Korean restaurant in Gwacheon for hot stone roe rice: Bibisam

I went to Bibisam Gwacheon Main Branch (비비삼 과천본점) for lunch in Gwacheon. It caught my eye as a hot stone bowl specialist that uses toreum, a method of rinsing rice with broth. This time, I had the roe rice set with pork tteokgalbi and added Korean beef yukhoe.

I had thought toreum was a method used only for gukbap, but the restaurant said its rice is prepared this way. I was curious how it would differ from the bibimbap I usually eat.

How do I get there from Government Complex Gwacheon Station?

It is about a five-minute walk from Exit 11 of Government Complex Gwacheon Station on Line 4. The address is 10-13 Saesulmak-gil, 1F, Unit 101, Gwacheon-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea, and part of the storefront has floor-to-ceiling windows.

At the time of the original post, it was listed as open daily from 11:00 AM to 10:00 PM, year-round. On-site parking was unavailable, and a nearby public parking lot was listed at ₩900 for the first 30 minutes.

What are the wait and ordering like for lunch alone?

There was a wait not only during the lunch rush but also after lunchtime. I happened to get in when a seat opened up.

I ordered and paid in one go at the kiosk. Since I returned my own dishes after eating, the process felt straightforward.

How much are the hot stone roe rice set and yukhoe?

The menu included basic vegetable bibimbap as well as bibimbap topped with Korean beef yukhoe and octopus. The choices varied by topping.

Items without tteokgalbi started at ₩9,000, while sets with tteokgalbi started in the low ₩10,000 range. The prices did not feel too burdensome to me.

The set comes with pork tteokgalbi by default, and I could switch to Korean beef tteokgalbi for an additional ₩1,000. Since I planned to order Korean beef yukhoe separately, I chose the pork tteokgalbi.

Because I usually enjoy roe rice, I ordered the hot stone roe rice set. It was ₩13,500 with pork tteokgalbi and ₩14,500 with Korean beef tteokgalbi.

The side menu was short, which made it easy to choose. I ordered Korean beef yukhoe separately for ₩7,000. I planned to eat it as is, then put some over the roe rice as well.

How do I use the self-service bar and food pickup?

There were zero-calorie drinks and regular sodas. Since I collected my ordered drinks from the self-service bar, I picked them up along with the side dishes.

At the self-service bar, I could get broth, white kimchi, aprons, and more. I noticed that the disposable aprons were individually wrapped.

There were also enoki mushrooms for the broth. I put the mushrooms in my bowl first, then poured in the broth.

When my food was ready, a notification appeared on the kiosk. I collected the food myself and returned the dishes after eating.

How is Korean beef yukhoe with hot stone toreum roe rice?

The Korean beef yukhoe was chewy yet tender. The restaurant stated that it does not use meat tenderizer.

The roe rice arrived neatly arranged, sizzling in the hot stone bowl. I mixed it before scorched rice formed, then left it so the remaining heat of the bowl could make nurungji, scorched rice.

Following the guidance that toreum rice tastes good eaten with chopsticks, I tried it that way. The rice felt a little lighter to me.

When I put the yukhoe on the hot roe rice, the outside cooked slightly. It stayed chewy while the inside was tender, so the combination worked well. A fried egg sat on top of the tteokgalbi, and I cut them together to eat.

I scraped up every last bit of the roe rice before leaving. The wait even after lunch is something to keep in mind, but I liked the combination of roe rice and yukhoe enough that I would like to return.