old, forgotten dish again ^^