Portishead, Korean Restaurant Guide

2023 Review: “Some of the most exciting food I have eaten in ages” has made this two-year-old Korean with a “short but tasty menu” a big hit in Bristol and beyond. Chef Duncan Roberts, who has worked for Joel Robuchon in Paris, and his wife Kyu Jeong Jeon moved to Stokes Croft from South Korea, and their fans include Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. Top Tip – tongdak – whole chicken stuffed with sticky rice and grilled over charcoal.

“Attentive service and the opportunity for discussion with the chef/owner from seats at Kitchen bar” helps win early fans for this year-old venture from Duncan Robertson and his wife Kyu Jeong Jeon, which offers an “interesting” Korean menu inspired by Kyu’s upbringing there with a focus on BBQ and refermentation. Feedback is too limited as yet for a full rating, but in a December 2024 review, the FT’s Tim Hayward waxed lyrical (“spectacular… assertive… complex, sophisticated, rich”) including regarding the tofu – an ingredient he’s previously disliked – that here appeared with “subtle fungoid flavours. Creaminess. Like a custard made with only the white parts of mushrooms grown in Paris in catacombs on the bones of saints”.