What’s a Korean rice bar? Fresno has one now, serving up some Asian favorites
K-bop is a little restaurant in northeast Fresno serving up something you don’t see too often in Fresno: bibimbap.
It’s a Korean rice dish.
The whole restaurant is centered around it. Although some flavors here may be new to some Fresnans, the restaurant’s concept is pretty simple.
K-bop is a lot like Chipotle. You pick a base like rice, then choose your meat, toppings and sauces.
It opened Jan. 2 at the northwest corner of Nees and Willow avenues, in the same shopping center as The Point Patio Bar & Bistro and The Curry Pizza Co.’s second location (which regular readers know recently landed on Yelp.com’s 100 places to eat in 2020).
K-bop is nothing fancy. It’s a get in, get your meal quick, and get out type of place. It’s open for lunch and dinner.
The menu here centers around the rice bowl. You pick from white rice, purple rice (actually a black rice that turns purple when cooked) or salad.
Then, pick your protein: bulgogi beef, spicy pork, pork belly, chicken, or marinated tofu.
You get a side of black beans, cabbage or potatoes. And then up to five toppings from a list of more than a dozen: baby bok choy, bean sprouts, kimchi (pickled, fermented cabbage), cucumbers, serrano peppers, seaweed, radishes, carrots, etc.
For an extra $1.50 you can get a fried egg on top.
If they’re not too busy, you can taste samples of the food, says K-bop owner Frank Marczak.
There’s a few foods and terms that might be new to some diners, so let’s have a little vocabulary lesson in Korean food.
Bulgogi: The bulgogi beef is a tasty option at K-bop. It’s slices of beef, marinated in bulgogi sauce, a sweet and savory sauce made with soy sauce and often brown sugar and pears.
Gochujang: This is a red chili paste (at K-bop it’s a thinner sauce that can be squirted atop your bowl) made with fermented soy beans. It’s somewhat spicy, tangy and sweet and is showing up on menus everywhere. “It’s getting as popular as the Sriracha,” Marczak said.
Bibimbap: This is the Korean rice dish mentioned earlier. It’s comfort food, rice topped with meat (usually bulgogi beef), veggies and an egg on top. It’s showing up more and more on menus at other restaurants in Fresno, like MaRoo, Asiana Food & Market, even Bonchon, the Korean fried chicken restaurant near Fresno State.
Most of the bowls at K-bop run from $9.95 to $12.95, plus extras.
Details: 2950 E. Nees Ave., Suite 105. (559) 712-6221. Hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays.
This story was originally published January 23, 2020 at 2:29 PM.
