Cho Sim — Restaurant in London

Amazing Korean food and great service.

Me and a mate arrived when they opened at midday on a weekday so it was practically empty. However, customers were turning up shortly after we arrived.

The decor wasn't anything to shout about but the tables, chairs and cutlery were arranged and presented well. Be aware that you are provided with a spoon and chopsticks and won't get anything knife unless you ask. My friend wasn't able to handle the chopsticks so they were more than happy to provide a fork.

We ordered a mixture of things. A small portion of Sweet Soy Korean Fried Chicken, Toppoki (AKA Taekkbokki), Samgye-Tang (whole chicken stuffed with rice & ginseng soup), and some Kimchi. All the dishes except the soup arrived super fast which wasn't a surprise given we were the first order of the day. The soup arrived a few minutes later.

All the food was great, the Korean Fried Chicken tasted amazing but I wouldn't consider it true Korean Fried Chicken as it didn't have that famous crunchy outer later. It was still delicious though! The kimchi was perfectly flavoured for our tastes, not to pungent or spicy and paired well with our dishes. The toppoki was comforting and flavourful. The ginseng and rice stuffed chicken was unlike anything I've ever had! But in the best possible way. It was a whole baby chicken stuffed with sticky rice in a rich broth, I couldn't have had anything more comforting or nourishing if I tried. This dish was extremely satisfying and would highly recommend it to anyone wanting to try Korean food without the spicy kick, as this dish wasn't spicy at all. What it lacked in spice was more than made up for in flavour. The chicken itself was moreishly tender, the rice in the cavity had absorbed all the juices from the chicken, not to mention the garlic, ginseng and date-like fruit stuffed in there with it! To top it off it was presented in a hot stone boil still boiling as it arrived at my table.

I couldn't recommend this place more if you want to experience Korean food. Especially if you've never had it before.

Also, try the Milkis Drink, it's great! And if you drink, soju's...

We used to be regular patrons of this establishment, appreciating the delightful food that was consistently served in the past. However, our recent visit was marred by a disappointingly subpar meal, particularly the Korean fried chicken, kimchi and kimchi ramen. Apart from this we also ordered japche noodle’s , spicy pork which were the only two dishes that were a bit more bare able While I've been known to order extra dishes for both sit down and takeaways due to the restaurant's previous high standards, our experience was quite the opposite.

In an attempt to provide constructive feedback, we inquired about any changes in the kitchen, wondering if perhaps there was a new chef. Surprisingly, the owner, Silvia, responded defensively and somewhat obnoxiously, claiming she had never received such feedback and that no one had ever complained before. It's essential to clarify that our intention was not to complain but rather to offer insights for improvement.

The most disheartening aspect was Silvia's disrespectful reaction, veering off into an unnecessary tangent even though there was no resistance to payment. During our attempt to provide feedback, Silvia's response included a few perplexing statements. She stated , "I've never seen you here before," insinuating our regular patronage was somehow in question. Additionally, she insisted that no one else had ever voiced complaints, dismissing our taste expectations as irrelevant to her concerns. These comments further contributed to the uncomfortable and disrespectful atmosphere, leaving us thoroughly disappointed with the overall experience. Her responses for feed back suggested on google says that everyone has their own taste preference and hence can’t satisfy all.

Unfortunately, based on this regrettable encounter, we've decided not to revisit this establishment and certainly won't be recommending it to others. Just plain Rude and if you happen to go there and give her a feed back you will...

I’ve been to Cho Sim twice as the first time I went, I was very impressed by the quality of the food and authenticity of their dishes as well as the variety of options available. However, the second time I went which was yesterday, I was very appalled by the service received at this establishment. The food itself was amazing, but the rudeness of the waitress invalidated the whole experience. I had made an order and waited for over 30 minutes and was met with “the kitchen is busy” even thought everyone had the restaurant had already served. When I made the complaint the waitress kept arguing and raising her voice at us, she then disappeared and came back and slammed the ticket of the order made on the table. To show us that the order had been put into the system 15 minutes prior to our complaint, even though I had asked another waiter 30 minutes before to make the order and then I asked him to chase the order after 25 mins and I saw him tapping onto the machine. He asked if we wanted to cancel it but I was hungry. He said it will be ready in 5 minutes. It then took another 20 minutes. I had then explained the situation to the waitress while she was raising her voice at us and she proceeded to apologise, but I asked her if she was going to compensate us and she brought us 2 soft drinks. I said that is not enough to make up for the berating and verbal attack we had received as well as the late order which was the waiters mistake, I asked if she could remove the late order from the bill. She then responded bluntly saying “Okay then, so you want me to remove this then?”. Even though we were eventually compensated, there was no reason for the waitress to be rude, raise her voice and argue with a customer, when I had discussed the situation with her in a calm manner. It’s a shame really as the food is amazing but I don’t want to be dealing with this abysmal...