Kim Chi House is located in Chinatown, inside the City Plaza building. The main floor houses several restaurants, such as Han’s, Delicious Country and Gui Lin. Kim Chi House is one of three stalls in the food court. The other two stalls include a bakery and a vegetarian joint.
Don’t make the rookie mistake I made when I first ate at Kim Chi House. I ordered a rice plate. What you need to order is the stone bowl bibimbap. What a deal! For $10.00, you get a sizzling stone bowl filled with rice, vegetables and a protein of your choice. All stone bowls come with complimentary vegetable side dishes, barley tea and miso soup.
The owner carries these red hot stone bowls to your table. Please do him a favour and get out of his way. What’s up Hamsup was his usual oblivious self and blocked the owner as he was carrying out trays of the heavy, sizzling bowls to a table.
I enjoyed the Spicy Pork and Crispy Calamari bibimbap stone bowl. The squid was tender and the batter was crispy. The addition of the julienne carrots, daikon and sprouts cut into the spicines and oiliness of the rice and squid. I let the rice sit against the hot stone for a few minutes, which made into a crunchy layer. The portion of the pork and calamari dish was large. I ended taking about a quarter of it home.
Office Dad ordered the chicken bibimbap stone bowl, which came topped with an sunny side up egg. The chicken is chopped up finer than Stone Bowl Korean. I like the big juicy pieces of chicken from Stone Bowl Korean, but flavour-wise, I prefer Kim Chi House.
The food court gets busy, with the vast majority of the customers digging into a stone bowl. The husband and wife team do an admirable job churning out bowl after bowl during the lunch rush. I’ve been a few times and the quality and presentation is consistent. If you’re in the hood, I would totally recommend this cash only joint.
Hitting the Sauce 