If you follow me on twitter you could probably tell from my tourettesque rants about Lost that I'm slightly obsessed with it. More like majorly obsessed! To the point of struggling to know how I will cope without it come May of this year. I guess I'll just have to re-watch it time after time in a dimly lit room sitting in a tear stained housecoat sipping coffee from a caffeine stained mug. Oh the depression that may ensue.
Watching the episode that was rather Kweon-centric it occured to me that of all the Asian food I love, I've not had any decent Korean. My First foray into Korean was in the American Midwest. With most things in the Midwest, unless it's down-home BBQ, it's not going to be a mega success even if it is Korean BBQ.
I had a mooch around on the Internet to see what was on offer in London in the way of Korean cuisine. The search led to several sites that had such horrendous music playing I quickly turned to expert advice rather than doing my own research. After a quick querie on twitter I asked my favourite restaurant obsessive she suggested two places. Purely out of location I picked Kobe.
With our orders placed and drinks delivered we were ready to have a feast fit for the Kwons. First up was the Goona Mandoon, five meat filled dumplings along the same line as qyoza, but the filling was coarser and the flavours were clean and precise. I knew that there was going to be a hit or miss dish with the bear and that was the trio of kimchee. The bear is not a huge fan of vegetables, especially of cabbage and diakon. To my surprise he quite liked the cabbage and cucumber, giving the daikon a miss because of it's texture. The kimchee once again presented a very clean taste of pickle and a slow tongue tingle of heat.
Next to arrive was the Kanpooggi, which were battered chucks of chicken thigh. The batter was not light like a tempura, but none the less tasty. This dish was in contrast to the first two as it was lacking flavour clarity and had no discernible flavour except meaty thigh and sweetness from sauce that was drizzled.
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| Goona Mandoon | The Trio of Kimchee | Kanpooggi |
Before the Kanpooggi was cleared away, the staff began for the main event, bu warming the in-table grill. This was where the real fun began. Ushered to the table was the platter of beef, chicken, pork, prawn, octopus and random veg. The head waitress began putting the food on the grill, then checking back from time to time to make sure it was cooking correctly. The Maitre'd (or what ever you would call him came to the table to instruct us on the correct way to assemble and eat the lettuce wrapped barbecued meats. He said the Korean way was was to eat the whole wrap in a mouthful. Not one to argue we began to scoff the meat as it came off the grill.
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| Do we eat? | Platter of meats destined for BBQ | Spring Onion and Lettuce |
By the time the table was cleared and the check had been paid we noticed an army of people waiting for seats. So my advice, it's best to reserve a table! All in all it was a great meal out. I would love go back and try ordering off the non barbecue menu. From all the reports I've read it's a great eat.
After the meal I took a moment to feel sorry for the poor Kweons stuck on the island, they were really missing out on some great tasting food! I'm a Korean convert!
