Ann Arbor is known for its selection of Korean food. Here is a short list of places in town that serve bi bim bop.
Variant spellings: be bim bop, bi bim bap. "Bap" means "rice", "bi bim" is "to mix". Sometimes it's served as "dol sot bi bim bop", which puts the whole thing in a hot stone bowl leaving a sizzling rice crust (locally, the "dol sot" variant is known to be available at Arirang, BeWon, Pacific Rim (lunch only), Rich JC , Saica, and Seoul Garden.
Currently in business
- Arirang across from Meijer's on Ann Arbor-Saline
- BeWon on Plymouth near Green
- Bell's Diner on Stadium near Liberty
- Broadway Cafe and Jumbo Steak Hoagie on Broadway
- Coffee Break on South University across from Village Corner
- Kosmo Deli in Kerrytown
- Pacific Rim on Liberty
- Panda on Packard
- Rich JC, where Steve's Lunch used to be on South University
- Rod's Diner, on State Street in the Packard/Hill/State triangle
- Saica on Plymouth; also dol sot bi bim bap
- Seoul Garden on Boardwalk in the office area across State Street from Briarwood
- Seoul Street on Plymouth near North Campus; they deliver; also Korean style fried chicken
- Sushi.come on North University
- Tomukun on East Liberty
- Umi Sushi on Plymouth Road
- University Cafe on Church Street
Gone but not forgotten
- Steve's Lunch, which is now Rich JC
- Kana (1985) which is now the "Pringle" auditorium of UM's new Biomedical Science Research Building
- Kana (1998) which is now Pacific Rim
- Seoul Korner (2007) on William, then Maru
- Maru on William, where Seoul Korner used to be
- Eastern Accents on Fourth Street - former home base for the weekly a2b3 Thursday lunch
Recipe
- a bowl full of rice, topped with
- blanched or marinated vegetables (e.g. carrot, bean sprouts, spinach, broccoli, mushrooms)
- bulgogi style beef, chicken, or tofu
- and a fried egg on top
- served with a spicy red pepper paste aka kochujang and sometimes sesame oil
Links to recipes
To see what a typical B3 looks like, have a look at Bi Bim Bop on Flickr.
Linda Sue Park's children's book Bee Bim Bop is a fun read and has a good recipe.