ottawa foodies

There is really good Bibimbap at the restaurant in the lobby at 1600 Carling Ave the former Corel building. To get it you'd have to check out the specials menu on Monday and see which day of the week it will be. In general they serve really good Asian dishes there though sometimes 1 day a week is hamburgers all other days are Asian food. Basically a really good Asian special every day unless you are unlucky and get there on hamburger day.

Here is a picture of the newer container. It is slightly bigger and the price has been adjusted to $9 as well.

Their Bibimpap remains one of my favourite lunch options in the downtown area. The food is pre made and assembled at time of order. What I like is that the vegetables are steamed or marinated (perhaps fermented) so it is very healthy. There is a choice of mildly spicy beef, spicy chicken or spicy pork. Each container us garnished with Kim chi. You can add condiments of your choice: Korean spicy sauce, gluten free soy sauce, sesame seeds and sesame oil. In fact, everything is gluten free.

My only comment is the consistency of the size. All summer, the container was filled at 3/4 of its space. This past Friday, it was just a little below that thresholds. A couple of spoonfuls of rice would have just brought it to that mark. Maybe it was just that day. I will still eat here, but just noting that it can be a little uneven in the portion.

Continuing along with the food truck theme I headed off to Bap (Raon Kitchen's food cart on Bank) for lunch today. I've tried all four of their options already however the spicy pork bibimbap is my favourite. It comes with rice, grated carrot, egg slices, seaweed, and greens. Customers have the option of ordering a side of kimchi and I always ask for some. There are an assortment of seasonings to add and I like to top off my bibimbap with sesame oil, sesame seeds, and hot sauce. The price has gone up to $9 now but it is still worth every penny. This year they are now using Chinese take-out boxes instead of Styrofoam containers however the portions look smaller to me. I noticed that you can also purchase jars of kimchi and hot sauce from their food cart now.

Had the spicy pork Bibmbap from their cart on bank and Queen. Came with spicy pork, kimchi, egg, greens, shredded carrots and cabbage over rice for $8. Great flavours and fresh ingredients. Also really like the condiments which were hot sauce, lemon soy sauce, sesame oil and sesame seeds. Its easy to assume that with this many elements in one bowl the flavours would get muddied but everything worked perfectly together.

Tried the Beef Bibimbap at the Ottawa Farmer's Market. There are many things about this dish that make it perfect street food: it's a complete meal in a bowl, it has great flavour (with self-administered spicy sauce, sesame oil, and sesame seeds), and it is satisfying but leaves room for dessert. The beef wasn't the greatest as it was more boiled than grilled, probably due to large batch cooking. I would try the tofu or chicken next time!

The sampler of Korean Iced Tea I tried was wonderful. Ginger and lime components, if I recall correctly. So refreshing!

The food is prepared with care and of good quality. The beef bibimbap came with a decent portion of beef, a side of kimchi, and carefully prepared toppings (shredded egg and carrots, bean sprouts, spinach and shiitake mushroom). Everything is slightly flavoured and one can adjust with additional soy sauce, Korean spicy sauce, sesame oil and sesame seeds. My only complaint is that I would like the portion to be slightly bigger even if I pay a bit extra so perhaps the option for a large order. Overall, a satisfying lunch.

Finally got around to trying @RaonKitchen / [bap] today - IMO this is good food with good value. Bibimbap (choice of tofu/chicken/beef - I had tofu) with a little side of kimchi is $7, and the loyalty card gets you a free meal every 7th visit. Doing the math, this makes it $6 taxes-in per meal. I personally think is in the realm of reasonableness for a street food dish of this size. Service was lightning fast - the lineup was 10 deep and I waited no more than 5 minutes.

Props to @RaonKitchen - I'll be bibimback

The Dolsot Bibimbap ($12.50) is very good here! Served in a heated stone bowl with a raw egg yolk, you stir it all together to combine the goodness and cook the egg. Necessary flavour and spice are added by way of a cute little side bowl of 고추장 (gochujang chili paste), and an included bowl of miso soup makes it feel like a complete meal.

The Bulgogi Beef Bibimbap ($11.95) was excellent. It didn't have the usual egg and the veggies were not warmed up but the overall experience was toothsome and delicious nevertheless! The rice was perfectly cooked with a nice chewiness and it had red pepper sauce mixed in for some zing. The beef was tasty and all the different veggie components made this an excellent and satisfying meal.

