Korean restaurants in London: Busan & The Old Justice

Korean restaurants in London that I have been to recently:

The newly reopened Busan, in Islington.  This was my introduction to Korean food - courtesy of a friend of mine.  Service was ok - not particularly attentive but fine, atmosphere was ok (a little cafeteria like), but the food was really good. They have various tasting plates so that you can try different types of kimchi, which was excllent, and we also split their aubergine and sesame starter which was delicious. They had a few vegetarian main course options but I was the only vegetarian in the group so can only comment on the one I had - bimbimbap.  Mmmmm, lovely vegetables and little bits of crispy rice and creamy eggness and West Indian hot sauce-like sauce.

The Old Justice - Bermondsey boozer that does authentic Korean food.  Yes, really.  It is bizarre.  It is literally half Bermondsey boozer, half Korean ex-pat hang out.  We were the only non-Koreans eating food in there.  It's kind of worth going to just to experience the oddness of it.  I love London.

Based on another review, which warned that the vegetarian bimbimbap often comes with meat that hasn't been mentioned, I specifically asked about its vegetarian-ness when ordering and was told that that was fine.  It then turned up with meat in. The waitress realised immediately and was reasonably cheerful about me sending it back.  Based on the length of time that it took to come back and the way it tasted, they definitely remade it rather than just picking the meat out, which is always good!  So, er, I would say that you should make extra sure it's vegetarian when you order it but I tried that and it still came with meat.  I guess,  maybe you could try harder but, probably, it's simplest just to prepare yourself for potentially having to send it back. 

The bimbimbap was, when it eventually appeared in its meat-free form, pretty tasty - though I think perhaps not quite as nice as Busan's.  The pan fried vegetable dumplings that we ordered as a starter to share didn't arrive until after we'd finished our mains which was a little weird but they were very nice so I didn't find myself minding too much.  They have a wide selection of Korean drinks which I wasn't feeling brave enough to try.  Maybe next time.  It's only a short walk from our house so, even though I think the food was nice rather than extraordinary, I can see us coming back.

Korean food

I have a bit of a hate-hate relationship with Chinese restaurants. With very few exceptions, they seem not to care about vegetarian food and will present you with a plateful of limp vegetables, tofu and noodles which - despite the fact that you could prepare something tastier at home having taken advantage of a vegetables + noodles + sauce offer from your local supermarket - they somehow seem to expect you to be grateful for.

I know, I said this was about Korean food, but it is relevant really! I had - because I'm a bad stereotyping person - assumed that this was true of all East Asian cuisine and so had never bothered to check out Korean food. Which turns out to be a bit of a mistake.

Korean food is awesome.  How did I not know this before?!  Yeah, that would be because I'm a bad stereotyping person.  Sue me.  I think it's actually a bit of a microcosm of what I was talking about in this entry - about meat eaters not always getting what vegetarians want out of a restauraunt.  I think a lot of meat eaters sort of think that Korean food is all about BBQ so, obviously, not good for vegetarians but, look, that Chinese place has loads of options so that would be great.  When it's rubbish.  Anyway.

There are four great reasons to go to a Korean restaurant, if you're vegetarian:

Bimbimbap

Firstly, to eat bimbimbap. Yes, it sounds a bit dull, "vegetables and rice with an egg on top," you say, "BAH, I could cook that at home". But it turns out that it is the lovechild of paella and carbonara and THEN they give you this sauce that is like West Indian Hot Sauce (one of my favourite things) but more so.  It is awesome.

Secondly, to say "bimbimbap" a lot.  It is fun.  Try it now?  Turns out, you can spend a very entertaining five minutes just saying "bimbimbap". 

Not that I have done this.  That would be silly.



Kimchi



Thirdly, to eat Kimchi.  I love pickles - particularly sauerkraut - and I love spices.  So kimchi is just up my street. 



Fourthly, to get the, relatively unusual experience for a vegetarian, of getting to eat a cuisine's signature dish - kimchi.  It just feels kind of cool.