Eating Addiction - Bibimbap 1

My love of food is just crazily undeniable!!

And I'm not exaggerating, but I just love food so much that I think I'm insane...

I LOVE to eat and try new food, I also love to cook and experimenting, and most of all I'm so into the world of culinary that I prefer spending my money on buying ingredients (which I won't probably use), buy cooking tools and knife (which i will rarely use), buy recipe books (which I only read and not actually cook the recipe within), all that rather than buy myself a nice pair of heels or a nice dress..

Anywayyyy.. Here goes the first story and just say my Dream umero uno; Food Critics (no.1)

Although I said its number 1 dream, it's actually one of my many MANY dreams , my main dream is actually to be a Chef, so just you know..

But I do love to talk about food, I also love criticizing it, never in front of my friends cause they'll probably get sick of it.

I'm not a picky eater, I basically eat anything edible; vegetables, fish, meat, i don't have any particular likings though, but I have a tendency to crave for a certain food..at certain times..

 I love, I mean LOVE spicy foods, and I prefer something salty rather than sweet.

I always finish my food whether it's delicious or not, unless I'm really full OR I don't like the food THAT much that I cannot bear to swallow another spoon of it..so yea..

First post is about criticizing food will goes to my very recent favorite restaurant in town; Bibimbap.

From the name itself you can tell that it's a Korean restaurant, it's located in ByPass Ngurah Rai, Bali (there you go, I'm currently living in the paradise, the Island of God; Bali, Indonesia). The restaurant is placed amongst the little shops near the underpass just across the Mall Bali Galleria. 

From the outside of the restaurant, is nothing fancy, very humble looking..in fact it looks more like an eatery rather than a restaurant..

It's air conditioned inside so I'll just call it a restaurant,,hehehe

So this restaurant is one of my favorite where I never get bored of the food.

"Why?" you may ask "Is the food THAT delicious?"

To be honest.. I'm not sure that it's the best Korean Restaurant in Bali or not, cause quite frankly I never try any other Korean Restaurant..

But there's something about Korean food that I really love. And NO it's not because I'm one of those K-Pop fans, I mean I enjoy Korean Variety Show compare to the Indonesian show or sinetron (Indonesian drama series), and through these shows I was introduced to Korean cuisine..

From the look of it, Korean food are just fantastic looking (I'm drooling now), and I love the idea of fermented food, it really made me wanted to try the food, that's why i go to this restaurant.

I never been to Korea so I don't really know how Korean food supposed to taste like but I do have a couple of Korean friends. Whenever I went to their house their Mom will always offer me Korean food, i wasn't so into it back then. But then there was a time during college where I would casually stroll around the supermarket and see this unique looking ingredients, which I did taste before at my friend's but couldn't recall the taste. So I decided to buy it.

It was Tteok or rice cake.

I decided to make Tteokbokki or Korean Spicy Rice Cake.

Found a recipe online and add a thing and two to it, and thought it was delicious.

A couple months ago my colleagues took me to this Bibimbap restaurant.

I don't know what to expect, the interior of the restaurant was plain simple, just simple wooden chairs and tables.

It's owned by a Korean family, where the mother is always in the restaurant. The thing that made me really enjoy eating at this place is that it has a homey atmosphere to it. The flavor is also like that, you can taste that it's not made by some sort of Michelin Starred Chef, it tasted like it was made by a housewife, a mother, a very comforting flavor.

Front cover of the Menu

They also serve desserts

As you can see the menu is not much. They pretty much offer some of Korean favorite dishes.

Whenever I went there with my friends we always order the same thing; Pork Gimbap, Samgyeopsal, Yukgaejang (I'll explain these food on my next post). Well it was only the 3 of us who always come here often, let's just call them, Konika and Yaya. 

We were actually curious to try one of their daily menu (at least I was), it was Bossam which is only available on Friday. Unfortunately up until now I never tried it because it was always sold out TT^TT, and it was only 8 pm!!

Table set-up, they even give you FREE refillable cold water

As I told you I always went there with my friends but instead this time I went with my family. It was the 3rd time actually. Well my family are Chinese Indonesian, so we typically enjoy Chinese or Indonesian Food. We rarely eat at a Western or any other restaurant. 

My Brother and Dad does enjoy eating Japanese food though and they don't mind Western Cuisine either. My Mom however doesn't really enjoy it but when I took them here, they unexpectedly like the food (which was a surprise especially for my Mom). 

This time we decided to pick a couple of different dishes.

Ban Chan or Side Dishes

In Korean Cuisine, the food are always accompanied with side dishes or Ban Chan. In this restaurant they always give you 5 different kind of side dishes, with of course the mandatory Kim Chi. As you can see in the picture, this time we got some Napa Cabbage Kim Chi (bottom right). I can't tell you exactly what the others are, but I'll give you my thought of what and how it was.

Starting from Top Left going clockwise;

- Fish Cake??

 It was some sort of pancake or Jeon, I think it was made with some sort of seafood mixture?? it was red orangey color. I can see some red chili bits in it. I'm still not sure what it is, maybe some sort of fishcake? but a little doughy as well. The flavor itself is pretty plain, nothing special, just a hint of umami.

- Stir Fry Cabbage

Quite simple, sauteed cabbage with some carrot and leek, clean flavor. Not heavily seasoned, you can  clearly taste the sesame oil. It's pretty nice actually because you can really taste the natural sweetness of the cabbage and best thing is it's not oily.

