Tohbang

Excellent service
Food is so delicious
This is one of the best Korea restaurant in London
MUST TRY

When I lived here in 2009, I discovered Tohbang and made it a regular lunch staple. The kimchi is as good as any home made I have ever tasted.
I’ve recently returned to London for business and am very pleased to report that the quality of Tohbang’s dishes has not diminished in the least. I ordered a simple pork dumpling soup, radish kimchi and bulgoki, all of which were delicious.
The service was also as good as I remember it, prompt and attentive. I would recommend this place to anyone looking for authentic Korean food.

I can’t say that there are a lot of Korean restaurants in London — Tohbang came highly reviewed on Unilocal,so when my friend and I had a craving for some good bulgogi we swung by as it was close to our flat.
On busy Clerkenwell Road, you’ll find a surprisingly quiet dining room with attentive service. The meat is very fresh and prepared well by the chefs — and copious amounts of banchan to come around! The kimchi chigae also got me sweating a little bit which is always a good sign. While the flavour is not as authentic as I’m used to in places with a larger Korean immigrant population, I’m appreciative of the fact that London is more constrained in that capacity. The cheap Hite certainly helped too.
London might not be my preferred destination for Korean food, but next time I’m in the city and have a fixing for some bulgogi I’ll be sure to stop by.

Be sure to book a reservation. The restaurant was only about 60% filled yet we were told we can sit at the bar along with two other couples since we didn’t have a reservation.
Their food was just ok for me. I suspect the spicy flavors, which Korean food is famous for are played down and made much milder to appease those who aren’t used to such strong flavors. I found myself reaching for the red chilli paste several times for my supposed spicy dish.
Prices were a lot lower than expected for a ££££ city like London. Even if we factor in the much weaker US Dollar situation.

My first Korean restaurant in London and I was most satisfied with the service and food. Located near Farringdon station, it mainly serves lunch to the offices nearby and many people forget that they great dinners as well.
My friend and I walked in one evening for a quick dinner before she had to catch a train. The restaurant wasn’t that busy when we walked in and their service was fast and friendly — always coming around to fill up our tea. The restaurant was nicely decorated as well.
I highly recommend Kimchi Pancake, Bulgugi and a bean-​sprout side dish to share between two people.

Korean?:
Landed here as a «well I wonder what’s around here» when the primary Unilocaled destination turned up closed for renovations, (yes, yes, always call ahead, thank you).
Got the «do you have a reservation» question from one server. No? You may sit at the bar if you’d like. Well, okay. Curious enough at that point and far enough from beaten paths that starting over on a new hunt may have ended at Pret, I tucked myself in at the end of the bar.
This was my first try at Korean that I recall so I had questions for the waiter to resolve my several food allergy issues. Communications were adequate despite the language issues and no missteps occurred.
Food:
Forgive the lack of menu names
The cucumber and onion in spicy sauce little starter was surprisingly good.
Bul Dok? (chili chicken) — excellent texture, very savory, nice touch of heat. Well on its way to a favorite.
Steamed rice — very good, moist and sticky, good texture and flavor (I rate it because I’ve had poorly done rice)
Some kind of rice cake dish (without the shellfish). The rice cakes turned out to be like rice mini-​sausages. Really good. Had to stop to make sure I left room for the chicken.
All in all, good food, good service.
Good enough that another venture that way is in order.

Great service and authentic korean food. They have a tonne of vegetarian options, more than any other korean restaurant I’ve been to in London.
The Kimchi Jeon was average however the Tofu Gangjung was exceptional, nothing like the sponge-​like tofu you normally get in restaurants.

The dishes were small and pricey. Not sure what the fuss is about but I’m still struggling to find a decent Korean restaurant in London. Average at best.

My home town in America has an exceptional number of great Korean places, so I was curious to see how London’s Korean compared. The answer is: very well! Enjoyed a lovely, flavorful Dolsot BiBimBap with nice crunchy rice and great veggies. Very small compared to American Korean places though, about half the size. Or maybe their lunch size is small?
Service was fine, though the server spoke so little English we could not communicate that we wanted a raw instead of a fried egg on our BiBimBap, and it took us a long time to communicate that our friend could not eat rice (for medical reasons), for which they refused to substitute. So service and size are definitely where this place loses one to two stars.
The side dishes were great though, I really enjoyed them. More savory than in America where they are much more sour. The potato was lovely. I’ll definitely be back soon.

