#u dupbop

[eatingtheave]

Buldak, U DupBop

When I looked at the menu of U DupBop, my eyes landed on one item: buldak. I had never heard of that dish, which wasn’t a surprise. There are a lot of Korean dishes I have never heard of. I asked my friend, who is half Korean, if she had ever heard of it. She hadn’t either. My curiosity was piqued.

I looked up buldak on my phone to find that it’s a spicy chicken dish with cheese.  I debated getting a more familiar Korean dish, but I never knew if I’d find this dish again. So I went for it - and I’m glad that I did.

As you can see in the picture, U DupBop’s version of this dish consisted of rice topped with chicken cut into strips and mozzarella cheese. I wasn’t sure what to do with the lettuce. For a second, I thought that I was supposed to mix it all together, like you would with bibimbap. Then I saw the dressing, which told me it was meant to be eaten like salad.

The chicken was delicious - it just tasted like it was sauteed with gochujang, the popular Korean sauce. The mozzarella gave it a rich, creamy flavor as it melted on to the chicken. I enjoyed it, but I was expecting more complexity. I’m curious to try other versions - or maybe even try making it myself one day. 

$13.99

[eatingtheave]

120. U DupBop

4124 University Way NE

U DupBop sits back on a lot with a unique feature on the Ave: a parking lot! It’s always felt like a neighborhood oddity as a result.

Before U DubBop occupied this building, it was occupied by a business called Ichiro Teriyaki, and it was the same format: Korean and Japanese food. I’m actually surprised I didn’t document my visit to Ichiro, which Yelp tells me was open as late as May 2019. I went there once and ate bibimbap. The service I got there was very very slow. I was not impressed -- so unimpressed, it seems, that I forgot to blog about it.

I returned to the building this time to have lunch with a friend and to check out the restaurant for a new entry on this blog. We actually wanted to go to Chiglet, a Korean fried chicken place across the street, but it looks like it didn’t survive the pandemic. Too bad; I had heard it was good and I never made it there. 

So U DupBop was our consolation prize. I walked in to find it looking much nicer than I remember it looking when it was Ichiro. The covered, open porch was a pleasant spot to sit on the hot day. The menu consisted of Korean favorites, like bibimbap, bulgogi and Korean fried chicken, and Japanese favorites, like teriyaki, sushi and bento boxes.

Hwae dub bap is a bibimbap-like dish with fish, and I imagine the owners named the restaurant as a play on words. U-Dub, Bop! Very cute.