Last week, we covered the re-design, menu revamp and subsequent price increases at the Bapcha cart (formerly known as Bulgogi & Kimchi, on 49th btw. 6+7th), though we neglected to mention the re-design of the adjoining noodle cart extension. Like big brother Bapcha, the noodle cart has received a matching make-over, though the menu and prices emerged relatively unaffected. The most note-worthy difference, however, is the food.

In my inaugural once-over of the noodle cart, I was lukewarm on the quality of the food. Admittedly I hadn’t returned prior to last week, a decision based entirely on one plate of food- a hot mess of merely adequate jjajangmyeon with truly alarming green soba noodles.  And yet, over the past few months, I’ve noticed with increasing frequency the appearance of Bapcha Noodle Cart ramyun on my co-worker’s desks and the unmistakable whiff of jjampong (spicy seafood noodle soup) around the office. After overhearing a trusted foodie (and Korean) co-worker effusively gush over her order of spicy tuna kimbap, I decided it was definitely time for a revisit.

First, a simple answer to a simple question: “Did they improve?“. The answer is a resounding Yes! The jjajangmyeon ($8) is as good as any that you would find in Manhattan K-town. I could find little fault in the homemade jjajang (black bean sauce), which is liberally applied to freshly heated udon noodles. Next they add tender beef bulgogi and half of a hard boiled egg. Both the beef and the egg are unconventional toppings for this dish, but upgrade this humble bowl of noodles into a well rounded meal. A word of caution though… the jjajangmyeon sold out before 1pm on each of my subsequent visits.

The dak bulgogi ramyun also improved since my first visit. Ramyun 2.0 is now served in a wide-mouthed bowl, making the noodles far easier to consume. The quantity of dak bulgogi (spicy chicken strips) has been increased, and a handful of crunchy chopped scallions give the dish some textural contrast. Some lunch’ers may have deeply rooted issues (I fought my own inner-demons on this one) paying $7 for packaged ramyun that can be had for less than a $1 in stores. In retort to this quibble, I ask you, “Who the hell has the time and equipment to cook a packet of Shin ramyun during a busy work day?” The defense rests your honor.

The kimbap, like the jjajangmyeon, also suffers from erratic availability, but it’s worth the inquiry. On my first visit, the spicy tuna had already sold out, and on all visits, the jalapeno flavor was unavailable. But having sampled the veggie ($5) and spicy tuna ($6) kimbaps, I’ll demurely suggest that these kimbap are as good, if not better than the product available at Woorijip (E-Mo still gets the highest mark in my book). Both orders were appropriately plump, and remarkably fresh given the fact that they aren’t made to order.

Notably, the veggie kimbap isn’t truly vegetarian – ‘Krab’ makes an appearance in these – but makes for a satisfying $5 snack.

In truth, I am thrilled to report that the Bapcha Noodle Cart has improved their food and operations. The family friendly feel good story of the original cart and the noodle extension (the two cart owners are first cousins) melts my heart like a whimpering puppy or the ending of Home Alone. Finally the quality of the food is commensurate with the rest of the story.

Related:
Lunch’er Chris Reports: Bulgogi & Kimchi Cart Opens Korean Noodle Soup Cart

Passing by the bustling 49th & 6th street corner today, I was somewhat shocked to see that the Bulgogi & Kimchi cart (on 49th btw. 6+7th), an old favorite of mine, had undergone a trio of changes. It’s no secret that Koreans are enamored by the idea of cosmetic surgery and fittingly this week, the Bulgogi & Kimchi cart, perhaps channeling their inner K-pop star, seriously upgraded its façade. At the same time, they’ve decided to change their name to “Bapcha”, which literally translates to “Food Cart” in Korean, and is now boldly displayed in an unmistakable medium weight Helvetica.

But the most relevant change for lunch’ers, is a $1 bump in some of the prices, as well as a small menu shuffle. Check out the new menu prices after the jump.

The popular combos including their galbi (grilled short rib), dak galbi (spicy chicken), bibimbap, and bulgogi (sliced, sauteed beef) boxes, have all increased to $8 from the previous price of $7. The bibimbap combo and galbi combo each went to $9 from the previous $8. I spoke to the owner who confirmed that the option of doubling your meat is still $2 extra – thankfully no change there.

They’ve also introduced a gaeran mari (Korean egg wrap) combo box for $7 and removed all soup items and kimbap flavors from the menu, wisely deferring those to their Noodle Soup cart extension.

The side menu is mostly unchanged. The only notable modifications is that a side order of galbi is now $5 instead of $4, and that a side of egg wrap can be had for $3. While I doubt that the quality of the food has changed, please let us know in the comments if you notice a difference in the food, and what you think of the new Korean egg wrap menu item.

