Upon arriving, it felt as though one had truly entered North Korean soil in China. Everything was meticulously made to be typically Korean from the paintings to how the staff were dressed. There was even a small TV which appeared to be broadcasting propaganda short videos. It was quite interesting to see the reactions of the other friends, one of whom was a South Korean citizen (the other was American). Although, we all seemed to be as intrigued as each other. Initially, I was afraid to talk about visiting a North Korean restaurant with my South Korean friend. But they had all agreed, much to my surprise.

Prior to my visit, I understood that there would be a performance from the North Korean waitress. As this was a focal point of the experience, we did not want to be late and miss the show. So we soon found our tables and sat down quietly, just as it started to sink-in exactly where we were.

The waitresses were all wearing impeccably neat Hanboks (traditional Korean clothing). However, we could only communicate with them in either Korean or Chinese Mandarin. Despite this, the waitresses were keen to show us their patronage to their nation through traditional song and dance. Much to my surprise, the North Korean waitress began to sing ‘Xiao Ping Guo’ (My Little Apple), a Chinese pop song that is shared among young people.

After the show, I had the chance to speak for a bit with one of the waitresses on her background. She told me that she used to work in a famous hotel in Pyongyang. Presumably, she may be referring to the Ryugyong Hotel, a 105-story pyramid-shaped skyscraper in Pyongyang. Built in 1987, but never truly completed due to the economic woes of both North Korea and the Soviet Union (which later fell in 1992). However, today the construction serves as a multipurpose building which houses a hotel for visitors of the country.

The waitress also told me that all the ingredients for these dishes were all sourced directly from North Korea. I don’t know if this part was entirely true. Nevertheless, the food sure was delicious. I had ordered cold noodle (typical North Korean dish) and a type of bulgogi, but with different taste. For the dishes, there were two menus: One with Chinese and Korean and the other with awfully bad (albeit comical) English translation.