In these terrible times, when people are too nervous to venture out onto public transport, still less to their local restaurants, I’ve been fearing that some of my own favourite haunts may not survive the crisis.
As you may know, to try to encourage people back to restaurants and to save a vital part of our modern lifestyle from extinction, the government has launched a temporary discount scheme. From 3 to 31 August (every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday), you can get a 50% discount when you eat in at restaurants that are registered with the Eat Out to Help Out Scheme, (up to a maximum of £10 discount per diner).
A great post on Facebook from the Korean Tourism Organisation lists out some of the Korean restaurants in London, New Malden and elsewhere who have registered with the government scheme. I was delighted to find my own favourite Zone 1 restaurant on the list, meaning that they have survived the lockdown, at least thus far (please hang in there, Chef Kim – I’ll come visit you soon!). But the list the KTO kindly put together is not exhaustive. I’ve reproduced it below, but adding to it the two restaurants closest to my own home who have also registered for the scheme, plus also including the omissions pointed out in the comment thread in that post. Do take the time to check if your own favourite restaurant has registered (if it’s not listed below), by putting its postcode in this location finder.
And then go visit it, spend money, and consume plenty of samgyeopsal and soju, or whatever else takes your fancy. And maybe hand back the discount as a tip.
In alphabetical order:
Central London
BARI BARI: 24 White Church Ln, Whitechapel, E1 7QR
BI WON : 24 Coptic Street, Holborn, WC1A 1NT
BULLGOGI : 143 Notting Hill Gate, W11 3LE
GOGI : 451 Edgware Road, Little Venice, W2 1TH
HANKANG : 16 Hanway Street, Tottenham Court Road, W1T 1UE
HOZI : 25 – 27 Theobalds Rd, Holborn, WC1X 8SP
JIHWAJA : 353 Kennington Ln, Vauxhall, SE11 5QY
JINJUU SOHO : 15 Kingly St, Soho, W1B 5PS
JUMAK39 : 39 Panton St, West End, SW1Y 4EA
KANGNAM POCHA : 176 Drury Ln, Holborn, WC2B 5QF
K PLACE : 1 St Mary at Hill, EC3R 8EE
MYUNG GA : 1 Kingly St, Soho, W1B 5PA
OLLE : 88 Shaftesbury Ave, West End, W1D 6NH
SIMYA : Unit 20, Broadway Shopping Centre, Hammersmith, W6 9YD
SOJU&CO : 32 Great Windmill St, Soho, W1d 7lr
TOHBANG : 164 Clerkenwell Rd, Holborn, EC1R 5DU
YORI : 6 Panton St, West End, SW1Y 4DL
YOSHI SUSHI : 210 King Street, Hammersmith, W6 0RA
New Malden
GENGHIS KHAN : 85-87 Kingston Rd, KT3 3PA
HA RU : 50-52 High St, KT3 4EZ
HAN BAR + RESTAURANT : 1 High Street, KT3 4DQ
IMONE Korean Restaurant : 169 High St, KT3 4BH
PALACE Korean Restaurant : 183 High St, KT3 4BH
YAMI Restaurant : 69 High St, KT3 4BT
Other cities
(Birmingham) TOPOKKI : 1C Hurst St, B5 4TE
(Bristol) TUK TUCK : 5 St Stephen’s St, BS1 1EE
(Cambridge) LITTLE SEOUL : 108 Regent St, CB2 1DP
(Manchester) KOREANA Restaurant : 40A King St W, M3 2WY