Asadal

25-10-2008
davowilli

i agree , the problem with london is that the korean restaurants are nothing like they are in korea , the food is no way near as good as in korea . everything costs where as in korea they dont chage you for everthing such axs kimchi and you have to ask for water the service is terrible . but then again we are not in korea so maybe this is what should be expected here .

09-12-2006
jsk

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 cold 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, because Korean food really is exquisite. BUT AVOID ASADAL, please... the coldness of the staff is unacceptable.

09-03-2006
Stephanie Pliakas

"The miso soup at Asadal was rich and deeply flavourful-almost meaty. But I'm afraid that it's one of the few things that I can recommend about my lunchtime dining experience there.Asadal promises much. Located right next to the Holborn tube station entrance (where Pizza Hut, of all places, used to be), the basement restaurant is sleek and modern, almost a Hakkasan copycat, but with brighter lighting. Even though it was quite busy, a sense of calm pervaded. The dining room is divided into two sections with big, wooden screen-like partitions. We were seated in the right section at the built-in white leather booth tables, right in front of one of the main design features: light wooden blocks jutting in and out of the wall, encased behind glass. It's a striking effect, and we were definitely impressed. We shouldn't have been.The scowling waitress-all of the wait staff that day were gruff and unsmiling; at one point when we asked about the delay in receiving our food, we were just told, "It's coming!" No apologies; it was like we should've been grateful just to be there-gave us our menus and then . . . promptly disappeared for half an hour. I had wanted to treat my friends to a lavish barbecue Korean lunch (like most Korean restaurants, Asadal has a grill installed in the centre of each table), but instead we had to opt for the less exciting set lunches since we had to rush back to work. So I missed my favourite barbecued meat prepared tableside, bulgogi (marinated steak, served with big lettuce leaves to wrap the cooked meat in) and had to opt for a pre-prepared bulgogi-like stand-in. It arrived, cold, in an oversized, compartmentalised lacquered tray. The meat was grey, almost mealy and lacked any depth of flavour. And it arrived at our table around fifteen minutes before both of my friends were finally served (and before our drinks were even brought over-bottled water and green tea; anything complicated about that?). Most of the set lunches-in the ???9-15 range, I think, although I've sort of blocked it out-come with quite a few changing sides; besides the lovely (but veering towards chilly) miso soup, we were offered: a salad topped with an orange, gingery dressing, cold pork dumplings, tasteless, rubbery squid in a spicy red sauce and rice. My side order of kimchi, Korea's ubiquitous spicy pickled cabbage, never materialised. I guess I have to mention that my friends were satisfied with their lunches overall; one a spicy pork and vegetable dish and, the other, a whole, bony cod bathed in a sweet-and-sour red sauce.The menus at Asadal are huge and almost overwhelming for a Korean food novice. There were so many dishes that we wanted to try, including rice with kimchi and beef, green been pancakes (with meat, tofu or oysters) and various pickled vegetables. Sadly, I won't be back to try any of them unless I have a few hours to spare and am feeling particularly tolerant that day. I took our unfinished bottle of water as a parting gift to myself for the lunchtime trauma we suffered (something I would almost never do for fear of looking tacky and cheap). On our way out, we noticed a long queue of disgruntled-looking customers waiting to be seated. At least we weren't the only ones."