Korean restaurant lunch in Gwacheon: Bibisam bibimbap and tteokgalbi

Craving Korean food for a weekend lunch, I went to Bibisam Gwacheon Main Branch (비비삼 과천본점). I wanted bibimbap, which takes a lot of preparation at home, and was also curious about its torem-style rice.

Where is Bibisam Gwacheon Main Branch, and what is the seating like?

The restaurant is at 10-13 Saesulmak-gil, 1F, Unit 101, Gwacheon-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea. The original post lists its hours as 11 AM to 10 PM daily, and group dining is available.

It was near the Gwacheon Hillstate shopping complex.

There were menu photos and seats outside the restaurant for waiting.

When I visited, the restaurant had not been open long, so the interior was clean and comfortable. There were two-person tables suitable for eating alone, as well as four-person tables for families or larger groups.

How did I choose the bibimbap and tteokgalbi sets?

The menu centered on torem bibimbap, made with rice rinsed in broth. There were bibimbaps with namul, bulgogi, Korean beef yukhoe, or octopus, plus stone-pot albap (rice with flying fish roe). I could also choose sets with Korean pork or Korean beef tteokgalbi (grilled minced-meat patties).

This time, I ordered the Hwangdeung torem Korean beef yukhoe bibimbap with Korean pork tteokgalbi, and stone-pot albap with Korean beef tteokgalbi.

How do ordering, pickup, and the self-service bar work?

I ordered through the table kiosk. The menu came with photos, so it was easy to choose. As the restaurant was run with a small staff, I collected and returned my food myself, and served myself soup and side dishes.

The self-service bar on one side of the restaurant had tableware, utensils, sesame oil, kimchi, and miso soup. I could take what I needed, and it was neatly kept.

Each table also had seaweed flakes. They could be added to bibimbap or albap to taste, which I appreciated because I like adding plenty of them.

I added chopped enoki mushrooms to the miso soup. It was lightly seasoned and went well with the bibimbap, so I had several more servings.

How do you eat the torem Korean beef yukhoe bibimbap, and what did it taste like?

When the food was ready, an alarm sounded and I collected it myself. The bibimbap was generously topped with ingredients including namul, egg, mushrooms, and bean sprouts, and the Korean pork tteokgalbi from the set came alongside it.

The rice had been rinsed in broth and then seasoned, so it had already absorbed the flavor. I was advised to mix it evenly with chopsticks, which is what I did.

The Korean beef yukhoe came on a separate plate rather than on top of the bibimbap. I was advised to place one piece on top at a time instead of mixing it all in.

I first tried the bibimbap on its own. The warm rice was evenly seasoned, with a savory salty taste and a subtle umami note. It was not aggressively spicy, and its nutty flavor was complemented by the crisp namul.

Adding a piece of yukhoe brought a soft texture and nutty flavor. It made the dish feel fuller in flavor than the bibimbap alone.

The Korean pork tteokgalbi was easy to cut and moist. Its nutty meat flavor paired with a subtly sweet seasoning.

How did the stone-pot albap and Korean beef tteokgalbi differ?

The stone-pot albap arrived steaming in a hot stone bowl. This set came with Korean beef tteokgalbi.

The albap contained perilla leaves, crab-flavored fish cake, mushrooms, pickled radish, beef, onion, and flying fish roe. The portion was generous, and since the rice was seasoned in advance, I simply mixed the ingredients evenly.

The flying fish roe popped pleasantly among the grains of rice. The sesame-oil aroma came through nicely, and the seasoning was mild enough to eat comfortably.

The Korean beef tteokgalbi was slightly thicker than the Korean pork version. While I remembered the pork one for its soft, moist texture, the beef one had a richer meat flavor with its juices. Its sweet and savory seasoning was not excessive.

Both the bibimbap and albap were mildly seasoned, and the tteokgalbi made for a filling lunch. I did have to collect and return my food myself, but it was convenient to add as much soup and seaweed flakes as I wanted.