Back in January I noted that Bann, located in the HMart Food Court had closed. I used to visit them once in a while when they were located on Miramar Road. Less so when they pulled up roots and moved to H Mart. Still, I was sad to see them close as I had enjoyed their kimchi fried rice.
Well, I'm not quite sure if you know this, but I do have an Instagram Account. I'm not tied to it much as I much prefer long form posts. I usually put up odds and ends, photos after I actually do a post and such. Anyway, I basically set-up my Instagram account so I could keep in touch with folks like Dennis of a Radiused Corner, or "CC". But, once in a while I will learn something from Instagram; not necessarily from a post. For example, I know folks who are great "FOYs" who also do posts on that platform. One of them is Derric, who was nice enough to send me a screen shot of a text he recently got.
Hmmmm, Bann at Gourmet Artisan? A place that I've posted on many times before? Hmmm……..
So, this past week, I wanted to see what was up with SuperNatural Sandwiches, I dropped by in January and the place was closed with a sign saying reopening mid-January, but it was already late January and…..well, more on that in a future post.
I decided to go ahead and see what was up with the Gourmet Artisan. Now, GA is one of the few places that I don't mind doing online ordering from since there doesn't seem to be an upcharge for that (so long it's done from the website). So, I went to the web page and then to the "Order Pickup" and quickly noticed this:
So, I scrolled down and found the "Pick-up Meal Deals". You order these ahead for one of the designated pick-up times. Of course, I was disappointed to see that kimchi fried rice wasn't available. But, the Bulgogi Bowl was $9.99! Man, in this day and age, that's a reasonable price.
I placed my order and just like when ordering a sandwich from GA, was informed when my food was being worked on. I'm close enough to the shop to get there in ten minutes.
And my order was being placed on the counter when I arrived. There were four other takeout orders on the counter as well.
I guess Bann has some kind of pseudo "ghost kitchen" thing going at GA?
Anyway, I was interested in trying the bulgogi, since Bann always called their version of the dish "marinated beef", not bulgogi.
Well, the beef looked as I remembered it. Though this "bowl" had much less vegetable filler than what the former version of Bann sold. The veggies are really undercooked.
The portion size was quite good; the rice moist. But like the "old Bann" the marinade was really weak, you can tell by the color. It was in need of more…of well, everything, soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, garlic. On the good side; the beef was much more tender than I recalled. I'd say for $9.99 this might be worth the price.
Well, nothing ventured, nothing gained. I'm glad to have tried this and will keep an eye out to see if anything else, that doesn't have bulgogi (or salmon) in it will be offered. Or heck, I'll get a sandwich from there on my "next round".
The ghost kitchen stuff is getting interesting……
Bann at Gourmet Artisan – Bann items currently only available for online ordering and pick-up
7094 Miramar Rd.
San Diego, CA 92121
Thanks for thinking of us Derric, I really appreciate it!
