Greasy Spoon Korean in St. Louis

(Pardon me in advance for the picture quality--I don't have access to a photo-editing program right now.)

The U. City Grill in St. Louis is a long-standing (and tiny) institution, serving the usual breakfast hash and eggs, and Korean food. In fact, it's the first place I ever had Korean food, back in my youth on a wretched, hungover afternoon. That first bite of bibimbap was a revelation, and I soon became an addict. When I moved to Chicago a few years later, I missed U. City Grill terribly, but soon filled the hole in my stomach's heart (?) with all the other wonderful food that Chicago had and St. Louis did not. (Good authentic Mexican, for example, was sorely lacking in St. Louis until recently.)

Long story short (-er), I went back to U. City Grill last week to discover if their Bibimbap was truly as divine as I remembered it to be. In short: yes.
It is still the perfect mixture of piquancy and comfort, of tender beef and crispy bean sprouts, of hot paste and warm egg. Even the rice is wonderful, smooth and pearlescent, and the flavor of the dish overall gets a nice boost from ground black pepper--in the marinade of the beef, I think.


The corner location of U. City Grill


In former days, the Korean menu wasn't posted


The preparation begins!


My father is the heretic who didn't want an egg on his


Before stirring--lookit that egg, ma!


After stirring--I don't know how I waited long enough to take a picture...

Any way, I really don't know how it's as good as it is, served in a plastic bowl and all, but I would choose the U. City Grill bibimbap over any I've ever had in Chicago. Although I would love for someone to change my mind...bibimbapathon, anyone?

man.. this is SO odd. IIRC, there was (is?) a Korean lunch place in Ann Arbor, above which I lived, which served breakfast... and random Korean food as well.. plus it was next to a Korean restaurant...

Of course, there's the hot dog stand at Oakley and Grand that also serves bibimbap and bulgogi.

It's not the best korean food out there, but it's probably the best korean restaurant that also serves jalapeno poppers.

See also, Hamburger King on Clark, Jim's Grill on Irving, and that Korean hot dog stand on Grand for similar Korean greasy spoon diner BBB. Dolsot BBB at kang nam is clearly better than this sort of stuff, but the experience would seem to be similar to that pictured. And even bad BBB is good.

Also, the Korean/Chinese place under the L at Jackson by the BOT has gotten better recently. BBB now has a fried egg option and the veggies have upgraded.

Gleam -- jinx!

geli wrote:Although I would love for someone to change my mind...bibimbapathon, anyone?

How does this compare to the bibimbap served at Kang Nam, which is my favorite in the City?

Our regular go-to place for bibimbap when we lived in Evanston was JK Sweets on Clark. If you can get by all the students who are busy ordering the various desserts they offer there such as cookies, milkshakes, and ice creams, check out their BiBimBap. I remember it to be pretty good... for an ice cream parlor!
At the time, it was Korean owned and I believe it still is.

geli wrote:Any way, I really don't know how it's as good as it is, served in a plastic bowl and all, but I would choose the U. City Grill bibimbap over any I've ever had in Chicago. Although I would love for someone to change my mind...bibimbapathon, anyone?

I'm definitely down for a bibimbap-athon, as long as you mix it up extremely well and won't expect me to eat more than a few bites. How else will we be able to sample 6-7 of them in an afternoon?

For sure.

JK Sweets
720 Clark St
Evanston, IL 60201
(847) 864-3073

PIGMON wrote:Our regular go-to place for bibimbap when we lived in Evanston was JK Sweets on Clark. If you can get by all the students who are busy ordering the various desserts they offer there such as cookies, milkshakes, and ice creams, check out their BiBimBap. I remember it to be pretty good... for an ice cream parlor!
At the time, it was Korean owned and I believe it still is.

geli wrote:Any way, I really don't know how it's as good as it is, served in a plastic bowl and all, but I would choose the U. City Grill bibimbap over any I've ever had in Chicago. Although I would love for someone to change my mind...bibimbapathon, anyone?

I'm definitely down for a bibimbap-athon, as long as you mix it up extremely well and won't expect me to eat more than a few bites. How else will we be able to sample 6-7 of them in an afternoon?

For sure.

JK Sweets
720 Clark St
Evanston, IL 60201
(847) 864-3073

Wow. I went to school there for five years and never knew they served bibimbap. Will have to check it out next time I'm up in that direction.

Binko wrote:Wow. I went to school there for five years and never knew they served bibimbap. Will have to check it out next time I'm up in that direction.

It's a shocker, I know!

It's been a few years since I've been to Central Restaurant in Evanston, but they used to serve a very good bibimbap. I much preferred Central Restaurant's version to JK Sweets. Admittedly, I had my first bibimbap at Central so I am probably biased.

Because Central was just a short ride south of my office, it was where I had many (probably too many) solo lunches The place was always packed at lunch time and loaded with regulars. I'm not sure if the same woman owns it anymore. I'm also quite embarrassed that I can't remember her first name.

Central Restaurant
1714 Central Street
Evanston
847-475-8820

veloute

geli wrote:

Geli,

For some odd reason this image is haunting me.

I had bibimbap Friday at a nice home style Korean place on Lincoln, Crystal Korean, which serves a tasty deconstructed version. The problem with Crystal's bibimbab is it's way too healthy* (read not oily) to satisfy a Greasy Spoon bibimbab jones.

Enjoy,
Gary

Crystal Korean Restaurant
5800 N Lincoln
Chicago, IL 60659
773-275-0489

*Normally a good thing

For some odd reason this image is haunting me.

.
It's the glistening!

How does this compare to the bibimbap served at Kang Nam, which is my favorite in the City?

I don't know, but I am EXTREMELY interested in finding out. Who's with me?

I'm definitely down for a bibimbap-athon, as long as you mix it up extremely well and won't expect me to eat more than a few bites. How else will we be able to sample 6-7 of them in an afternoon?

Maybe instead of a thon, it could be more along the lines of an LTH-project. I think bibimbaps are best enjoyed when you're really hungry, so too many in one day might lessen the experience.

How about exploring the "hidden bibimbaps of Chicago", ie., the bibimbaps served where you wouldn't expect them to be, as discussed in this thread? Or maybe an "Overt Bap vs. Covert Bap" investigation?

Good golly I'm hungry already!

geli wrote:How about exploring the "hidden bibimbaps of Chicago", ie., the bibimbaps served where you wouldn't expect them to be, as discussed in this thread? Or maybe an "Overt Bap vs. Covert Bap" investigation?

Geli, don't forget that you wrote:

Of course, now you've raised the bar so high, I'll expect you to create a report/chart of this nature for various other foods as well. When can we expect the sukiyaki report? The hot and sour soup report? Do you need any assistants?

Looks like the time has come for a bibimbap chart!
I admit to be a complete and utter BBB neophyte, but I encourage anything which involves comparative eating, especially when it is accompanied by infographics!

Looks like the time has come for a bibimbap chart!

While I can't ever imagine creating something as informative (and good-looking!) as the Carne en su Jugo chart, I will do my best to create a bibimbap advisory of some sort.

Needless to say, I look forward to doing the necessary research.