Bibimbap House

Great people! Great food! The owners/​staff of this restaurant are such humble people. The service is very cordial and polite. The food is quite authentic and delicious.
These people close their restaurant every Monday to prepare a van full of food for the homeless feed under the bridge. Salem is a better place for having this family in town. I encourage everyone to stop in for a great meal. Be sure to thank them for their efforts with the homeless.

Kindness is kindness. This little restaurant has the community as a priority. Incredibly friendly. Incredibly yummy. And incredibly fair prices. What a special little treasure in downtown Salem.

service was a bit slow but I would forget it since the food we had for lunch was awesome!
we were in salem for a day and were looking for a good place to eat when Unilocal ratings suggested this place. i had the spicy tofu soup with seafood (cant pronounce its name I guess it was so doon or sth like that) and my husband had the bibimbap (both from their lunch special menu)
I LOVED the soup! one of the best korean soups I ever had. my husband liked his bibimbap too. will surely come back if we are in salem again…

I’m in the minority here, but I didn’t really like this place. First of all the service was lacking. The waitress barely said two words to me. I would have loved to ask about the stuff they give you on the side but she was gone as soon as she put it down. Based on all the other reviews I got the Dolsot Bimbap with tofu. I like my tofu nice and crispy on the outside so that part was a bust. Oh well, but the rest of the dish was just bland. I even added some of the hot sauce they give you, and that was also pretty mild. I have only had Korean once about 5 years ago at an exchange students house and loved it. I will say their Kimchee was amazing, and the price is right.

I have never really had Korean food before I went here. I’m not entirely sure that I’ve had Korean food now. The words on the menu meant absolutely nothing to me so I basically pointed at a picture that looked most appetizing. I’m pretty sure I ended up with mostly Japanese food even though the words seemed to be transliterated from Korean. The food we had was good but looked tastier than it actually was. The service was so so and they weren’t very helpful with explaining the menu.
I left with a three star experience because the menu and server weren’t really helpful enough to ensure I even knew what I was ordering.
Change my mind Unilocal!I’m open to trying this place again. What’s the best tasting authentic Korean meal that I should try next time I go?

Their lunch special was not for me. Was thinking about Korean bbq beef but it was 15.

Excellent food, excellent service, great deals. On vacation from hawaii, this place is better than most places back home.

The Bad News: Sushi. Just don’t even bother. It. Sucks.
The Good News: The rest of the menu looks great and is veggie-​centric! We like! The dishes we had were yummy, ingredients were fresh, service was good, prices were reasonable for fast-​casual. We will definitely be back when we are looking for an ethnic-​food fix.

Absolutely amazing! Came here because of the reviews and so glad I did! Food was plentiful and fantastic, great prices, wonderful friendly and helpful staff! Will most definitely be back!

Best authentic Korean food in salem area!
I always get the bi bim bap, but i have discovered my new favorite, charbroiled mackerel! Only $ 11 for a full medium sized fish, so good! Not over cooked or under, just perfect.
Customer service is always good! Owner is always very nice every time we come in. And waiters are always nice and check in quite often.
They have complimentary banchan which is sweet potato, kimchee, cucumber kimchee and beansprouts. Also they serve scallion pancake too for free, not my fav but free food is good food!
Restaurant is nice and cozy and its my favorite place to eat Korean food at in Oregon!

I’m glad I found this place in Salem, Oregon as it was very unexpected. The staff are very friendly, and the sides are delicious. I’ve visited twice now and plan to visit more to try out some other things on the menu.
Back home (in Dallas, TX), Korean restaurants usually serve about double the number of side dishes. However, I like that Bibim Bap House gives you green onion pancake piece (s) as a complimentary appetizer.
If you’re a fan of short ribs, I definitely recommend the Kalbi. It’s a GREAT value, and although the marinade tastes like a blend of regular Kalbi and Bulgogi (just not the Kalbi flavor I’m used to), the dish is prepared well. I was expecting one layer of meat, and I received a small hill worth of Kalbi. I was very pleasantly surprised.
The seafood tofu soup was OK as it lacked flavor. I’m used to more variety of seafood in these types of soups I’ve had in the past. There was also a lot more onions in the soup than I’m used to. maybe the other ones I’ve had just cook down the onions more. In addition, I was looking forward to the egg in the soup, but it was too well done.
I’ve also tried the stone bowl dish to-​go, but I realized that was probably not the best idea. I might as well have ordered just the regular bibim bap, because there is no stone bowl to crisp up the rice for a to-​go order. duh! I will order something else if I take it to-​go :) The flavor of the dish was pretty good, and I’d say it’s more flavorful than other bibim baps I’ve had due to the sweet/​spicy sauce that comes with the dish. It’s a pretty healthy dish with a lot of veggies. If there’s a way to substitute white rice for brown, it’d be even healthier!
Overall, I am a fan of Bibim Bap House. The restaurant staff told me that parking is free after 5 PM in the parking lot. Otherwise, they have parking meters in front of the restaurant; make sure you have some quarters. I’ll be back, Bibim Bap House!

