The Korean Secret Garden in Santa Clara – Bi Won Restaurant
It’s late April and the wind still blows cold. The tiny coffee plant I got last winter is still grudgingly hiding in my room for warmth, while I desperately crave a big hot soup with kimchi. Since coffee leaves wouldn’t make either great broth or pickle, we set out to Sunnyvale.
But driving in Sunnyvale on an empty stomach is no fun. The signs and loops are out to get you, and your tummy makes you rush running around. It was supposed to take less than thirty minutes, yet we’ve been driving for over an hour. After lots of wrong turns and backtracking eastward and westward, we thought we wouldn’t make it before closing time. Then as Hope faints, we see it. Secret Garden timidly stands at the end of a strip mall’s parking lot.
The restaurant may not have a snazzy outlook, but its spacious interior is quite nice. I’m a fan of booth seating and its privacy, but it’s a luxury in Berkeley. Here, the mahogany tables and thick cushion benches fit snuggly in enclosing of wooden planks, so that conversations can be spilled out somewhat comfortably and elbows do not touch. But the loveliness of food on neighboring diners’ plates is still in sight. It’s torturous to look at others eating merrily while you’re hungry, you know. Thank goodness the banchan is served quickly. Within minutes after placing our orders, plates after plates come out that I barely have enough time to snap a picture of them all. As light shines directly onto the crisp white melamine, the color contrast is so brilliant I suddenly don’t want to disturb any plate with my clumsy chopsticks.
From left to right: napa cabbage kimchi, nokdumuk (녹두묵 mungbean jello), kongnamul (콩나물 boiled and seasoned soybean sprout), and very tasty firm red strips (name help, please? is it eomuk strips in chili sauce?) nakji bokkeum (낙지볶음 fried octopus). The soybean sprouts are bigger, fatter, and nuttier than the usual mungbean sprouts, which means they’re more satisfying. The nokdumuk tastes as translucent as it looks, a refreshing heal congealed and coated in soy sauce that playfully wobbles on the tongue.
To the right of the kongnamul are cucumber kimchi, radish kimchi, eomuk (fish cake), and crunchy green strings (again, I love it, but I don’t know its name. My guess is sliced seaweed?) seaweed with gogumajulki (고구마줄기 dried sweet potato stem). Something about rings of jalapeno in banchan bugs me, just like jalapeno in banh-mi. Not that I have anything against Mexican peppers, but the taste doesn’t belong.
Just as I thought the banchan list ended at eight, a generous plate of japchae (잡채) fuming sweetness comes…
… with two stylish inox cups of miyuk gook (미역국). Whether or not it can enhance my brain function, it well enhances the sizzling goodness of the dolsot bibimbap (돌솥비빔밥).
White rice mixed with veggies, beef strips, egg, and gochujang (고추장) until crimson has been Mudpie’s No.1 favorite for a while now. He treasures every spoonful and guards the forming crust at the bottom against any careless scooping. At the end he then scrapes and eats the well seasoned crust with the joy of children eating s’mores. He orders it almost every time we go to a Korean restaurant, I feel like he should have a bibimbap blog much like Adam Kuban with Slice. And he claims this dolsot bibimbap is the best he’s had.
Meanwhile I am busy slurping what I have dreamed of for days: a hearty beef soup. A bowl of wet steamed rice comes with the galbi tang (갈비탕), but I wish they had given me more. The rice goes quickly as I pour the mild yet sensuous broth over it, with a piece of meltingly soft short rib, and maybe a bit of kimchi. I even eat the shiny green chives, since they now taste so sweet.
When I get near the end of the big soup bowl, a pleasant surprise surfaces: a small bundle of dangmyeon (당면 cellophane noodle) has been there all along, soft, clear, quietly soaking up flavors from the darling broth. I have rarely felt more gluttonously satisfied after a meal dined out.
Address: Secret Garden (Bi Won Restaurant)
3430 El Camino Real
Santa Clara, CA 95051
(408) 244-5020
Money matters: $26.11 – dinner and happiness for two.
Rattling wonderful info can be found on weblog.
1I’m really enjoying the design and layout of your blog. It’s a very easy on the eyes which makes it much more enjoyable for me to come here and visit more often. Did you hire out a developer to create your theme? Great work!
2Very interesting subject, thanks for putting up. “Experience a comb life gives you after you lose your hair.” by Judith Stern.
3you’ve a terrific weblog right here! would you wish to make some invite posts on my weblog?
4Hello there, simply was aware of your blog via Google, and located that it is really informative. I’m going to watch out for brussels. I’ll appreciate for those who continue this in future. A lot of folks can be benefited out of your writing. Cheers!
5Almost all of whatever you assert happens to be astonishingly accurate and that makes me wonder why I hadn’t looked at this in this light before. Your article really did turn the light on for me personally as far as this particular subject matter goes. Nevertheless at this time there is 1 factor I am not really too cozy with and while I make an effort to reconcile that with the actual main theme of the point, permit me observe what the rest of your subscribers have to point out.Nicely done.
6My developer is trying to convince me to move to .net from PHP. I have always disliked the idea because of the costs. But he’s tryiong none the less. I’ve been using WordPress on a number of websites for about a year and am anxious about switching to another platform. I have heard very good things about blogengine.net. Is there a way I can transfer all my wordpress content into it? Any help would be greatly appreciated!
7Hey very nice blog!! Man .. Beautiful .. Amazing .. I’ll bookmark your website and take the feeds also…I’m happy to find so many useful information here in the post, we need develop more strategies in this regard, thanks for sharing. . . . . .
8I love your blog.. very nice colors & theme. Did you create this website yourself? Plz reply back as I’m looking to create my own blog and would like to know wheere u got this from. thanks
9I have been reading out some of your stories and i must say nice stuff. I will make sure to bookmark your site.
