OGAM TAPAS BAR — Restaurant in London

This bar was one of the main reasons of my trip to London. It came highly recommended by Korean Englishman which gave me high expectations of the place. I made reservations months in advance and I was a bit upset with the outcome. Unfortunately this did not exceed my expectations at all.

Upon arrival, we arrived 3 minutes before our reservation and the restaurant asked if we could come back in 3 minutes, understandable. During this 3 min waiting it was actually drizzling and it’s funny that the restaurant had an awning but didn’t have it open to keep their customers dry while waiting. My party was the first group that arrived. At 8:30pm (the reservation time) the restaurant seated 3 parties (who arrived after us) before us. When we were next they wanted us to sit at this booth looking couch with a coffee table. I was very upset because I specifically reserved a bar that was a lot more comfortable to dine. I wanted to cancel my reservation because I was already upset how they treated us (seating other parties before us when we arrived first and giving us a horrible seating arrangement). The restaurant told us to wait another 15 min and if the party didn’t arrive we could take their bar spot. So this means 8:45…at 8:45 they told us 8:46 so we waited the extra 1 minute and finally got to the bar. BTW, we stayed for a total of 3 hours so sitting at the booth would’ve hurt our backs.

Now that our seating was all settled. There was a bit of miscommunication about drinks. We were aware that each person must order one drink. Out of three people, one does not drink alcohol. Which was fine because my friend and I were going to have two drinks each so that exceeded the request. (Which we told them) Nothing wrong here, just a little miscommunication that’s all.

Please note food and drinks are based on my opinion.

Now food…food was okay. I wouldn’t recommend coming to this restaurant for food. We ordered the following; tteokbbokki (good, nothing special, too expensive for the portion we got), seafood kimchi pancake (was overcooked and a bit burnt, we saw several pancakes burnt so it wasn’t a one off), chargrilled pork bbq (overcooked, dry and a bit burnt), fried chicken (over fried and dry). The following were just okay, it wasn’t bad but nothing amazing; kimchi, kimchi radish, fish cake soup, stir fried fish cake, gim-mari, fried sweet potatoes.

Drinks…I would recommend coming here for cocktails. We got the Jeju mule and Danji and they tasted amazing. We also got a plain and rhubarb makgeolli. The makgeolli wasn’t to my tasting. It had a vinegar taste which I wasn’t a fan of. However my friend enjoyed it more since she loves the fermented/vinegar taste. So this can work for some folks and not others.

Overall, I wouldn’t recommend my friends going out of their way to this place. However if someone was considering on trying it out I would just warn them that the place is better with drinks rather than food. Again, this is just my personal opinion. You’re welcome to try...

I simply don’t know where to start. Ogam has been the BEST cocktail bar experience of my life. I came from Sweden to do a weekend in London, and went back to Ogam twice to try all the drinks.

Drinks: Exquisite taste compositions and a beautiful representation of Korean alcohol. I experienced flavors that I didn’t even know could exist! They make a lot of their ingredients themselves, and even brew their own flavored makgeolli. Me and my partner tried almost all the signature drinks, and my favorite was the Danji. It’s creamy, easy to drink, smoky, and is served with a burning pine cone that adds a lot of visual effects and smoke essence! Korean fizz was also very appreciated as it was easy to drink and perfectly cooling to pair with spicy food.

Food: Delicious korean food with very intense flavors. We ordered cheese buldak (spice level 1), and it was super tender and juicy. I’m terrible with spice, and it was a good level of spice for me! I’m craving it as we speak. The kimmari (seaweed rolls) is one of a kind, and definitely a must try. Likewise the kimchijeon was incredible and rich in flavor and texture. The korean fried chicken was super crunchy on the outside, but juicy and saucy on the inside. Wonderful experience!

Service: Super friendly service from both staff and owner. Literally no complaints. The waiters were fast with taking orders, explaining things on the menu, answering questions, removing empty plates, refilling water, turning tables, and just really friendly. We got served by Won Joon the first time, so big shoutout to him! The second time we didn’t recall the name of the waitress, but she was really kind. We accidentally stumbled upon her on the underground on our way home, and she helped us find our way back. As for the owner, his bartending skills are on another planet! It’s a show in itself to just watch him make all the cocktails. He’s very attentive and makes sure to check in on all customers. We asked for recommendations for our upcoming Korea trip, and got served with a whole novel on things to see and do!

To sum it up: Visit Ogam. Now. You...

We have been regulars here for three years and always come back for the food. It is genuinely very good Korean cooking and the main reason we return, even though the place presents itself more as a bar.

We usually order a lot and spend well, but this time the service let the experience down.

We had booked a table by the window, but when we arrived, we were told we could not have it because another group had booked it an hour later. We were seated in the back instead, which is a much less appealing space. It was frustrating, especially since it did not seem like the other group ever showed up. It would make much more sense to prioritise guests who are already there, especially when the tables seat the same number of people.

The bigger issue was the drink policy. The restaurant requires one drink per person, but even a full bottle of rice wine, which easily serves six to seven glasses, only counts as one drink. There were three of us, and we ordered a full dinner plus the bottle to share, which was more than enough alcohol.

The staff insisted we still needed to order two additional drinks. We were polite about it and genuinely confused. It was a quiet Sunday night, we were clearly there for dinner and not trying to just sit around.

It is not about spending more. If the concern is revenue per head, a minimum spend would make far more sense than forcing extra drinks. We would have been happy to meet that. Instead, the rigid way it was handled felt transactional and, frankly, unfriendly.

In the end, we ordered two beers we did not want just to avoid any more back-and-forth.

We still really like the food and would like to keep coming back. But experiences like this make you think twice. A little flexibility, and better focus on guests who are actually dining, would...