BI BIM BAP 950 Eglinton W, at Rostrevor, 416-787-7423, stonebowl.ca.
As Momufuku’s David Chang is to ramen, Sam and Janet Lee are to bi bim bap. The Lees’ obsession isn’t noodles, but the baked meal-in-one rice bowls that some call the Kraft Dinner of Korea.
No junk food these. In fact, the self-taught chefs’ carte is so unusually healthful, not to mention free of MSG, that a good portion of it is vegetarian. They’ll even substitute brown rice for white. This from a cuisine that traditionally considers chicken a vegetable.
Alongside the usual suspects like bulgogi-style beef and teriyaki-ish chicken, find ‘bap topped with a vertable forest of funghi – cremini, button, both brown and white beech, portobello, oyster, shiitake, enoki – as well as house-made banchan pickles of spinach, sprouts, daikon, carrot, cucumber, zucchini, burdock and fiddlehead. Extra-hot Go Chu Jang chili sauce and a whole buncha crunchy rice, too.
The Lees are also about to introduce a cranberry-infused wasabi sauce – or is it wasabi-infused cranberry sauce? – and an entirely vegan kimchi.
“Korean food has always been very health-conscious,” says Lee. “It’s only in the last few decades that’s its become commercialized and unhealthy. We’re trying to bring it back to the way it used to be.”
Tuesday to Saturday 11 am to 10 pm, Sunday 11 am to 8 pm. Closed Monday, some holidays. Licensed. Access: barrier-free, washrooms in basement.
