The Stone Korean restaurant in Mesa serves sundubu and bibimbap

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There’s something special about sundubu.

Maybe it’s the bubbling brew of molten lava broth that comes to the table in a black stone bowl, ravenously boiling. The Korean soup is served so hot that you take a raw egg and crack it right there at the table, spilling the yolk onto a torrent of seafood and silken tofu.

No, sundubu isn’t for everyone. The intense nature of it, complete with all the fishy side dishes and even the scorched and sizzling rice, once gave a friend of mine a full-on panic attack. But if you love spicy things and you love tofu, you may also love sundubu. Maybe even more than Korean barbecue. Because this powerful soup will grab hold of you, and soon enough you’ll be scouring the refrigerated aisles of H Mart looking for tofu so you can make this at home.

Seafood tofu soup, with a raw egg cracked inside, at The Stone in Mesa on May 10, 2021

Or you can just go to The Stone, which is located directly across the street in an old IHOP building that’s been reimagined as a Korean tofu house. This means it specializes in sundubu and other tofu hot pots that are big enough to share. The concept is common in California where it was popularized, but is just now gaining hold here in a city dominated by all-you-can-eat Korean barbecue joints.

But even though this type of restaurant concept is novel enough, The Stone kicks it up even further. Co-owner Don Kim makes his own tofu from scratch every morning, which results in a sweeter and creamier curd than you’ll find at the store.

Let’s eat:I’m Andi Berlin, the new dining critic at The Republic

Why fresh tofu makes The Stone special

Why make your own tofu?

Kim’s wife, Cookie Sohn, says that their restaurant is all about bringing healthy Korean food to Americans. Soybeans are very sensitive and can go sour quickly, so most commercial brands line their tofu with preservatives. Not so here.

Her husband makes a new batch every morning, starting with soybeans he soaks overnight and then grinds with a machine, separating the milk from the leftover grounds. In a process similar to making cheese, he adds coagulants to the boiled soymilk and some extra water. After it cools, Stone House presses their tofu into the three different textures they use: silken, crumbly and firm.

An accomplished businessman and community member, Kim got some help from a popular Korean chef to open his restaurant. After watching Korean food ambassador Soo Jin Kim speak at an annual event for a Korean food promotion group, Kim decided he wanted to open his own restaurant. Soo Jin, a teacher and popular food stylist for Korean movies, ended up providing many of the recipes they use at Stone House.

That means you can find some more traditional items on the menu, such as gejang: raw crab still in the shell that’s been marinated in soy sauce brine and garnished with spicy peppers. Or intestine hot pot with silken tofu and a medley of mushrooms.

But it’s important to note that the chic new space has a bit of a bar vibe, so you might want to grab a soju and hit up the bibimbap section, or choose one of the combos with Korean fried chicken or meaty entrees like L.A. kalbi paired with a smaller side of tofu soup.

Why you can’t skip the soft tofu soup

There are two things you notice at The Stone. One of them is the electronic sliding door, which reminds you that you’re not really at an IHOP anymore. This fun little tidbit is a familiar restaurant motif in Korea, Sohn told me.

The second thing is that every menu item comes with a litany of colorful sauces and side dishes, so many that the servers have to bring everything out on a cart. (Which makes them kinda slow at times, especially after the food has been delivered, or if you ask for a plate.)

There’s steamed rice in a mini pressure cooker, and the salad dressings and housemade gochujang fermented chile paste. And then the platter of Korean banchan with kimchi and other cold delights, which vary from day to day. On my first visit we dug our teeth into deep-fried croacker fish the size of your finger, left completely whole so that you’re not sure which parts to eat and which to not. One my second visit, tiny anchovies in soy sauce with seared peppers.

You can’t go wrong with the entrees here, just as long as you make sure you order something with the creamy tofu. You can taste the freshness of it in the cold tofu salad on the appetizer menu, but I later found out I should have ordered the sesame oil fried tofu instead, which comes with homemade soy sauce.

And of course, you’re going to want to get a bowl of the sundubu, which comes in nine different varieties such as ham and sausage, kimchi, oysters and more.

Remembering my old standby at the iconic Oakland restaurant Pyeong Chang Tofu House, I went with the seafood sundubu, which was loaded with clams, mussels, squid and whole shrimp that you rip through with your fingers. Unlike the meat-based tofu soups, this variety is made from slow-boiled anchovy broth, which adds just a hint of fishy flavor when it’s mixed with the spicy chile paste. It’s all about that silken tofu inside though.

It’s a wonder: How can something so spicy taste so light, and so pure?

Tags: bibimbap, Korean, Mesa, Restaurant, serves, Stone, sundubu

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