Miga — Restaurant in London

Let me just say this and more: Miga is really something special in East London.

A lot of restaurants puff up their chest and stand behind several tenets that serve as the culinary philosophy: authenticity of their cooking being one of them. Miga is really a modest silver lining that manages to avoid being a novelty and manages to really champion their roots. It is currently family-owned and family-run and its dishes holding a familiarity to any Korean homemade feast. The staff is also really nice and hold steadfast to a vision of hospitality and endearment.

Its minimalist aesthetic with a polished white interior and its claim modern take on Korean cuisine are things that do not go unnoticed. Its exterior has a mural depicted on the side of the restaurant that explains the history of this family-owned restaurant. The atmosphere already possesses a local neighborhood welcome with the music not being incredibly loud, enough to hold conversation and enough to enjoy the food.

On the topic of food, we ordered a bunch of things since it was our first visit. We ordered the japchae, prawns with the gochujang sauce, the tangsu (duck), the galbijjim (short rib) along with their banchan which included a cucumber kimchi and Napa cabbage kimchi. What captured my attention were the tangsu. The tangsu is usually a Chinese-Korean fusion staple of sweet and sour pork that the chef has made in an interesting way. It is glazed with the usual sweet and sour sauce but its batter resembles the fried crispiness that you can find at any fish and chips shop while substituting in duck instead of pork as an inspiration from seeing how the dish was made in Germany based Korean-Chinese joints. It is easily one of the best dishes at this restaurant.

The short rib is beautifully plated with a bit of carrot and potato. They have managed to get the succulent flavor usually associated with this dish. The meat practically falls off the bone.

Based on a friend's recommendation, we also recommend getting the ox bone broth (설렁탕) for post-meal enjoyment. It is rejuvenating and typically helps reduce post-meal bloating.

As a person of Korean heritage, I am incredibly happy to place my seal of approval on this wonderful restaurant that will be beloved in no time.

Recommend: Beef tartare, sweet and sour fried duck, short rib, ox broth (having this alongside some...

There are alot of great things about Miga; the service is really friendly and the low key intimate space complements the family atmosphere.

The food is very good but doesn't quite live up to the hype. Miga has been touted as the best Korean in London, Time Outs restaurant of the year and has generated press suggesting Miga's offerings outdo that of their peers and push the quality of London's Korean food scene to a new level. My feelings were that it earned a spot on a committed Korean cuisine fans list, but doesn't bring a particular quality or exceptionalism to the scene.

Perhaps their homelier approach feels more authentic, however it left me feeling like I could probably cook my pork belly main at home with similar results; the pork belly was a little tough, not particularly flavourful (not marinated or spiced beyond salt as far as I could tell) and served with a rather English mustard sauce.

The starters were a little more exciting, the fresh fish sliced fish was great value; sizable portions of salmon, seabream and tuna, though the sauce could definitely complement the fish more, it was pleasantly spicy on its own and with the tofu, but overpowered the fish.

The fried tofu was very very nice especially with it's peanut and cucumber sauce, it was my standout of the meal, the dish where everything worked together.

For me Miga is a victim of its own hype, if I hadn't read the reviews, failed to get a reservation with visiting friends twice and finally decided I was going whenever I could I wouldn't have had such high expectations. Miga serves good food but nothing mind blowing. It's a meal that makes me wonder about the rest of menu, if I swapped out the Pork Belly for the Shortribs or the Beef tartare, gotten the chicken thigh instead of the fish, maybe that's what would have absolutely bowled me over, as it was I left full and happy but not amazed. A good spot for Korean if you're over in hackney but think twice before booking weeks out and crossing town, there are plenty of great restaurants in this city with no hype and no press that...

Miga is (currently) a hard reservation to get, you do need to book it 28 days in advance when dates are released. I visited with 2 friends on a Thursday. It’s a fairly small space but had tables refreshingly well spaced apart, and the decor while simple was cleanly done and included a view into the open kitchen.

The 3 of us ordered the king prawns, fried chicken, mung bean pancake, beef short rib, fried duck, “raw fish” rice bowl, some spinach, cucumber kimchi and a portion of rice. The food was really good across the board but the short rib was the clear winner - after just one bite I knew we had to order a second portion which was easily devoured as well! While tender falling apart meat could be expected, the accompanying sauce had a really rich depth of flavour too. Excellent stuff.

Service was interesting. Our primary server was a bit of a character and told off my friend who arrived 15 minutes late. I found this quite amusing but my friend was rather taken aback. The door to the restaurant was kept locked throughout which was strange, and with fully glass frontage we got to witness the look of confusion as each guest arrived and struggled to open the door. Quirkiness aside the staff were quite friendly, but their time management was not great. It seemed we had a 2 hour (at most) turnaround on our table, but we were never informed during booking or when onsite, right up to the point when the next guest arrived and we were abruptly told they needed the table back right away (this was pre dessert). I know they are a very popular place but the time limits should have been communicated at some point.

The bill for our meal came to £282, of which £109 was spent on drinks. Overall a great meal, I loved the home cooked authentic flavours, it felt quite differentiated to other Korean restaurants in London, and while I did raise a few points around the service, just feed me one more of those short ribs and all will be forgiven! Definitely one...