Asadal (Holborn)

I have been here a few time and I agree the visits are a bit hit and miss. I have had the log wait to be served and to be even taken notice of when first arriving but I have had some good experiences also.

I do still go back as the food is very nice and the surrounding very pleasent.

I have been to many Korean restaurants and felt this was pretty good overall.
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Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 6
Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Rave reviews. We went. Waitress put raw rib beef on COLD desktop barbecue, then switched on heat. We watched in despair as beef slowly began to bubble and steam in front of us, and disappointment as grey slab of meat put on our plate. Complaint dealt with poorly. We walked out. Enough said.

May have been a one off, but we won't be back...
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Al
Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 5
Sunday, March 02, 2008

I have to agree with th comment " The Best In the World" I have been to the one in New Malden since I was 12 and every time we go there the food is Excellent.

Some how they have done it again Holbon. It looks good, servie is excellent and the food is amazing. I took my girlfriend here who is a vegeterian and the chef was kind enough to make something for her. I dont know were the people who wrote bad service get that impression from because they are all very polite.

I visit this place as often as I can and never get fed up. The dumplings are the best, the sticky chillie chicken is amazing, the rice, the Kimichi (i think my mouth is watering).

I have to go now so I can go book a table for this weekend.
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Samit
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Monday, January 14, 2008

Went here on Saturday December 29th after a recommendation by a friend. We ordered starters and got 4 dishes. One was seaweed which I've had done well before but this was tiny slices of green paper. 2 of them were cabbage which were horrible - I don't know what they did with them but they were vile. Also there was a cucumber dish which was also vile. So I had no starter.

We ordered main courses and some of them were £30 per person and I was already suspicious so I went for marinated beef which was served raw and you had to cook it youself - this was £9 and seen as simple rice was £6:80 I decided this place was a rip off and skipped it. When it was served there was barely a couple of spoonfuls there and the waitresses kept telling me my beef was cooked now and actually turned the cooker off. I don't eat rare/medium red meat so I had to tell them to put it back on, at which point they kept on coming over telling me it was done. It was served with miniscule amounts for 2 sauces - one of which tasted of nothing but sugar, the other tasted of nothing but salt. Again, inedible.

They charged us £20 for a bottle of undrinkable white wine and overall it cost us £23 per person. And they kept us waiting for 20 minutes when we were ready to order despite being empty. When I left, I'd had so little to eat that I went into an off licence and had to buy crisps before continuing the night out. Overall I find that there are 2 types of restaurant - ones that charge you £10 - £15 for a large meal or all you want buffet with drinks, usually which are very nice and you leave feeling like you've gorged on way too much, and then so called "up-market" ones, where they serve you nothing but everyone is too polite to complain, and charge you loads for the privilege, and this was definitely a case of the latter. Avoid this waste of time. £23 - I wouldn't pay 23p for this experience.
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Mike
Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 0
Monday, December 31, 2007

I went to this restaurant for the first time last week with 4 other people and have to say that it was my first expereince of Korean food and I was impressed. The service was great and the food was fabulous. I don't know how it stacks up price wise with outher Korean restaurants but it certainly is reasonable price wise with other London restaurants in general. It worked out to be about £25 a head for 4 of us with a couple of beers thrown in which I consider to be very acceptable.
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Annette
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 9
Wednesday, October 17, 2007

We have eaten here on numerous occasions over the last year. I have always found the service to be great, the waiters and waitresses always very accomodating and eager to serve. The Lady who I think is the BOSS is great and always helps us order. Yes the English Speaking is limited but I have found the waitresses and eager to show you part of their culture. The Food is great, We always have the BBQ with both Meat and Seafood. Its fresh and tastes wonderful. Don't come here if you have an English "stiff upper lip" Relax and Enjoy.
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Richard
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Thursday, July 26, 2007

I have been to Asadal a couple of times for the past 2 years. I read all the past reviews and I have to say I understand the level of unsatisfaction related to the service. It is true that the waiters are bad, and it is also agravated by the fact that their English is weak.

However, the food is good in comparison with other Korean restaurants in London. The prices are high in comparaison with other Asian restaurants but are generally fair with their European counterparts.
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florent
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 7
Monday, June 11, 2007

My wife (who is Chinese) is very curious about visiting Korea - particularly with the popularity of the Korean soap operas in Asia at the moment. We visited Asadal this evening to get a taste of Korea food but the service was so bad that it spoiled the evening.

My wife asked for a table for two and, as most people do, held up two fingers to illustrate "2". When reaching the table the waiter (probably the head waiter) then proceeded to lecture my wife (with his back to me, and was I unable to hear) on the hazards of doing an "Anglo-saxon V-sign" - and this was a Korean to a Chinese (!!).

Now I wasn't sure whether he was merely being informative or gave my wife some kind of dressing-down. He turned to me and tried to explained to me what he said, I kind of got the gist - but gave him the benefit of the doubt.

After that the service was quiet terse and not very respectful. Similarly the customers next to us received terse service from the head waitress. There was also a degree of impatience...

The food was ok, but felt that I could have experienced better food elsewhere for less money and far better service.

As our Korean reviewer said earlier, AVOID.
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Andrew
Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 1
Friday, May 11, 2007

I ate here by mistake, we had no where else to go and it was getting quite late.

I hadn't eaten a Korean before but thought the food was amazing. We decided on one of their set meals (not knowing what was what) and I have been raving about it ever since. Very helpful people, some of the reviews here don't take into consideration that the place is popular.
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Mr Paul Case
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Thursday, May 03, 2007

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