It seems like a long time ago, there was a Korean restaurant called Pine Hill located on Paramus Road where my parents and I had lunch all the time. They closed down due to severe storm damage and were expected to reopen a few months later. They never did. It turns out, that after much reconstruction and rebuilding, it reopened as Seoul Galbi Korean BBQ back in July. The layout and decor remained the same. There were new ventilation units installed over most of the tables for the barbecue.
The small plates or “banchan”, cosist of the usual items – kimchi, dried seaweed, salad, bean sprouts, and pickled veggies.
We ordered a few lunch specials. Lunch is served Monday thru Friday, 11:30pm – 3pm. There’s no sushi anymore, just Korean dishes, bento boxes, and barbecue. All come with miso soup.
My mom ordered the Hoe-Deopbap which is assorted raw fish and vegetables over steamed rice. It’s like a sashimi salad. It makes a good light and filling option.
My dad ordered the Shrimp Teriyaki Bento Box. It includes rice, shumai, salad, seaweed salad, and edamame.
Gotta have some hot sauce!
I ordered the Gobdol-Bibimbap. It’s a signature Korean dish that consists of assorted vegetables and beef over steamed rice served in a hot stone bowl. Bibimbap literally means “mixed rice”.
The bibimbap remained nice and hot until I finished it thanks to the hot stone bowl. No worrying about it going cold anytime soon.
Mix it all up and put a nice drizzle of hot sauce over it. It makes for a nice hearty meal. The vegetables included mushrooms, seaweed, cucumbers, carrots, bean sprouts, and radishes. They added some texture and crunch to the tasty beef and soft rice. They also have marinated bulgolgi and short rib versions as well.
The best part is the crispy, crusty rice that forms at the bottom of the pot.
It’s nice to see one of our lunch spots open back up. I really enjoyed the bibimbap and would like to try the other versions. When we don’t feel like heading to Palisades Park or Fort Lee, this is just fine for a closeby lunch. They offer their barbecue for lunch as well, which looks okay. We’ll try that another time.
