BibimBoom! (Mira Mesa)

The Missus was wanting some Bi Bim Bap recently. I’d heard about a place that specialized in dolsot bi bim bap in the strip mall that houses Cali Baquette Express on Mira Mesa Blvd. The Missus, who is not usually up to trying out new places sounded interested so we headed on over.

Well, the place has the interesting name of BibimBoom???? Hmmm……

We entered and were directed to one of the booths by the nice young man working. The place is nicely lit, tables well spaced. He brought over menus.

Which covered the dishes offered and were written in English, Korean, and Chinese. The items offered were broken up into what appears to be their own “periodic table”. Based on what type of tableware was used.

This was actually not giving us particularly good vibes as it seemed a bit “fusionized”? But we carried on and placed our order.

Panchan then arrived.

The baechu kimchi tasted somewhat fermented and was the best of what was offered. The Oi (cucumber kimchi) was the worse…tasting like some Persian Cucumbers were sliced and dumped into a kimchi based. It lacked spice or pungent tones and even seemed to need slat. This was not a great start to the meal.

Until the first item arrived. Mind this sign….it’s not a lie!

It did take a while for the Dolsot Bi Bim Bap ($21.50) to arrive.

It looked quite typical. The bugogi is on the chewy side, but decently marinated with that salty-soy-sweetness, with a hint of ginger.

There’s a ton of rice in this, but the cho-jang helps to solve that problem..

That stone bowl is no joke….it’ll start developing a really nice rice crust in no time flat. So, if you’re into that….as the Missus is, you might enjoy this.

We also dumped the baechu kimchi into the bowl…and when the young man came and got us refills, that second portion of panchan went in as well. I’m not quite sold on this, but the Missus really likes that rice crust.

Our second dish soon arrived; the Kimchi Jeon (kimchi pancake – $14.50). This was our least favorite item during this meal.

Not sure what kind of flour they use, it has a very cheesy texture and other then the edges lacked crispness. It actually stringed up like cheese when you pulled the soggy-mushy slices apart and wouldn’t even crisp up when brushed with oil in our air fryer. It could have used more spice-sour-savory tones…well, let’s put it as it could have used more flavor period.

It took a while for our final dish to arrived; the Dak Kalbi ($21.50). Please note that we ordered this without the cheese which would have been poured over the rice. Sorry, but it’s really not our thing.

This was our favorite overall item of the meal. The pan was super hot and it caramelized the onions and created some nice crispy bits as well. The spice level was nice, good savory tones, a hint of sweetness, and pleasant sour tones as well.

A nice bonus was the Tteokbokki (rice cake) which, when rested on the super hot pan developed a nice crust, thus you’d end up with a crisp exterior and creamy-chewy interior.

As we were eating, we noticed several other parties arriving. There was only one Server and he was soon overwhelmed. We felt pretty bad for him.

Overall, an interesting meal. The Missus had enjoyed the bi bim bap and we both enjoyed the dak kalbi, so we decided to return. Again, it was an 11am arrival in case it was just the young man working. This time there was another young lady.

We again ordered three dishes. This time the panchan consisted of four items. That oi kimcchi was still terrible; but the baechu kimchi seemed a bit more fermented and sour this time around.

The first to arrived was the Yuk Jeon ($16.50). On our previous visit; I’d seen yuk jeon on the menu and got a bit excited…….being from HNL, you know of my love for “meat jun”, which is also something the Missus now loves as well. So, we decided to order that….which ended up being a mistake.

The sauce on the strips of scallion was very nice. But that beef was like leather…I mean, really like leather. You could not tear it apart with your teeth. You’d end up wrapping it and then putting the whole piece in your mouth hoping you’d be able to chew it. The batter was terrible and mushy and the beef hadn’t been marinated adequately.

It was a bit of a break before our next dish arrived. This time we had ordered the Salt & Scallion Pork Bowl ($20.50).

The amount of pork was generous and again there was a ton of rice sizzling away in that molten stone bowl. The pork was simply seasoned, which was quite nice and was decently tender. The typical soy sauce-vinegar-sesame oil sauce went really well with this.

Again, we had a wonderful crust develop; though our waiting made the egg get a bit too overcooked for our taste.

This was not bad. Though we needed more sauce.

We got the Dak Kalbi without cheese on the rice again. This time it was missing the Tteokbokki.

The chicken was more tender this time around; but also a lot more salty.

It seems that YMMV here, though if you like your rice crust, this might be your kind of thing. They seemed short staffed and there were inconsistencies with the dishes and timing.

There was also one really “interesting” thing I noticed when taking our leftovers home from our first meal. It was the bag…check it out.

I was a bit surprised…I didn’t see the typical “living wall/logo” decor that places like Viet Nom and Formoosa have. They weren’t doing that get a free dessert with a Yelp review…but you have to show your Server the review first things here. And yet, looking back, I could see the “concept” approach. I checked out the SDB (i.e. “we can make any kind of Asian cuisine”) Restaurant Website and this place wasn’t listed. So perhaps they are rising above being the Consortium Holdings of Asian Cuisine and I should actually try Flama Llama and Bok Bok Dok? Of course, CH does have one restaurant we think is decent, so…..

What do you think?

BibimBoom!
9225 Mira Mesa Blvd.
110 San Diego, CA 92126
Current Hours:
Sun 11am – 915pm
Mon – Tues 11am – 9pm
Wed – Thurs 11am – 915pm
Fri -Sat 11am – 1015pm