Bullgogi Notting Hill — Restaurant in London

I am astonished by how highly rated 'Bulgogi' is on Google reviews. I tried the restaurant yesterday for the very first time and expected to have a delicious lunch there but it was the most unsatisfying meal I've had in a restaurant in 7 years and I feel compelled to warn others to avoid ordering the dishes I had yesterday.

I was in Notting Hill with my cousin for lunch yesterday and we decided we was in the mood for Korean food and Googled local options and when I saw the highly positive reviews about the food, I decided to go to Bulgogi. I was ready to love what Bulgogi had to offer.

Whilst other Bulgogi reviews praise the food and condemn the service. My experience was the opposite! The service was fine BUT my cousin and I didn't eat much of our main course meals because we just found our dishes completely bland and flavourless. I never thought I'd describe any East Asian cuisine as "flavourless" but somehow, it was. Weirdly so given that the dishes looked like they should taste good with all the attractive ingredients.

We ordered the starter, Dduk Bok Gi (described as rice cakes, quail eggs and tofu) to share and I had the Hot Pot Bulgogi and my cousin ordered a Beef Bibimbab.

I deeply regretted ordering the Dduk Bok Gi. I thought it sounded delicious and interesting but it contained only 2 tiny quail eggs (expected a few more quail eggs than that!) and I found the "rice cakes" to be nothing like I expected. They were cylinder-shaped and of a very dense, sticky and chewy texture. They were coated in what was supposed to be a sweet and sour type of sauce but whilst it was very sweet, it was bland too. It felt like I was eating extremely dense, chewy rice balls coated in a sweet, bland syrup.

My cousin and I joked that we'd made a huge mistake with our starter choice but we still looked forward to our main courses and we were so hungry.

I'm sorry to report the main dishes inflicted the same disappointment. Remarkably bland and flavourless! I kept muttering under my breath, "OMG I can't taste anything! This is so bland!" My cousin tucked into his Bibimbab but quickly remarked that it was also flavourless. We tried each other's dishes and just made sad faces at each other.

My cousin who has speech difficulties after suffering a major stroke urged me to complain to the restaurant staff on his behalf and maybe even suggest they taste our food so we could prove we weren't being unreasonable but I just wasn't in the mood to complain and since I rarely feel the need to complain in restaurants, I wasn't even sure if raising a complaint about the lack of flavour was socially acceptable. It''s not as if the food tasted especially bad or that I found a hair in my rice. It was just remarkably flavourless. Everything looked good but it was so surprising how utterly flavourless our dishes were.

I paid £44 (which pained me) and yet we didn't eat much of our main courses. We were so dissatisfied, we just wanted to get out of the restaurant. I was so hungry and yet I couldn't bring myself to finish the Hot Pot Bulgogi. The beef was very tender but just flavourless! The Hot Pot broth, which usually in Asian culture (I'm half Chinese), is usually so flavoursome but this was the blandest broth I'd ever had.

I noticed the 3 waiters that tended to us did not ask us once how the food was or the usual "was everything okay,?" If they had asked, I would have been honest and told them I found the dishes remarkably bland.

Since the other reviews praise the quality of the food, perhaps we were just unlucky and perhaps we didn't order the best dishes on the menu but I would urge the chefs at Bulgogi to taste their own cooking for quality control purposes. I am certain had anyone else tasted our dishes, they would have agreed that there was very little flavour.

My cousin and I were still so hungry when we left 'Bulgogi', we went to Le Pain Quotidien down the street straight after we left to satiate our residual hunger with a Croque Monsieur since we didn't want to waste another £40-£50 meal in...

We had a huge staff party of 11 and the staff especially be manager was so amazing and caring when taking our order and making our stay great. Food was so amazing and fresh. Most Korean restaurant I go to, their KFC would be slightly hard but in this restaurant it’s fresh and soft with great amount of sauce topped up. Especially the manager, he working so hard ensuring we received all our big orders and drink on our table whilst accommodating another few big tables at the back. I would highly recommend people to try their Baos, Kimchi Jeon, Spicy Squid Dish, and the chef special BBQ set along with the cocktails. I would definitely see myself and some other few friend come back again in smaller party and try more of what they offer because they have such a huge options of food on menu.

From the moment I stepped in, I was greeted by a welcoming ambiance, enhanced by subtle Korean decor and lively background Korean music. What truly stood out was the restaurant's commitment to cleanliness. The grills were immaculately clean, and the dining area was spotless, creating a pleasant dining environment. The manager was attentive, promptly replacing grill plates and utensils as needed, ensuring a hygienic experience throughout the meal. Overall, this restaurant not only excelled in serving delicious Korean BBQ but also set a high standard for cleanliness, making it a top choice for a memorable...

I put 2 stars just for the food that was really good! Other than that I rarely write reviews but I am quite disappointed spending a £100 for a meal of 2 for such a terrible service... it really made me so upset the way we were treated. Generally i never spend that amount of money for a dinner so it was a special arrangement. I understand the restaurant was very busy but again I am busy at my job but i try to do it the best possible. We didn’t get any help with the menu first of all. The waitor even made a comment when i was trying to order a premium platter that its a bit pricey (maybe we looked very poor?) Then it took ages to get the drinks. Then the mix platter came wrong. After all that i asked how the table/ self bbq works... and the guy couldn’t help me cause he was stressed out. Then a lady came and asked if we need help? I said yes please! And she said Why? Like ok , i m not going to Korean cuisine to know the deal. Isn’t part of the service to explain the procedure? Anyway i felt super bad and honestly if my partner wasn’t insisting I wouldn’t have paid the service charge. I understand it’s Valentines and its busy but when you spent that amount of money thats not the kind of service you expect. We live next door from the restaurant and definitely i m never going again. At the end before we left the waitor apologised for...