Korea advice: BiBimBap, Soho

Simple, healthy, involving, unusual, spicy, comforting, cheap, quick. No, NOT a bread/beansprout/fondue/offal/jalapeno/carrot drivethru order. But bibimbap, Korea's national dish and real bit of alright.

Korean's pretty big at the moment (not Korea, that's always been pretty much the same size, except that incident when it split in two but we don't talk about that), and nowhere more so than in Soho. "Nowhere more so, Than in Soho? I think I may have invented a slogan …

Once hoi dining polloi got over the difference from better-known Chinese and Japanese and Thai (wha? metal chopsticks? hotplate?) they warmly embraced the delectable marinated meat and rice dishes that make up this healthy Oriental fare. And kimchi? Well, that particular taste may take time …

Tiny, spick and span, the cafe BiBimBap has simplified the whole deal by turning one famous Korean dish (bibimbap, surprisingly) into the main event. Makes sense - there are noodle bars, and sandwich shops, and burger places - and the dining village of Soho is ripe for more of these micro-eateries.

So, what is bibimbap? If it's the dolsot bibimbap served here, it's a hot stone bowl, filled with rice and vegetables and/or meat. Served with the additional ingredients prettily arranged on top, the technique is to mix all the vegetables into the rice, adding miso sauce and chilli sauce to taste from the squeezy bottles on the table. A sweet waitress was on hand to show diners the ropes and demonstrate the mixing technique.

The B-1 dolsot bibimbap (above) is the most traditional dish on the menu. On top is cucumber, daikon, beansprouts, spinach, carrots, and a part-raw egg, which makes the mixing more necessary, but also more excitingly alchemical for the diner. Oddly, the menu lists both daikon and its identical twin mooli as ingredients, yet not the delicious shiitake mushrooms.

The spicy pork (below) has a delectable, assertive sauce, and the beef does well, though less exciting to my mind.

With mixing, starch comes off the rice, which leaves a risotto-like texture that's easy enough to chopstick, though I recommend the spoon for maximal comfort eating appeal.

So, I would be keen as kimchi to come here again. After all, bibimbap is delicious - and well as super fun to say - and nowhere more so than in Soho. (C'mon, we only need a few more citations to get this in the OED)

Comments

[Bibimbap Soho]

Thanks for the blog post, find us on Facebook! facebook.com/bibimbap.soho