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A big fail. Sort of.

So, one week from leaving the UK to move to Australia, I have to finally admit that I wasn't able to eat in every Zone 1 Korean restaurant in a year. Of course, when I started, I didn't know that I would be spending a month in Singapore and Malaysia, selling my house and planning an inter-continental move. I also didn't know that a dozen new places would open up while I was doing it! So if I've failed in my quest, it's partly because Korean food has become so popular, and I think I will chalk that up as a win! I have met some lovely people, eaten some great food, and raised lots of money for a good cause, so it all feels like it was a really fun experiment. There are 53 Korean restaurants in Melbourne. I'll let you know how they compare!!

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The Kimchi Project turned 1 today!

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What were the best - and the worst......

Elle identifies 'nouveau Korean' as one of the food trends of 2013. Which is great, apart from the fact that the article identifies a new restaurant for the project...! It's like painting the Forth bridge.

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The latest donations to the Kimchi Project have brought it over the target of £600! There's still time for you to sign up for one.

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The kimchi at Asadal

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The remains of the feast at Asadal

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Asadal, 19 December

The final Kimchi Project of the year was one of the best, no doubt about that, both from the point of view of the food and the company.

Philip of London Korean Links, who had been present at the first Kimchi Project, wanted to do another one, and as his favourite Korean restaurant is Asadal, just under Holborn tube station, that seemed the best place to go. My parents (the source of all this Korean-ness, as it was my father's job that took us there in the first place) were in town, as was my brother. And we also asked Han Eui-Jong along, who had worked for my father in the British Embassy all those years ago. Philip's wife Louise also came. So we were a very jolly bunch.

I've been eating a lot of Korean food on my own, and it has usually been great. But it is a cuisine best enjoyed in a big group. At Asadal we ordered one of their barbecue menus. It started with a spicy kimchi soup, then a delicious squid dish, and tangy chicken wings, which were the nearest thing I have had to the chicken that my father's colleagues' wife used to do (and that was the best chicken ever).

We then had pork and beef bulgogi, all accompanied by kimchi, various vegetable dishes, seaweed and rice. Philip and I attacked the cucumber-marinated soju, while everyone else had Korean beers and/or water. (I thought I was going to feel it the next day, but either I dodged the bullet that night, or soju doesn't have the same hangover effects of other things I drink).

I was moved to comment that Korean food isn't for those that love desserts, as we got served another dish of fresh fruit. It totally works for me, though, especially when washed down by a lovely cold, sweet cinnamon tea that I had never had before.

The kimchi was pretty good, very tangy, well-balanced and just the right amount of crunch. It gets 4 out of 5. The meal came to £57 a head for those of us that were drinking.

The whole evening with utterly pleasant, from the fun of being in a private room, to the joy of meeting old friends and making new ones. A fitting end to the Kimchi Project for 2013 .

As there were various events in 2013 that were unforeseen when I started the project, and have held back its progress (a month in Malaysia, selling my house and other things), and as I will be leaving London in February anyway, I've decided to give myself till 17 February (the day I elave for Australia) to complete the project. So that's 8 more to do, which is still going to be quite a tough call!

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Gaon, 20 November

As the end of the year approaches, and a new life on the other side of the world beckons, I really need to get on and finish my project. Tonight I did one that has almost got done a few times before, but as it was on my way home, I finally did it.

Gaon is a funny one. It's near Gloucester Road, so in a very chic part of town and the decor is very unlike any other place visited so far. The menu talked about "Tapas and Grill" but when you look closely, there are a lot of old favourites on the menu. I wanted to go a little off-piste (spicy octopus and noodles almost had me), but in the end (perhaps for the sake of comparison) I went for kimchi fried rice, plus kimchi and sigumchi (spinach) namul. No boricha so I had a Hite beer instead.

This was also one of the most expensive places - kimchi at £3 and the total came to £25.80. The kimchi was fine, very much chili based, but far from the best. A 3.5 out of 5, I think.

If this were my first experience of Korean food, I think I'd probably be quite happy. But for me it just isn't worth the premium prices compared to some of the other places I have been on the kimchi project. The staff were lovely though (and complimented me on my Korean pronunciation, which was nice!)

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View maps and find local businesses on the web.

So here are (almost) all your central London Korean restaurants reviewed in one place. There are 10 left to do. Will I complete the quest?

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Seoul Bakery

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Seoul Bakery, 23 October

The last few months have been, erm, tumultuous in my life and so eating kimchi has taken a bit of a back seat. I did go to one in Finsbury Park (Zone 2!) for a friend’s birthday and it felt like cheating on someone, though Dotori was good and definitely worth a visit if you’re up that way.

But I was in town tonight for a night of stand-up in French, so it seemed like a good opportunity to get back on track. In a way I got three done tonight, because I found two that were on my list that appear no longer to be there. I tried to go to Bibimgo, but there was no room, but I can’t say I was that bothered, and I headed to St Giles High Street with a spring in my step.

