Bibim

Bibim is a relatively new /​renovated Korean restaurant in Allston and I vaguely remember that when it first opened it was really delicious… but recently i feel that food quality has gone down tremendously (as the other Unilocalers have noted).
I came here with a friend and we left pretty unsatisfied. We had the:
— JULMYUN: basically noodles w/​hot sauce and a bunch of vegetables… but the noodles were so dry and the sauce was so bland and there was a mountain of vegetables making it impossible to get to the noodles. iit was terrible (¹⁄₅)
— BEEF KIMBAP: was probably the best thing on the menu that we ordered. It basically tastes how it’s supposed to. Nothing special (³⁄₅)
— BIBIM DDONKATSU: literally huge portion comes with fried beef, fried dumplings, and vegetables and rice. But it’s way too much so it gets a little sickening after a few bites. (³⁄₅)
— BANCHAN (side dishes): yes they are free but I mean they give you 4 tiny side dishes in comparison to what other Korean places offer…
Save your money…

Great authentic food at resoanle prices. The décor and vibe was like a easy sunday brunch and something out of qilkiam sonoma. The food was elegant in taste and light on the body after all was said and done. Will recommend and look forward to next time

I was excited to find another place that does bibimbap with brown rice, unfortunately this shitty ass place is dishonest and lazy. They up charge for brown rice, but despite it only being 7 pm at night they «ran out» of brown rice and decided oh, even though we up charged them we will just go ahead and put it through with white rice, without calling the customer, or asking if this was ok. Fuck you.
The delivery service made sure the up charge got refunded but meanwhile, I’m out dinner I can eat. This shitty ass place doesn’t deserve to stay in business.

The kimchi stew is delicious! The dishes on the menu that we have tried were all satisfying. The atmosphere reminds my husband and I of the little restaurants that were near Bucheon University, where we lived in Korea. It’s priced fairly compared with the other Korean restaurants in the area. If you want to try some Korean in the Boston area, making your way to Allston’s Bibim will not disappoint.

This place is so average compared to the other places this area has to offer. The clay pot rice leaves a lot to the imagination, it’s just asking for more flavor. I feel like it was a clay pot of vegetables and mushy/​too wet rice, rather than the spicy pork I ordered with a nice crisp on the rice from cooking against the clay pot. The Kimchi fried rice was pretty good but only to share. I can’t eat a whole plate of that by myself because it’s strong in flavor. I also enjoyed the kimchi scallion pancake. I’d order those two dishes again, but now I’m weary about their clay pots

wow! this place is great! im impressed with food and especially service (where else they pack your leftovers with writing the date and what’s in the box).Even the small chicken appetizer looked like a big portion (enough for 2 to share).Beef bibimbap is great and has a perfect amount of spices and taste just right. Décor is very cozy, comfy, intimate –perfect for a date or alone time. I wish they put some candles on the tables (would be even romantic).Place looks more European than Asian and the menu is simple, which is great. The guy and the girl (worked on 11/15)are the friendliest people I’ve seen in a while. Can’t wait to come back when ill in Allston
next time.

This place is pretty good. The setting is very calming. My friends and I went there to eat a couple times and every time it was a blast. The food is super delicious and the waiter/​waitress always gives us refills on our complimentary side dishes. Their bathroom is also pretty cool. It’s clean and the sink is very intricate. I don’t know what it is but the sink in their bathrooms are just very fascinating to me.
I would recommend this place for anyone that is trying to eat at a local Korean place because this place is honestly worth a try!

Good service and the décor is really relaxing. Reminds me of the cafes in Korea. Food wise, very homemade. Very kids friendly.

I love this Korean restaurant. Because of their friendly and alert staff members. Even the boss lady was very attentive.
The interior space is very relaxing and the bathrooms are very spacious and nicely renovated. I felt as if I went into a Korean family’s home to eat.
This is not a place for people that can’t taste good food. They’re the ones that usually go to Bön Chon or that kaju tofu house because it’s just famous for a hang out spot. Not for food.
One thing I didn’t like about this restaurant is the male boss allowed their worker to work while coughing really obnoxiously in the whole restaurant. Please don’t work. Cover your mouth with a mask if you had to. She coughed all over and don’t have a mask on.

This was my first time here but I had a wonderful experience. I came with my mother and sister for a lunch outing. The atmosphere inside was quaint, cozy, and super cute! Not crowded at all, which was nice. The waiter was very attentive, coming to check on us for water and refilling the banchan.
I had the spicy pork bulgogi bibimbap. Although I can’t attest to the taste’s authenticity compared to bibimbaps that you’ll find in Korea, I thought this one was pretty yummy. My sister had the soft tofu stew. Mom had the kimchi fried rice. We also ordered some tuna kimbap. Overall, everything tasted delicious and I would absolutely come back. Next time, I will try the desserts!