Related:
Bulgogi Cart vs. Korean BBQ Cart: Chris6Sigma Reports
The Bulgogi Cart on 49th St. (Finally, a proper review…)

As a Korean, I love the fact that Korean food is becoming ‘mainstream’ enough to serve streetcart style in Midtown Manhattan. Will they ever become as popular as the ubiquitous chicken & lamb halal carts? Probably not, but all of a sudden, 6th Ave has drawn two unlikely and scrappy competitors to the street meat scene.

Enter the bulgogi and kimchi cart (I’ll call it B&K for short) located at 49th & 6th and the Korean BBQ cart (I’ll call it KBBQ for short) just a block away 50th & 6th, in the vacated Happy Well Being Cart space (not sure if they’re related? ed note: they’re not). The proximity of the two carts to each other of course warrants a comparative review, so here we go!

I ordered the bulgogi and rice combo from both carts, each coming in at $7. Bulgogi, an extremely common entrée in any Korean restaurant and household, is thinly sliced beef, marinated in soy sauce, sugar, ginger, scallions and other seasonings. It’s usually pan fried (though sometimes BBQ’d), with scallions, carrots and other veggies.

With both bags in hand, the KBBQ cart was noticeably heavier. Upon closer inspection, the KBBQ container was a few micrometers larger than the B&K container.

Guess they source their bags from the same place.

An inside look (Bulgogi & Kimchi)

An inside look (Korean BBQ Cart):

Both meals come with a generous serving of white rice, bulgogi, and a small side salad. Here’s a quick breakdown:

Bulgogi:
Both bulgogi’s were approximately the same texture — slightly juicy, not too fatty, and tender. However, B&K upped the flavor quotient with a heavier hand of soy sauce and sugar marinade. If you’re averse to salt, this is probably a negative trait, but I thought it was overall tastier.

Edge: Bulgogi & Kimchi

Rice:
The rice bedding of each cart were nearly identical — slightly dry though still retaining the sticky and fragrant nature of a good short grain rice. I sampled the rice side by side multiple times and couldn’t come up with a clear winner.

Edge: Tie

Salad:
The salad category is where the carts truly started to deviate from each other. KBBQ’s salad was composed mostly of romaine lettuce, with a single wilted cherry tomato. The salad had been heavily doused with Italian dressing and left to sit for some time, so it turned into green mush. I didn’t want to take a bite of it, but for this reviews sake, I had to. It tasted like it looks — mushy, over-seasoned, horrible, FAIL. B&K on the other hand, had a delicately dressed salad of crisp mesclun greens. I finished the B&K salad with gusto.

Edge: Bulgogi & Kimchi

The ‘X Factor’:
Much to my delight, after killing the B&K salad, I discovered a hidden treat. A small, but very well made side portion of japchae. The noodles were slightly al dente (I prefer my jap chae to be a little more tender), but the flavors were good, and it gave a little more variety to the meal.

I guess you could give credit to the KBBQ cart for giving slightly more food for the same price, but both meals are very filling regardless.

Edge: Bulgogi & Kimchi

The Winner:
Bulgogi & Kimchi is the clear winner with their more flavorful bulgogi, crisper salad, and jap chae surprise. Now everyone can stop whining about how there’s no good Korean food outside of 32nd st.

Kamsahamnida!

Related:
Bulgogi Cart on 49th Finally Comes into its Own
First Look: Bulgogi Hot Dogs & Short Rib Tacos From New Korean BBQ Cart

Photos courtesy of Chris6Sigma

Got this email about the new “Happy Well Being House” cart (on 50th btw. 6+7th):

“Just wanted to let you know that the new cart on 50th & 6th is now serving bulgogi. You get TONS of bulgogi with rice and salad for $6!!! But I dunno, maybe I just got a lot b/c I’m Korean… and good looking.”

With the O.G. Bulgogi Cart one block away (on 49th btw. 6+7th) things could start to get interesting. I know when a new halal stand tries to set up near a halal stand that has been in a spot for a long time, things can get really ugly, really quickly. I wonder if Korean carts follow the same code of honor…

Every few months I gravitate back to the Bulgogi Cart on 49th btw. 6+7th hoping that it will graduate from decent to excellent. Over the year and a half it’s been operating, I think we can all agree on certain conclusions.  1) Their kalbi is much better than their bulgogi.  2) Keeping your expectations low is a good thing.  Not amazing Korean food, but decent considering it’s from a cart.  3) They don’t give you nearly enough kimchee! 

I haven’t been in a few months, but a lunch’er emailed this report yesterday:

I don’t know if you have already been informed, but I walked over to the Bulgogi cart (49th and 6th) to get lunch today and noticed that the prices have increased! Most of the standard fare which was previously $6 has been increased to $7. So now a number 1 with double meat is $9! That is a bit steep for cart food in my opinion, but you gotta respect the effects of the economy.

