Kimchee Restaurant & Bar — Restaurant in London

Presentation: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Experience: ⭐️⭐️ Taste: ⭐️

The place was very appealing visually with a fairly chilled ambience. The menu was easy to understand and very informative about what to expect from the dishes and how much they would cost. Ordering is straightforward as all it took was for a server to come and we just had to tell them our orders.

However, beneath the aesthetic interior lies things that are much to be desired. I would like to start with how it took the servers at least 30 minutes to come to our table and take our order. Looking around the establishment, it can be seen that we were not the only ones that were waiting to be served. Water was also not served, so asking for it when ordering was the only option to get it.

When our food arrived, it did not look anything to be what I expected from the picture menu. It looked very lacklustre, the plating was not done up to standards and above all, the taste was as bland as its appearance. The beef from the Galbitang and the grilled pork were overcooked to the point that I thought I was chewing gum and not meat.

The kimchi pancake was burnt at the bottom which is the same as the restaurant, appealing to look at but undesirable underneath. While eating the prawns, it was clear that it has been sitting on the side and was just reheated, instead of a newly cooked one, which would have a different texture and taste.

Above all, when our orders were taken, the servers failed to ask us one of the most important questions when working in this kind of industry; they failed to ask us if we had any allergens or dietary requirements. This is very important as this can have a big impact on whether the customers are able to eat the food on the menu or not and also if someone were to have a severe allergic reaction to any of the ingredients in the food, the establishment would have to take responsibility for failing to ask such a simple question, regardless of whether a customer has an allergy or not.

In conclusion, this restaurant is a rather average Korean restaurant compared to others that I have visited, even if they also have flaws. There is much improvement needed and I believe in due time, things will change as this place has just opened not too long ago. I look forward to coming back and getting a...

I booked Kimchee Restaurant for my birthday, hoping for a memorable Korean BBQ experience, but unfortunately, it was far from what I’d hoped for. My boyfriend arrived first and was seated upstairs, but I’d gone downstairs, where the BBQ section was, expecting to meet him there. After wandering around and finding no one, I was surprised and eventually found him seated upstairs. We called a waiter to explain that we’d booked for BBQ, but he insisted we’d reserved the main restaurant and dismissed the confirmation email that mentioned BBQ. Without any apology, he left us hanging mid-conversation, forcing us to call him back just to understand how we could be seated for BBQ.

Eventually, a host came over, still insisting we hadn’t booked BBQ, despite it clearly being noted in the reservation details on his tablet, along with the mention of my birthday. He finally arranged for us to be seated downstairs, but again, without any apology. Once in the BBQ section, we waited ages before anyone even looked our way—no menus, no drink offers, just an awkward, ignored start to the evening. After calling over another waiter, we got menus but had to wait yet again for someone to take our order. The staff seemed far more focused on clearing tables and taking payments than attending to customers.

When we finally ordered, the man taking it was polite and apologetic, but it didn’t save the experience. Only my cocktail arrived, and we had to chase up the other drinks. The food came with only the sides—rice, steamed eggs, and kimchi soup—but the grill wasn’t on, and the BBQ meat hadn’t arrived. Our hot dishes cooled while we waited to start grilling, and the meal felt disjointed and disappointing.

Looking back, I wish I’d paid more attention to the other reviews, as I would have known what to expect. While the food was decent, it wasn’t worth the price given the lack of service and attention to detail. The dismissive staff attitude, even on a birthday reservation, made the evening feel unwelcoming and spoiled what should’ve been a special night. Based on this experience, I wouldn’t return or recommend Kimchee for...

Unfortunately I really didn’t enjoy the experience at this restaurant!

I can’t remember the last time I went out treat and left hungry - it was a special day and I really wanted it go smoothly and end with good food. I had planned what I wanted but when I got there the vibe was all weird, the aesthetic of the place was Very different to what I saw on tik tok and I was just put off.

I continued to order because we had children with us and i paid a deposit so we were kind of stuck there. The only thing I actually enjoyed was the grilled beef, everything else was flat, no flavour other than salt.

The grilled salmon was dry, the chicken bimap I had was dry, no flavours at all and serving it in a hot stone bowl just added to all the moisture being taken away.

To be honest! I wanted almost the whole bill cleared because slot of the guest didn’t like their food they just didn’t want to complain about it.

But imagine, in the end our bill total was £183 and we were only really happy with £50 worth of food. Our table was booked T 5:15 pm for a table of 9!

The waiter was really overwhelming - he caused so much confusion at our table. I know he just wanted to make sure he got it all right but it was too overwhelming for me.

There isn’t really anywhere in the restaurant to take photos either - it felt very awkward!

I will never visit this place again, it really turned me off Korean food and I don’t think I will attempt it again for a long time!

The manager was trying to say that because we’re not used to the food that we don’t know what to expect - but good food is good food and I know when I’m enjoying good food. Although he tried to say it in a respectful way it was a rude thing to say, we are black and I found that so disrespectful.

I eat out at many places, selling many different cuisines, just because I’m black doesn’t mean I don’t know what to...