Sarang

They insisted on cooking, they didn’t wait for grill to be hot first, so the meat lay on the grill without sizzle, they turned off the grill when middle of the chicken was still pink. We had to insist 3 times to keep cooking it. The meat was old. Service was flustered even though there were only 4 tables of customers. They opened the door letting cold air in. All that would have been fine if it was cheap, but it was very pricy. Go to EatTokyo down the street for much better value.

When I think of Korean food I have 3 main favourite restaurants. This falls on that top 3. Reason being is that the owner is a very kind genuine lady wanting the customers to enjoy the food being served. The BBQ sets are very well portioned and includes the sides along with it too. The food was very delicious, they would help you not BURN the bbq.
They also have spicy broth from seafood to meat! you need to try that «kimchi chigae» ahhhh~! Just amazing.
The only downside to this restaurant is that it follows that 12 til 3 and 6 til 11 pm opening times. I like to think it would be nicer it opens all throughout the day so you can pop in anytime you wish to have some spicy soup and some korean snacks!

Popped by for lunch today. While it’s not the cheapest place, the service was friendly, efficient and food came out very quickly. The jap chae was delicious and the BBQ meats were cooked well by the servers.
I wish they served kim chee with their set menus though.

A friend on a big Korean kick brought me here. And I was excited as he just went veggie so that must mean there’s lots of us to eat, right?
Well, sort of.
There are lots of veggie side dishes. Most importantly, the kimchi is vegetarian. There is usually fish paste/​sauce in it. And it was quite delicious too! Huge chunks of cabbage came out, slathered in red. They came out with «kimchi» scissors to cut it up for us it was so big! We also ordered a summer roll, which was pretty tasty as well. There were different kimchis and pickles and small dishes to choose from.
The (kind of) down side is the only vegetarian main is bibimbap. It’s a BBQ restaurant and everything for the BBQ (that is substantial) is meat. Grilled spring onions isn’t going to cut it, sorry.
However, I love bibimbap. And this bibimbap is fab. A mountain of toppings and namul and grilled tofu served with chilli sauce. Yes please! I’m very happy that when I am craving bibimbap, I can just hop on a bus to Golders Green rather than make the trek into Central for a serving half this size. Everyone had the bibimbap, not just the vegetarians (there is meat ones too).
Bibimbap is not what Sarang is all about, but wow you should try it out next time you are around!

I wanted to like Sarang but I really couldn’t. The food was very average and not very tasty at all. We ordered the bibimbap which was burnt at the bottom, and the bulgogi which was flavourless. We had a few other things, none of which were good, and to top it off the menu was pricy. I don’t think I will be back.

I enjoyed Sarang. I really did… but there were a few dings during our dining that made this feast fall short of a more favorable four star send off. Alliterate much?
Upon reading other reviews, I set out to specifically to eat some Korean BBQ; it has been a while. and Sarang aimed to end my quest.
At first glance, 19.50 for the BBQ set menu looked enough for two people, and I was quite prepared to order some kimchi on the side. This would have been a reasonable price for dinner, and my expectations would have met the price range. Unfortunately, ordering the set menu doesn’t really «set» anything; we spent another 6 pounds on kimchi, 2.50 or so on rice, and I even think we had to buy the lettuce wraps separately alongside some spring onions. This wasn’t much of a set menu all considering… and after ordering two waters, our bill came out to a hefty 44 pounds. Not the end of the world, but a bit misleading.
I can handle that, but the quality was, to me, more than average but less then stellar. Having been to a BBQ in Seoul (expectations…) I think this place was enjoyable but not worth the extra hassle. Meat quality was nice but not mouth watering.
Probably a much better deal for lunch.
(I almost typed Korean BBQ as Korean BBW. which would have been funny)

KimChee is no longer called KimChee, it’s new name is Sarang and it is apprantly under new management. After coming to London for a little shopping trip, my friends and I headed to Golder’s Green, not wanting to drive for ages to get to our usual haunt of New Malden, which has wonderful Korean places to eat but is a nightmare to get to.
So after looking for somewhere outside of London to eat we settled on this place hoping it would do BBQ. We weren’t let down.
The place is small and on the main road. When we stepped inside we were greeted warmly with big smiles and after saying we had booked, were shown to a reserved table. The décor is very clean and pretty with little touches of fake wooden windows that are lit up on the wall. The tables are large and drift wood style with little glass panels showing rope beneath, all in all I was impressed. Each table has a BBQ in the centre.
The menu is a selection of purely Korean food, I didn’t see any Japanese, Chinese etc just KOrean which is great for me.
After looking at the large choice on the menu, we all decided on the beef bulgogi BBQ with extras of kimchi jun and meat mandoo dumplings. The food came quickly and was very fresh and yummy. Jun was crisp and moreish, mandoo crunchy and tasty. Once again I have to say I am annoyed I had to pay extra for the things that are usually served with BBQ (lettuce, bean paste and rice) as normally thsi comes as part of the meal, but in England that never seems to be the case, however I cannot stay mad because the lady owner did give us all free banchan (very normal in some places but NOT London) of kimchi’s and namul, so I was happy overall.
The meat was very good, no fat, nicely seasoned. Very happy with the meal overall. I really enjoyed it and there was nothing left by the end of the meal, not even a scrap of rice. I feel I cannot award the full five stars simply because their drinks menu was rather lacking. I feel some Korean soft drinks would be a nice addition as choosing from the normal coke, fanta etc was a let down, even a bit of fresh mango would be nice, also had to wait a good while after finishing our meal to pay the bill and were hoping to perhaps get drinks and see if they had a dessert menu but got fed up of waiting, it was a little busy by this point but still.
Would come back to this place, really enjoyed the food and the friendly staff.

