Harden's says

Located on Chandos Road in Redland, Bristol, the restaurant aims to create a laid-back, community atmosphere with a menu inspired by Kyu’s upbringing in Korea and time spent living in Seoul. The menu features a variety of Korean staples made from scratch, such as doenjang, gochujang, and makgeolli. Diners can enjoy an à la carte menu with traditional BBQ, a set meal Jungshik, or a Hanjungshik showcasing the chefs’ favorite dishes. The restaurant collaborates with local producers, including Rocketman Produce, for Korean ingredients. The space, arranged across two former shop fronts, includes a wooden countertop, street-facing bay windows, and handmade ceramics. The wine list focuses on low-intervention wines from Bristol-based Vine Trail. Head Chef Clarence Fung, with experience at Dovetale Restaurant and Gordon Ramsay Restaurant Group, leads the kitchen, while Rebecca Lewis manages the front of house as General Manager.

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Have you eaten at Dongnae?

5 - 7 Chandos Road, Redland, BS6 6PG

What the Newspaper Critics are saying

The Sunday Times

Tim Hayward – in common with many an Occidental taster – had never understood the appeal of tofu, a key East Asian ingredient, before his meal at this “gently inspiring” Korean restaurant from Kyu Jeong Jeon and Duncan Robertson, a chef couple who met working under Joel Robuchon in Paris.

The meal began in style with a “spectacular” hand-roll of Devon crab and Icelandic urchin roe wrapped not in familiar nori but in a special seaweed brought back from Korea, with an “assertive, almost tea-like taste that complements the creamy crab”. Dishes of pork belly (in Korean, literally “three-layer meat”) with fermented sardine pickle, grilled soy-glazed mackerel and clam and mussel bibimbap were also excellent.

Tim’s tofu enlightenment came in the shape of a stew that also involved small chunks of meat, courgettes, mushrooms and seaweed, and was “so good I seriously considered giving up cleaning my teeth”. The brown liquid in which it all swam was made from miso-like doenjang proudly reared by the proprietors for five years, resulting in flavours that were “deep, complex, sophisticated, rich. Give it some private tuition and three months building a school in Ghana and it’s got every chance of getting into Oxford”.

As for the tofu, “this stuff explained everything. Subtle fungoid flavours. Creaminess. Like a custard made with only the white parts of mushrooms grown in Paris in catacombs on the bones of saints.”

Tim Hayward - 2024-12-15
5 - 7 Chandos Road, Redland, BS6 6PG

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