I freaking love Korean food and am always looking around allston to eat at the most authentic restaurants.
I’ve only come here once so I haven’t tried that many dishes yet, but so far okay in my book. I wasn’t particularly pleased with anything nor was I dissatisfied.
Ambiance of this place is very cute and quaint. Some people have described it as «café-​style» and I agree– it’s like a medium sized restaurant and the seating is close to one another.
Food: Food:
I came for the Kimbap because my friend raved that the kimbap here was very fresh and delicious. And they looked great too. There’s quite a lot of variety that I had such a hard time choosing.
I ended up ordering the bulgogi kimbap because I love meat.
I have heard good things about their take-​out for their kimbap so I’d like to try that one day.
Jjajiang myun: large bowl, just okay.
Ddukbokki– pretty large portion and good and spicy

The ambiance was great, the service was also great, but the food? Could do better.
The whole environment of the restaurant is very café-​like. Cute plates, cute glasses, small portions, wooden tables, mason jar condiments, etc. I felt like it didn’t really match with Korean food… but then again, I immediately thought that maybe this would be a great place to bring my non-​Korean friends to get introductory course on Korean food.
Food:
Kimbap — my friend said the kimbap was delicious. And they looked great too. I haven’t tried it so I can’t speak for the taste, however the presentation and portion of the kimbap looked splendid.
Soondaeguk — I knew I shouldn’t have ordered from the «new items» list, especially the soondaeguk… The broth itself was lacking in depth, and the soondae was already falling apart when I received it.
Ddukbokki (with dumplings added) — I don’t like the fact that it cost extra to add fried dumplings, but it was definitely worth it. Never eat ddukbokki without dumplings, its a sin! The portion was just right, and the presentation was great. Not too hot, not too sweet, not too much sauce, just right.
Side dishes — Like others have complained, 4 side dishes of tiny portions may seem comical in a Korean restaurant. However, from seeing the ambiance of this restaurant, you can tell that they’re going for the more «modern”/café-feel than a traditional Korean restaurant, so it’s understandable. I thought the 4 dishes tasted great though.
Can I just say that I wanted to steal all the plates? From the mini condiment mason jars to the «bon appetite» rice bowl, everything was so cute. Again, it all stems from the whole «café-​like» vibe of the restaurant.
Also, they should sell alcohol. Like, serve some yuzu makguli in cute mason jars, and people would LOVE IT here, especially girls since the shop itself is interiorly designed to attract females.

Came here with some girlfriends and split the ddukbokki (with ramen noodles) and the kimchi scallion pancake to start. Both were delicious! The ddukbokki was the right amount of spicy and you HAVE to add the noodles — there’s no other way to eat it. The kimchi scallion pancake was cooked perfectly — crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Both were great starters for 5 hungry ladies.
I ordered the yookgaejang while others ordered the bibimbap (hot stone and regular). I was a little disappointed in my yookgaejang — it wasn’t spicy at all and lacked depth. My friends all said that their bibimbaps were good, but some were new to Korean food so they didn’t really have much to go on.
Overall, I liked the ambiance — it’s not what you typically see in Korean restaurants, but a nice change. I think it’s great if you want more mainstream eats like bibimbap, but unfortunately still perpetuates the trend of not-​so-​great Korean food in Boston.

I was disappointed, because my friend told me how delicious Bibim is.
However, the food was just ok… actually even worse than ok.
Budae stew: The soup with a strange taste, even I am soup-​lover, I still can’t finish it.
Bibimbap (beef): Top three terrible bibimbap I have ever had.
Sides: All are good and come with free refill, I really like it!
Next time I would definitely go to kaju or bonchon for Korean food.

Bibim is one of a handful of really great Korean restaurants in Allston. I came here with a friend for his first time trying Korean food so we ordered pretty much everything. Seafood pancake, bibimbap, pork bulgogi, kimchee fried rice. Everything was great. Good flavor and a good amount of spicy.
They don’t serve beer or other alcohol which is one down side, but I ordered a ginger tea which was actually heavenly so that makes up for it a bit. This is also a little strange to say but one other minor gripe I had was the restaurant was a little too clean in its appearance. When I go out for Korean food I expect to come back smelling like meat and kimchee and this fine establishment just didn’t quite do that for me. It is very homey looking inside with flowers and nice tables alike and looks just a little too proper for my taste when I want some down and dirty food. That being said though I enjoyed every dish!

