b.b.go

Can Center City sustain two fast food-style Korean restaurants within mere blocks of each other? Giwa, the hugely popular Korean joint that opened in 2006 on Sansom St., now has competition from the newly opened b.b.go on the corner of 18th and Ludlow. Or does it?

b.b.go dubbs itself as a "fusion rice bar, " and serves a limited menu of rice-based Korean dishes. Bibimbap and Dubbap are the two main offerings, with each dish having a handful of variations depending on desired ingredients — tofu, chicken, beef, pork, etc. Also on the menu are pajeon, japchae, dukbokgi, and gimbap.My main reason for visiting b.b.go was to eat gimbap, Korea's answer to sushi and an answer that I actually prefer to Japanese sushi, but have difficulty finding in Philly. b.b.go's menu lists beef or tuna gimbap, but I thought I'd ask if they had veggie gimbap. At noon, only an hour after opening and before any sort of lunch rush had started, b.b.go told me they had sold out of the two orders of veggie gimbap they had made (if I am to believe that they even made a veggie version), and, apparently, had no interest in making me any.
Unlike at Giwa where you can order bibimbap cold or in a hot stone pot, at b.b.go cold is your only option. Your choice of brown or white rice is topped with various vegetables in the case of the vegetable bibimbap or the tofu bibimbap, and a fried egg upon request.

Zuchinni, mung bean sprouts, carrots, lettuce, daikon, spinach, and silken tofu topped this bowl. With the exception of the pickled daikon, all of the vegetables were plain — but fresh! — and the tofu was unseasoned. I prefer more pickled and fermented vegetables on my bibimbap. Perhaps the heacho bibimbap with seasoned seaweeds would have suited me better.

Kochujang, a spicy pepper sauce, is squirted on top by the server only upon request, and if you want more, you'll need to get up from your table and squirt some more from the couple of kochujang bottles sitting on the ledge with the utensils and napkins.
The accompanying miso soup is mild and innocuous.The accompanying kimchee is spicy, but, as far as kimchee goes, this is mild stuff.Tofu dubbap with mushrooms, carrots, broccoli, and onions is nicely spiced (I asked for medium), but is also sweet and saucy. This is actually how I would like my cheap Chinese take-out to taste, but not my Korean food. The accompanying salad of iceberg and sliced radishes with Italian dressing was an unpleasant mystery.

b.b.go currently has an off-the-menu bento lunch deal that will get you most of the way around the small menu, and then you can decide for yourself which fast food Korean restaurant is tops — Giwa or b.b.go?

b.b.go
20 S. 18th St., Philadelphia, PA 19103
215-569-8600
Mon-Fri: 11am-9pm
Sat: noon-8pm
Sun: closed