10Pretty section of content. I just stumbled upon your website and in accession capital to assert that I acquire actually enjoyed account your blog posts. Anyway I’ll be subscribing to your feeds and even I achievement you access consistently fast.
11Thank you for publishing this valuable article. I absolutely love your blog. Many thanks for providing a space for me to comment on your web page. I hope more engaging articles from you in the future.
12Thank you for providing this valuable article. I truly enjoy your site. Many thanks for providing a space for me to comment on your web page. I would love to see more engaging articles from you in the future.
13You are my inspiration , I have few web logs and sometimes run out from to post .
14I’m usually to blogging and i really admire your content. The article has actually peaks my interest. I’m going to bookmark your web site and hold checking for brand spanking new information.
15Terrific work! That is the type of information that should be shared around the internet. Shame on Google for now not positioning this put up higher! Come on over and discuss with my site . Thanks =)
16It’s onerous to find knowledgeable individuals on this subject, but you sound like you realize what you’re talking about! Thanks
17Wow! Thank you! I constantly needed to write on my site something like that. Can I take a portion of your post to my site?
18I’d have to examine with you here. Which is not one thing I usually do! I take pleasure in reading a post that may make folks think. Additionally, thanks for permitting me to comment!
19Hey! Do you know if they make any plugins to help with Search Engine Optimization? I’m trying to get my blog to rank for some targeted keywords but I’m not seeing very good results. If you know of any please share. Thank you!
20Utterly indited articles, regards for selective information.
21I like this blog very much, Its a rattling nice office to read and find info . “Misogynist A man who hates women as much as women hate one another.” by H.L. Mencken.
22It’s actually a nice and helpful piece of information. I am happy that you shared this useful information with us. Please stay us informed like this. Thanks for sharing.
23The next time I read a blog, I hope that it doesnt disappoint me as much as this one. I mean, I know it was my choice to read, but I actually thought youd have something interesting to say. All I hear is a bunch of whining about something that you could fix if you werent too busy looking for attention.
24Great post. I was checking constantly this blog and I’m impressed! Extremely useful info particularly the last part 🙂 I care for such information much. I was looking for this certain information for a very long time. Thank you and good luck.
25It’s actually a nice and useful piece of info. I am satisfied that you shared this helpful information with us. Please keep us informed like this. Thank you for sharing.
26I am continuously browsing online for articles that can help me. Thanks!
27I really appreciate this post. I’ve been looking all over for this! Thank goodness I found it on Bing. You’ve made my day! Thanks again
28Great write-up, I’m regular visitor of one’s web site, maintain up the nice operate, and It’s going to be a regular visitor for a long time.
29I am curious to find out what blog platform you’re utilizing? I’m having some minor security problems with my latest site and I would like to find something more risk-free. Do you have any solutions?
30Thanks for sharing superb informations. Your site is so cool. I am impressed by the details that you have on this site. It reveals how nicely you understand this subject. Bookmarked this web page, will come back for extra articles. You, my friend, ROCK! I found simply the information I already searched everywhere and simply could not come across. What a perfect web site.
31It is really a great and helpful piece of information. I’m satisfied that you shared this useful info with us. Please keep us informed like this. Thank you for sharing.
32A lot of thanks for your own labor on this web site. Debby really loves working on internet research and it is obvious why. We all learn all relating to the dynamic mode you render powerful information on this web blog and even recommend participation from other people on that content and my simple princess is certainly becoming educated a whole lot. Take pleasure in the remaining portion of the new year. You have been doing a dazzling job.
33You got a very wonderful website, Sword lily I detected it through yahoo.
34Very interesting details you have mentioned, appreciate it for posting.
35Oh my goodness! a tremendous article dude. Thank you However I am experiencing difficulty with ur rss . Don’t know why Unable to subscribe to it. Is there anybody getting similar rss problem? Anybody who knows kindly respond. Thnkx
36Hi, Neat post. There’s an issue with your website in web explorer, might check this… IE nonetheless is the market chief and a big component of other folks will miss your wonderful writing due to this problem.
37I was reading some of your posts on this internet site and I believe this website is really informative ! Keep on posting.
38I really appreciate you for publishing this interesting article. I really like your blog. Thank you for allowing me to comment on your blog post. I hope more interesting posts from you soon.
39I discovered your weblog web site on google and test just a few of your early posts. Continue to keep up the excellent operate. I simply additional up your RSS feed to my MSN Information Reader. Seeking forward to studying extra from you later on!…
40naturally like your website but you have to check the spelling on quite a few of your posts. A number of them are rife with spelling issues and I find it very troublesome to tell the truth nevertheless I will surely come back again.
41What’s Taking place i am new to this, I stumbled upon this I’ve discovered It positively useful and it has helped me out loads. I am hoping to give a contribution & aid other users like its helped me. Great job.
42There’s noticeably a bundle to learn about this. I assume you made certain good factors in features also.
43Many thanks for providing this interesting content. I truly enjoy your site. Many thanks for letting me share my thoughts on your article. I would love to see additional interesting updates from you in the future.
44Many thanks for publishing this great information. I truly enjoy your web page. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to comment on your blog post. I hope more interesting posts from you in the near future.
45After study a few of the blog posts on your website now, and I truly like your way of blogging. I bookmarked it to my bookmark website list and will be checking back soon. Pls check out my web site as well and let me know what you think.
46WONDERFUL Post.thanks for share..more wait .. …
47I saw a lot of website but I conceive this one has got something extra in it in it
48Woh I love your articles, bookmarked! .
49Some really wonderful information, Gladiolus I noticed this.
50