Evening Standard
David Ellis was puzzled at this pop-up-gone-permanent restaurant from Joo Won, the Korean-born former head chef at the Galvin Brothers’ Windows. If his ambition was to produce London’s best Korean food, David said, he had fallen short despite some real triumphs – including the “near perfect” signature fried chicken, let down by too much sugar in its chilli and peanut sauce.
Also problematic was the “absent-minded and faintly bewildered” service – “as though perhaps they’d been pinched from a local Hare Krishna meet, or wandered in to eat and unwittingly been put to work”.
But if Joo’s ambition was to “draw a local crowd to his cool wine bar/bistro, and give them something they’ve not had before, and at a price which feels very fair” – then in David’s view “he has sprinted past his own finish line, even if quality control needs a beadier eye”.
David Ellis - 2025-03-16The Guardian
Grace Dent lunched at a new independent from Joo Young Won, the Korean-born former head chef at Galvin at Windows – a very different restaurant that traded in French haute cuisine to a Mayfair clientele.
This new operation, she said, was “wilfully niche”. “This is not a Korean restaurant, but neither is it not a Korean restaurant. It is a melange, an experiment, a delicious, Korean-flecked hotch-potch”, with unlikely-sounding dishes such as kimchi fritters – which worked surprisingly well.
Menu highlights included a griddled onglet that was “nothing short of fantastic” and “incredibly good” seafood jjamppong with aïoli – “like a spicy bouillabaisse [with] a vibrant orange, garlicky emulsion with enough bite to make your forehead sweat.”
Grace Dent - 2025-03-30
