Epsom, Korean Restaurant Guide

“Perfect French cuisine with a Korean twist” has built an impressive reputation for Woongchul Park and Bomee Ki’s ambitious and highly accomplished three-year-old – a patch of serenity in the gritty streets surrounding Guy’s Hospital. The main event is an 8-9 course tasting menu, which is exciting in the freshness of its ideas and with “faultless” realisation. Top Tip – Bomee trained as a pastry chef so pace yourself for dessert.

A new location for an old restaurant: this latest incarnation of a family-run business opened in New Malden – serving the sizable local Korean expat community – in spring 2023. Grace Dent of The Guardian visited in May 2023 and was a fan of its “simple yet delicious” cooking – “Cah Chi isn’t trying to change the world; it’s just quietly representing skilful Korean cooking and creating a haven for hungry passers-by”.

This “great local Korean” close to Notting Hill Gate tube station offers a “good variety of dishes” – including Japanese sushi and “super lunchtime bento boxes”. “It can get very busy, so booking is advised”.

On the Soho-fringe site of the much-lamented YMing (RIP), this April 2023 newcomer is a Korean BBQ bringing the pyeonbaek steam box to London – a three-tiered box made from hinoki wood, a type of cypress. It’s named after Cheongdam-dong, an affluent – and foodie – district of Gangnam in Seoul. It opened too late to inspire survey feedback – reports please!