Bokman — Restaurant in Bristol

Disappointing. Kimchi rice didn’t taste of anything. I had to ask for salt because I felt bad complaining… I should have asked for a refund but I hadn’t eaten all day and it was expensive. The salt didn’t really help and I put most of what I was given in. The pork in the rice didn’t taste of anything and my fried egg was super over cooked, had to hunt for what was left of the hard yellow yolk. Octopus was rubbery but at least had flavour. The sharing sides were small but tasty. Not worth the price though. The stew definitely seemed like it had potential but it was bland so the umami didn’t come through properly.

I love tiramisu, it is my favourite dessert so I was excited to try a matcha version. It was also very disappointing. Just cream and sugary “cakey” middle. No depth again just bland and boring.

Super disappointing, we were really looking forward to this.

We didn’t complain as we were tired, hungry and I struggle with my anxiety, I’ve not had a situation where I needed to complain about my food so I felt very awkward about saying anything. It took ages each time we tried getting the servers attention anyway as they were too busy chatting or just not looking at the room. 2 people at the door gave up waiting (after being told someone would see to them) and left. The girl was always slouched across a counter on her phone, slouching across tables to talk to customers etc, and the young boy although polite, couldn’t give information on ingredients or drinks past “I recommend the house wine. It’s from Spain.” 😞 very quiet so to be waiting a lot for our plates to be cleared etc was not very good.

We definitely will not...

There’s nothing particularly wrong with the food, but it wasn’t particularly special either. Certainly not as impressive as the reviews indicated.

We had the the XO Tongdak (stick to original), Gabli stew (nice but what beef short rib isn’t? This shows as monkfish on the bill), tempura chilli (good but missing something to make it memorable), kimchi oysters (expected more flavour from either the oysters or kimchi) and a Japanese glass noodle and mushroom dish (standard).

The biggest problem though was the venue (claustrophobic) and service (impassive).

As for the space, there seemed to be seating for 14 and you can hear every single conversation. We were seated on high backless stools at the window, left to rub elbows with the person next to me. Fine for an afternoon coffee and cake perhaps, but not satisfactory for a reputed fine dining experience.

The service…one of our 3 servers seemed interested in our experience. I did however feel a little bad for them all having to sliver around in so little space carrying crockery.

I would say this is great street food at gourmet prices. The smell of our clothes the next day testifies to the former.

Bristol has a lot to offer so we will look...

We made a journey to this little gem in stokes croft since it came up in the news and on my Google maps. The shop is very cosy, only a handful of seats and tables.

The feel and menu just remind me of being back in Korea, familiar and a limited menu that they do well and with friendly owner and staff. I much rather a small menu done well than a big range done poorly!

The food has a distinct taste of the family run shops in Korea, the home staples - we went for fried rice with pork and the ramyun. In all honesty I'd have rather given the food a 4/4.5 out of 5, because while all the flavours I wanted to enjoy were definitely there, I felt that it was a bit diluted down for my personal tastes. Next time I'll be asking for more gochujang or kimchi to just spice it up a bit. But for those unfamiliar to Korean food or spicy food, it is likely ideal.

Worth going and serves up delicious Korean food, albeit perhaps a bit more toned down - which may be welcomed, suiting more palates.

All that being said, I would love a good kimchi jjigae with the homemade kimchi on the menu, would definitely be...