We've had the bimimbap at Alirang on Nelson St and found it to be really good. Comes with Barley tea, miso soup, kimchi and two other condimennts...

I had Dolsot Bibimbap for the first time today and it was delightful! Thanks fellow Ottawa Foodies for recommending this dish.
I can't compare Joy's to any other restaurant's, obviously. But I can tell you it was $13 and came with Miso soup, salad and kimchi. I found this to be a great deal, since I couldn't even finish it all. Mmmm ... sesame oil + clay pot = crispy bits of rice. I loved it.
If anyone has any other recommendations of where to get good Bibimbap, please let me know. I think Bibimbap is going to replace my pho addiction.
Plus, it's fun to say. Bibimbap. Bibimbap.

I've had worse (and far worse) in Toronto, Vancouver, Ottawa, the States and at the homes of 1st generation Koreans. Since we established you're not a troll (right?) and we should take your reviews at face value, maybe the meal you had was sub-standard. That's possible: the restaurant's been open for a month or so, and there's always a risk trying a place still hitting its stride, or maybe they're on a decline since opening? Maybe try again in a couple months? Its a good experience, sometimes, to try out restaurants that are still evolving, working things out.

As to the other facts you "perpetuate", the prices are on par w/ other Korean restaurants--maybe tad more expensive(?), but not outrageous. (The menu's available from the website if others are interested.) Generally, restaurant prices have to be compared to others in the same genre in the local economy. You're going to frustrate yourself if you continue comparing the costs directly to what you might have paid in LA or NY (or wherever).

And, the owner *is* Korean--its not a case of "might be". If you speak Korean, chat him up, you'll find out. No need to obfuscate w/ references to "Corean".

(NB: i just saw FF's reply, but decided to post anyway.)

peterrabbit's comment on Bibimbap at SooRa is a textbook example of how not to write a useful review:

* it shows disrespect to other users of this site.
* it makes vague and general references to "horrible food" without detail or explanation
* it is melodramatic and uses hyperbole and coarse language in an ineffective way
* it includes an angry and off-topic slur, by suggesting that the owner isn't "Corean". This implies peterrabbit is either more than 100 years old or he will slam any Korean restaurant that offers sushi.

[EDIT: I was just looking at SooRa's menu and there's no sushi there! So is it the presence of Soba and Tempura that suggest it isn't "Corean?" Recommended reading: the "Harry Potter" series, with focus on the Mudblood subtext.]

ho-ooooooooooooooooly cow.

this is the worst korean food i've ever had in my life.

the decor is nice, people are nice, but the food is horrible AND overpriced. the owner might be korean, but def not corean. it's people like yous (who like crap food like this) that perpetuate shit food in ottawa. wake up.

My wife and I ordered bibimbap from Kochu a few weeks ago. Along with the usual veggies, rice and egg, their version includes beef strips which I think are marinated in bulgogi sauce. Quite tasty, and reasonably priced at $6.95.

Our bibimbap was served piping hot and was very fresh. However, I have not tried many other Korean restaurants so I cannot give it a fair comparison.

I visited Miga Thursday evening and ordered the Dolsot Bibimbap. I've also tried this dish at Seoul House, and definitely thought Miga's was superior. Completely agree with Fresh Foodie's take on the dish. The sesame oil adds a nice flavour, and the vegetables on the top are fresh and the bowl sizzled nicely as it arrived.

You can also order the Bibimbap, which I believe is the exact same dish except without the stone bowl. It is $2 more for the Dolsot Bibimbap, which kind of makes a frugal foodie like myself think about downgrading to save the $2 if that's the only difference. But the crispy rice on the bottom of the bowl is definitely tasty.

The Dolsot Bibimap is very good here! A strong taste of sesame oil permeates the dish and they give you a bottle of spicy sauce that you can squirt in to bring the spice up to just past your comfort level. Presentation is beautiful and memorable.

Really great bibimbap! ($11.29) Generous portion of veggies and delicious sauce slathered meat on more than enough rice. Comes with small side of kimchi, not pictured. Looking forward to trying the fried chicken and k-bowls.