"Shrimp fried rice" with shrimp and fried rice

Even though I'm now finishing my third year in Korea, there are still times when I'm really confused as to what's going on. My past two visits to Kim Ga Nae (김家내) have been a good example.

I remember, back before February when my hagwon paid for the teachers' dinners, that Kim Ga Nae made a really delicious shrimp fried rice (새우볶음밥) that I would order for what seemed like weeks at a time.

Seeing as how I hadn't had it in a while, I thought take some out and eat it at home. It wasn't on the menu, so I asked, in Korean, "Can you do shrimp fried rice?" / "새우볶음밥 할 수 있어요?" The lady seemed to say yes.


A while later, she came back and pointed to something else on the menu, the "오불덥밥", which at 5,000 won I assumed to mean that's how much she would charge me. I nodded and said, "That's OK." / "괜찮아요." When it came out, I paid for it and carried it home.

When I got it home, I opened it up and -- to my unpleasant surprise -- there was the "오불덥밥" beef dish. Grr! That wasn't what I asked for, but I accepted that it was my fault -- the lady had asked me and I'd said that was OK. Mea culpa. I ate it, and even though the rice wasn't friend, in all honestly it wasn't bad.

About a week later, I went back, and asked again -- to the same lady -- "Can you do shrimp fried rice?" Again, she said something to the effect of "yes." That part was pretty clear to me. But again, when I got it home, there was the beef dish.

So at this point I'm a little puzzled. I know for certain that I'd said it right, but I can't figure out why the lady would give me a different thing and not tell me. Maybe, in her mind, she was thinking, "This foreigner guy thinks he wants A, but I know what he's really talking about is B."

That would be annoying (I'm not an idiot) but at least it's not evil or malicious on her part. Still, before I go back a third time, I want to make sure things are clear that I want "shrimp fried rice" and not some beef dish. How can I explain this effectively?

I was joking with my wife a bit about this. Option 1 is to threaten the lady if she doesn't give me my shrimp fried rice. "If you give me that beef dish again, I'll kick your ***!" / 다시 오불덥밥 주시면, 마줄래!"

Option 2 is to order 새우볶음밥 just like last time. Then, before I take it out of the restaurant, I check it out to make sure it's the right thing. If it isn't, I throw it against the wall and, as it's sliding down, scream at the top of my lungs, "Does this look like shrimp rice to you!?!"

I don't know. Maybe it's just best to say it really slowly, and eat it there. If it's not right, I can just send it back.

"Excuse me, but I really wanted shrimp fried rice. Where's the shrimp?" / "실례하지만, 정말 새우볶음밥 원했어요. 새우 어디 있어요?"