They try to elevate the korean eating experience with nice ambience and big shallow plates, but it’s just a decent korean food place. It’s not the best and you can definitely go somewhere else for better korean food.
I ordered the clam noodles and the hand pulled noodles came soggy. So within 2 minutes of eating it, the noodles started getting even more soggy and it became a really mushy texture. The broth was not bad though. It was clean. But they only gave me like 4 tiny little clams which was not enough.
The bibimbap comes out colorful and it’s decent bibimbap! If I had to recommend anything, I would recommend that dish. It’s enough to fill you up and it has plenty of veggies to be considered a healthy dish!
The service was alright. They came over a few times to check up on us and were good about refilling our water. BUT we were literally like the only ones there… so maybe that’s why haha

Aesthetically nice. Clean and simple décor with modern flair. Pleasant and friendly servers.
When the banchan came out, my thoughts were. What a Cheap A$$ owner! There were only four different ones times two for a table of eight. The kimchee and broccoli wasn’t pickled long enough. The fruit salad could’ve used more flavoring. The potato was alright.
The kimbap I was not crazy about. It didn’t seem to have much flavor. The fried chicken reminded me of the general gau’s that I had previous meal. The Gau was much better.
I snagged a taste of the bolguki. Another disappointment. It further confirmed why the bulguki kimbap was bland. The meat was more on the bland side with fine grit sandpaper texture. Not good quality meat.
As for my meal, I had the eel bibimbap. I added the hot stone for $ 2. They didn’t heat the rice with stone long enough. I didn’t get much crunch rice. This is actually the most expensive bibimbap on the menu. When I saw the amount of protein on it, I was in dismay. FOUR thin slices of unagi! WTH! I could’ve went down the street for unadon for WAY more fish! The bibimbap was pretty bland as well. The fish was so thin that I couldn’t get the texture nor flavor. My eel craving was defeated indeed.
I’m not sick nor was I drunk. To me, this place is overpriced blandness and lacking in generosity.

This is not the best Korean restaurant around the area. There are many Korean restaurants in Allston to go to, so even if you haven’t tried bibim, you are not missing out!
I came here for dinner one time and was not impressed. This is a cute little restaurant. The menu is simple with many popular Korean dishes.
I tried the bibimbap, soondubu, and dukguk. The bibimbap was alright. I ordered the chicken bibimbap and the chicken was pretty moist and tasty. You can’t really mess up a dish that does not require much cooking.
The soondubu on the other hand was not that good. Compared to kaju tofu house down the street, this soondubu lacked the spicy umami flavor that I was looking for.
The dukguk was also disappointing. The soup had a lot of onion slices in it. It also was not that flavorful. It was pretty bland and boring.
Moral of the story, save your stomach and money for another Korean restaurant!

As a Korean who was fed authentic, homemade Korean food from my grandma every day of my waking life until I left home, I have really high standards for Korean food. Bibim did not meet these standards.
Why?
1) They gave us FOUR banchan in plates fit for babies. Seriously, where’s the good stuff?! The dishes were potato, broccoli, kimchi, and half a hard boiled egg in a soy-​sauce type of soup. All of them, literally all of them, were not good. The kimchi was not pickled enough, the broccoli tasted almost frozen, the potato did not have much flavor, and they gave us HALF a hard boiled egg, cut in half. The plating of the dishes was presented very well, but the banchan dishes were so small and we didn’t even finish them.
2) Ddukboki was fine, but it would’ve been really great with melted cheese, and maybe not having to pay extra for ramen in it.
3) The bulgogi entrée was okay, but for some reason I didn’t like the texture of it. The brown rice that came as a side dish was overly chewy and very dry.
I think bibim has a lot to work on, in terms of their food. Nothing about their entrees or sides were unique or amazing, especially for the price. With so many Korean restaurant options around the area, they definitely need to work on more than their interior design, which I think is very cute.
On the plus side, our server was very nice and had the voice of a late-​night radio talk show host. Very soothing.

We tried this place based on this ahjumma’s recommendation. I personally think there are better Korean restaurants around Allston. Don’t get me wrong, this place isn’t that bad, but just expect pretty basic and standard Korean food. They serve different types of korean soups, rice, noodle, and appetizer dishes.
We tried the bibimbap, soondubu (tofu soup), pajeon (korean scallion pancake), and dokguk (rice cake soup). I disliked the scallion pancake because it was too fluffy, like an actual pancake. I was expecting more of a crispy and chewy consistency, but the pancake here was kind of cake-​y for some reason. The bibimbap and soondubu were pretty standard here. You can never go wrong with ordering those dishes if you don’t know what to get at a Korean restaurant. I did think it was weird that I found mussels in my seafood soondubu. Yes, I know mussel is a type of seafood, but I have never seen any restaurant put mussels in their tofu soup. Plus, the shells weren’t open, so I couldn’t even eat the mussels. I didn’t get to try the dokguk, but my friend thought the onions didn’t serve any purpose and usually, dokguk doesn’t come with onions.
One good thing about Korean restaurants is that they always give you banchans (appetizers)! In addition, the interior design of this restaurant reminds me of some restaurants that I have been to when I was in Seoul.
Will I pay a visit any time soon? Probably not!