We haven’t had Korean food in a while so we decided to pay Koba a visit. A lovely Korean restaurant in Fitzrovia and we made a reservation incase they were busy. I enjoy Korean bbq’s because I like seeing food being cooked in front of me and plus it’s healthy (it’s grilled so it’s healthy right?)
To start with we ordered a few hot appetisers to share including:
Goona mandoo (pan fried meat dumplings) – the pork was well seasoned, the skin looked like it was quite crispy but it actually wasn’t – I was slightly disappointed.
Japchae (stir fried vermicelli with beef and vegetables) – Great dish to have as an appetiser, the beef was shredded thinly and blended well with the glass noodles
Pajeon (Korean pancake with spring onion and seafood) – the pancake was thin, crispy and packed full of seafood
No Korean meal is complete until you’ve ordered a portion of Korean rice cakes and hot stone pot rice (of course we ordered both!)
Maeun Ddukboki (Korean rice cakes with fish cakes and vegetables in spicy sauce) I love rice cakes because I like the glutinous texture, the sauce became quite spicy after a few mouthfuls (I’m not very good with spice) but I do love the sauce and it came with two quail eggs.
Haemul dolsot bibimbap (steamed rice with mixed seafood and vegetables in a hot stone pot) The sound of rice sizzling away in this hot stone pot! The waiter kindly mixed the rice for us and added some chilli sauce to0 (not as spicy as the rice cakes)
After eating all of the above the meat finally came for the bbq. The lettuce used to wrap the meat is not included so don’t forget to order a portion to go with it.
Pamoochim (sliced spring onions with chilli and vinegar) This little side dish is tasty (and addictive) goes really well with the bbq meat.
Kalbi (marinated beef spare ribs) it was well seasoned and the waiter snipped off the bones for us.
Bulgogi (marinated sliced beef sirloin) One portion of meat would’t fill us up so we ordered the sirloin too which was tender and it also came with some mushrooms and onions.
Overall it was an enjoyable experience and it’s usually my ‘go to’ place for Korean food in central London. All the dishes were well seasoned, great flavours and it’s not overly expensive. Majority of the staff are Korean and very friendly. On the night that we went we bumped into Park Ji-sung so it was a bonus! If a Korean footballer comes all the way to London and visits Koba I would think it indicates how good the food is here!
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