돌솥 비빔밥 @ 더 김밥 Dolsot Bibimbap @ The Kimbap, Kuching.

Koreana
Kimchi Korea, Onejaya
Seoul Garden
Goong
Haeun Dae
The Kimbap

That's pretty much it as far as stand alone Korean restaurant goes in Kuching, excluding the food stalls selling Korean food in malls. I hope I got everything.

So recently I started watching this Korean drama called Let's Eat (식사를 합시다). And oh my goodness the fooooooooddd. It's like seriously better than Eat Your Kimchi FAPFAP sexy food shots. Which led me to thinking, I've been missing out a lot on some of the variations of Korean food. The ramyeon has the cheese ramyeon, the bulgogi has the ttukbaegi bulgogi and bulgogi jeongeol and the bibimbap has the dolsot bibimbap. Having worked in a Korean restaurant for over a year, I often turn to Korean food as my go-to comfort food. Its familiar flavors entice me and seriously mun tengah malam nang nyuroh ku lapar doe. So I decided to try a version of the bibimbap that I've not tried before. The dolsot bibimbap.

The Kimbap is situated at the famous Jalan Song, a place in Kuching that if you mention, people will think about food. Jalan Song is littered with restaurants, eateries, food stalls and just a short drive away is the 101 area, another familiar name acquainted with food for Kuchingites.

Yet to try the Daebak Chicken. Waiting for that chance one day.

The place is actually quite nice. It's not a big establishment but just nice. Just like Goong, they have a TV playing Korean K-pop music videos and the occasional Jessie J and Taylor Swift.

Sat down, was given a menu and an order chit to fill and the wait begins...jeng jeng jeng. The menu is not that extensive. It features of course, a wide selection of kimbap, some familiar favorites sch as ramyeon, bulgogi, tteokbokki and chicken. The dolsot bibimbap took a little longer than the normal bibimbap because the stone bowl has to be heated up first before putting in the necessary ingredients. The (expected) result? Lava hot stone bowl with rice sizzling and crackling waiting to be devoured.
And it did appear that way.

While waiting for the food, the customary kimchi is given along with your utensils and a bowl of plain soup. There doesn't seem to be any other banchan here other than kimchi. Even the one at Jalan Song serves kimchi with one other type of banchan which is different everyday. Perhaps I need to order something else to get more than kimchi? Hmmm..The kimchi is more on the sour end of the spectrum and less spicy. It tastes more of old, longer fermented kimchi rather than the fresh spicy kimchi. Some may like it old, some may like it fresh. I like it in the middle. If you want mind blowing red hot kimchi, go to Onejaya.

왔다~~~! 

Technically, the bibimbap isn't served in a dolsot. To be more accurate, it is served in a ddukbaegi (뚝배기) which is similar to a dolsot but more versatile. It still does the job of keeping the rice hot and sizzling at the bottom so iboh mok banyak complain bah! When the rice arrived, I can hear very clearly the sizzle and crackle of the rice at the bottom. Mmmm that is sure gonna be some nice crust down there.

The bibimbap is topped with carrots, sprouts, spinach, radish, fernbrake/bracken (고사리), some beef and of course the gochujang. You are given a bottle of gochujang together with your bibimbap. If the amount in the rice isn't enough for you, you can add some more according to your taste. I prefer to add more heheheheh..makan sikboh alang alang la tek nak? 

The rice all mixed up. The way to eat Dolsot bibimbap is you mix everything together like you would a regular bibimbap but... You leave that one layer or rice at the bottom untouched. Let it be, let it harden and when you're finished with everything on the top, you will get a nice hard crust made of semi burnt rice which has absorbed all of the seasoning and flavors from the gochujang on top.

And there you have it, that layer of crunchiness. You can eat it two ways. One is you just scrape everything off the bottom and eat it as it is. It will kinda taste like plain popcorn and the other way is your add some soup to it so you have something like a rice porridge. Anyway you want it :)

Burp! Excusez-moi hewhew.. Overall my final verdict :

The dish itself was presented well, it was pretty and it was appetizing. My only gripe with it is the egg. In Korea you are served bibimbap with an egg yolk smack in the middle peeping out among all the other ingredients. And when you break it it just awesomely flows all over engulfing your rice, enriching the taste of the whole thing. Here at The Kimbap, you can choose your egg sunny side up or fried. Frankly with a dolsot or ddukbaegi that hot, I'd prefer to have a raw egg cracked over everything and let it cook in the pot. The overall taste of the dish is nice. It was missing a touch or more of sesame oil which would have made a lot of difference, actually. For some, the amount of gochujang in the rice may not be enough but hey at least they gave you an extra bottle. If you like your bibimbap rich  thick and moist, I recommend you order an extra egg and make sure you break the yolk and mix it around with your rice. And don't be afraid to add extra gochujang at this point as the yolk from the two eggs will minimize the spice but still retain the whole flavor. 

Price for the meal : 11.50 for the bibimbap and 2.50 for a bottle mineral water. 

Worth it? I would say yes. Like many other Korean dishes, it is in itself a one bowl meal that will fill you up anytime. 

Head on over to The Kimbap at Brighton Square, Jalan Song. If you can find Howdy's Grillhouse or Cheese and Tea, you've practically got it. They are open Monday to Saturday. 10.30-2.30/5-9 on weekdays and Saturday sees an extra business hour up to 10PM.