Wow, I have not written a review in a few months, as we had not visited anywhere new in a while. Luckily, my son recently came home for Spring Break and we decided to have a Sunday after church lunch with just him, myself and my wife, so we together picked somewhere he knew about and could recommend - Seoul Garden Korean BBQ in Creve Coeur. The restaurant took over the old Oberweis/Kimcheese location next to Moe's Southwestern Grill by the AMC theater so there is ample parking. We were able to pick a spot right next to the sidewalk to the restaurant which was quite nice since we were experience some sloppy, wet March snowfall.
We arrived around 1:00 pm on Sunday and the place was just about empty. Hopefully they have more business in the evenings when there are more movie patrons around. We were seated at a table near the middle partition which had a built-in BBQ grill in the middle of the table. Luckily I noticed it did have adequate legroom, unlike the tables at Joy Luck Buffet where the heating elements for their hot pots there block the bottom of the tables. We each decided to get different Bibimbap versions. I selected the spicy pork, my son ordered the steak, and my wife ordered the Kalbi Short Rib version. Both my son and I decided to pay the extra $1 to get the hot stone bowl, and my son and wife each picked the soy bean sprout soup whereas I selected the radish soup. While we waited for the food to arrive we listened to a continuous stream of K-Pop music which they played while they showed some very strange Korean reality TV show on a large HDTV in the back.
Our soups arrived in a few minutes, and I was glad I selected the radish soup since the bean sprout soup was completely flavorless. The radish soup had a bit of spicy flavorness to it which was absorbed by the radishes. It was still not super exciting but it was better than the bland bean sprout soup. Our water came in tall metal cups which helped keep the water very cold. Our server was also quite attentive, keeping our water cups full and making sure everything was okay.
The bibimbaps arrived several minutes after our soups and we could still hear the ones in the hot stone bowls sizzling. They also brought separate containers with the gochujang sauce on the side, but both my son and I scraped all the sauce we could into our bowls and mixed it all up together. The rice and other ingredients continued to cook from the heat in the bowls and sauce mixed up well with the other ingredients. If you are getting bibimbap you should definitely opt for the hot stone bowl. It also kept the food very warm throughout the whole meal.
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| Spicy Pork Bibimbap in Hot Stone Bowl |
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| Kalbi Pork Ribs Bibimbap (not in Hot Stone Bowl) |
Once they brought out our three entrees, our server came back with a tray with our six shared sides. They included kimchi, kimchi radishes, tofu, cellophane noodles, cucumbers, and some potatoes. My favorites were the tofu, kimchi radishes, ahd the noodles. The cucumbers and potatoes were also not too bad. The regular kimchi was fine, but it is still just plain kimchi!
As for the bibimbap my son and I both enjoyed our versions, but my wife was not so excited about hers. Without the hot stone bowl, most of her ingredients were cold, and without the gochujang sauce there was not much flavor except for the meat. She thought the meat tasted pretty good, but she was not impressed with the meat quality. I thought there was not that much of the spicy pork in mine, but when I found the meat, it was quite flavorful and enjoyable. It was definitely much better all mixed together which is really not possible if not in the hot stone bowl.
All in all, our opinions were mixed with my son and I liking it quite well, but my wife not being very impressed. The bottom line is if you like spicy Korean food, you will probably like it, but if you are not a spicy Korean food fan, the alternatives are pretty bland. There is not much in the middle. This is not a place to bring a picky eater who does not like gochujang. If you order the bibimbap, definitely get it in the hot stone bowls and mix it all together with the gochujang. Also select the radish soup over the bean sprout soup. I know my wife will never choose to go there, but perhaps my son and I can return sometime or I can secretly drop by the next time his college Korean group meets there!
For fans of gochujang and spicy Korean food
For everybody else
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