Arang Restaurant London, A Review

It is no secret that I have a thing for the Korean culture. This love affair has introduced me to a whole new world of possibilities and opportunities. I have met a lot of interesting people and I myself have experienced interesting things. One of the things I am lucky to have is lots and lots of Korean food, it seems that East Asia has created a niche in western cities. Here in London you are sure to find abundance of Chinese, Korean, Japanese and a lot of other Asian cuisines. Every Opportunity I get I like trying out Korean restaurants.

My newest find is Arang. I have not heard of it before and it surprisingly wasn't listed on my Korean Restaurant Guide App (yes, it exist and I most definitely have it on my phone). I went there with three other girlfriends and one of them recommended it. It is a short walking distance from Piccadilly circus.


We were welcomed by the staff who opened the door for us and showed us to our table which felt nice. I initially didn't think about blogging, but I wanted to share it with you guys and to keep a record for myself at the same time. 

We didn't order starters but we got complimentary 반찬~banchan (Side dishes) below, normally you have to pay for it in most restaurants but not this one :)

김치~Kimchi, 콩나물~Kongnamul (bean sprouts stir-fried in sesame oil), an Potato salad (which was my fave BTW)

The menu was quite extensive and we weren't sure what to eat plus we weren't all that hungry, so we decided to order to share. Now I mentioned to all of them that I wanted to try 떡볶이~ddeokbokki (a popular Korean snack food made from soft rice cake, fish cake and sweet red chili sauce) so it was the first thing we ordered.

It was sooooo good. This is a twist to the normal one cos they added egg,ramen and veggies. I tried everything including the fish cake (I hate seafood) and it all had a good taste. I have already added it to my fave list.

Next we ordered 김치전~Kimchijeon (Kimchi Pancake), 순두부찌개 ~ Sundubu jjigae  (Spicy soup with soft as silk beancurd & rice), and of course 비빔밥~ Bibimbap ( Steamed rice with egg & vegetables and chicken).

The Kimchi pancake was good but not the best I've had. It came with this soy and spring onion sauce. I personally prefer sesame oil sauce.

I forgot to take a picture of the bibimbap before we mixed it. I got one from the internet so you have an idea of what the before pic was like. The one we had looked so much better than the picture I got. This is by far the best bibimbap I've had.

Now here's the exciting bit, before this I never knew people ate octopus until one of the girl's mentioned that "oh, I've got octupus in my soup". You can imagine my surprise!! The adventurous me obviously was intrigued and I immediately went ahead to try it amidst stares from the girls. It was a bit tough to chew and it tasted like fish. I wasn't disgusted by it either. I guess one more thing off my Bucket list, lool.

We got this as a complimentary dessert, how nice of them :)

All in all I enjoyed my meal here. It wasn't the best Korean food I've had but the service was really good. The staff were nice and helpful and we didn't have to wait long for the food. It was a meal of first for me ddeokbokki, octopus and tofu soup. If you are looking for a nice affordable place to eat I recommend this place. The portions were good enough to share and the little details made it an enjoyable experience.

After our late Lunch we headed off to karaoke bar for a bit of noreabang. It is a Japanese place but they had Korean songs and English songs as well. Although their songs need to be updated cos most of the ones we wanted were not available. 

Then we went to Chinatown Cha Time, which is this cute taiwanese place with a happy atmosphere, for some bubble tea. I ordered the Taro Pudding Milk Tea. I liked it a lot. I have noticed that bubble tea has become a favorite drink of mine. That's it for my impromptu lunch with my friends who love korea as much as I do :)



See ya next time,

meera