This place is legit. So delicious. I got the soup (the typical one) which is amazing and my boy friend got the ramen which was also really good. I don’t live in Salem but try to make an effort to come here if I’m driving home from Portland. Do itttt

Great lunch spot! The food is fantastic! We waited a little while for our order to be taken but it was worth the wait. I ordered the Kal Bi house special lunch box and it was glorious! It included Korean bbq ribs, steamed rice, a salad with an artichoke dressing, 3 pot stickers and 4 rolls of sushi. Everything has great flavor but the ribs were the absolute best!
Can’t wait to go back! Btw, they close early on Mondays in order to serve the homeless community in downtown Salem. How cool is that?

Although they took a little while to get to our table, they more than made up for it by bringing us 3 free appetizers. Then, when they brought us our meals, our 3 month old daughter was starting to get a little fussy, they owner immediately walked over and insisted they she hold her, telling my wife to «enjoy her meal». It was one of the sweetest gestures :) And the food was incredible!

Hahaha, yes I got Korean in Salem, OR, and ha, it was actually pretty good! I wasn’t sure, but the reviewers from HI and L.A. convinced me that I should give it a shot. I got the soondobu which was just fine and I enjoyed the three small banchan that came with the meal. It was packed for lunch on a weekday, and I wasn’t the only Asian person in there, lol.
I’d come back if I ever were in downtown Salem again. Not bad!

I came here for dinner after a long 7 mile hike at Silver Falls National Park. It definitely cannot compare with Korean restaurants in California, but the quality is understandable since it’s located in an area with a relatively small Asian population. The décor is really simple, and some of the tables are just foldable plastic tables from Costco. I didn’t really mind. I think that because there aren’t that many Asians in this area, this restaurant tries to serve Japanese and Chinese food in addition to Korean food. It’s usually a red flag when a restaurant serves multiple types of cuisines because often times, the chefs spread themselves too thin and the quality of the food goes down. We sat at a table across from the display that showed the fish, and it did not seem that fresh, and people did not seem to be ordering it, so it probably has been sitting there for awhile.
My family ordered the dol sot bibimbap, kalbi, grilled calamari, and sam ge tang. I got the dol sot bibimbap because it’s kind of hard to mess up bibimbap, but it was just okay. It was a good portion, but it was a little bland. The meat wasn’t marinated, and the vegetables were just steamed, which is fine but a little salt would have made it taste better. Also, some sesame seeds or sesame oil would have enhanced all the flavors in the dish more. I liked how the bottom layer of the rice that was touching the stone pot got crispy and once it cooled down, it contrasted nicely in texture compared to all the other ingredients.
We were pretty disappointed in the kalbi; it just tasted weird. There was a layer of glaze on top of the kalbi. I’ve eaten kalbi at many different restaurants, and the marinade and taste is pretty consistent. It just tasted really different and weird here. The thick glaze was not salty or sweet; it was slightly peppery. Also, the quality of meat was mediocre, and there wasn’t much meat on each bone.
When the «grilled» calamari came, it didn’t even looked grilled. It looked like it was just steamed and cut into pieces. We then put it on the hot stone pot that the kalbi came with, and it became a little crispier.
The sam ge tang is a whole chicken stuffed with sweet rice, ginger, and garlic. I only had the soup of it, but it was extremely flavorful. You could definitely taste each element of the ingredients, especially the ginger, which helps clear your sinuses. It was a little overpowering, but it probably was the best dish we had. The soup was hot but refreshing.
The service is pretty good; all the servers were extremely friendly, and upon being seated, they gave us each a slice of Korean pancake. Their banchan selection isn’t as big as restaurants in Los Angeles, but decent. I probably would not spend money to eat here if this restaurant was situated in Los Angeles, but because of the demographics of this area, I think that it’s a decent option if you choose the right dishes on the menu.