- Seasoned Daikon

I'm not sure what daikon is in English, i think it's Japanese turnip / radish. Julienned, blanched really quickly, then it was seasoned with some Gochujang (Korean Red Pepper Paste), chilli powder, sesame oil, and sesame seed. The taste of it again it's pretty light, the seasoning doesn't overpower the ingredients which i really like. The daikon has a subtle sweet taste, you still can taste the 'earthy' flavor though, which I think not many people like.

- Kim Chi

The nappa  or Chinese cabbage Kim Chi, I would say that this is the mandatory dish that you must have while enjoying Korean Food. It's nice and cold, crunchy, salty, tangy, and slightly spicy all at once. The taste of it is really fresh but it has a certain depth to it which derived from the fermentation process. The Kim Chi this time was however not as nice as the one I had before in this same restaurant. It was because this time the Kim Chi we had was still 'young' and hasn't aged that long.

(so you see, aged taste better! The older the better ;) ) 

- Braised Tofu

This one is my favorite for sure! The tofu was fried then braised with some soy sauce, sesame oil, and corn syrup (I guess). I'm not sure what kind of tofu they used but it does taste like the local tofu we have in Indonesia. It has a sweet taste but it's not overwhelming.

 

The first dish that came was the Monday Special which is the Dak-Bokkeum-Tang or Braised Spicy Chicken and Vegetables. Unlike the name, it wasn't spicy at all. I don't know if it was just my tongue (us Indonesian love our food spicy) but there's not a even a hint of spiciness. I'm not saying it's bad, in fact I like the flavor, (like but not love) the sauce of this is really thick and sweet actually. I reckon the thickness of the sauce derived from the potato that's braised along the chicken, because you can slightly taste that starchy powdery feeling within the sauce. The vegetables inside were potato, carrot, and leek. the leek was added just before serving which was quite 'raw' actually, but it does help this dish with a whole lot of freshness and not being too heavy and greasy.

Let me just tell you the best thing about this dish though..the chicken..Oh My God YES the CHICKEN! It was pretty amazing! I never tasted any chicken like it was in this dish! It was juicy and tender but not like the fried chicken greasy juicy, it was actually a very lean clean taste. the seasoning was absorbed perfectly, the chicken was very tender that it actually fell apart in my mouth! I'm not overreacting but it was a very nice well cooked chicken! But I guess you have to try it yourself to know ay..

Next we had the Gimbap, instead of the usual pork, we've decided to go with the beef this time. Gimbap is like a Korean version of a Japanese Sushi Roll, it's just that the Korean version does not have vinegar inside of the rice. Gimbap can contain anything inside, to nothing but just a smear of Gochujang. As long as it has rice that's rolled inside Nori or seaweed, it's called Gimbap! 

For me personally this Gimbap is pretty mediocre, not too brag or anything but i think I make a killer Gimbap! But anyway anything with Takuan (yellow pickled daikon) in it makes me happy, so I'm pretty satisfied with this Gimbap of beef, carrot, cucumber, egg, and takuan.

Next is the Pork Bulgogi or Dwaeji Bulgogi the grill / stir fried seasoned pork. Unlike the Beef Bulgogi which is seasoned with Ganjang or soy sauce, this one is red in color which I'm guessing they used Gochujang (Korean red pepper paste). According to the owner's daughter, she said that this was quite spicy but again it really can't beat the Indonesian Sambal (chilli sauce)! For me this was ok, it was nice and flavorful, garlicky of course, i love my garlic but it doesn't have the strong impact of the Beef version. But if you do love your pork (like my brother) you have to try this.

Along with the Pork Bulgogi you will get assorted vegetables to make a wrap or Ssam. You basically take the lettuce with whatever vegetables you want add the meat, you can even add rice, Kim Chi, anything basically, wrap it then eat it in one go (it's a 'one shot' thing). As you can see they gave us some green lettuce, raw nappa cabbage, carrot sticks, cucumber, sliced green chili, and sometimes blanched cabbage. I always ask for sliced raw garlic though, very nice addition to any grilled meat.

Doenjang Jjigae is our choice of soupy dish. I was dissapointed of the portion, it was really small compared to the price i have to spent. But despite the price this was another bomb!! I'm telling you this Doenjang Jjigae or Fermented Soy Bean Stew is totally my style. It's earthy, hearty, and surprisingly fresh. It has nice chunks of zucchini  tofu, red chili, leek, onion, and beef. If you ever tried Japanese Miso or the Chinese Tauco, trust me the Korean Doenjang is a better version of fermented soy bean paste! 

(no offense to the others, it's a matter of preference ;D)

Our last dish was actually a complimentary from the lady boss! Gamsamida :) 

It was a Jeon or pancake of spring onion, very nice and crispy. Combined with a dipping made out of soy sauce, leek, garlic, ginger, and chili powder, a nice way to end the meal, yumm.. <3

Overall I always enjoy my time at Bibimbap, friendly staffs very attentive, price is worth it (mostly), most of the food make you crave for more, and who am i kidding i love the refillable side dish, lettuce, and water! #freebieslover

Lots of Love,

JJ 'The Wonderer'

Ps. please wait for my next post, about the food that I've tried in Bibimbap