Bi Bim Bap is now open! Occupying the former Doughboy's Pizza location, Bi Bim Bap serves both Korean and Japanese food. They have a sushi bar staffed by two sushi chefs. The interior of the restaurant has undergone significant renovation with new paint, tile, and lighting.
I was surprised to see how much of the menu is Japanese rather than Korean. Out of fourteen pages, only two pages of the menu are dedicated to Korean dishes. The rest is mostly sushi and bento box. There are lunch specials, Tuesday-Friday, that make trying the Japanese food more affordable. The full menu is pictured below
We chose two Korean dishes: bibimbap and bulgogi as well as three Japanese items: sushi, age tofu and yaki udon. Bibimbap is normally served in a very hot pot that sizzles the ingredients. This was not the case during our visit. Perhaps they are skipping that step for safety's sake. Overall, the dish was pretty good. I would have liked more vegetables. It was topped the same meat as was served in the bulgogi dish. I found the bulgogi to be disappointing. I'm used to bulgogi being marinated in a more flavorful marinade and being grilled at the table. This was served already cooked. It was served on a cast iron pan (like fajitas are served on in Tex-Mex restaurants) but the plate wasn't particularly hot.
As for the Japanese food, I felt it was better than the Korean dishes. Age tofu is a favorite of mine and the restaurant's rendition of it was good. The California Rolls (my 3-year old's request) were as you would expect (California Rolls being pretty standard fair that are easy to make well.) Since we did not order any other sushi or sashimi, I can't really comment on the quality of the sushi chefs. The yaki udon dish tasted really delicious at the first serving. Taking a second serving, I felt it was saltier than I liked.
My caveat to my review is that this is their first week of being open. It's often not a fair assessment to judge a restaurant so soon after opening. Some of the issues (like the temperature of the food) will surely be resolved as they work out the kinks. I plan to revisit the restaurant again in a month or two, to see how things have evolved.
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