Sometimes, it’s hard to locate vegetarian (let alone vegan) dishes in exported Korean cuisine, so we had to go and try out Bobsang for ourselves
When it comes to traditional Korean cuisine, meat and fish are often incorporated, and that means vegans and vegetarians rarely get to fully indulge in Korean food and sweets- bummer. But the good news is that Bobsang is here to the rescue. Recently opened in Tsing Yi, Bobsang has become one of the hottest Korean restaurants with vegan options in Hong Kong, just like The Joomak in TST. Featuring both meat and vegetarian options on their a la carte menu, as well as a buffet section at Bobsang Green (which is right next door), all you veg heads can now have one hell of a Korean feast.
Why’s it called Bobsang? (RESTAURANT NOW CLOSED)
Bobsang, meaning a simplistic lifestyle, aims to deliver delicious home-cooked Korean meals that aren’t heavily flavoured or seasoned. Situated in the bright shopping mall Maritime Square, it offers a clean, modern and welcoming dining environment for those who enjoy a casual afternoon tea or dinner with their friends.
How’s the vegetarian menu at Bobsang?
To start off, we had the Korean noodle soup with vegan seaweed soup and doenjang fried tofu puff. The soup has a overwhelmingly strong taste of sesame oil, yet when combined with the soba noodles, the whole thing comforts your taste buds with its flavourful mix of seaweeds and daikon. Not to mention how crunchy the fried tofu puffs are even when they’re coated with doenjang!
To mimic typical bibimbap, the Korean pot rice comes in a sizzling hot stone pot and is served with a sweet and spicy vegan sauce. You can mix the rice with whatever toppings you choose. We opted for vegetarian kimchi pork stir-fry, beetroot and soy glazed mushrooms. And guess what the vegetarian “pork” actually is… wait for it… marinated mushrooms! It’s surprisingly meaty and savoury. And for those who aren’t vegans but vegetarians, there’s actually an egg served sunny-side up on top of the rice, so get mixing.
The vegan Korean jeon (traditional style pancake) is made of taro, mushroom and red cabbage. As no eggs are incorporated in the mixture, the jeon doesn’t seem to hold its shape as well as normal pancakes. Yet, it’s just as scrumptious. We love how the fresh red cabbages give the jeon that nice crunch. Also, don’t forget to dip the jeon with its sauce – which is made of vinegar and red cabbage juice. The acidity of it elevates the taste of the entire dish, making it one of the most popular items (and also our favourite) on the menu.
Want to do something fun? At Bobsang, you can D.I.Y. your tteokbokki bowl – and we opted for okra, vegetarian ham and beech mushroom out of the twenty toppings on the menu (in which over half of them are vegan-friendly). Designed for vegans to taste, the corn soymilk soup is a nice creamy and non-spicy substitution for typical tteokbokki sauce. Even though the tteokbokki itself wasn’t flavourful enough for our liking compared to other dishes, we really dig those juicy beech mushrooms.
By incorporating non-dairy ice-cream powder and fruit puree, Bobsang delivers two lovely vegan soft serves for dessert: red dragon fruit flavour and peach. Consisting of a smoothie/sorbet taste and texture, the vegan soft serve is a guilt-free delight to have at the end of the meal. And we’d suggest trying both for maximum effect.
Bobsang, Shop 119B, 1/F, Maritime Square, 33 Tsing King Road, Tsing Yi, Hong Kong, 青衣青敬路33號青衣城1樓119B號舖
