K is for Korea @ Koba

There wasn’t really any doubt as to what cuisine we were going to eat for the letter K. I made a half arsed attempt to look for something else, but really let’s be honest it was only ever going to Korean.

The difficulty lie with which restaurant we were going to sample this wonderful cuisine and what to have.

As none of really had eaten Korean food, apart from a couple of bits and bobs here and there, it was and well still is a bit of a mystery.

Out of all the restaurants I’d read about Koba kept getting the better reviews for its bar-b-q, which really as a newbie to Korean food, I think this had to be a major thing on our collective first visit.

The plush restaurant is very modern, lots of dark colours, moody lighting and a youngish crowd. The vibe was nice and easy, vibrant but calming.

Between 6 of us we had quite a good selection of starters and 2 bar-b-q combo’s. The highlight of the starters were the fried pancake and the fried chicken. The pancake was crunchy and crispy and was very well seasoned.

The bar-b-q which was the highlight of the night, turned out to be a fun thing. Thankfully Koba have an exhaust shaft above every bar-b-q, otherwise the entire restaurant would have been chokey smokey.

For large groups the combo bar-b-q selections turned out to be pretty good value. We did find it slightly annoying that the staff literally cooked our meat for us, maybe they thought us novices didn’t know how to cook Korean bar-b-q for ourselves.

I’m not sure of the quality of the meat, as the marinades over powered the beef and pork. Not to say that the marinades were not good they were. Nice and hot. Just how we like it.

I do have one quibble about Koba and that was the amount they charged for the kimchi. My little knowledge of Korean cuisine extends to kimchi. As far as I am aware, it comes with every meal, and I feel it should be a free accompaniment, not a £5 side. 

All in all we had a great night with lots of good banter and good food. I would imagine however that a modest bar-b-q joint in Korea would be a match for Koba on its food, but for London I think this is probably as good as it gets.
Oh and love the name of the beer, and no there is not an S before that H.