September 19th, 2005 | The lowdown by Jeff Watson

The Dragon Dream

The name of the place was Dragon Dream, but it wasn't so much a dream than a cave-dwelling. Cave-Dwelling would have been a better name.

Went out to a place last weekend where they say you can eat in the side of a mountain, and however dubious that may seem, coming up to it along the little side street its on I was surprised to see that it is, in fact, a cave. Outside of it, true to its name, is the statue of dragon in glowing technicolor, made more eerie by the fact that we were indeed headed into a cave.

Dragon Dream can be found near the central core of the Busan, called Seomeon, and though it's not altogether a famous spot, it's easy to find if you can find the right Korean person with enough English that can help you. Unfortunately, street signs are rare in Busan.

Walking in I had to stoop slightly since the ceiling was not built one-size-fits-all. Built as an "L" shape, the cave is emphatically nocturnal with dim, transient lighting, the menacingly jagged rock, and the inconspicuous drops of water coming from the black granite walls. I felt that the black t-shirt with big block lettering worn by the cab driver who drove us that read: "NEVER STOP EXPLORING", was apt for the occasion.

The supposed history behind the place is that it was once a bomb shelter to protect a family from a nuclear blast. Eventually it crumbled under its own weight and was abandoned for years. Then grandmother of the family had a dream that it would be resurrected and made into a restaurant adorned by dragons. It was then dug up, dragons thrown in, and there we have it, Dragon Dream, open to the public.

Passing another seven-foot iridescent dragon striking out its glare, we sat down and ordered what we had come for, the Dong-dong-ju. Dong-dong-ju is a drink I would recommend to anyone visiting Korea, it's a drink served in bowls the size of kitchen pots that goes down smooth and easy; containing a slightly more generous concentration of alcohol and slightly less grisly taste than Soju, it is an alcoholics dream.

After three bowls we stumbled up and out of the place, the dragons seemingly more spookish, and caught a cab to the rest of the night.