About 15 years ago, Korean topped most food critics’ lists of the next big thing. It’s never quite taken off, which is strange as the three classic Bs of Korean cuisine — bulgogi, bibimbap and barbecue — are as approachable as they are appealing. Bulgogi is thin strips of marinated meat, usually beef, bibimbap is a hot stone pot of rice, egg and veg and the barbecue sees strips of subtly marinated meat and seafood cooked on a grill set into the table. Throw in a side plate of kimchee, the pungent fermented cabbage that doubles as the national dish, and what’s not to like?
New Malden, a 20-minute ride from Waterloo in the London borough of Kingston-upon-Thames, is the heart of London’s Korean community and its cuisine, with an almost bewildering aray of Korean restaurants; we’ve singled out our favourite, Imone, below. The other heartland is Soho, where the capital’s very-first Korean restaurant, Arirang, opened in 1975.
But while Londoners might not have taken Korean to their hearts in the same way as Japanese, Chinese and Thai cuisine, there’s now a Korean restaurant for every pocket and palate, from traditional family-run affairs to designer dining rooms catering to well-heeled expats. Here are five of our favourites.
Best New Malden Korean: Imone
If you only ever visit one Korean restaurant in New Malden, make it Imone, which stands out not only for its jolly yellow exterior but the quality of its cooking. It is, like many of the restaurants in this corner or Kingston, family-run and with an emphasis on serving traditional Korean dishes that tick all the boxes for a fix of pa jaeon seafood pancakes, fried chicken wings, beef bulgogi or a bibimbap rice pot. Better, though, to order the starred dishes that are the house specials and demonstrate the kitchen’s expertly applied spicing: fried seaweed rolls stuffed with vermicelli noodles; whole whiting in spicy sauce and vegetables; steamed pork belly with white kimchee. Got the day off? Bargain lunch menus start from £11 for tofu stew with trimmings of chicken dumplings, fried seafood roll, rice, soy bean and kimchee.
169 High Street, New Malden, KT3 4BH, imonelondon.com
Best smart Korean: Koba
A mainstay not only of London’s Korean dining scene but a bona fide Fitzrovia destination too, Koba has been serving up barbecued meat and slow-cooked stews in smart surrounds just off the bottom of Charlotte Street since 2005. Beef galbi (soy-marinated ribs) or bulgogi (thin-sliced soy-marinated meat) is a top shout for the barbecue, as too a seafood selection of salmon, prawn, squid and octopus, with staff a dab hand with the tabletop grills. The short-rib hotpot, meanwhile, has the rich umami flavour that comes from deeply reduced meat juices, perked up with judicious spicing. None of this comes cheap, but staff are as smart as the surrounds and deliver service as efficient as the extractor fans that ensure diners don’t leave smelling of smoky fat.
11 Rathbone Street, W1T 1NA, kobalondon.com
Best Korean for beginners: Bibimbap
The West End is not short of traditionally run, quality Koreans — we like Myung Ga and Arirang (London’s very first Korean) in Soho — but the sometimes offhand experience is not always the most welcome introduction for first timers. Lose your kimchee cherry at Bibimbap, a quartet of user-friendly Korean joints dotted around the West End and City and hugely popular with everyone from Asian students to Square Mile suits (though note the Greek Street outpost is the only one really conducive to a proper meal rather than grab and go). The menu is helpfully divided up into bibimbap, noodles, rice dishes, soup and sides: spicy pork bibimbap, seafood noodles, beef bulgogi rice, tofu soup, kimchee pancakes, say. It’s not life-changing — unless, of course, it opens your eyes to further exploration of this fascinating cuisine. And it’s about the same price as Wagamama.
E1, EC3, EC4 and W1, bibimbapsoho.co.uk
Best for Korean fried chicken: The Petite Corée
This West Hampstead local used to mix Korean flavours with European technique (guinea fowl breast in plum wine jus) but is now, happily, much more a straight-down-the-line Korean. There’s tabletop barbecue, with beautifully marinated meats sent out for about a fiver less than one might pay in the West End, plus all the other classics of dumplings, pancakes and glass-noodles. But pricing aside, what really sets the place apart is the duo of unimpeachable fried chicken dishes: double-fried thigh with either spicy gochujang sauce or soy garlic sauce, both demanding to be ordered and shared between two (or a meal for one). For £10 corkage, it’s bring your own bottle, except on Friday and Saturday nights — though most of the Italian and New World wine list is under £30, plus there are bottles of soju, Korea’s answer to sake, for a tenner.
98 West End Lane, NW6 2LU, thepetitecoree.com
Best for tabletop barbecue: Olle
Everyone from Tottenham and South Korea captain Son Heung-min to boyband sensation BTS have visited this glossy Chinatown restaurant, which is probably as close as one can get in London to a cool modern Korean. The potential for starspotting is one attraction; the other is some top-quality meat that ends up on the tabletop barbecue: melt-in-the-mouth bulgogi, of course, but also wagyu beef and LA-style beef short ribs. And not just on the barbie: the yuk hwae (Korean steak tartare, savoury with sesame and sweet with pear) is another must-order, and perhaps the besy way to gauge the quality of the meat if your grilling skills tend towards the well done — though staff are happy to take on cooking duties.
88 Shaftesbury Avenue, W1D 6NH, ollelondon.com
