Asadal (Holborn)

We arrived at the restaurant, stood 10 minutes at the door waiting to be seated. A few waiters walked past us with an angry look and left us standing there. Then it took 20 minutes for someone to come over to order our food. The appetizer was good, but we were in such a bad mood by then. Then they brought 2 dishes we didn't order. We immediately brought it up the waiter but he just looked at us and left, not bothered to deal with it.

That was the first and last time I'll ever go back. Worst service I've ever seen.
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johan
Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 3
Sunday, February 18, 2007

Went here last night for the first time. I have heard good things from several of my colleagues (I work in a Korean company and am half Korean) so decided to pay it a visit.

From the outside you cannot tell what this restaurant will be like at all as its sign hangs halfway across a newsagent and the restaurant itself is in the basement. However once you get downstairs it is beautiful. As others have mentioned, it could well be a nice restuarant in Seoul.

Best word to describe the staff is professional. Not incredibly friendly but certainly not unfriendly. There to help if you need them though.

The menu is extensive and carries almost everything you mind fancy from Korean cuisine. We went for PaJeon (Pancakes) and Grilled mandu (particularly nice) to start, and then Pork Bulgogi for main (which was traditionally cooked on BBQ in front of us and was very tasty) and finished off with Dwenjang Soup and rice (which is bean paste soup and alot more appealing than it sounds, very refreshing). All in all the food was great as was the Decor. Fairly expensive but worth it. Only gripe was it's £15 for a bottle of soju (korean spirit) which is around £2 in Korea, but around £10 usually here.

Not much to choose between here a Arang, my previous favourite Korean. Why not try both!
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ptb83 - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Wednesday, January 31, 2007

good:

the place looks really nice.

bad:

the service really is quite poor.

and finally, the food appears to range from acceptable to delicious, as long as you know what to order.
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xiaoda
Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 3
Sunday, January 07, 2007

I scrolled and have seen this restaurant take quite a slating.

I went there with a couple that are good friends of mine and have to say the food was great. They were particularly generous with the side dishes which most Korean restaurants are not. Although the barbecue portions were not big enough. They also have a lot of traditional dishes which arent available in most other Korean restaurants (so im reliably told).

It was a good experience and I will be venturing out there again.
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Joecool - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 7
Thursday, December 21, 2006

As a visiting tourist of Korean descent, I was frankly shocked at the appallingly poor service here. The food itself was no more than decent, but the rude service far outweighs whatever merits the food may have held. Wow. I was embarrassed that these people are representing Koreans to Londoners. While I consider myself to be an ambassador of Korean food and introduce it to others regularly, I definitely hope Asadal remains unknown. The mediocre enthusiasm for producing the food and the most definite disdain for customers cannot explain why these people have chosen to enter the restaurant business. Please, find another, more worthy Korean restaurant to try! Heck, eat an apple. AVOID
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Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 0
Saturday, December 09, 2006

This is one of my favourite restaurants, the food is traditional Korean made to perfection. The staff are friendly and attentive and the service is good. I always come back for the Bulgogi and Kimchi as there are not many places in London who make it properly like Asadal. Highly recommended.
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Leah McQueen - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Friday, November 10, 2006

Descending into Asadal you are plunged into an ambience of such bland modernity, that piped music from Murph and the Magic Tones or 1970s ELO would not have been out of place. I don't know, perhaps this décor is all the rage in modern day downtown Seoul. Although it was barely 6:15 PM the restaurant was already busy, and momentarily I panicked because I had not booked a table.

The menu is a mighty tome, but includes pictures of the dishes, which turned out to be most helpful. After a decent interval the head waitress approached us, and very politely helped with our selections. We ordered a jug of ice water, which arrived promptly - always a good test of a decent restaurant.

The dishes were served one by one, which meant we could concentrate our energies on one dish at a time. Only the Kimchi set (pickled cabbage) was our constant companion. Each dish appeared as if by strange magic; perhaps sitting right next to the serving hatch had something to do with it. The Chap Che (vegetables and glass noodles) is to die for, and is the best we have tasted in any London Korean restaurant. Mandu (meat ravioli) were fried and all the more the tasty for that. The pajeon (omelette/pancake) disappeared in an instant; the barbecued Bulgogi (marinated beef) was good, the Kalbi (spare ribs) was indistinguishable from the Bulgogi, yet we remembered them as two different cuts of meat. The order that the dishes were served made the meal, and ending with a cleansing Twen Chan Chigge (tofu stew) was a masterstroke.

The waitresses giggled helplessly but politely at our futile attempts to make small talk in Korean. We drank beer and water, which we think best suits Korean food, but red and white wines are available.

We were left to relax over a post prandial soo jong wha – very sweet cinnamon tea with pine kernels- which surprisingly, was off menu; it makes a refreshing change from coffee. The switch under the table to light the dot matrix didn't seem to work, but they soon cottoned on that we wanted to pay.

