A recent boom in semi-private eateries in North Korean capital means good food is easy to find for those who can afford it and know where to look, says Andrei Lankov
While malnutrition is widespread in North Korea, the restaurant scene in Pyongyang is thriving. It is never a problem to find a really good meal if you can afford it and you know where to look. The newer, semi-private eateries tend to keep a low-profile, and often have their windows covered with heavy curtains. The signboards are also small, if not absent, so outsiders would have few clues of the luxury inside.
Most new restaurants have private rooms used for closed banquets of the bureaucrats and new rich which are closely connected but somewhat different groups. In some cases they do not limit themselves to gastronomical pleasures: several places have a reputation for doubling as elite brothels. This was indirectly confirmed by official North Korean documents recently: when Jang Song Taek was purged in December 2013, the indictment mentioned both his fondness for private rooms in the expensive restaurants and his dalliances with women.
For the average North Korean, restaurants are prohibitively expensive
In an average North Korean high-end eatery many of the dishes on offer clearly have Russian origins
A number of times I have encountered complaints about obesity as a growing problem among the elite North Korean children and teenagers
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