Tohbang: A different Seoul food in Clerkenwell

'New Seoul' restaurant (above), more recently known as 'Tohbang', brings a bit of Korean seoul to Clerkenwell. Photo Credit: Kake Pugh/Flickr

A great meal begins with authenticity – both in ingredients and the hands that handle them. So when a Korean restaurant is run by native Korean staff, it’s a safe bet that their dishes will be worth your stomach. Tohbang, formerly known as New Seoul, is one such place, presenting traditional Korean fare at affordable prices in the quiet Clerkenwell area.

For what is usually a lively Saturday night anywhere in London, this side of Camden was quite the opposite with hardly anyone walking the streets. Tohbang is one of those spots that doesn’t stand out immediately to a casual passerby. Even its maroon sign with rather large block lettering is pretty unnoticeable if you aren’t interested. But despite its bland exterior, the restaurant sticks out as it seems oddly random on a quiet road.

Word on the street is that Saturday nights are busiest and it was best to make a reservation for guaranteed seating. But the place seemed a bit empty of their so called “busy” Saturday night crowd. The owner of the store was cordial, even personally opening the door, but it was surprising to have to ask for the menu and the waiter seemed a bit nervous.

Prices were reasonable, averaging £7 to £9 per main dish and £2 to £4 per appetizer or side dish.

The menu kept to its Korean roots with a range of classic dishes and minimal, if any at all, fusion-type or ‘foreigner-friendly’ dishes aimed to please the palettes of local Londoners new to the cuisine. From kimchee (pickled cabbage), bibimbahp (rice with mixed beef, vegetables, fried egg), and mee-yuk gook (seaweed soup) to pah-jun (green onion pancake) and bulgogi (grilled beef marinated in sesame oil), it was truly a Korean’s menu. One classic dish I didn’t find, however, was galbi (BBQ beef short ribs) which is usually cooked over a charcoal grill right at the table and eaten in lettuce wraps with a spicy red pepper sauce.

My soon doobu jee gae (spicy tofu casserole) and jahp-chae (stir-fried glass noodles) arrived pretty quickly.  The daen jahng gook (bean paste soup with tofu and vegetables) was also a Korean classic not to be missed.  Portions were just right, not too much and not too little, and the taste seemed the same as or close to what might be called ‘home cooking’. The number of free side dishes/appetizers, however, was on the skimpy side.  These usually come free with the main meal at most traditional Korean restaurants.

Nearly all of the clientele on this particular night were non-Koreans, which may seem like a red flag at first. However, perhaps that is Tohbang’s target market – the unreached, the ‘Korean food virgins’. Despite the initial awkward silence against the sound of classic American tunes, Tohbang offers the comfort of genuine Korean food at a good price to make it worth your visit.

Tohbang

164 Clerkenwell Road

London, EC1R 5DU

Phone: 020 7278 8674

Photo by Kake Pugh via Flickr