World Food Thursdays

Country No. 7: South Korea

 

Date: 17/06/2014

 

Venue: Cah-Chi, Raynes Park

 

Attendees: Ben, Lee, Kim, Ellen, Becky, Paul

 

Cost: £42 a head including a take home bottle of Korean Plum Wine

 

In only 6 months of World Fooding we have faced some challenges, but none as seemingly insurmountable as finding North Korean food in London. As it happens there is a small chain of North Korean intelligence gathering operations masquerading as restaurants in several countries (one of which Ellen has of course been to) however the only branch inside Europe is in Amsterdam and this World Food club’s budget doesn’t quite stretch to trips abroad.

 

Giving up on the search for North Korean cuisine the group naturally, and democratically (you could learn something there DPR) elected to sample the closest (geographically) alternative, South Korean food.

 

Food from this part of Asia has become ‘on trend’ in the last year or so with Kimchee springing up in all manner of foodstuffs from burgers to burritos to fried chicken. Searching for authentic Korean food is a harder task and after what I can only imagine was meticulous research Kim announced that New Malden (where? Is that even London?) is the Korean epicentre of the UK.

 

Perusing the menu was an experience in itself, numerous categories offering an endless supply of enchanting delicacies. Going against all prior preconceptions the pictures in the menu were both informative and encouraged us to order more and more.

 

Wary of ordering too much we painstakingly categorised the dishes into must haves, areas of interest, and definite no goes. In all we ordered 17 dishes between the 6 of us.

 

The staff were extremely helpful and courteous and brought the dishes out at a pace that was manageable.

 

First came the starters, pork man-du (dumplings), crab sticks fried in egg, seafood and spring onion omelette, some kim (seaweed) and some garlicky stir fried spinach. These were accompanied by our first bottle of plum wine and some bonus hors-d’oeurves, kimchee, pickled cucumber and fried potato.

 

Even Ellen agreed that the seafood and spring onion omelette was sensational.

 

Next up was the show-piece, the Korean BBQ. All tables in the restaurant contained a mysterious silver platter built into the middle of the table, as the waiters brought out the first platter of raw meat it became clear what was hiding beneath the place – a gas fired hob. A true Korean BBQ involves cooking the marinated meat at your table, then removing the meat from the grill, dipping in sesame oil, then wrapping in a lettuce leaf with some pickled spring onion.

 

We went for beef tenderloin, duck and beef ribs of which the rib sections were the clear favourite, we were delighted the waitress convinced us to order two portions.

 

The next and final course were the stews and the noodles. The centre piece was a spicy noodle soup containing a selection of par-cooked seafood. This was placed onto the hob and left to simmer away.

 

Surrounding the centre piece were seafood and vegetable (marked as vegetarian on the menu) home-made noodle dish and a Chinese style pork and noodle dish and a traditional bibimbap that arrived sizzling away in its cast iron pot.

 

The food (and plum wine) was fantastic, without a doubt the finest cuisine we have experienced so far.

 

Korea facts:

 

• If you were lucky enough to meet a North Korean born in the same year, on the same day, as yourself you would be amazed to learn that they are one year older than you. All Koreans are aged 1 when they are born.

• In North Korea distribution, possession and consumption of cannabis is legal and is recommended as a healthier alternative to tobacco. It has been seen growing freely by the roadside. Crystal Meth, on the other hand, is strictly prohibited with users facing the death penalty if caught.

• While as University Kim Jung Il wrote 1500 books in three years along with 6 full operas.

• All teachers in North Korea in the 90s were required to play the accordion.

• Every North Korean household and business is outfitted with a government controlled radio that cannot be turned off, only turned down.