** This restaurant is now closed. **
Nestled in an industrial park by the Whitemud, B-Bim-Baab is a hidden but popular Korean eatery. We weren't expecting too many people when visiting at 3PM on a Sunday but there was a surprising amount of tables occupied. Since brunch is a thing, I guess linner (or dunch) can be one too.
I've been to B-Bim-Baab once before (pre-blogging days) but LT has been countless times, citing it as one of her favourite Korean restaurants in the city.
A couple years back, B-Bim-Baab had a restaurant within their restaurant -- Kenko, it was called, serving Japanese food -- but that has since closed, with no word on whether it'll be back. All their signs and posters are still up so maybe there's some hope.
Walking in, it took a little bit of time before we were acknowledged but we were seated quickly after at one of their tables in a wooden alcove. The alcoves give you a nice amount of privacy but it can also be a bit tricky to get your server's attention.
As is customary with any Korean restaurant, a selection of complimentary banchan is served alongside your meal. From left to right, we were given small samplings of kimchi, seaweed salad, and beansprouts. LT gravitated towards the seaweed salad while I enjoyed the garlicky beansprouts the most. The kimchi was rather fresh as the cabbage retained quite a bit of its crunch.
One of LT's favourite dishes at B-Bim-Baab is their dak kang jung ($13.75), deep fried chicken tossed in a homemade sweet and spicy sauce. The chicken is boneless and cut into perfect bite-sized pieces. It's lightly battered so that the outside is slightly crispy but still tender to bite. The sauce is zesty with just a bit of heat, making the sticky chicken quite addictive to eat.
Another favourite dish of hers that we ordered is the beef galbee ($24.00). Served on a sizzling hot plate, you get three barbecued short bone beef ribs along with a bowl of steamed rice. The meat is super tender, with a sweet marinade that gets nice and caramelized when the meat is grilled.
For our last dish, we decided to go for the restaurant's namesake. We chose the dolsot b-bim-baab ($13.99) with beef (+$2.00). Other available toppings include chicken (+$2.00), tofu (+$1.50), tuna salad (+$4.00), and salmon (+$4.00). The sizzling hot bowl is packed with rice, beef, lettuce, cucumber, carrot, beansprouts, bracken fern stems, and a fried egg. They also provide you with a squeeze bottle of gochujang so you can add as little or as much as you want before mixing everything together. Toppings are plentiful and the crispy rice grains just adds so much to this hearty dish.
To be able to survive for so many years in such an obscure location is a testament to the restaurant itself. Good, solid Korean food that keeps people coming back.
B-Bim-Baab Restaurant & Lounge
9543 42 Ave NW
Edmonton, AB
(780) 433-1239
- CT
0 comments:
Post a Comment