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.
I really appreciate this post. I have been looking everywhere for this! Thank goodness I found it on Bing. You’ve made my day! Thank you again!
1Someone essentially help to make seriously posts I would state. This is the first time I frequented your website page and thus far? I amazed with the research you made to make this particular publish incredible. Excellent job!
2Veja como revisar TCC nas normas ABNT com checklist prático de estrutura, capa, sumário, citações e referências antes da entrega.
3Keep up the excellent piece of work, I read few articles on this site and I believe that your site is real interesting and contains bands of fantastic information.
4Thanks for ones marvelous posting! I truly enjoyed reading it, you can be a great author.I will make certain to bookmark your blog and will come back in the future. I want to encourage that you continue your great writing, have a nice holiday weekend!
5Write more, thats all I have to say. Literally, it seems as though you relied on the video to make your point. You definitely know what youre talking about, why waste your intelligence on just posting videos to your site when you could be giving us something enlightening to read?
6I think other website proprietors should take this internet site as an example , very clean and excellent user pleasant design and style.
7Very interesting details you have observed, thankyou for posting. “History is a cyclic poem written by Time upon the memories of man.” by Percy Bysshe Shelley.
8This is a very good tips especially to those new to blogosphere, brief and accurate information… Thanks for sharing this one. A must read article.
9Way cool, some valid points! I appreciate you making this article available, the rest of the site is also high quality. Have a fun.
10I don’t normally comment but I gotta say regards for the post on this one :D.
11I like this web site its a master peace ! Glad I noticed this on google .
12Have you ever thought about adding a little bit more than just your articles? I mean, what you say is fundamental and all. However think about if you added some great images or videos to give your posts more, “pop”! Your content is excellent but with pics and videos, this site could definitely be one of the greatest in its field. Great blog!
13Thank you for another fantastic post. The place else may anyone get that type of info in such a perfect method of writing? I’ve a presentation next week, and I am on the look for such info.
14This blog is definitely rather handy since I’m at the moment creating an internet floral website – although I am only starting out therefore it’s really fairly small, nothing like this site. Can link to a few of the posts here as they are quite. Thanks much. Zoey Olsen
15With every little thing that appears to be developing throughout this specific subject material, all your opinions are actually rather refreshing. Nevertheless, I appologize, because I can not give credence to your whole suggestion, all be it exciting none the less. It appears to us that your commentary are generally not totally validated and in simple fact you are yourself not even completely convinced of your assertion. In any event I did enjoy looking at it.
16This is a very good tips especially to those new to blogosphere, brief and accurate information… Thanks for sharing this one. A must read article.
17I like this website its a master peace ! Glad I noticed this on google .
18I truly enjoy reading on this site, it has got good blog posts.
19