After the disappointment of yesterday’s Star, RB said that he wanted a proper meal, one that left him satisfied. With this in mind and a reluctance to take any risks, we went to an old favourite, the bibimba place.
How this place came to be known as the bibimba place is rather unclear, given that none of us have ever ordered bibimba there, but is probably due to us having never bothered to learn the name of the place. When thinking about what I was going to say about the greatest Korean restaurant in Akasaka, I asked RB if he knew the name of the place. Given that we have both been coming here at least a couple of times a month for more than four years, this should be a given, but low and behold neither of us did.
This is rather embarrassing given that every time we come in the lovely lady running the place brings us a bowl full of the greatest cucumber pickles and doesn’t even bother asking what we would like, but just asks if we would like a small or large size, but then perhaps when a restaurant knows you that well, you don’t need names. And I bet that even though the lady behind the counter may know our faces, our orders and our deep appreciation for her cucumber pickles – she probably doesn’t know our names either.
The food: Whilst there are a number of dishes on the menu that look rather tasty, I have only ever had one dish at this place – the ishiyaki karubi don. This is a great meal, one of Akasaka’s finest, a bowl of rice, with meat, chilli paste and a raw egg on top. Not just any bowl however, a stone bowl that has been heated to white-hot temperatures. The contents are then mixed up and smeared all over the sides to form crispy rice bits, a sort of Asian pork crackling if you like. 32 points.
The price: 950 yen for a normal size, 1,050 yen for a large size, but either or, I always leave the place feeling satisfied. 8 points.
The volume: More than enough, the only loss of points is that we never seem to get as many of the cucumber pickles as we would like, but that is a minor gripe given that we would probably eat the place out of any profit if we were able to get out fill of them. 12 points.
The extras: A bowl of slightly peppery flavoured soup, which whilst not offensive doesn’t do a huge amount for me, a jug of roast corn (I think) tea, some standard daikon kimchi and the best cucumber pickles I have ever come across. The cucumbers are pickled in a mixture of chilli, sesame oil and various other secret ingredients (or at least ingredients that I have not been able to identify) and are superb – flavoursome, perfect texture of slightly pickled yet still crisp to the bite with a bit of chilli warmth but not an overbearing hear. 13 points.
Bonus: Almost full points, for remembering us, remembering our order and always bringing us extra cucumber pickles, the only reason that full points were not scored was due to the fact that the cucumber pickles come off the menu in winter (too expensive apparently). 18 points.
The details: 1Floor, MT Bldg, 3-6-13 Akasaka, Minato-ku
Phone 03 5570 9442