But wait, there’s more…  

However, the upside is that there are some new menu items. There is now a combo meat and spicy chicken meal (I think it was $8) and a new udon soup dish for $5. I happened to walk over with exactly $6 and didn’t quite realize that the prices had changed because the photos on the side of the cart look the same. But they guy was very nice and I told him I would bring another dollar next time. You should check out the new menu items and report back to us!

That’s a bummer about the prices… I don’t know about the combo plates, because I never bother with the chicken (is that a mistake?) but the Udon soup isn’t new.  I tried that in January, and like it enough.  Although if it gets more expensive than $5, it won’t be worth it with Sapporo a block away.

The last two dishes I’ve tried from the cart was the tofu (I know, crazy right?) and the gyoza plate.

The tofu was pretty disappointing. I found that gloopy sauce, with the peppers and onions and carrots, to be weird and not appetizing at all. Plus I always prefer my tofu to be fried.

The gyoza were fine, but are probably just frozen, pre-packaged dumplings. I don’t mind the japchae, and what was true about the bulgogi cart a year ago is still true today: If you’re looking for cheap food from a cart, with korean flavors, this is really your only choice. (The bulgogi at Kim’s Aunt Kitchen cart on 46th btw. 5+6th tastes more like chinese food.)

It’s been a few months since I ate either of these dishes, and the bulgogi cart is known for switching things up quite a bit. Have the dishes changed since I’ve tried them? What does everybody else think?

They have Bulgogi (Korean BBQ’d beef) or Chicken, served with rice, & salad for $5.  But here’s the real kicker… they throw in a drink for free!  (Soda or water)  It is a pretty amazing deal.  The menu has spicy and non-spicy versions of each of the two dishes posted, but if you order it “spicy” they just give you a cup of red hot sauce to pour over it yourself.  They also give you a very small cup of kimchi (fermented cabbage), which is a real nice touch.

What I ordered, a picture of the not yet available $1 bulgogi sandwiches, and the +/- after the jump…

The first weird thing I noticed about the meal was the rice.  It is yellow.  I’ve never had yellow rice at a Korean restaurant before.  Very strange.  It would have been forgivable if the rice hadn’t been crunchy (and not in that good Dol Sot Bi Bim Bap kind of way).  I’m not sure if they undercooked it, or if they scraped it off the side of the pan- but it was pretty bad.  Of course, it was their first real day of business, so I’m sure they will iron out that kink as time goes on.  The bulgogi had a nice flavor, but it was not chopped up very well, so it highlighted the poor quality of the meat.  (Bulgogi is made with fatty meat, but you need to chop it up into little pieces to mask that.  They didn’t do this very well).  There was also no onions or scallions, which was a bummer. 

The salad was pretty good, and the kimchi was a welcome addition.  They don’t give you a ton of it, but it was of a pretty good quality.  The hot sauce I wasn’t so into.  It looked like the red bean paste sauce you get with Bi Bim Bap (Gochu jang), but it had more of a red chili pepper flavor- like something you would get at a BBQ joint.  It was really spicy, and really strange.  I had one bite with the sauce, and then tossed it.  If you like your food super spicy, you may like the sauce.  I believe it is called ssamjang.  I’ve never had it at a Korean restaurant before, but apparently it is authentic. 

All in all, for $5 it’s a great deal (especially with the free soda)- but I can’t help but thinking Kim’s Aunt Kitchen Cart on 46th St. had better Bulgogi.  Sure you don’t get a free soda or kimchi, and it’s an extra $1- but sometimes that extra buck is worth it (you get white rice, and there are scallions in the bulgogi).  I haven’t given up yet though… it’s only their first week, and I’m sure it will get better.  PLUS I have high hopes for the $1 Bulgogi Sandwiches.  I’m sure they don’t fill you up, but from the looks of the picture, I’m thinking it may end up being the greatest snack of all time.

THE +

• $5 gets you bulgogi, rice, salad, kimchi and a free soda (or water).  A better deal cannot be had in all of Midtown.
• The flavor of the bulgogi is spot on.
• The kimchi is good, and a nice addition (although they don’t give you that much)
• If you like your food super spicy, they give you ssamjang on the side to add to your bulgogi

THE -

• The rice was terrible (but it was their first day, so it will probably get better.  If you try it, feel free to comment on the progress below)
• The low quality of the meat was highlighted by the fact that they didn’t cut up the bulgogi well enough
• The hot sauce is not the sauce they give you with Bi Bim Bap so be careful if you are not into red chili pepper spiciness

The Infamous Disappearing Bulgogi Cart, 49th St. btw. 6 & 7th