Fooda is excited to feature a post from Lauren Helfrich, a food blogger based in New York City. She’s taste-testing lunches all over New York, snapping pics along the way, to bring you quick, digestible reviews. Her blog is www.lvlaurenvictoria.com – here, try a free sample…

Usually, when I’m at Korilla BBQ, I go for the traditional Create Your Own Rice Bowl with gochujang (purple rice) bulgogi, and of course, all the kimchi sides possible! But today, today I walked up to the counter and said, “Surprise Me.”

And let me tell you… What a pleasant surprise it was!

It started out with a super healthy rice base of Jagokbap, also known as Purple Rice. It’s a type of multigrain rice blend made up of short grain brown rice, black rice, millet, and barley topped with Korilla’s braised shiitake mushrooms & gochujang bean paste tofu. For those of you who might not know gochujang, it’s the traditional Korean household staple & favorite. It’s in everything, from soups to fried rice, even meat marinades. Seriously though, my Aunty Clara barely eats any meal without it. But actually.

Go to any family party, and next to the cut vegetable platter you’ll not only see the typical vegetable ranch dip, but also a Gochujang concoction. She’ll mix the bean paste with a little bit of sesame oil, a dab of soy sauce, and sesame seeds. It’s actually, surprisingly quite good when you dip cucumbers and celery in it… as for dipping sliced red bell peppers…er… I’m not the biggest fan. However, I digress!

Every bite of tofu in my bowl conveyed exquisite flavour. Pairing it with their Kale salad, Purple Slaw, Pico De Gallo and a drizzling of their ever so popular Krack Sauce, a cilantro lime aioli sauce, didn’t overload the pallet with too many flavours… surprisingly.

In fact, it showcased a different dimension of bibimbap and the level of complexity that an ordinary dish of bibimbap can be elevated to. No longer is it the dish of left overs, rice and gochujan. Great job Korilla!

Be sure to check them out at : 23 3rd Avenue @ St. Mark’s Place New York, NY 10003 ~OR~ at one of their many FoodaNYC PopUps!