One of the great things about my job is that I get to travel throughout the West Coast and I love it when I find hidden gems such as Bibim Bap House. I live in Little Korea in Orange County (Garden Grove) so I had to try out this place and it honestly did not disappoint.
VERY AUTHENTIC!
Their banchan (side dishes) were phenomenal and tasted like the real thing. My faves are their long bean banchan and their kim chi. They also give you two pieces of scallion pancake as an appetizer and it’s free.
Their bimbimbap in the hot stone pot is definitely a MUST and of course they bring you the chilli sauce to season as you wish. I mix mine altogether and let it sizzle and love it when the rice gets crunchier too. YUMMMM!
Service is impeccable, the owner is so friendly and welcoming. There’s a 10% discount for dinner during weekdays I think. She said it was «god’s gift» and I thought that was very sweet.
At the end of your meal they bring you some fruit as well, SCORE!
Highly recommend this place, not only is great, AUTHENTIC food, but the service is amazing.
Please go here!

So the positive… yes, just in my observation, spicy tuna roll being good was only one positive of the place. Not extraordinary, but good. Now the bad… the kimchi fried rice had barely any kimchi in it, basically just really bland standard fried rice. Had to tons of soy sauce just to make it palatable. But there was plenty of frozen vegetable mix, including lima beans??? Really! Lima beans in fried rice??? Also, the fried egg on top was more of a egg leather consistency, so bad that it would not break up like I normally see with fried rice.
Finally, it took 35 minutes for someone to even take my order, 20 more minutes to get water… and that was after my food arrived. I understand if u are busy, but I am also… just let me know and I will go elsewhere. For the price not worth it, the food and service must be better elsewhere… but who knows in the town of slow, mediocre, and overpriced politicians, this may just be the norm.

Bibim Bap House offers solid Korean dishes at a good price, served with generous hospitality.
I came here with a group, but they decided to go elsewhere. I decided to stay on. The three free banchan they brought me consisted of kimchi, cucumbers, and green beens. The kimchi was the best of the three – sour and spicy, but still something I wouldn’t hesitate to give to someone curious about kimchi but lacking in experience. The cucumbers, described as «spicy,» were more sweet and tangy than hot, but still pretty good. The green beans were fairly bland, and I’m not sure with what they were seasoned. In addition to a small platter of banchan, I was brought a small scallion pancake on the house. I really appreciate such a gesture toward a stranger who stayed. The pancake was a little softer and eggier than its Cantonese equivalent, but still full of scallion-​y goodness and well fried.
I ordered the dolsot bibim bap with beef, per the owner’s recommendation. It came out quickly, with a beautiful egg yolk sitting atop the pile of rice, vegetables, and meat sizzling in a hot stone bowl. The veggies were nicely marinated, and worked well with the other ingredients. The egg, meanwhile, give it a vital heartiness, though I did wish that there was a white with the yolk to stir in. Per the owner’s recommendation, as I attacked the bowl, I made a point to scrape at the crispy rice clusters embedded throughout, which added a nice diversity of textures to the dish. The hot sauce they provided was restrained, but good – someone with little experience with Korean food wouldn’t have too hard a time experimenting with it and determining how much to add. The meat was minced, rather than the slices I was expecting. It was fine, though I wished that there was more of it. That said, I certainly didn’t lack for food at Bibim Bap House. The rice did a good job at absorbing all the other flavors in the dish, and was cooked just the right amount.
At the end of my meal, I was brought half of a small orange, cut into two segments and separated from the peel. Bedecked with a cocktail umbrella, it was decidedly silly, but still a nice touch for the end of a meal.
I noticed that they have $ 5 lunch special deals every day of the week. I was feeling like more than the fried rice featured as the Thursday special, and didn’t regret the $ 8.95 I spent on the dolsot bibim bap, but if you’re trying to really stretch your dollar, Bibim Bap House seems like a pretty good idea. Two of my coworkers, both of whom went to school in Salem, attested to this fact.
Overall, I’d say that the food at Bibim Bap House was tasty and plentiful. Come here if you’re hungry, the way I was this afternoon.

The food only tasted OK in my opinion, but I liked their friendly service, and I loved that it is a family business.
We got four plates of banchan: savory green beans, really sour kimchi, sweet pickled cucumbers, and bland bean sprouts. I think they could potentially up their banchan game a little bit.
Matt ordered a Happy Bibimbap and I ordered a beef soon doo boo (tofu soup). Matt’s bibimbap looked pretty good, but he said there was a lot of rice in it, making the dish really heavy towards the end.
My soon doo boo was not good. The broth tasted like Shin ramen broth. If I wanted that, sorry, I can just make it at home. The beef was tough and overall, I was not very impressed with my dish.
They gave us each a little slice of onion pancake as part of the banchan. I appreciate the gesture, but it was really greasy…
I liked the little orange half with a little umbrella at the end of the meal — that was really cute and very refreshing after a heavy meal.