I went to Bann for dinner few months ago to try some Korean food, especially their Bibimbap, and ended up going back recently for lunch with my colleagues. I like this place that is pretty big! To go to the dinning room, you first go through the bar area:
Then a small corridor:
With wine bottles on one side (left on the photo above) and chopsticks boxes on the opposite side.
Then, the kitchen and its counter where you can dine and at the same time observe the Chef cooking!
Then we arrived in the dining room (they have two in fact: a large and a smaller one). They first brought us some kimchi, pickled cucumber and I think daikon.
If you have never been to a Korean restaurant, know that a meal always starts with banchan or small dishes. Similar to last time, I was a bit disappointed that there were only three different dishes, being used to close to 6 in other restaurants. But I was pleased to see that they served kimchi!
They then brought us some salad with sesame seeds and a vinaigrette sauce.
We ordered our dishes that looked very good, such as the bibimbap that, in the lunch menu was a colder version, meaning not served in a very hot bowl!
Or the Un Dae Gu Jo Rim individual box:
The individual box contained a spinach miso soup, salad, rice, some side dishes (kimchi, broccoli and daikon), as well as some sort of pancakes. Then, the main dish was blackened cod simmered in a spicy garlic soy reduction.
Then I tried some fantastic fried rice with shrimp:
It was very tasty and not greasy, that can sometimes be the problem with fried rice. It was in fact my favorite dish!
On my side, I went for the Kimchi Chi Ge, a stew made with spicy pickled kimchi, tofu, onions, scallions and pork belly.
It came in a very hot bowl and between the temperature and the spiciness of the dish, I admit it was a challenge! But overall, it was good, spicy, but good and I tried to counteract the spiciness with rice...
It worked a bit but my mouth was on fire!
I also thought that there was too much kimchi compared to the rest: there was a lot of firm tofu, but not enough of the delicious pork belly. So it was good but not the type of dish I would surely recommend (the fried rice however...).
Then was time for dessert. I admit that I was not expecting anything as, in the past, I was not that thrilled with the dessert menus proposed in Korean restaurants. Well, Bann is different! They have a fantastic dessert menu and the desserts presentation is phenomenal!
Here is what we tried:
Hot Chocolate cake served with vanilla ice cream.
It was a chocolate molten cake that was very light, not too sweet and perfectly...uncooked, so the center was flowing like lava!
Asian pear crumble:
This was my favorite dessert! There were two components worth describing: the sorbet and the crumble itself.
The crumble first: it was very buttery with the sweetness coming mainly from the pear that had a fantastic taste, the juice soaking the cake in the bottom.
Then the pear sorbet that was also very good and was probably homemade, with some small bits of pear in it, to add some fruity taste. On top was a rose petal coated in sugar that was delicious and crispy (my assumption at the time was that it was meant to be eaten and not just for decoration...).
The most spectacular in term of presentation was the tropical snow:
It was shaved coconut ice with jellied fruits, sweet beans, coconut ice cream and creme anglaise. Imagine a big bowl of ice with all these elements on top. It was pretty good, especially the coconut ice cream that was very creamy.
Yellow mungbean cups:
The mung bean can have various colors, one of them being yellow, and is cultivated in Asia; it has some sweetness to it making it perfect for both savory and sweet dishes. It was the central element to this dessert where they made a custard with it added toasted pistachios and baked everything in a small phyllo cup. It was good and creamy, a bit too sweet.
The last dessert was macha green tea ice cream.
The ice cream was laid out on ice that looked like a little boat, keeping it cold. I am usually not a big fan of green tea ice cream because it can be bitter, but this one was very good and creamy. Surprisingly, after they brought the dish to the table, we started to hear some noise coming from the ice, like a whistle! Probably created purposely by the ice melting.
So, these desserts were definitely the big surprise of this lunch: the creativity and the presentation were phenomenal and I surely did not expect it. I am wondering now if one should go to Bann for the dishes or for dessert...Let say for both!
Enjoy (I did)!
They then brought us some salad with sesame seeds and a vinaigrette sauce.
We ordered our dishes that looked very good, such as the bibimbap that, in the lunch menu was a colder version, meaning not served in a very hot bowl!
Or the Un Dae Gu Jo Rim individual box:
The individual box contained a spinach miso soup, salad, rice, some side dishes (kimchi, broccoli and daikon), as well as some sort of pancakes. Then, the main dish was blackened cod simmered in a spicy garlic soy reduction.
Then I tried some fantastic fried rice with shrimp:
It was very tasty and not greasy, that can sometimes be the problem with fried rice. It was in fact my favorite dish!
On my side, I went for the Kimchi Chi Ge, a stew made with spicy pickled kimchi, tofu, onions, scallions and pork belly.
It came in a very hot bowl and between the temperature and the spiciness of the dish, I admit it was a challenge! But overall, it was good, spicy, but good and I tried to counteract the spiciness with rice...
It worked a bit but my mouth was on fire!
I also thought that there was too much kimchi compared to the rest: there was a lot of firm tofu, but not enough of the delicious pork belly. So it was good but not the type of dish I would surely recommend (the fried rice however...).
Then was time for dessert. I admit that I was not expecting anything as, in the past, I was not that thrilled with the dessert menus proposed in Korean restaurants. Well, Bann is different! They have a fantastic dessert menu and the desserts presentation is phenomenal!
Here is what we tried:
Hot Chocolate cake served with vanilla ice cream.
It was a chocolate molten cake that was very light, not too sweet and perfectly...uncooked, so the center was flowing like lava!
Asian pear crumble:
This was my favorite dessert! There were two components worth describing: the sorbet and the crumble itself.
The crumble first: it was very buttery with the sweetness coming mainly from the pear that had a fantastic taste, the juice soaking the cake in the bottom.
Then the pear sorbet that was also very good and was probably homemade, with some small bits of pear in it, to add some fruity taste. On top was a rose petal coated in sugar that was delicious and crispy (my assumption at the time was that it was meant to be eaten and not just for decoration...).
The most spectacular in term of presentation was the tropical snow:
It was shaved coconut ice with jellied fruits, sweet beans, coconut ice cream and creme anglaise. Imagine a big bowl of ice with all these elements on top. It was pretty good, especially the coconut ice cream that was very creamy.
Yellow mungbean cups:
The mung bean can have various colors, one of them being yellow, and is cultivated in Asia; it has some sweetness to it making it perfect for both savory and sweet dishes. It was the central element to this dessert where they made a custard with it added toasted pistachios and baked everything in a small phyllo cup. It was good and creamy, a bit too sweet.
The last dessert was macha green tea ice cream.
The ice cream was laid out on ice that looked like a little boat, keeping it cold. I am usually not a big fan of green tea ice cream because it can be bitter, but this one was very good and creamy. Surprisingly, after they brought the dish to the table, we started to hear some noise coming from the ice, like a whistle! Probably created purposely by the ice melting.
So, these desserts were definitely the big surprise of this lunch: the creativity and the presentation were phenomenal and I surely did not expect it. I am wondering now if one should go to Bann for the dishes or for dessert...Let say for both!
Enjoy (I did)!
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And Remember: I Just Want To Eat!
