Food: Bibimbap Adventure

My boyfriend and I recently started eating bibimbap, a Korean dish.

We’ve always seen it on menus in Korean restaurants, but never knew what it looked like.

*Bibimbap is a “mixed meal” served with rice, raw or fried egg, meat, sesame oil, and different vegetables such as lettuce, carrots, cucumber, spinach, and bean sprouts (depending on where you get it). It can be served cold or on a hot stone.

Our first time eating bibimbap was inside a Korean market called, Zion Market. The place we ate at is called, Happy Family. We always wanted to try out the place since it was there. What stood out to me was the colorful, yellow walls and their sign, “Happy Family,” plus the large picture menu, which I like!

Our meal came out served on trays with side dishes (you can ask for more) and soup. It also came with a sesame oil bottle and their hot sauce.

One of the cooks in the back was kind enough to tell us how to eat the bibimbap. I bet we looked like noobs to him because we looked like we didn’t know what to do, hehe. We were first-timers after all. 😀 For the cold bibimbap, I had to squeeze some sesame oil into the bowl, add hot sauce, and mix. For the hot stone bibimbap, only hot sauce was needed.

The first bite we took without the sesame oil and hot sauce tasted plain. This changed only when the cook told us how to eat bibimbap. It was really good! I loved all the different flavors from the different ingredients and they all tasted great together. The portion looked small, but it was very filling. I like it because it’s somewhat healthy considering the number of vegetables. Also eating spicy food is good for you.

Their side dishes were kimchi, cucumber kimchi, seasoned radish strips, and dried seaweed. I liked the taste of all the side dishes with the bibimbap. :] The soup they served the meal with was okay. It was a bit bland.

Happy Family
Bibimbap (Top) Hot stone (Bottom) Cold

We prefer to eat the cold bibimbap instead of the hot stone bibimbap because we don’t have to wait to eat it. The hot stone bibimbap was also good. Overall, it was a great first experience eating bibimbap!

Yesterday, for dinner, we decided to try bibimbap at another place. We went to a restaurant called, Friend’s House Korean. I like their name. :] Yelp! rated 4 stars for the place so we decided to give this one a shot.

The portion was larger compared to Happy Family’s. The dish had the same ingredients: rice, lettuce, cucumber, spinach, carrots, fried egg, meat, and bean sprouts. The sesame oil was already added to the dish. All that was left was to add the hot sauce. The bibimbap here tasted much better! Again, everything came well together in one bite. Their hot sauce was a little sweet and could be a little spicier.

Friend’s House Korean had more side dishes. They had kimchi, cucumber kimchi, salad, fish cake, dried seaweed, cucumber, and one that I can’t name. I didn’t like their kimchi. It was too sour and not enough spiciness. Everything else was delicious with the bibimbap.

Another filling meal and a very satisfied stomach. 😀

Also, in both restaurants, the price of the bibimbap cost $8.00-$9.00.