Bibiya Bibimbap

Bibiya offers fresh and healthful Korean dishes that can even be customized. If you’ve ever been curious about new Asian flavors, this is the place to try them.

By Katie Pollock Estes Photo by Kevin O'Riley

For Asian food–lovers (and particularly those with a taste for Korean flavors), there’s a new yum in town. Bibiya offers beautifully presented and always tasty options that are pretty darn affordable (every dish but one is less than $10). Bibiya is a fast-casual restaurant, one where you order at the counter, then find a seat and wait for your food. But I wouldn’t call it “fast food” by any means. The food is obviously freshly made.

The spot specializes in bibimbap (a Korean dish made with rice, veggies, egg, meat and a spicy sauce) and serves it in create-your-own form. That means you choose the type of bibimbap (salad, traditional or hot stone), the type of rice, an optional protein if you prefer and a yummy sauce. The hot stone version, which I recommend, is served in a super-hot stone bowl. The rice is on the bottom, topped with veggies and meat. You add the sauce to your liking, then stir it all up.

Over the course of three visits, I tried a handful of dishes and a few different bibimbap combinations. Here are some highlights:

• Hot stone bibimbap with chicken, mixed rice and kochi sauce. This was my favorite because it came with the kochi sauce (made with a spicy soybean paste called gochujang), so it tasted the most like the kind of bibimbap I had in South Korea. The rice was a mix of black and white rice, and the sauce was the perfect heat-filled complement. It came with a side of pickled onions and a little bowl of warm soybean soup. Delicious!

• Kimchi fried rice. Like the dish above, this is served in a piping hot bowl. But its contents are so simply delicious: Just fried white rice and spicy kimchi. Every bite was a bit of a tongue burner, but it was also bursting with flavor. It’s true love in a crackling hot bowl.

• Traditional bibimbap with bulgogi (beef), white rice and sesame sauce. The bulgogi was just barely sweet and so tender, and the sesame sauce was nutty and mild—and a nice change of pace from the spicier options.

• Zaru soba. This dish strayed far from the bibimbap format. It consisted of two darling little nests of chilled soba noodles that were served with a dish of chilled broth for dipping. The process of actually eating it took a second to figure out. I had to secure the noodles in my chopsticks, dip them in the broth without letting them unwind, then hurl them haphazardly toward my mouth before they all slipped away. I’m sure there was a better way to do that. Regardless of my ineptitude, I loved this dish and would order it again. The coolness of the noodles and savory-sweet broth make it a downright refreshing lunch. Not too filling, but still quite satisfying.

In case you couldn’t tell yet, I am really growing to love this place. Aside from the customizable bibimbap meals, the menu also offers a couple of kinds of ramen (noodle soups) and a few lunch boxes and rice-meat-veggie bowls. There are a handful of appetizers, like dumplings and spring rolls. There are even bulgogi burgers. But on my next visit, will I be able to tear myself away from my beloved hot stone bowl? We shall see…