I had two there on the list, and I got a seat in the first I tried, Seoul Bakery. I had had a big, late lunch, so went for a light dinner - kimchi kimbap (Korean sushi-style roll), kimchi and modum namul, all washed down with some of the nicest barley tea I’ve had yet. The kimchi was really good, and at £1.00 the cheapest yet. The kimbaps reminded me why I prefer them to sushi. If I could draw a European comparison, sushi is like delicate puff pastry canapés from a chic Paris bakery and kimbaps are Cornish pasties, packed full of punchy flavour. The modum namul was also excellent, perfectly seasoned with sesame oil so it was so much more than vegetables, but not too full-on. One of the dishes was carrot, which is quite unusual. Nice touch.

All of this deliciousness came in at under £10. They do kimchijeon and bibimbaps for under £5, and if you work in that area, I can only suggest you give it a go. It’s pretty tiny though, so you might have to try several times before you have any luck.

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Arang, 25 September

In amongst all the packing, I have lots of other chores to carry out at the moment, mainly related to friends' weddings. As I was in town picking something up this evening, it seemed a good opportunity to get another Kimchi Project in. The nearest one was Arang in Golden Square, so that is where I went.

I had dolsot bibimbap (rice, vegetable and beef in a hot stone bowl), kimchi, kim (seaweed), and spinach namul, washed down with boricha (barley tea), which was not on the menu but available nonetheless, a huge tick for them.

Another huge tick was that they brought potato salad and bean sprouts namul, plus miso soup, all on the house.

The kimchi was interesting, it seemed a little bland at first, but had a definite tang. It tasted much more fermented than some I have had. The spinach namul was absolutely excellent.

This was also very reasonable, especially for its location - it came to £18 including service, which, taking into account all the extras, including the boricha, was good value. Kimchi was £2 and I give it 3 out of 5.

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Arirang, 12 September

After a bit of a walk round Soho trying to find Red Devil (does anyone know if it is still open? I have had trouble finding Gama too), my cat-sitter and I decided to try Arirang. She came to Koba with me, her first Korean meal, and seems to have a taste for it as has been to several others since!

Arirang was the first Korean restaurant that I remember going to in London. I remember they identified our table by writing something slightly unflattering at the top of the order and my father then utterly discombobulated them by reading and understanding it! Thigns have moved on since then and though there were a lot of Koreans, the clientele was very mixed.

We had modum namul, modum kimchi, chap chae and haemul paejon, and everything was very tasty. The chapchae was particularly good. It was a while ago now, but I remember the kimchi being decent, but not one of the stand-out ones.

Arirang is definitely a steady choice and gets brownie points for making Korean food available to us before anyone else was doing so!

The whole meal (including a couple of Hite for me) was £24 each and the kimchi was £3. It gets 3 out of 5.

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Remember me?

I bet you thought I'd forgotten all about the Kimchi project, but in fact I was away in Malaysia and Singapore for a month (lucky me) and have been very taken up with moving house and other things since I got back. But I have been eating kimchi, if not quite with my usual regularity and so two posts will be coming up for the latest stops on the tour.

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The modum kimchi (foreground) and modum namul at Koba.

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Koba, 12 July

I headed to Koba on my last kimchi outing, taking the woman who will be cat-sitting for me when I leave on holiday. It was her first experience of Korean food, and so I thought best to make it a good one - I've been to Koba before and thought it would be a better introduction than the cafes on St Giles High Street - they're more for the real connoisseur!

We started with delicious pancakes wrapped around vegetables. They had a real tang, miso or plum, couldn't tell which and were absolutely delicious. I can't remember the Korean name, unfortunately.

Then it was time for the full-on barbecue experience, with kalbi and bulgogi. We also had a mixed vegetable and mixed kimchi dish, and lettuce leaves, miso paste and spring onions for eating the meat. It was washed down with green tea - hot in my case, cold in Maria's.

The quality is top-notch at Koba: the meat was perfectly done, the kimchis were well-flavoured using an interesting variety of vegetables (turnip and cucumber as well as the usual cabbage) and the service was very good. We didn't have a reservation and so snuck in before another group arrived, but we never felt rushed - in fact  they kept apologising for making us leave!

The kimchi was good, a 3.5. As we had it in a mixed dish, I don't have a price for it on its own, but as the total came to £30.30 each, I think we can safely assume it is at the top end...

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New dates

My short talk about the project at The Greenwich Series has encouraged me to post some new dates for any aspiring kimchi eater. So here they are:

4 July, tonight, will be a Covent Garden/Chinatown one

12 July, venue tbc

24 July, venue tbc

I'll then be off in South-East Asia for a while eating another type of spicy food, so there will be a break. That means these dates are your only chance before September!