bibimbar — Restaurant in Sydney

With the addition of a few bright menu boards depicting colourful Korean soul food, like the wartime hangover favourite, Korean army stew, Nighthawk Diner has morphed rather seamlessly into Bibimbar. Staffed by a friendly young floor team in orange-and-white striped tees and sneakers, this Chippendale restaurant has kept most of the same décor, but swapped out Bloody Marys and Tabasco, for soju cocktails and gochujang.

Fancying a bit of a pick-me-up, I hit up the Pink Floss Frozen Sogarita ($17) expecting something over-sweet. Despite arriving under a sunset cloud of fairy floss, once I poured in the soda water to lengthen it, the spun sugar dissolved into a pithy, tart grapefruit, lime and soju-based drink that made for a perfect hot day aperitif.

For an accompanying drinking snack, we wanted K.F.C. but were talked down from a Whole Chook ($35) or Half Bird ($19) into a steamer basket of Wing Wing ($16/12 pieces) as we were just dining as a party of two. Presented in two flavours, the sticky ginger soy wings edged out the plain Korean fried chook, which ate a bit dry though improved when dragged through Creamy Onion ($2) dipping sauce.

Moving onto Makgeolli ($12) (soothing Korean rice wine) to accompany our shared main, we watched eagerly as it was assembled over a burner at our table. The metal-handled pot of Tteokbokki with Toppings ($32) buries lightly spicy Korean rice cakes (tteokbokki) under five toppings, which make the dish textural and fun to explore. While the toppings – boiled eggs, mandu (pork and kimchi dumplings), popcorn K.F.C. (boneless Korean fried chicken), fish cakes, shredded shallots and fried seaweed rolls – are all ready to eat, give the dish about ten minutes to get the cheese nice and melty, and the underlying, chewy rice cakes, time to get hot.

With more prompt table-clearing we might have tried Bibimbar’s only dessert – Honey Hotteok ($12) – popular Korean street-food pancakes; however after being left too long staring at empty plates, we escaped them by leaving our seats to...

Cutlery is wood not stainless. You get a 'Welcome' not 'Annyeong Haseyo'. You won't get complementary sides. This isn't a traditional Korean restaurant marketed to Korean people (nor should it be given the demographics of Chippendale).

The spicy chicken ramen has a subtle seafood flavour to it's broth. It's not a spicy umami punch to the face you get from say instant Korean noodles. The noodles themselves are the instant variety though (standard for Korean restaurants). The soy ginger chicken was my highlight. Skin was very dark owed to the soy sauce and caramelised sugar. It was very crispy, savoury and sweet and came with pickled daikon, crispy fried potato (!) and slaw. The pulled beef butter fried rice was an odd ball. Butter was definitely present in the rice, which also had some sweetness which is not my vibe.

The menu was fairly pedestrian for a Korean restaurant (bibimbap, chicken, pancakes, ramyun), though there were some unique dishes up for offer (see butter fried rice above). Was mildly disappointed that $3 only gets me a 1/3 cup of kimchi, but maybe I've been spoilt. Although the pricing - $50 for two mains and chicken to share - almost makes it too hard to complain (almost).

They've just opened this week and have yet to get their liquor license sorted (they promised it would be sorted in a week). It seems the Korean lager trinity (kloud, hite and cass) as well as soju will be on offer. They were also experimenting with cocktails while I was there.

This place seems torn between a traditional Korean restaurant experience (see budae jjigae on the menu) and aiming for more western clientele (see msg and chili being dialed back in the ramyun broth). If you're accustomed to or go in expecting an experience similar to any restaurant in korea-town, you'll be just a tad...

The people there are extremely friendly and the food is spectacularly delicious and hearty!

I must confess, I found this place a month or two ago over the internet while searching for good Korean food. Willing to give this place a try, I went over for lunch one day. Afterwards, I've become a regular customer!

Bibimbar has a nice selection of excellent Korean soul food: you've got the regular Bibimbub (of course) that is nice and basic, Japchae glass noodles which are honestly a fun and filling eating experience that is paired with an excellent sauce, and the Kimchi fried rice, which is nice and flavorful with every mouthful, to name a few off the menu.

However, my personal favorite item that they have in store is the Soondubu Jigae... the seafood and tofu soup. This has become my go-to meal almost every time I visit the shop!

Where do I begin? The soup is nice amd brothy, full of rich, hearty flavors that sizzle one's palette! The chilli pairs extremely well with the tofu and egg stored deep inside the bubbling broth, as they enhance the mix of seafood swirling inside. Pair all that up with the rice that comes with the whole thing, and you have yourself a recipe for a soup that warms the very depths of one's soul! The trick is to dump all the rice in the soup and mix well before mouthwatering consumption!

I honestly, I couldn't sing my praises enough for this store! Since I'm a regular, the people there always recognize me and it's a joy eating all the delicious and hearty goodies they've prepared for me! Throw in a nice and hip atmosphere that's always paired with some topical K-Pop in the background, and you have yourself one of the best Korean soul food joints in Sydney! I highly...