Korean restaurant to open at Bathurst & Eglinton
I noticed a sign announcing the upcoming opening of "Bi Bim Bap Korean Stone Bowl Riceteria" on Eglinton west of Bathurst. I hope it'll be a serious Korean restaurant and not a newfangled, dumbed down version of the cuisine. I'm also wondering if they plan to offer menu items other than bibimbap. (A Google search does reveal that bibim bop-only restaurants are common in Korea.) Does anyone know anything more about this place?
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pescatarian
Jun 3, 2011 08:38 PM
Went there tonight because I happened to be in the area. Tried the seed bi bim bap with brown rice and it was really good. The extra hot sauce had good flavour although could be a bit spicier for my liking, seeing as it was the spiciest. Not as many or traditional banchan (kimchi and a pickled veg were brought out with a miso soup). The cinnamon "tea" (it's cold) at the end was a nice touch. The owner was very friendly, as I see others have mentioned. We sat outside and he joked "if I forget about you guys, just call me there and he pointed to the number on the store sign". You could tell he was joking and it was cute. Plus, they didn't forget about us at all. I would go back.
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re: MoonReflections
domesticgodess
Feb 23, 2011 05:50 PM
I also had a great experience eating there and cant wait to return. The owner is lovely, the space is clean and modern and the my bim bim bap was tasty. Next time Im going to try the mushroom bim bim bap.
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Five of us went tonight and enjoyed it a lot.
We ordered 5 different brown rice bi-bim-bap to share amongst us: Traditional, Korean BBQ, Kalbi, Mushroom and Seed. They were all very tasty but my favorite is their Mushroom bi-bim-bap. It came with lots of mushrooms (7 kinds according to their menu) and the texture and flavour were very good.
We also had their Crunchy Wasabi Salad and Sweet Potato with Balsamic Apple Go Chu Jang Sauce. The salad was refreshing and perfect as an appetizer. The sweet potato with go chu jang (Korean hot sauce) was a bit of a surprise - odd combination but it works well.
There's no banchan typical to traditional Korean restaurants. Instead they have 2 kinds of kimchi - white and red. White kimchi is very mild (no hot red pepper) and quite refreshing. Their red kimchi (with hot pepper) is not fiery but works well with spicy bi-bim-bap. Regarding their bi-bim-bap sauce we tried 4 different kinds - most of them are on the sweet side but the hottest one (still a bit sweet) worked for us.Overall, we enjoyed the experience and will go back.
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Just wanted to add another positive review of this place. We went for an early dinner tonight and ordered the vegetable tempura and the traditional Bibimbap.
The veggie tempura were more like fritters - thin slices of red onion, red pepper, carrots, and maybe zucchini (?) enveloped in batter. It was a nice little snack to start with.
The traditional bibimbap with original sauce was excellent. The variety of vegetables and other goodies in the bowl were satisfying, and there was a nice layer of crispy rice at the bottom (definitely my favourite part). Came with miso soup, kimchi, and the aforementioned cinnamon-ginger tea. For $8.99, this was a steal. Will definitely be back to try the BBQ and the kalbi versions.
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re: 1sweetpea
Unfortunately no, and the kimchi that is served is almost flavourless, with no heat at all.
I dined at the restaurant a couple of days ago and found it to be okay, as in another neighbourhood restaurant that I'll occasionally go to or take out from. But, in my opinion, it's not a destination restaurant. The bibimbaps we had were good but not very generous a serving. There's a choice of five different sauces available for mixing in, and all of them, including the "suicide," were quite mild and on the sweet side.
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Do they offer brown rice as an option instead of white rice? I'd like to try the place, but am even more wary of it now, given your review. Sure sounds like dumbed down, unauthentic Korean food to me.
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re: StoneBowl
Davwud
Jan 19, 2011 10:47 AM
I took a look around the website and I'm impressed.
I've never had BBB but you make it sound delicious and the care you put into your food makes it all that much better.
We'll see ya sometime soon.
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re: mrsleny
I went and really enjoyed it. And yes, they have veggie options. Their lunch special was a mushroom bowl for $4.99, which seems like a great price.
I had the 'Korean BBQ BiBimBap' and thought it was delish. The sauce is housemade, so no MSG, which I love. And it was very tasty.
I was given two complimentary dishes I think the owner was trying out: veggie tempura and a post-meal 'dessert' cinnamon ginger/drink. The veggie tempura were fine. Aside from the carrot one, which I did not care for, they were good, but a touch on the plain side (for me at least). I would not rush to order, but then I am not a huge veggie tempura fanatic. The cinnamon dessert drink was delicious and something I've never had before. A bit of sliced dried apricot and pine nuts made a tasty, simple, and pretty garnish to the drink. And these two courses were on the house in my case, so that was very sweet and appreciated.
The owner and staff are incredibly nice and passionate about food and it’s a simple but nice place. It's good to have tasty bibimbap in the area now.
I look forward to returning.
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re: magic
mrsleny
Dec 28, 2010 06:44 PM
I love that cinnamon/ginger after dinner drink. Very refreshing and probably helps with digestion. We used to get complimentary servings at a small Korean/Japanese restaurant (Sam Jung?) on Leslie south of Sheppard. I've never had it before. Unfortunately, they must have changed management because the last few times we were there, the service was terrible and we never got the cinnamon drink. Glad to hear we can get it at Stone Bowl.
I make my own now. It's very simple. I think dried persimmon is the usual garnish, though I don't usually bother with it. I like this recipe: http://appetiteforchina.com/recipes/c....
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