KIMCHEE
Kimchee is a huge Korean restaurant in Holborn, with an equally extensive menu. After queuing for a short while in their cosy garden-like waiting area, we were seated by the window bar. The interior reminds me of the Busaba Eathai chain; sleek but not too authentic-looking. The waiter was ready to take our orders immediately even though you need a good 10 minutes to even get your head around the large selection of dishes. We started with fermented cabbage kimchee, which I am still not convinced that I managed to make myself like, but from what I can judge I think it was a pretty good one. We shared everything, and went for the Yang Yeum fried chicken in chilli sauce. I already knew I liked this from Han Kang, and even though it was quite different here, I loved it. It is a tad spicy, so it’s good to have some white rice on the side to calm it down. Another successful dish was the Marinated Rib Eye with garlic and sesame oil. It also came with an amazing red sauce that tasted like miso paste. The Soft Shell Crab didn’t impress me, but this was perhaps due to the fact that I was starting to get quite full by then. The Pa Jeon seafood pancake was ok, but again not spectacular. The thing that I was the most excited about, Portobello Mushroom with garlic and sesame, didn’t taste of anything at all. It was a meal of ups and downs, but I do think I would go there again now that I’ve ruled out some things that I won’t order.
Kimchee is a huge Korean restaurant in Holborn, with an equally extensive menu. After queuing for a short while in their cosy garden-like waiting area, we were seated by the window bar. The interior reminds me of the Busaba Eathai chain; sleek but not too authentic-looking. The waiter was ready to take our orders immediately even though you need a good 10 minutes to even get your head around the large selection of dishes. We started with fermented cabbage kimchee, which I am still not convinced that I managed to make myself like, but from what I can judge I think it was a pretty good one. We shared everything, and went for the Yang Yeum fried chicken in chilli sauce. I already knew I liked this from Han Kang, and even though it was quite different here, I loved it. It is a tad spicy, so it’s good to have some white rice on the side to calm it down. Another successful dish was the Marinated Rib Eye with garlic and sesame oil. It also came with an amazing red sauce that tasted like miso paste. The Soft Shell Crab didn’t impress me, but this was perhaps due to the fact that I was starting to get quite full by then. The Pa Jeon seafood pancake was ok, but again not spectacular. The thing that I was the most excited about, Portobello Mushroom with garlic and sesame, didn’t taste of anything at all. It was a meal of ups and downs, but I do think I would go there again now that I’ve ruled out some things that I won’t order.
71 High Holborn, Loncon WC1V 6EA
