A couple times a year, I get absolutely dumbstruck and shocked with how far a place blows my…read moreexpectations out of the water. BBB Tofu House left me absolutely speechless and wanting to order much more than we did, and we actually ordered a ton of food for only two people.
The outside ambiance of this place is very unsuspecting. It's in a poorly lit strip mall in the Pine Hills area of town. Various furniture stores and other Asian restaurants and questionable wellness spas dot the mall, but inside, this place was beautiful. It was like a ruby encrusted coy pond, gently playing K-pop in the background. Very cozy.
The service was incredible. These folks were so nice and patient with me as I asked them questions about many menu items, wanting to make sure I ordered the right things. The food came out at a very reasonable pace, too. Everything was hot and fresh and delicious.
And the food, it was wow. Absolutely exquisite.
Started off with the Bulgogi Mandu (Beef; 5 Pieces). These are a fried Korean dumplings, and the thing about mandu is that they are probably the dumpling with the most filling packed into it. A massive amount of delicious beef filling, a crispy wrapper with a fun little crimping for texture, and a nice, subtle sesame-type sauce. Very good.
I also had the Tteok-bokki, my favorite Korean appetizer. It is a chewy, cylinder-shaped rice cakes (tteok) simmered in a spicy, sweet, and savory sauce. And it was delicious. It was also the largest serving I've ever encountered, so it got kind of one-note. I recommend paying the upcharge for the Add Cheese.
Then onto the Seafood Pancake. Look at this dang thing in my picture. One of the best things man has ever created. An intricately crispy outer layer of some sort of dough, containing within a cheesy blend of seafoods, all sliced up like a pizza and coming with that same sesame sauce for dipping. This was Super Bowl food, my goodness.
I got the Galbi (BBQ Short Ribs), which is another Korean staple. Very mainstream, but for good reason. These short ribs are sliced crosswise, slicing up those muscle fibers, and leaving behind thin layers of delicious, tender beef. Being sliced so thinly also lends itself well to soaking up the marinade very good. So delicious.
I finished off with the, here we go, the main event, Dolpan Kimchi Bokkeum Bap (Kimchi Fried Rice) (Kimchi, Beef, Peas, Corn, Carrots and Onion topped with Cheese). They'll ask you if you want the egg. Say yes. This magnificent creature comes to you as a mound of rice in a screaming hot stone bowl, with the cheese kept away from it.
Tableside, the man cracks an egg on the whole thing, and then mixes the heck out of all of it, allowing the egg to cook and the cheese to melt. He then spreads it all out against the stone bowl, maximizing touched surface area, creating a crispy cheesy rice crust along the bottom of the bowl, making every bite amazing.
You read all that right. And it was one of the best meals of my life not at a Michelin restaurant. I'm actually going to petition this place as a Bib Gourmand. It was that high quality. I'm in love.