Dong San

I was at the Dong San restaurant for the 5th time last night, Friday the 23rd of Feb. I must say that the food, service and atmosphere, were as always the same, just Excellent. The only difference was, the new European waitress, that speaks English, unlike her Korean collegues.This restaurant is worth a try.
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Rebecca
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Saturday, February 24, 2007

Having read the various reviews on Your site, I decided to visit Dong San restaurant, with my friend, on Thursday, 22nd of February.

This Restaurant is definately living up to its reputation. The Korean food was Excellent. Having spent two Years working in Korea, I can tell you that the "real thing" is here! BRAVO!!
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Lizzie
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Friday, February 23, 2007

I had my birthday party at Dong San Restaurant, on the 21st of February. The entire group of 16, were absolutely delighted by the service, and quality of food.We had the Karaoke blazing, which i felt was a must, for my special day!!

EXCELLENT!! We will be back soon.
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Rosie
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Friday, February 23, 2007

I happen to live just round the corner from Poland Street, and me and my family have been regular customers of Dong San restaurant. The reasons for our regular custom are the tasty dishes, excellent service, and the warm welcome of the European waitress! She is just great! We first came across this restaurant, on this website, and although i never write reviews, I believe is worth bringing it to the attention of your readers!
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Marian
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Friday, February 23, 2007

We visited Dong San Restaurant 3 days ago.

It was our second visit. The food as always was excellent! And although the restaurant was packed to capacity, the service excelled. The english speaking waitress was just a click away. Well done Dong San!
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eagle
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Wednesday, February 21, 2007

I visited Dong San restaurant with my husband, and younger sister, on Saturday evening, the 17th of February. It was a pleasant evening out. The food was excellent, and the service very good indeed. The blond European waitress, was almost in two places at the same time! Every time we ordered something, the order

hit the table in seconds! excellent!!
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sexylady - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Wednesday, February 21, 2007

After seeing the reviews raving on about the quality of food and service at Dong San, I decided to try it out for myself. I'm afraid I would have to side with Dexter Casey on this one - it was very, very disappointing. When we arrived at around 8PM tonight it was rather quiet, being in a secluded part of Soho, so our party of 6 was promtly seated. However, service was sluggish and we noticed that other groups that had come in after us were automatically receiving the complimentary side-dishes of beansprouts and kimchee but even after our mains had arrived, we were not given kimchee until we requested it. As I mentioned before, the restaurant was not busy at all, so perhaps it was due to the fact that there were only 2 waitstresses for the entire venue.

Food itself was really quite a let-down. This is positively the worst Korean I have had, both in terms of taste and value for money. Portions were so measley and the flavours were really weak. I can't take too much spicy food but even I found the pork and squid bulgogi tame and the kimchee unbelievably mild. The various bibimbab we ordered were also small, visually unappealing, and unsatiating. The Hawaiin sushi was quite nice however, although at £8 for 6 pieces, I'd rather buy a pack of 8 from the Japan Centre supermarket for £3. The seafood and spring onion pancake should simply have been advertised as spring onion pancake because the seafood (supposedly mussels) was non-existent and hence, for a flattened fried piece of dough, a rip-off at £7.

The waitress appeared to be more attentive to Japanese customers. We observed also that these customers had noticeably bigger portions. Perhaps they favour some cultures over others who knows. Anyhow, it is strange and disappointing that our dining experience did not compare to the other happy reviewers' but at least I'll know to steer clear of this place once and for all!
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greg parsnip
Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 0
Saturday, February 17, 2007

Last night I ate at Dong San for the third time.

I was with a friend who doesn't eat meat, so we wanted vegetarian food. The waiter recommended several meat dishes that could be adapted for the vegetarian diner and the result was delicious: vermicelli noodles, a rice hotpot and a lovely vegetable pancake.

In the past I've tried the raw beef salad and the sashimi - always the freshest ingredients served by extremely friendly and efficient, helpful staff.

It's also one of the best value restaurants in the area.
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Dom Pannell
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Saturday, February 10, 2007

We ate there with friends and the everything was perfect. The food is brilliant, the service was excellent and the atmosphere very pleasant. We did not know what to order and the waiter (manager) asked us how much we wanted to spend. He then surprised us with excellent korean specialities. The cold beef salat was divine. I would certainly recommend this restaurant.
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David - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Saturday, January 06, 2007

Having consulted numerous guides and internet reviews, my husband and I plumped for Dong San for our first taste of Korean food and I think we definitely made the right decision. Note that initial impressions ARE dodgy as the front part of the restaurant looks like a slightly scabby brightly lit cafe (I wonder if that's where Dexter Casey was forced to eat) but we were taken through to the main part of the restaurant which is beautiful and lit for ambience. The tables are an elegant mahogany and the chairs are upholstered with plush dark leather (?). We were served by three different waitresses who were a complete delight (all spoke English - two were Korean and one was Slavic). We started with yuk khwe which is like steak tartare - out comes a plate of chilled steak ribbons flanked by matchsticks of nashi (japanese pear) and cucumber, sprinkled with pine nuts. At the table, our waitress cracked a raw egg on top and then mixed the dish deftly with chopsticks. My husband was put off by the concept but curiosity got the better of him and it was so delicious that he ate more of it than I did. They also gave us FREE tasty namul (3 little side dishes) of stir-fried beansprouts, spinach and kimchi which they even topped up! I also got free poricha (Korean green tea). For mains, my husband had dolsit bimbimbap which arrive sizzling in a mini iron cauldron topped with a fried egg and which the waitress again mixed up at the table for him with chilli bean sauce. I went for yookhejang, a gorgeous bubbling chilli beef soup which came with a bowl of white rice. I can't vouch for the authenticity but both mains had a lovely depth of flavour and spice. I should also mention that every dish came on a beautiful piece of crockery! At this point a group of about 20 Koreans came in and they were all served swiftly by the able waitresses. We then thought we'd see what desserts were on offer - the menu had lots of different ice creams but also "sushi" which was described as milk rice with a strawberry topping. Of course we ordered that but disappointingly they'd run out but they said they had a Korean dessert called "hot dog". Nonplussed, I ordered that and the bloke ordered green tea ice cream. A little while later I received a platter of two large sizzling flat "doughnuts" sliced handily into halves. I picked one piece up and bit into it and it was one of the most moreish morsels I've ever had. It was a cross between a sweet hot fritter, a churro and a pancake stuffed with brown sugar and red beans and went wonderfully with the cooling ice cream which I stole from my husband! The meal with one starter, mains, drinks and desserts came to only £30 (note that service is added on) - fantastic value for money! My husband said it was the best meal he's had in a long time (I think he rather liked having his food prepared in front of him) and I have to agree. You must go!
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meemalee
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Monday, November 27, 2006