SENTRY - WATCHING RESTAURANTS
The Stone Korean Tofu House
1870 W Main Street
Mesa 85202
Companion and I were anxious to try this relatively new restaurant and arrived at 5:30. We were seated immediately. I was immediately struck by the lack of menus. Instead, you were to use your smartphone to look up the menu online. Based on what I saw on line and the prices on the menu I was taken aback by this.
We shared a Fried Dumpling appetizer ($8.99 for 6). In reasonable time a long plate with the 6 small dumplings was brought out. On the positive side they were nicely hot, but on the negative side they were oily and were with little flavor.
For main courses, companion ordered Seafood Soft Tofu Soup ($17.90). It came out boiling in the pot with a raw egg as it should be for companion to crack into it. While companion found it to be adequate, after tasting it I found the tofu to be nice but that was about all. To me, it was lacking a lot of flavor.
My main course was Beef Bulgogi Bibimbap ($16.95). The presentation was nice, but once again the food was lacking flavor and the meat was not like anything I have ever had in the U.S. or overseas. It can only be described as roughly ground pieces of beef. The bibimbap was served with proper gochujang sauce on the side.
We were also served Banchan as is proper. Some of it was excellent and some was not. The cabbage and the fried tofu was excellent, but the kimchi was flavorless and some of the dishes I had no experience with so I could not judge them. Missing from the table was any hint of garlic or perilla leaves which would have really helped flavors.
Service was nice and sanitation was reasonable. Although others seem to like the food there, I cannot be so generous.
3 stars being generous
