One Saturday night driving home starving from a long day helping a friend move, I (Amanda) and my mum decide we need food quick and a toasted sandwich at home was not going to cut it, so we dropped in for the first time at at Bibimbap.
One of my friends is a regular diner here so I thought this would be a good opportunity to give her recommendation a try. It is a small establishment located down a suburban road of Tranmere. I thought it was more of a takeaway type of place but on entering I was pleasantly surprised as the interior was quite decent – simple but cute and neat.
We are escorted to one of the only available tables left and we order quickly as our starvation levels are escalating by the second! We start with some steamed vegetable dumplings to tie us over until the main order of Bibimbap arrives.
The vegetarian dumplings with a side of soy sauce did the trick of calming our hunger levels. The dumpling wrapper was nice and thin and had a good amount of vegetable filling. We honestly ate these very fast because we were so hungry but thinking back on them I’ve had better tasting dumplings before… maybe they just needed a little more time in the steamer as the dumpling wrappers were quite firm.
Our sizzling bibimbap arrived looking colourful and smelling delicious with accompaniments of chilli paste (gochujang) and kimchi… oh and extra kimchi for this addict! I selected the spicy chicken bibimbap (without onion) and my mum who can’t handle too much chilli selected the soy chicken. I really enjoyed this bibimbap, it was a very decent serving size which had generous amounts of sliced zucchini and carrot, bean sprouts, lettuce and that spicy marinated chicken. Once I spooned in my chilli paste and kimchi it really was one big spice filled fun party. The sizzling plate worked wonders in keeping the dish warm and steaming throughout and created divine crunchy rice bits at the bottom.
If I’m going to be picky, I would have liked a little more tang in my kimchi but it was nothing to stop me from polishing off 3 bowls of it! For $19 it is not a super cheap Bibimbap for the suburbs but for the quality and quantity it was worth every penny.
It was my mum’s first time having bibimbap and she was most impressed. She especially loved that she could add in as much spice as she liked from the separately provided kimchi and chilli paste bowls. She was also a little worried about the raw egg yolk on top at first sight but soon realised once mixed in, the egg cooked through to add another delicious element to the dish.
We were so grateful for a quick and delicious meal that night to cure our hunger pangs. I’m even more grateful that Bibimbap is located in my nearby neighbourhood so I can return time and again now that I know I can get a decent Korean feed there… oh and I took a takeaway menu on my way out so looks like I can enjoy a cosy night in during winter with a bibimbap on my lap!
Vegetarian/Vegan Friendly :: Some vegetarian options.
Child Friendly :: The place itself is child friendly but the food will depend on the individual child.
Ambiance :: 4/5 Neat, casual and a full house on this night providing lots of chatter.
Service :: 4/5 Friendly and prompt.
Food :: 8/10 Delicious Korean food in the suburbs.
In total OTCB gives Bibimbap 16/20 chops on The Chopping Board.
:: Feature image credit: Bibimbap ::
Bibimbap sounds quite interesting and would love to dine for the korean food there.