Raw fish bibimbap in Seoul is quite popular, so naturally any similar type was bound to blow up. The one that blew up was poke bowl.
With the ongoing popularity with healthy food and diet, there are may poke restaurants popping up, but most of them are gimmicky or just flat out horrible.
Among all the poke restaurants, Bowl Room is gaining the most attention for its cute decor.
But is it really worth it? Is it just like the other gimmick? Let’s find out!
Heo-deopbap (raw fish bibimbap) vs. Poke
Heo-deopbap is a popular Korean dish containing sashimi salmon & tuna, vegetable and rice with chogochujang sauce.
Poke bowl is a Hawaiian dish containing fish (usually raw) with vegetable and rice with sauce (i.e. ponzu, teriyaki and more).
Raw fish bibimbap and poke bowl sound almost similar and it is.
The difference is that poke bowl is a bit more heavy on the taste.
Also, with poke you can change your proteins and vegetable to your own taste. So younger kids prefer poke because of the flexibility of customising your own dish.
Bowl Room
Bowl Room is a fast casual restaurant that sells poke. It is only small and gets really busy during lunch time.
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Bowl room feels like you are in Hawaii or California. Even the customers are mostly very chic Gangnam ladies.
Apgujungdong Bowl Room Menu Price List
The standard poke price is 11,000 won to 15,500 won.
It’s not cheap compared to raw fish bibimbap in Seoul. But for how much salmon and tuna they put, I don’t think it’s too bad.
This is the price list for signature menu:
- Gym Bowl : 11,000 won
- Hawaii Classic : 13,000 won
- L.A. : 15,500 won
- Famous : 13,000 won
- Bowl Room Signature : 11,000 won
But the charm of going to bowl room instead of raw fish bibimbap in Seoul is to customise your own bowl.
How to Order Your Raw Fish Bibimbap
It is some what similar to ordering at subway.
- Base : Salad Mix + soba or rice
- 2 Protein (Can be mixed) : Salmon, Tuna, Shrimp, Octopus, Chicken (extra scoop : 2,000 won)
- Topping: crab stick, tomato, sweet corn, onion, cucumber, roe (avocado : 1,000 won)
All you need to know is always order the extra avocado.
It is really expensive to buy avocado in Korea, and I think 1,000 won extra for a half avocado is a steal.
I know you can try it in America easily, but if you are tired of Korean food and was looking for American restaurant in Seoul, I highly recommend Bowl Room.
Bowl Room Location
Bowl room is in Gangnam sinsadong. It is about 10 minutes walk from apgujungdong station or 20 minutes from garosugil. you can check it out on google map.
Location : 36 Apgujeong-ro 42-gil, Sinsa-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, South Korea
Unless you are coming from Garosugil, I recommed walking from Apgujung Rodea station. The walk is less boring and more shops on the way.
Opening Time:
- Mon – Fri : 11:00 – 21:00 (15:00 – 17:00 break time)
- Sat / Sun: 11:30 – 22:00