IAMBRIGITTE : US Travel: BCD Tofu House...

Back in the US, we were able to dine in a number of restaurants but I usually don't bring my camera with me unless we are going on a trip. Most of the food photos I have are taken by my Iphone and some of them aren't really clear so there's only a few I could share with you.

For today, let me share with you our late lunch with probably one of the famous Korean Restaurant in the US...the BCD Tofu House.

It was my second day in the US and since we are somewhere around New Jersey, Kuya Cyril decided to bring us to this place. He said it's one of his favorite go-to places when he wants to eat good Korean food.

Whatever you order, you always get a bunch of Banchan:

Macaroni Salad

I'm sorry but I don't know what this is..

^_^

Pickles

Kimchi

I've never had Kimchi before, as I was scared how it would taste like. But since I'm on a travel and perhaps, a bit more ready to explore, I decided to give this a try. And guess what, we had 3 of this! Yeah, these are all refillable.

Bean sprouts

Radish and Spinach?

There's also croaker fish. It looks and tastes like our Isdang Besugo, only smaller.

I tried eating the fish with chopsticks but ended up using my fingers.

Haha!

I love how crunchy and tasty it is. I'm not sure if this restaurant uses MSG but their food are really full of flavor!

Seokkeo Soondubu, $12.99

Seafood Soon Tofu Soup, is just one variety of their bestselling tofu soups. Their tofu soups are made of organic soon tofu (soon means soft) and you can choose the level of spiciness you prefer: plain, mild, medium, spicy and very spicy. We were supposed to order spicy but we weren't sure how spicy their spicy is so we settled for medium, just to be safe.

The soup arrives in pot, piping hot and you'll be asked to crack an egg and add it to your soup. If you don't want it then you can definitely skip on that. Don't worry about it being raw, the soup is more than hot to cook the egg in just a few seconds.

I eat tofu but this is the first time I've eaten it in soup. I like my tofu fried, so I would usually pass up on soft (or steamed) tofu, unless it's Tofu Steak from Teriyaki Boy (laughs) . But after having this at BCD, I think I would be looking forward to eating more tofu in the future.

The soup is really tasty and there's a good amount of seafood in it. I am the type of eater who won't be able to survive a meal without any seasonings (pepper, soy sauce) but I was surprised that I didn't have to ask for any this time. Their medium-spicy isn't spicy at all (well, at least for me) so we said we should've gotten the spicy instead.

Fried Spicy Squid, $18.99

I rarely eat squids because I usually find hard to chew. But this one's tender and it won't make you feel like you're eating rubber. Unlike any other squid dishes that I've tried that it's the soup/sauce that has taste and the squid tastes blah, this one looks and tastes like it has been marinated with something for a long period of time. This one has the right amount of spice in it and I can say that I am happy with my order.

Yes, that's one huge chunk of tofu!

^_^

Bulgogi, $18.99

Now this one, I can say is a disappointment among our ordered dishes. It's too sweet for my taste, and it kinda reminds me of Sukiyaki. I'm not sure if it's supposed to taste like that as I don't eat Bulgogi that much making me unaware. Geesh, I can't even remember if it was the first time I had Bulgogi! So for me, this is just so-so. Or it could also because I was craving for something spicy that day.

Kuya Cy, posing with his Bulgogi

Each dish comes with a pot of rice and can I just say this place gave me a new impression of eating Tutong (rice crust at the bottom of the rice pot):

First, the waiter will be the one to scoop the rice from the stone pot and transfer it to another small pot:

Now there will be rice crust left on the stone pot. Water will then be added on the stone pot and he'll leave it like that for 5 or so minutes.

He'll then come back to scoop what's left in the stone pot and tadahhh...I don't know if it's supposed to be dessert or just another side dish:

I am not sure if it's just plain water that he added, but looking at the liquid inside the jug, it looks like tea. Surprisingly, the rice tastes good..it has a bit of smokey taste in it.

With Kuya Cy and Mr. X

the aftermath

Food is great, and priced just right. They also have WIFI but when I asked a waiter what the password is, he just said "I don't know" and immediately turned his back at me. Rude, yes, but I didn't let that ruin my mood for food. Or maybe they prefer talking to fellow Koreans since they look a bit more relaxed when talking to them than to foreigners.

Oh by the way, giving tip is customary in the US. Usually it's 15% on top of your bill.

^_^