Bibimbar Chippendale Review - Korean Fried Chicken, Cheese Ribs and More

Bibimbar is a Korean restaurant on Abercrombie Street in Chippendale. It's perfect for a quick meal with friends or a solo or couple meal too with a range of sets available. They have a range of classic Korean dishes plus an exclusive dessert.

It's early on a Saturday night when Mr NQN and I meet the Wizard and Witchy Woman at Bibimbar. The last time we were at this address it was Nighthawk Diner in 2018. We arrive first which gives me time to look at the menu while we wait. We are booked in for a prison bar experience nearby for Halloween which is a couple of minutes walk away so we do need to leave within one and a quarter hours so we pre-order one dish but they tell us that the rest doesn't take long.

Bibimbar is owned by a couple, Kenny and Su, together with chef-owner Byunghee Kwon. Kenny and Su first met in London. Kenny studied at Le Cordon Bleu and Su was a traditional dancer. They opened up Bibimbar in 2019 and Su takes care of the floor, no mean feat on this busy Saturday night. The restaurant is a converted warehouse and is split across two sections.

The menu has a range of share dishes as well as set meals for solo or couples and it's good value. We start with two types of makgeolli: chestnut and peach and everyone loves the peach one. They come with these wooden cups but we prefer drinking makgeolli out of the aluminium shallow cups.

The dish that takes around 20 minutes is the cheese bomb pork back ribs with a sweet and spicy gochujang style sauce on a mound of soft cooked bean sprouts with a generous amount of melted cheese on top. The ribs are juicy and the chilli cheese is very good and I also like the bean sprouts that soak up all of the sauce. Bean sprouts with cheese? Yes!

The volcano chicken comes in two sizes: medium (which we ordered) and large. I kind of wish we had ordered the large because this is so good. The boneless chicken is incredibly juicy and coated in a thick sweet and spicy Buldak sauce with spicy mayo. It's not overly spicy but it is very moreish with each succulent bite.

Witchy Woman likes kimchi and there are a few kimchi stews on the menu but we try the tonkatsu kimchi nabe. This looks a bit different from the picture but it is very tasty with a well seasoned kimchi broth. Make sure to try it straight away because the pork tonkatsu sits in the soup and the crunchy crumb gets soft over time.

The Bibim Myun is a cold buckwheat noodle served with boiled egg and our choice of Bulgogi beef (there's also fried tofu, spicy chicken, fried chicken, spicy pork and wagyu) and in a spicy or non spicy version. It's nice to have a cold noodle dish especially on this warm spring evening.

They have two types of pancakes: seafood and kimchi and we order the seafood one which is crispy with plenty of spring onions cooked into the batter. It comes with scissors and tongs to help cut them up to a size of your liking.

And then it comes to our dessert that is exclusively available here. It's a deep fried sticky rice cake served blanketed in roasted soybean powder with sweetened condensed milk to dip in. It's a good sized serve to share and we don gloves and pull it apart with great satisfaction. It's not overly sweet in itself and it depends on how much condensed milk you dip it in for sweetness. I would definitely come back for this and to try more of the menu too.

So tell me Dear Reader, do you prefer sharing dishes or ordering your own set meal?

This meal was independently paid for