Dining Out: Stone Korean Restaurant, Redmond WA

Korean in downtown Redmond?
Stone Korean Restaurant has (IMO) the best Bibim Bop in the area.  What is that?  It's a traditional Korean dish that is served in a HOT clay bowl.  Inside you'll find rice (that is sizzling from the intense heat) topped with a variety of veggies like bean sprouts, carrots, shitake mushrooms, zucchini, dried seaweed.  Some may have beef.  And it's all topped with a raw egg which gets cooked by the hot clay pot.  You are also given a bottle of hot sauce that is a combination of heat and fermented soy beans.  You pour so you determine the heat.

Preparing to eat - stir you ingredients, hear the sizzle and notice the crust that is formed on the rice.  Steam rises.  The smell of all the flavors just blend in together for a fantastic one pot dish.  It's fantastic.

In addition to this lunch special, I enjoyed a bowl of miso soup (nothing special) and a great assortment of side dishes the Koreans call banchan.  It rotates but on this day I got pickled cucumbers, kim chee, peppered bean sprouts, potato salad, colesalw, and fishcake.

They have an extensive menu - every Korean dish you can think of.

Tip: It's located in the Value Village shopping plaza.  It's way in the back.  Big parking lot but seems to be always full.  Service can be a little slow.  Clip the coupon from the Community Shopper.

Dining Out - Serious Biscuit, Seattle WA

This South Lake Union eatery is hopping!  Tokuro and I happen to be in the area and stopped in for a late breakfast.  The atmosphere is very open and Serious Biscuit is shared with a wine shoppe and Serious Pie (upstairs).  Seating is limited and on this particular Sunday it was PACKED.  Table service is available upstairs but the wait can be long.  There is a quicker, self service option at the counter - just order your food, wait and then sit and eat.  We chose the latter.

We ordered "the Zach" which is pictured above (one to share).  Fried chicken, Tabasco black pepper gravy, fried egg and bacon graced this glass plate.  In addition we had the Kentucky bourbon & bacon beans and a bottle of Panna.  It's probably worth mentioning that their menu includes biscuits topped with a variety of goodies, side dishes and beverages.

The verdict - well, that was a lot of food.  It was what I expected in a Tom Douglas southern breakfast cuisine.  Our dish was rich and creamy with the gravy (but lacked in Tabasco and black pepper, I expected more).  Chicken was nice and crispy, but I would have liked it hotter (we noticed a bunch of pre-fried chicken piled high, just waiting to be used - I get it, saving time).  The beans were made fresh and had a distinct taste of cumin which my husband just LOVED.

OK, I'll be on a treadmill burning this breakfast off!