BBQ squid and pork fresh and cooked at the table. The banchan was sorely lacking. You shouldn’t have to order Kim Chee as a side dish to Korean food. It should come standard. I just rolled into London from L.A. so the flavors were a bit different from what I’m used to. The red pepper paste was very different in fact and I usually buy the imported stuff from Korea. Good, but just different from what I’m used to in California. I will be going back here to try the spicy cold noodles.

My first Korean barbeque experience! And it did not disappoint.
I’ve had bi bim bap and kimchee and other various dishes at other places before but never had the pit of awesome tastiness opened to me directly on the table. It was glorious.
We ordered the Kimchee Set Menu. 16 pounds worth of delicious korean food courses. There was so much! Kimchee, korean noodles, seaweed soup, seafood egg pancake thing, bi bim bap and the bbq. We got the thin marinated beef as our bbq meat.
It was so fun watching it cook and I started moving it around myself I got so excited. But they came back over and finished up the cooking for us so it was nice to have a professional know if its done or not.
It was nice to order the set menu for the first time because I got a taste of things I wouldn’t have tried before. But next time I go I know for sure what to order and what to forego. Despite that, there was so much food but we left feeling only just full. perfect.
The service was friendly.
ON A BUSY NIGHT CALL AHEAD and reserve a table. We were there at like 4:30 on a friday randomly and there were only two or three tables left without a placard on them.
PS: I LOVE KOREAN TEA… now. It was nutty and unobtrusive. it was part of the meal deal. Ordering it every time now. yum.

i had spicy seafood soup (jjamppong) for lunch, and i was so happy that it was proper korean food! i did not receive ‘service’ plates of complimentary nibbles like i am used to in southern california, but maybe that is not the standard in england. anyway it was a good meal with polite koreans serving.

Kim Chee deserves a solid four stars: nice atmosphere, very efficient & friendly service and absolutely tasty food!
These are the things that I definitely can recommend: marinated BBQ beef (prepared on the grill right in front of you), kim-​chee squid (spicy & not too chewy), as well seafood pancake (crispy and dipped into the special sauce it tastes even better).
In terms of service, they have now introduced a bell on each table that you can ring if you are in need of immediate service — maybe that was a reaction to one of the previous reviews, where the writer complained about the slow service?
The only drawback is that the whole array of (free) appetizers that usually accompany Korean BBQ, are only complimentary on weekdays and not on weekends… that’s really a shame and kind of stingy!

3.5 stars.
I had pretty low expectations for Korean food in London. Kim Chee was a pleasant surprise. Decent lunch special — bbq beef with side items for around 7 sterling. The clientel was mixed but the staff was all Korean and the food was authentic. More side dishes would have been nice.
Nonetheless, nice to have a default Korean spot in Golders Green.

Kim Chee is a decent Korean restaurant, and I’m pleased it’s located at Golders Green, just a stone’s throw away from me by bus.
The prices are reasonable (much like in the city, so not really cheap. but not too expensive, either), although during my last visit, I was a little disappointed to be confronted by a bill that cost £56. No doubt, I ordered quite a bit of food. but even though I usually order a lot of food at Ran, my bill has never come to more than £47, so I was a little stunned.
That said, they do a very decent seafood pancake, so make sure you order that for starters, if you’ve never tried it.
Korean BBQ is decent, but I really prefer the ones at Ran. Portions are more or less the same. although I find Ran’s tastier.
If you have time to pop by for lunch, they do a good set menu for under £10, which includes rice, Korean BBQ and some side dishes. All very good value, if you consider that these courses shoot up in price in the evening.

I have been to a few Korean Restaurants in London and the service is always second to none, and Kimchee was no different. It is a small restaurant in a traditional setting, with around 10 or 12 tables.
It was reassuring on my first visit to mainly see Koreans dining in there when I walked in. It is by no means the greatest Korean but at the same time definitely not the worst. It is reasonably priced in comparison to other Korean restaurants in Soho, I went in a party of four and spent just over £20, and we had dishes spread all over the table, and that also included about 5 bottles of Korean Beer.
I would recommend the Sirloin Bulgogi, which will be cooked in front of you.

The food was great and very reasonably priced. The starters were almost as big as the main courses and we did well to share two starters between the three of us and struggled to finish the whole meal (very satisfying feeling!).We had two barbecue mains which were quite fun, watching it cooking in front of you. The side dishes are well worth a try, the Kim Chee and the cucumber in chilli sauce were particularly tasty and although they are brought out with the starters, they leave them throughout the whole meal as an accompaniments.
The atmosphere is laid back, the lighting low, the general feeling very intimate and cosy.
Visited with a couple of friends for a relatively busy Friday night dinner and was please to receive very friendly, helpful and efficient service, couldn’t fault the staff at all.
The only reservation I have is the choice of wines, two whites and two reds were all that were available from the small chpoice on offer, but the food more than makes up for it!