御麵 (Yu Mien)

> Location : Bonham Trade Centre, 6-7 G/F, 50-54 Bonham Strand,
Sheung Wan, Hong Kong
> Cuisine : Stone Pot Rice
> Tel. # : (852) 2543-3876
> Website : N/A

Usually when it comes to stone pot rice, the first country that comes to mind is Korea with their bibimbap. For the ones who are unfamiliar with it, bibimbap is a simple yet famous Korean dish that consist of steamed rice topped with ground beef, bean sprouts, carrot slices, mushrooms (shiitake mushrooms can be used), cucumber slices (sometimes spinach is used) , bellflower roots, red pepper paste as the sauce to mix and an egg if it's stone pot style. All the previous ingredients are commonly used in most restaurants.

At 御麵 (Yu Mien) in Sheung Wan, they serve a variety of stone pot rice or noodle. In a sense, it's a restaurant design to eat a variety of things sizzled in a hot stone pot. The ingredients included in the rice style stone pot is reminiscent of the bibimbap but not entirely. Rice, mushrooms, bean sprouts, red pepper paste were the same. However, the use of yellow squash, kim chi, unchopped or ungrounded beef, and black fungus is definitely different (I ordered the beef stone pot rice). Although most casual eaters would think it is traditional Korean stone pot rice, people like me would look at it with a smirk on my face.

Yet, I am absolutely not discounting this place. When the stone pot comes, it is definitely sizzling hot! The ingredients were fresh, the taste of the red pepper paste was exactly the same as those in Korean owned places. The red pepper paste was tasty yet a bit spicy, giving this sweetish flavoring to the whole experience. For most casual eaters, most would agree it is a good place. For lunch, try getting there 12 PM or before. Since the place isn't particularly big, by 12:30 PM, there's already a line of people waiting outside! My only complaint is, if you're a true food lover, you will not forget about the traditionally used ingredients. Most true Korean owned stone pot rice's ingredients are shredded and sliced thinly making it more refine. Ingredients are the ones listed in the beginning of the article.

In the end, 御麵 (Yu Mien) is a great place if you want a hot, sizzling, tasty and aroma full experience. Although it isn't precisely like traditional Korean style ingredients, you truly have to forgive them because the theme essentially is "stone pot" not Korean cuisine. It is in a world of its own. So if you want to experience 御麵 (Yu Mien), make sure to go well before 1 PM to avoid the lunch time crowd or go well afterwards!

< 3 1/2 out of 5 >