YES. After the shit experience at Asadal, I’m glad I was able to find a different Korean restaurant with excellent service and satisfying food.
After going for lunch once, I booked a table for nine on a Saturday night and there was excellent service though I could tell we were overwhelming them a bit. Might have to do with the fact that I speak Korean but who knows. Really hard working staff (UNLIKE ASADAL).
Yukgaejang and kimchi jigae both filling and balanced. A friend of mine had the bibimbap and it looked/​smelled delicious. Another friend had the kanpoongi and they said it was also tasty. I had a bite, it was sweet as you’d want it but all in all, just remember that you’re paying London prices (not ridiculous but still) for average homemade Korean food. Luckily average Korean food is still, in my book, the superior cuisine.
Will definitely be back. Regularly.

After having moved into the area, i was looking for a go to Korean place and sadly this one disappoints. Whilst the food was good and atmosphere cozy, the service was completely lacking! After taking your order, it appears they continue to ignore you even while you desperately try and make eye contact.
We have been to this place twice now to give them the benefit of the doubt, however, both times I had to leave my table to ask for an additional beer, ask for the cheque and then to pay for the cheque. (NOTE: the bill includes an unwarranted 12.5% service charge?)

Living on the west coast for the past 3 years its pretty hard to measure up the standards of Korean food in London. I was recommended to this place by a friend and while the food was nice, portions were on the small side and not quite as tasty.
One thing I never understood was why the hell do I have to pay for kim chi in London at Korean restaurants, back in the US they gave 5 appetizer dishes out for free!
Toh bang was a little further away and wasnt exactly where I expected to find a korean restaurant. Despite this, it did satisfy my cravings for spicy tofu soup but didn’t warrant a second visit

The service here sucked. Had to remind them to bring my drink 10 mins into my meal. The food made up for it as it was excellent and tasted well. The sides were a joke. Quite small portions. I would definitely recommend the dak bulgogi and galbi. The atmosphere was warm. I sat next to the window and the views were great.

Korean is one of my favorite cuisines right next to Thai so I feel as if I’m allowed to be a little critical since I’ve eaten at several dozen Korean restaurants. Tohbang is a nice little restaurant a few blocks away from my school and I thought I’d pop in for some lunch one afternoon. They have some great lunch specials for under £7 which I guess is reasonable for a sit down meal in London. I keep telling myself to pretend the «£» sign means «$» so I don’t feel as horrible about spending so much money…
I was in between getting the bulgogi or the bibimbap, but when it came down to ordering I made the game decision for bulgogi. The texture of the meat was great, but the flavor was a bit too sweet for me. As for the side dishes, we got two different kinds of radishes. Maybe I’m expecting too much since I’m from California and when I go to a Korean restaurant, they give you anywhere from 5−10+ side dishes.
When it comes down to it, Tohbang’s food is okay, which isn’t a bad thing at all. It’s a good lunch option since they do have a variety of things on special. Service in London is so weird… I have yet to go to restaurant where I didn’t have to ASK for a refill of water. Man… us Americans are on top of our sh*t (service wise).

I used to live in Asia and I was often tempted to try Korean food. Whenever I did I found it a bit bland so moved this cuisine to the back of the list.
Last week I was feeling a little blocked in the nose so thought that I needed something fragrant and spicy to clear it. As I walk past Tohbang every day I thought i’d pop in a see what they serve — I was looking for some boiled water and chili (not quite) and something that would also fill me up.
As I was on my own I sat by the bar and started staring blankly at the menu. The girl behind the counter offered some excellent advice and chose a seafood noodle soup thing. It was absolutely amazing. It had all elements I was hoping to find in this soup. In fact it was so good i went back the next day with a colleague from work and had it again.
(we had the pork dumplings in addition this time, following a previous review, they were superb.)

Yum! Always glad to get my korean food fix outside of New Malden. I ordered the dumpling soup to start — and it def reminded me of home cookin’. I tried to keep myself from moaning ‘cuz of course that would be weird. The spicy pork was good but I think I’d try something else next time.
I did appreciate the 2 banchan at the beginning!

