BCD Tofuhouse Review

Copyright BCD Tofuhouse

Just yesterday I went with my friends to BCD Tofuhouse on 32nd St of Manhattan to try some authentic Korean cuisine. The closest to Korean cuisine I have tried is kimbap lunch at Woorijip (located nearby), kimchi chigae at Food Gallery (also nearby), and jars of kimchi bought at supermarkets. I think this experience is more accurate as to what to expect from dining in Korean establishments. Meals begin with banchan which translates to side dish, but I think appetizer may be the more appropriate meaning. They're small in portion and they get refilled while you dine. Plus they are free. BCD Tofuhouse specializes in soondubu, a tofu soup served in a stone pot. I think their prices are worth it even though the lunch specials didn't run on weekends. If they did, I would have gotten a bulgogi combo.

 Starting off with the banchan, they were very favourable. Our table got kimchi, macaroni and cheese, fish cake slices, blanched broccoli seasoned with salt and sesame oil, marinated raw squid, pickle slices, and a deep fried yellow corvina. BCD's kimchi is very good. Some kimchi are heavily salted or aren't fermented long enough, but this was some good kimchi. It's one of the few things that I can eat with plain white rice alone. The macaroni and cheese seems like a typical out of the box fixing and the pickles were soaked with a simple brine (a very salty one). The fish cake slices have a sweet flavor to them and are very enjoyable in small portions. The deep fried corvina was too salty for my tastes, but it wasn't bad tasting since this was deep fried. If only it wasn't too heavily salted, it would have been a fine piece of fish. Plus it's extremely easy to eat. I don't eat raw meats of any type, but I couldn't leave the raw squid alone. So as soon as my boiling hot soondubu came, I dumped it in the soup. The marinated squid was surprisingly good. If you ever had jellyfish salad, it tastes just like that. The texture is like a type of crunch that requires a bit of a chew. Some people are entirely grossed out by this, but to me their reactions are plain hilarious. The squid has been salted and marinated in a chili paste so it has the saltiness and the spiciness.

Onwards to the main course, the soondubu. I ordered a mixed soondubu at regular/medium spicy which is a tofu soup with pieces of beef, mussel, clams, and shrimp. The menu said oyster instead of mussel, but I think it's probably a translation mistake. There were three raw eggs that were given to us when we received the banchan. My friend, Bao, and I were about to reach to eat one thinking they were hard boiled eggs when my other friend who I will call Liri stopped us. Without Liri I would have never known about the raw squid or the raw egg. Once the soondubu arrives, you're suppose to crack the egg into the boiling egg so its cooks. I quickly stir in the egg (and squid) and let it bubble away. The stone pots are hot so it'll cook the egg completely. I was glad I got a medium spicy pot because I could at least handle it. Liri on the other hand got the real spicy one and was burning with it. It requires copious amounts of water. The menu even had one spice level that said danger. I think it'll practically become inedible for me. As I eat the pieces of tofu in the spicy soup, I am also getting pieces of beef. At the bottom of the pot is one shrimp, one black mussel and about four little clams. The mussel was really fresh and I thoroughly enjoyed that along with the clams. I wished there was more seafood though. Each soondubu is served with a bowl of rice and the meal ends with this bowl of rice in tea. To me it tastes like burnt rice in water which spells terrible in my dictionary so I didn't finish that. I rather you just give me more water as a palette cleanser.

The prices differ on different days of dining. This particular day I paid $17 which already includes tip and tax. For a Manhattan restaurant, it's typical and affordable. I would say pretty worth it. The service was good because waitresses didn't treat us like crap and came back to refill our water from time to time. Service was also very quick in general. Our wait time was at most 15 minutes even though the dining area was pretty packed. I do suggest BCD Tofuhouse to other people and I would come back here to dine.