Ceena

So when working in the city I’m always a little lost as to what to have for lunch. When on the wharf it’s so easy, go to canteen and decide from 12 options what I feel like that given day. Pod has been my go to in the city but this little beaut has provided an alternative.
Ceena is at its heart a Korean bbq joint, it’s a restaurant and that’s what they want to me known as. However come lunch time they are also now known for their Korean style lunch boxes, think bento, it’s effectively the same idea.
So last week I popped in for their beef option. Served with a small noodle salad, lots of rice, kimchi, tempura prawns and a sort of omelette this made for a handsome lunch. The beef was the star, tender and smokey it carried a lot of flavour. We’ll worth a visit if you work in the area.

Best restaurant I have ever been in London and it’s also excellent value for the money. It has various options of Korean food, and many items I have not tried before. It is small but cozy and nice. The food is excellent. In evening time, it’s pretty quite so I think it would be a good place to go with friends for some great food.

Food is ok, but worst customer service EVER. Forget food when you order online all the time and when you call they are like whatever. Ergh not ideal!

Ceena is squeezed into a corner building down a road a bit off the beaten track — at least at night, the area is probably buzzing during the day. Seating is limited to about 10 chairs arranged around the bar in the centre of the room.
We discovered the place on a quiet Monday night and learned a lot about Korean food. It was lovely to find Ceena to be a true family business with the owner heading the kitchen downstairs while the son runs the restaurant upstairs.
While I can imagine Ceena to be super busy during lunch hours, the evening is dominated by takeaway orders — which unfortunately resulted in quite a delay for our food order to arrive. But the meal was worth the wait. My friend had ordered one of the traditional bibimbap dishes which come beautifully presented before you mix them all up into an undiscernable mix of rice, vegetables, egg and hot chilli sauce. I followed the recommendation and tried a sizzling beef bulgogi. The marinated meat was tender and delicious. As we both opted for set menus both dishes were served with home-​made kimchi. I have had a few tasters of this Asian sauerkraut before, and this was by far the best I’ve ever tasted with just the right balance of hot and sour and the cabbage tender and crunchy at the same time — just delicious.
I don’t come to this part of town too often but will make sure to return to Ceena should I find myself in this neck of the woods again.

It’s good for a quick lunch. My usual dish is the barbecue pork with red pepper sauce. The food tastes great for the first few times, but there aren’t many variety. Get bored after a few times

This is the only Korean place near blackfiars, so great To have it for lunch.
The beef dishes are surely over priced with nearly £10 and I expect the meat quality should be better for this price .
But the chicken one is very reasonable priced compared other lunch in the City. The red pepper paste chicken with rice is recommended for only £5.5!

This place is quite pricey as far as takeout lunches go (a lot of dishes are around 10 pounds), but the dosirak is quite good value for a taste of everything. I wish they served the meat on top of the rice, but they are in separate compartments of what is essentially a bento box. I come here mainly for the pork belly sizzled noodles, which are the only decent stir fried udon noodles I’ve found in London. Service is quite fast and there is never much of a queue.

food is ok but maybe a little over-​priced. this would not be a problem if not for the slightly shambolic servicepolite, attentive but in total disarray, with various dishes arriving whenever and one or two not arriving at all. also this may be very pedantic but stainless steel chopsticks are a total nightmare! would probably be better as a (slightly cheaper) lunchtime quick & easy takeaway.

I’m a huge fan of Korean food, and Ceena is within five minutes of my office, so when it popped up a year or so ago I was straight in to try it. I’ve not eaten in, so below relates to their lunchtime takeaway. First impressions were good. The Dosirak boxes contained an interesting selection, and were very tasty. Return custom was guaranteed. Second time not so great. I decided to go for a Chicken Bibimbap, with some Battered Calamari on the side. The Calamari were, to be honest, terrible. It tasted like they’d been cooked the night before, left on the side overnight, microwaved, and then left to go cold again. Cold, rubbery, and with a batter like soggy cardboard. It was disappointing. The Bibimbap however was pretty good, the selection inside the box was all tasty and well cooked, the fried egg was spot on. Third time lucky? Alas no. This time I got chicken balls to start, again completely cold and I started eating them on my way back, and this time the Beef Bibimbap too was pretty rubbish. Overcooked, poor quality meat. The egg was more like something you’d get from the Early Learning Centre. I’d pretty much written Ceena off after the third time, but a colleague wanted to try it despite my warnings. I relented and figured I’d give it a final chance to redeem itself. Ordered Red Pepper Chicken Bibimbap. Got back to the office and opened the lid to find that, underneath a very small and again overcooked fried egg, the chicken in my Bibimbap looked like, tasted like, and very much was, Beef. Sorry Ceena, I won’t be back.

Lunch Korean Style.
I’m not a big fan of Asian food but I do like to try new and exciting things and so we decided lunch at Ceena.
It is a small (very small) restaurant that looks impressive, though there is not much room for people to get by your stool, so I found myself having to move about to let people past. You are served at a ‘bar’ where you can see your food being prepared (or at least some of your food) as you perch upon a bar stool; which I must say is not comfortable, so much so I discarded mine and decided to stand.
I ordered a hot spicy soup which was very tasty but not very spicy and barbecued chicken which to be honest was filling but on the taste front was ‘just OK!’. As I said I’m not a massive Asian cuisine fan so it might be spectacular to other people but to me it was below par. The chicken and rice dish was served with a fried egg on top, which I’m sure was a joke because have you ever tried to eat a fried egg with stainless steel chopsticks? There is another niggle of mine. I found the chopstick heavy in the hand and much prefer lighter bamboo chopsticks.
The service was good though I found the manager to be a little overbearing, I know he is trying to build a business but I want to be left alone when eating. Overall the place looks impressive; but uncomfortable, service is too intrusive, I was expecting a little ‘theatre’ with the barbecue in sight of the diners but alas was let down and I found the price to be a little on the high side for what is very simple, slightly bland food.
I think this would be Ok! for a takeaway lunch but as a restaurant it does not work for me.

Ceena is a new ‘Korean Sizzling Barbecue’ restaurant which has recently opened up very near us and a group from our Block tried it out last night.
We like, we likey a lot.
Ceena offers both a dine in experience as well as take away options. Food is very fresh, healthy, tasty and has a bit of a spicy-​bite but not too much for one of our group.
The Bibimbap (Rice, vegetables and meat with separate sauce) went down very well, the Korean Pancakes — JEON — proved addictive.
Service was extremely friendly and pleasant too.
Opposite us on the raised communal bar/​counter were 2 Korean gents trying the Sizzling barbecue and the Guk (soup), all washed down with red wine. Always a good sign when those who have obviously tasted proper Korean food come in.
Downstairs is a very cosy and private dining area.
We also liked the beautiful stainless steel chopsticks, the beautiful bowls and plates and the smoked glass doors and windows.
In summer there will be some outdoor seating added on the St Bride Piazza with the sliding doors rolled back to join the two eating areas.
Does a great little lunch time take out trade too — and I can see why as I brought a Bada Salad home with me and for £2.40 had squid, prawns, seaweed, freshest lettuce leaves (various), yummiest hot red pepper sauce, broccoli (beautifully fresh and lightly steamed).
After all the wine we’d shared I finished off with a ginseng tea which had three charming little pine nuts in the cup. They floated about and added a quaint and unique touch. Ask to see the handtowels that grow too.
I’ll be back to try some of the other sections on the menu.