London - Bi Bim Bap

I ended up popping down to London for an interview on Sunday and wandered into the small Korean restaurant, Bi Bim Bap. Found in Soho, on a road adjacent to Ronnie Scotts, this apparently small and unassuming restaurant bombards you on entering with a plethora of tiny photographs lining its walls, all of happy, smiling diners. However, far from being alarmed, this sight rather spurred me on to try and join these troops lining the walls, and so I sat. (Alas, in case you were wondering, I was unsuccessful). One day, maybe.

The restaurant is named after its signature dish, which is also Korea’s national one, Bi Bim Bap. This is a big responsibility for shoulders of such small metrical dimensions, however, Bi Bim Bap did not disappoint. Its signature dish is terribly healthy and consists of rice mixed with vegetables and possibly meat, then usually with the (almost random) addition of a fried egg. It was served in fantastic bowls that seemed to be carved out of stone and that remained firmly on their slabs of wood, as they were terribly hot. The bowls were particularly great as their circumference was wide enough to allow you to get to the food and mix it up as much as you wanted without the fear of it spilling everywhere. I may just be a messy eater, but I’ve definitely had that problem in the past.

We also had the Korean root tea, which was unusual, but delicious. Oh and just as a heads up, downstairs is plastered with posters of Korean girl bands that look like they are styling themselves on the nineties Spice Girls. A bit bizarre, but you can easily hurry past. Although I enjoyed trying the dish Bi Bim Bap, if I’m totally honest I’m not sure that I would return, oh other than to try and get a photo on their wall, of course. 

J