Customer Who Bought 5 Radishes at Seolleongtang Restaurant
"Make Me Some Seokbakji" Absurd Request
A story has emerged about a customer who, after enjoying a delicious meal at a Seolleongtang restaurant, unexpectedly brought radishes and demanded, "Please make me some Seokbakji kimchi."
On the 20th, a post titled "A customer who brought radishes to a restaurant and asked to make kimchi" was uploaded to an online community. As of 1 PM on the 22nd, the post had garnered 100,810 views and 680 recommendations, becoming a major topic of discussion. The author, Mr. A, who identified himself as a self-employed owner of a Seolleongtang restaurant, said, "There is a middle-aged customer who occasionally visits our restaurant," and continued, "A few days ago, after eating a bowl of Seolleongtang alone, the customer paid and said, 'I really enjoyed the Seokbakji kimchi served with the meal,' and asked, 'Is it possible to buy a little bit of Seokbakji?'"
In response to the customer's question, Mr. A declined, saying, "Seokbakji is not for sale, so it is difficult to sell it." The customer, hearing the refusal, left somewhat disappointed. The problem arose the next day. The customer came in carrying radishes and demanded that the restaurant make Seokbakji. Mr. A explained, "The customer came holding a large plastic bag," and said, "When I asked, 'Are you having Seolleongtang again today?' the customer replied that he was not here to eat today, then took out five radishes from the plastic bag. Then he said, 'Since you said you don’t sell Seokbakji, I bought radishes at the market, so please make it together when you make your Seokbakji,'" describing the situation at the time.
Mr. A said, "I was at a loss for words and politely refused the customer," but added, "The customer kept insisting, saying it wouldn’t be so difficult to just add radishes when making kimchi. He said he would bring friends and acquaintances to eat Seolleongtang often in the future," sharing the awkward situation. He continued, "He insisted that I save his number in my phone and contact him when the Seokbakji is made," and said, "After I said no several times, the customer seemed to give up and left. But I’m worried if that customer will come back to the restaurant. Just thinking about it makes me nervous."
Netizens who read the story responded with comments such as, "Famous gukbap or gomtang places sometimes sell Seokbakji separately, but if someone acts that rudely, it must be really delicious," "Try telling him you sell it with a generous profit margin," "There are so many unreasonable people who think kimchi can be made just with radishes," "There really are all kinds of people in the world," "Seokbakji is widely sold in the market, so he could just buy it himself," "Bringing radishes to someone else’s business is just too much," and "If you do it this time, he’ll keep asking in the future."
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