Asadal

Korean food is sometimes the poor cousin of Chinese and Japanese food. They've been elevated to the status of haute cuisine, after Alan Yau's ventures (Hakkasan and Yauatcha), Nobu Matsuhisa's eponymous chain of restaurants and the revelation that Tokyo has more Michelin-starred restaurants than any other city in the world. Korean food is still waiting for its rethinker to take it into the "fine dining" leagues. Not that it's not fantastic now.

In the meantime though, Korean restaurants continue to offer good, wholesome, traditional meals that fill one up at a reasonable price with great pleasure. One such place is Asadal, which is the sister restaurant of a similarly named place in New Malden, Surrey. Asadal London (adjacent image from londontown.com) is located beside Holborn tube station, underground. The entrance is quite plain, and doesn't give any hint of the delicious meal waiting below. I held off trying this place for nearly 2 years, as it seemed uninteresting and there were other places that scratched my Korean food itch - Ran and Arang among others. Since I first visited about a year ago, it's become my favourite Korean restaurant.

Asadal
227 High Holborn
London WC1V 7DA
020 7430 9006

There are several varieties of kimchi available here, but go for the regular varieties - pickled Chinese leaf and daikon radish. Simple is best when it comes to Asadal, and the Chinese leaf comes rolled up into a wad, ready to be peeled apart with metal chopsticks. There's ginger mixed in with the chilli too, for an interesting twist.

The usual dishes are well prepared and of decent quality - bibimbap (rice, meat, egg and vegetables in a heated stone bowl) is almost perfect, with the bowl heated just so, such that the egg is just set after being mixed in with the rice. My only gripe was that there was not enough Korean hot bean sauce. Japche, glass noodles fried with beef and vegetables, is flavourful and moist, with the flavour penetrating the noodles - with many other Korean restaurants, the japche noodles are relatively tasteless. Barbecue here is good as well - the meat is well marinated and seasoned, and they will cook it in the kitchen for any customer who prefers to go home smelling relatively unsmoky. All the usuals are available - bulgogi, spicy chicken and seafood.

Pajeon (fried seafood pancake) is a little better than average here, with enough shellfish and vegetables such that the fried dough doesn't dominate the dish. It's not fantastic though. Instead, go for the kam poong gi - fried chicken in a sweet and sour sauce. Korean fried chicken is fast gaining a great reputation in the US, but is relatively unknown here in the UK. The chefs at Asadal know how to fry chicken - the pieces are crisp and moist inside, and there's lots of nooks and crannies on the surface of the batter for the sauce to soak into.

Now for the more unusual dishes. Pork fans should try the bo ssam, slices of fat belly pork steamed and served with a spicy salty sauce. The Pretty Lady isn't a fan of this, but it's great for anyone who loves pork fat, as I do. Another dish that the Pretty Lady won't eat is yuk hwe, minced raw beef, julienned pear and a raw egg yolk - the Korean version of steak tartare. The Asadal version has the beef defrosted sufficiently to be tender, unlike one or two other places. Highly recommended.

As for drinks, they aren't the point. The wine list is unremarkable save for a Gewurztraminer which would be sweet enough to withstand all the strong flavours. I order either tea or OB (Oriental Brewery) beer - the food is perfect to go with them (no shikhye - Korean rice punch - though). Don't bother with desserts either - the cinnamon ginger tea is good enough.

Scores:

21 March 2008: TFQ = 24, CS = 24, S = 12, AD = 6, VfM = 7. Total = 73 points.

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