With service included, the bill came to £90 for 4, which we thought very fair.

We will eat here again, and recommend you eat here too.

Descending into Asadal you are plunged into an ambience of such bland modernity, that piped music from Murph and the Magic Tones or 1970s ELO would not have been out of place. I don't know, perhaps this décor is all the rage in modern day downtown Seoul. Although it was barely 6:15 PM the restaurant was already busy, and momentarily I panicked because I had not booked a table.

The menu is a mighty tome, but includes pictures of the dishes, which turned out to be most helpful. After a decent interval the head waitress approached us, and very politely helped with our selections. We ordered a jug of ice water, which arrived promptly - always a good test of a decent restaurant.

The dishes were served one by one, which meant we could concentrate our energies on one dish at a time. Only the Kimchi set (pickled cabbage) was our constant companion. Each dish appeared as if by strange magic; perhaps sitting right next to the serving hatch had something to do with it. The Chap Che (vegetables and glass noodles) is to die for, and is the best we have tasted in any London Korean restaurant. Mandu (meat ravioli) were fried and all the more the tasty for that. The pajeon (omelette/pancake) disappeared in an instant; the barbecued Bulgogi (marinated beef) was good, the Kalbi (spare ribs) was indistinguishable from the Bulgogi, yet we remembered them as two different cuts of meat. The order that the dishes were served made the meal, and ending with a cleansing Twen Chan Chigge (tofu stew) was a masterstroke.

The waitresses giggled helplessly but politely at our futile attempts to make small talk in Korean. We drank beer and water, which we think best suits Korean food, but red and white wines are available.

We were left to relax over a post prandial soo jong wha – very sweet cinnamon tea with pine kernels- which surprisingly, was off menu; it makes a refreshing change from coffee. The switch under the table to light the dot matrix didn't seem to work, but they soon cottoned on that we wanted to pay.

With service included, the bill came to £90 for 4, which we thought very fair.

We will eat here again, and recommend you eat here too.
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Stephen Blagden
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 8
Saturday, September 23, 2006

Descending into Asadal you are plunged into an ambience of such bland modernity, that piped music from Murph and the Magic Tones or 1970s ELO would not have been out of place. I don't know, perhaps this décor is all the rage in modern day downtown Seoul. Although it was barely 6:15 PM the restaurant was already busy, and momentarily I panicked because I had not booked a table.

The menu is a mighty tome, but includes pictures of the dishes, which turned out to be most helpful. After a decent interval the head waitress approached us, and very politely helped with our selections. We ordered a jug of ice water, which arrived promptly - always a good test of a decent restaurant.

The dishes were served one by one, which meant we could concentrate our energies on one dish at a time. Only the Kimchi set (pickled cabbage) was our constant companion. Each dish appeared as if by strange magic; perhaps sitting right next to the serving hatch had something to do with it. The Chap Che (vegetables and glass noodles) is to die for, and is the best we have tasted in any London Korean restaurant. Mandu (meat ravioli) were fried and all the more the tasty for that. The pajeon (omelette/pancake) disappeared in an instant; the barbecued Bulgogi (marinated beef) was good, the Kalbi (spare ribs) was indistinguishable from the Bulgogi, yet we remembered them as two different cuts of meat. The order that the dishes were served made the meal, and ending with a cleansing Twen Chan Chigge (tofu stew) was a masterstroke.

The waitresses giggled helplessly but politely at our futile attempts to make small talk in Korean. We drank beer and water, which we think best suits Korean food, but red and white wines are available.

We were left to relax over a post prandial soo jong wha – very sweet cinnamon tea with pine kernels- which surprisingly, was off menu; it makes a refreshing change from coffee. The switch under the table to light the dot matrix didn't seem to work, but they soon cottoned on that we wanted to pay.

With service included, the bill came to £90 for 4, which we thought very fair.

We will eat here again, and recommend you eat here too.
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Stephen Blagden - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 8
Monday, September 18, 2006

Went to Asadal for dinner with clients and colleagues. Being Korean and reading some horrible reviews, I was expecting the worst. The location is a bit unappealing but as we walked down the stairs into the restaurant, I was pleasantly surprised by the decor - Looks like it could be any posh restaurant in Seoul. The staff were very polite, helpful and suggested options to our choices as our group (6) wanted to share and enjoy everything. The food was a surprise as well the vegetables were all very fresh and made exactly like you would have in Seoul. One disappointing thing was that the beef wasn't fresh but frozen. Restaurants in Korea tend to be associated with their own farms so besides that part, it was a great evening and I'll definitely go back.
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Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 6
Thursday, September 07, 2006

Agreed with the others...

The food was actually surprisingly quite good but the service was pretty bad.

London in general isn't on the ball with customer service.. but Asadal does need to lift it's game..
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Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 7
Wednesday, September 06, 2006