It ’s belike no surprise to hear that the North Korean North Korean won is n’t doing so gravid . Back in 2009 , the country ’s government egress a raw currency with anexchange rateof 100 erstwhile won to 1 Modern won , wiping out many North Koreans ’ life saving . This prompted the already - thriving black market in North Korea to unfold , which led that inglorious market place to switch over to more unchanging type of currency — namely the Formosan yuan and the American dollar mark . Things have n’t gotten any better since the review . It ’s said that the only people in the rural area who still use the almost - worthless North Korean won are “ vegetable trafficker . ”
That apparently admit the government , which has been bank more and more on an interesting ace up its sleeve to pander foreign currency : its international mountain range of eating place .
in general considered Pyongyang ’s finest restaurant , the erectile Okryugwan — literally “ jade stream marquee , ” distinguish for the nearby Okryu Bridge — has served up traditional North Korean food since 1960 . But start in 2003 , it began its slow external elaboration , first with a Beijing locating replete with waitstaff prepare at North Korean culinary schooling . After that eatery eventually started rend in more than US $ 6000 per Clarence Day , Okryugwan locations sprouted up in Nepal , Thailand , Vietnam , Mongolia , Russia , Cambodia , and the United Arab Emirates , with rumor branches on deck for Scotland and the Netherlands . ( Not all of these branch are still unfastened today , and not all of them are called Okryugwan — a few go under thenom de guerre“Pyongyang . ” Perhaps not amazingly , the connecter among them are somewhat unclear , but all are say to funnel money to the North Korean authorities . )
Working in the international Okryugwan restaurants is , of course of action , a plum position for North Korean citizen , who take special permission to travel around their own country , to say nothing of crossing its borders , which is near - inconceivable to arrange . Each member of every all - female waitstaff is chosen carefully not only for her mantrap but also her zeal for drinking the national Kool - Aid , as the servers are under close watch — especially since a few women escaped from a restaurant in China in 2006 , result in the closure of several locations .
Not every location is run now by the North Korean government — defectors have reported that some are operated instead bymiddlemen who give the government between US $ 10,000 and $ 30,000 per year . These days , the eating place themselves variously earn the equivalent of around $ 100,000 a month each , depending on positioning . cloak-and-dagger shareholders are involved in a few as well , but the show is still hunt by the North Korean res publica in all instances . It ’s true a reasonably cagy mode to sell tourism—“Come experience knockout - to - find North Korean cuisine ! A culinary rarity!”—in a spot where ask tourists to visit your country is n’t really an option . And more importantly , it helps the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea get its mitt on that stale , hard alien cash it so dearly needs .
Unlike the Pyongyang locating , where local anaesthetic must wait calendar month to incur ticket from their work whole to eat there , the international Okryugwans are open to the world . So when my fellow and I , both Americans , took a short tripper to Dubai recently , we found ourselves in an ethical quandary over whether we should dine at Okryugwan . We were dying to checker it out , but … if we give the North Korean government our money , were we fund its U Kickstarter ? Did it weigh as catastrophe tourism if we went there to goggle at their quaint and out-of-date ways , which we would perchance be one-half - doing ? Especially if these ways were perform by multitude who are essentially government hard worker ? Even donate , say , $ 40 to the nefarious DPRK regime felt like a moral perfidy .
I ’m still conflicted about it months later , but in the close , our curiosity got the good of us . We showed up at the Dubai Okryugwan as glaring looky - loos , unsure if we ’d be welcomed as guests or considered enemy of the state .
In the busybodied , modern Deira territory of Dubai , in the bottom of a nondescript spot building , the eating house is a Communist - flavored time warp , with disco kindling and riots of fake rose in giant storey vases . A vast phase stand at the far end of the dining way before a wall - sized mural of jagged deal . Notably , there are no portrait of Kim Jongs anywhere , neither -Il nor -Un . house in English ( thelingua francain Dubai ) explain that karaoke rooms are available in the back , while in the dining elbow room , TV screens play karaoke videos at scurvy volume — the topic of each , judging from the scope mental imagery , seems to be the natural splendor of the North Korean countryside . There were only about four unlike songs playing when we were there , but each Song dynasty play in several unlike system . Another sign require Edgar Albert Guest not to take pic , which we only saw when we left ( whoops ) . The carte du jour are in Korean and English , and the server , perma - smile in matching 1950s polka - dot pinafores , speak English fluently .
Disappointingly , the food is n’t very dissimilar from standard South Korean cuisine . Raengmyon — insensate buckwheat noodle assist in an iced , mustardy , acetous broth and abibimbap - like mixed bag of toppings — is the star attraction , one of the only specifically North Korean dishes on the both - northward - and - South - Korean carte . After she set the entrée down , the server pulled out some gigantic scissors and chopped the noodles up , portioned them out into individual bowls , then fastidiously arranged the little bits of meat and vegetable on top of each bowl . Also cognise as Pyongyang - style bonce , they were OK , if not very exciting . Other exclusively North Korean finesse include gray mullet ( a case of Pisces the Fishes ) soup with boiled Elmer Rice and unripened bean hot cake . Everything else , you may get at any Korean eatery in the U.S. For what it ’s worth , our favorites were both all - inclusive Korean dishes : The absolute mountain of white kimchi was first-rate - sizzly and effervescent , and we loved the beefddeokbokki , a sort of gnocchi - esque Timothy Miles Bindon Rice dumpling , which arrive in a quantity that would feed four full-grown men .
Like many of the other restaurants , the Dubai Okryugwan frontier settlement does n’t only pop the question North Korean culinary art : Your meal also comes with a creepy-crawly , soupy , Lawrence Welkian floor show . This is the main lure for traveler — or if it ’s not , it should be . Like the servers , the performers are all woman , and they come whirling out in their colour - codedhanboksand frilly prom dresses , team after team of them — singing aria in flawless coloratura soprano while play a synthesizer from 1986 , rocking out unquestionable piano accordion polkas at mach speed , fit in on pop Song in three and four component , all while dancing in complicated Busby Berkeley - style synchronicity . It was eerily endearing to watch , with the rotating pastel light dye their dress unlike hue while they dance . The accordionist was peculiarly telling : A bantam madam in perhaps her 20s , absolutely tear it up on a full - sizing 120 - release bass accordion . Those things are heavy .
Research later assure us that all of the popular birdsong sing during the flooring show were about North Korea and its various leaders . In fact , we were fairly indisputable they were the same songs from the karaoke videos take on prior to the show .
Information on forthcoming Okryugwan locations is scarce , so it ’s all “ alleged , ” but composition in the main agree that business is booming . It seems probable that the chain will uphold to expand , particularly as long as the North Korean won last out frail . Okryugwan is a unearthly , unearthly place , and the quirky , touristy prayer is off the chart , so its popularity is no enigma . And I suppose you pay off ta hand it to the DPRK for harnessing their weirdness and selling it to tourists so successfully .
All images by Meg van Huygen
