Bibimbap back with Halal Korean supperclub in London Ealing

SPONSORED CONTENT HALAL STATUS Fully Halal food menu • BYO alcohol policy

When Korean Café Bibimbap opened in west London last year, we were just as excited in reviewing this rare gem of a place as we would be visiting a high end, fine dining restaurant.

After all, how many Korean eateries do you know of that actually offer a fully Halal menu where the food is prepared and cooked with all the love of a seasoned home cook?

Here we had a small shop, cosily setup in a small galleria in West Ealing called Al Jazeera Mall, whose chef (literally the mother of the owner) promised nothing except “mum’s homemade healthy food”.

While we were later saddened to hear that this start-up, like so many other food businesses, had succumbed to the pressures brought on by the Covid restrictions, we’re happy to announce that the mother and son team are back with Bibimbap supperclub.

Not only will their fully Halal menu be served from the comfort of their home just off Bostom Manor Road in the W7 area, but it also means that the food will be served uber fresh.

And Bibimbap is offering two services: 1) placing an order for convenient pick-up from their premises; 2) booking a supperclub with the choice of the following four set meals:

Korean Traditional Set Meal with 15 side dishes, £45 • Bibimbap Set Meal with kimchi pan cake, dumplings, etc., £25 (v) • Beef/ Chicken Bulgogi Set Meal with vegetables, Kimchi, etc., £35 • Ssambap (wrapping) Set Meal with cabbage, lettuce, etc., £35 (v).

With two tables arranged for four guests each in their relatively spacious sitting room, the mother, dressed as she was in a traditional Korean garb called hanbok, played the part of both chef and host perfectly.

Not only was she engaging throughout, entertaining the guests with her dry wit and one-liners, but in between serving and cooking, she sagaciously guided them through their respectively chosen menus.

Throughout the evening, we were enthralled by both the concept and the sheer variety of the Korean Traditional Set Meal comprising of a whopping 15 side dishes.

We were told that, traditionally, this is how Korean dinners go – a plethora of tastes, textures, and temperatures to experience and enjoy as you busily make your way across the canvas.

There was plenty of things that we, personally, had never had before, including an assortment of both pickled and dry vegetables, which we found to be fascinating.

Of course, Bibimbap’s famous kimchi was a huge success too. In fact, it’s been so successful that a customer drove all the way down from east London on the day to pick up a huge order of the refreshingly fermented stuff.

And what a difference cooking in the familiar confines of your own kitchen, as opposed to the restricted space at the café, can have on the food, given that, while we didn’t think much of the glass noodles tried last year during said review, this time they were anything but “sticky and chewy in texture”, instead turning out silky smooth and absolutely delightful.

We then got to try those outstandingly delicious Bibimbap bowls. Perhaps it was the magic of preparing these at home, with all that motherly love playing its full part; but, whatever it was, these were even better than the first time.

With all those ingredients mixed in with the fragrant, sticky rice, and that zingy gochujang chilli paste, there’s just something about Bibimbaps that make them some of the best comfort foods around.

All in all, the service being provided by the mother and son team of Bibimbap is, let’s face it, incredibly unique. Given the intimate and jovial hospitality and the standard of the food, be sure to get a large group together and book both tables out for this one of a kind supperclub.

N.B. – If you’re planning on booking just a single table though, you might also want to inquire ahead to find out if the other table booked on the day will be fulfilling the BYO policy provided.

While delivery is available for all orders over £20, if you’d like to find out more about booking a supperclub, you can contact Bibimbap through Instagram @cafebibimbapealing or email them at [email protected].