ordered the Hot Stone Bimbimbap Combo, which included the Bimbimbap as well as a Sesame Soontofu. I was assured by the waitress that these dishes were vegetarian and I excitedly waited for the dishes to be served. As with most Korean places, the side dishes were served up as appetisers. There was the usual kimchi, a small plate of seaweed, a piece of fried fish, as well as spicy stir fried squid. The sides dishes tasted decent; nothing too fanciful or different from what I have had before at other places. Still, I could not judge the quality of the place before I have seen their main cast right?
The Bimbimbap looked nothing short of fantastic in my opinion. As mentioned, the mix of bright colours really appealed in the dish, and the claypot that held the food highlighted the aesthetics of the entire dish. The bed of white rice that lay beneath the vegetables looked fresh and bursting with flavour. The Sesame Soontofu however did not look as pleasing and the steamed egg that floated above the soup laid in pieces. Seaweed floated around limply in the soup bowl and the bowl just did not appeal to me.
The Bimbimbap could stand to score higher in terms of taste. I noted, and enjoyed the taste of the charred rice that was typical as with claypot dishes. The claypot meant that the rice bits stuck to the side of the claypot were typically charred and had a nice roasted smell to it. However the rest of the rice were not as soft as I would have preferred my rice. The plus point for the dish was that as expected, the freshness of the vegetables really helped to enhance the fragrance and the smell of the bimbimbap. However, and this could actually be down to a ‘plus point’, but SBCD’s proud declaration of no MSG in their dishes also meant that the dish tasted rather bland as a whole. I felt that the bimbimbap did not have a strong a flavour as one would expect from most Korean dishes. As mentioned, the texture of the dish was also ordinary and the sole plus point would come from the fragrance from the vegetables. The soup was also cold, and tasted bland and plain. However, the steamed egg turned out to be rather tasty. Despite its appearance, the chunky egg bits were welcomed and tasted delicious.
Hot Stone Bibimbap
