Restaurateur Linda Lee (Koba, On The Bab) is opening a new Korean venture on a two-floor Soho site; with dine-in, takeaway and retail sections, it will be based on the table-and-market concept found in Seoul, South Korea. Mee Market will open in Archer Street on Monday 4 December.
After running several restaurants in Seoul, Linda Lee moved to London and now has over 12 year’s experience operating restaurants in the capital. Her first venture Koba, opened in 2005 in Fitzrovia, providing Korean table barbecue, consistently well-rated by Harden’s reporters. Her next venture was Japanese restaurant Nizuni, followed by Nizuni Go. Due to the high growing demand for Korean cuisine in London, Linda launched On the Bab, which now has four branches.
Located on Archer Street, Soho, alongside Jacob Kennedy’s Bocca di Lupo, Mee Market is split across two levels and will offer Korean and Asian-inspired hot and cold foods for both takeaway and dine-in, as well as a retail space on the lower ground floor. With Mee Market, Linda hopes to bring what she refers to as the ‘table & market’ concept, commonplace in her home city of Seoul in South Korea, to London.
The food offering at Mee Market will include a Korean poke rice and salad bar, a hot counter for hearty Asian-stews, hot pots and side dishes, and Korean and Asian-inspired dry foods including a customised white and brown rice dispenser. Asian fresh vegetables will also be available, and a frozen Asian food section will allow customers to pick up meals for home. For lovers of Koba and On the Bab, Mee Market will serve some signature dishes from each restaurant. Korean burdock root and green teas will also be available, as well as recipe cards that will provide inspiration for customers who can purchase all of the ingredients on site at Mee Market. Linda will also honour the time-held Korean tradition of hot soup noodles for anybody celebrating a birthday, engagement, or special day. Downstairs, Vitsoe shelving will display Mee Market branded homeware, accessories and stationery including wallets, crockery and aprons, as well as 18-covers for people to dine in.
