Restaurant recommendations New Malden, London?

December 9, 2008 5:47 AM

Restaurant recommendations for New Malden, London?

I've never been to New Malden, London's Koreatown, but am itching to explore it soon. Can anyone recommend a good, authentic, cheap(ish) Korean restaurant that does tableside barbecue? Or even a good hole-in-the-wall eatery, the kind that has good old homestyle cooking catering mostly to students?

posted by war wrath of wraith to food & drink (7 comments total)

Asadal in New Malden is supposed to be the best Korean restaurant in the UK. I haven't eaten there, but it's on my gastronomic to-do list.
posted by roofus at 7:07 AM on December 9, 2008

I'm not sure if this is the same place, but Asadal looks like it might have moved to Holborn.

I live quite close to New Malden and these are places I'm aware of:

Ga Chi, 34 Durham Road, London, SW20 0TW (This one is really at Raynes Park). Ga Chi has very good food and while they sort of appear to be licenced, they don't mind if you BYO.

There's also the Phoenix on Coombe Lane in Raynes Park, which claims to be Chinese / Korean but is very much the latter and isn't as good as Ga Chi (but can serve as overflow if you can't get into Ga Chi)

Jin Go Gae, 272 Burlington Road, London, KT3 4NL

Hankook Restaurant, 257 Burlington Road, London, KT3 4NE

These last two are right across the road from one another. I've been to Jin Go Gae and it meets the description of the kind of place you are looking for. These two are a little out of New Malden proper. Sort of between New Malden and Raynes Park. There's a bus, or you can hoof it from either station, though it's a busy road close to the A3 and not that nice a place to be walking.

Now I'm tempted. Might have to squeeze in a Korean meal this week!
posted by sagwalla at 8:12 AM on December 9, 2008

Time Out put Cah Chi in their favourite 50 restaurants in London (though it's in Raynes Park rather than New Malden).

Cah Chi
Korean Cah Chi is on a quiet street in suburban Raynes Park. We love its homely atmosphere, chirpy service and the menu, clearly translated, of stews, soups, noodles and barbecues, including two-person specials like bosam (pork with mixed vegetables and Korean condiments). The yukkaejang (spicy beef soup) could be the best in London: a tangle of tender beef shreds and spring onion in a fiery, chilli-rich broth. BYO booze.

When to go: When you fancy a walk on the wild side.
What to have: The complimentary pickles, the Korean ‘black pudding’, the spicy beef soup.
Cah Chi, 34 Durham Rd, SW20 0TW (020 8947 1081) Raynes Park rail.
posted by patricio at 10:01 AM on December 9, 2008

Note Cah Chi and Ga Chi are the same restaurant... named as Ga Chi on the outside of the restaurant.
posted by sagwalla at 10:04 AM on December 9, 2008

Thirding Ca Chi. Don't know if they do tableside barbecue though.
posted by Dr.Pill at 10:57 AM on December 9, 2008

I drove by all of the places I mentioned tonight - all still there. And, eat my hat, Ga Chi is now Cah Chi (as now branded on the front of the restaurant - they have had a change of livery since I was last there).

I am pretty sure they do table barbecue if you order certain dishes off the menu. I'm always jealous when a big group of people come in and mountains of food start arriving at their table. You might have to order a multi-person set menu to trigger that, though.

It is very mom-and-pop in some ways. Small, local... good food. Hard to get into some nights of the week.
posted by sagwalla at 11:59 AM on December 9, 2008

Thanks for all the tips! Will dutifully report back once the food's been sampled.
posted by war wrath of wraith at 5:34 PM on December 10, 2008