I think I might’ve officially earned ‘regular’ status at Tohbang, as more often than not, I get the familiar recognition from the lovely manager and her staff whenever I walk in. Conversely, it seems that Tohbang’s popularity has also skyrocketed in the past few months to the point where one of the first questions asked upon arrival has recently become, ‘Oh, did you make a booking?’ Seems like business is booming!
Regardless, the grub is unerringly delicious, the food comes on fast and furious, the beer is frosty, and the cucumber soju is dangerously smooth. For best results, bring an army of slaveringly hungry omnivores with you, because there’s nothing like having a Korean feast of a dozen different dishes.
Popular menu items for me include their pajun, dolsot bibimbap, kalbi and bulgogi, jap chae, and any of the fried dumplings (though the pork ones win extra points for deliciousness). It’s worth noting that unlike many Korean restaurants, ban chan don’t come gratis, so order an extra dish or two of kimchi along with a lettuce and spring onions if you plan to use them as wraps for your meat.
Between the friendly folks, the reliable service, and the consistently delightful and satisfying K-​cuisine, I’ve come to truly depend on Tohbang as a local staple in my neighbourhood oriental restaurant rotation.

Ooooh, how much did I love this place! Starting with the end: Tohbang, you sure deserve your 5 stars!
I went to Tohbang with a huge group of people and we ordered many dishes to share between all of us. I can’t even say how many different dishes I had, food just kept arriving on our tables and everything was so good I just didn’t seem to get full. So I ate, ate, ate, tried so many different things, ate as much spice one can humanly eat and loved every bit of it.
I feel really bad about not being able to name any of these dishes, but I can assure you that from salad to meat and meat to salad, I loved the taste of everything. And I can only agree to Svenja G’s warning: «When it says „spicy dish“, be warned, it is spicy!» I had to eat a lot of rice to save myself from the spices at some points, but all in all didn’t mind at all! I don’t eat much meat and I was happy to discover that meat Tohbang style is just the way I like it!
If you are into very strange tasting alcohols, you should try the fresh cucumber water (oh wait… no, it’s schnaps !) Some of my friends loved it a loooot, but for my part I found it a bit confusing, so much I was sure it would be water!
The waitress was also very nice, the interior very cosy and everything was made so that our groupe would have a great time. I want to go back!!!

My fellow Unilocaler, A Liu wanted to go here, so who am i to say no? :)
Décor: Dark and dim. I can see what it was trying to achieve (a sort of classy yet comfortable atmosphere), but I wasn’t particularly a fan. I like the rustic Korean look with brighter lights better, but eh, personal preference. It is a small place though, so if you can do reservations beforehand, do!
Service: It was fine, nothing to complain too much about. There was a large group when we went so service was a little slow, but it was fine. Oh and I love how we were greeted at the door with a big smile by the lady– big rosy smile put a smile on our faces!
Food: I got a Tofu Soup dish (The ones that come in a hot stone bowl and rice on the side). Mine was quite delicious, spot-​on!
— My friends got a Bibimbap, which she found quite good and another friend got a (forgot the name) Korean fried rice combo in a hot stone bowl which smelled veryveryvery good (we stole a couple of bites since he said he was ‘full’. Hehe)
— Oh and they do give you those little Korean appetizers beforehand. Though their 3 dishes doesn’t compare to the usual (At least) 5 – 6 dishes I get back home.
Bottom Line: It’s good food and for a ‘classier’ environment to eat Korean food, it’s good. But IMHO, I thought it was a bit expensive for what I got. Call me a cheap-​o, but hey, I am still a college student!

«1 Soondubu Jjigae and 1 Kimchi Jjigae, please. Yes, of course, the usual coke and tap water, please».
My friend and I settle into our seats and look at each other happily since we are, once again — like every week, here to enjoy one of our favorite foods. One of us having spent years in Seoul and the other being raised in Asian-​focused community for the majority of her life, we come to Tohbang every week to to feed our cravings and bring back wonderful –often hilarious– memories and stories.
We sit picking at and munching on our side dishes, which we can never predict as there is such a variety in side dishes at Tohbang. It has become quite a game trying to guess what they’ll bring out to us. Some dishes are pickled, and others are not. We like both, but I’m sure you can let your server know whether you prefer one type over the other.
Our dishes arrive in hot boiling cauldron bowls with a side of rice. The steam rises and the scent of the ingredients and heat hit us. We dig in. No talking, just eating. About 5 minutes into our meal, we remember we have each other at the table, and we begin chatting away again.
You’ll see when you eat here that there is sometimes so much variety, there is often times inconsistency. Sometimes we’ll receive two side dishes, sometimes three. Some servers let you order to your liking, and others won’t be the least bit flexible, even denying you of an egg in your soup. Some people like this, and some don’t. Whatever you like, though, you are sure to find at Tohbang. Although we normally order our soups every time, the dishes we’ve seen arrive at other table look phenomenal.
It’s always a lovely experience at Tohbang, and we will continue to come back for more — especially with their lunch menu at only 6.50gbp/person!