The hunt for kimchi gold

A big sigh of relief was sighed this week. We found a de cent sushi place that's a 15 minute bike or bus ride away. It's no Nobu Malibu, but Sushi of Shiori turn out perfectly respectable sashimi and nigri. Phew: a neighbourhood sushi joint. That's one thing I wasn't sure London could offer TLOML.

Another thing I was positive London couldn't offer TLOML was good Korean food. His standards were set by the mandoo his Korean grandmother made by scratch when he was a kid: crappy inauthentic substitutes just won't fly. And in Los Angeles, with the biggest Korean population outside of Asia, quality, authentic Korean food was easy to find. Even in Manhattan, with its laughably small Korean Town, we found some good places to eat.

London is not renowned for its Korean food. I know, I know, I read Time Out, there are a couple of new places which promise good kimchi and have Korean-themed interiors. But we have superior information: a Korean friend from LA who's been living here for a few months, and who describes her sampling of London's Korean restaurants as 'disappointing'.

She gave me this book for my birthday:

Frankly I was amazed there are enough Korean restaurants in England to write a book about. (I wonder if the Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland books are coming out as separate volumes.) Most of them appear to be in New Malden, but there are some in London that look worth a try. After all this is a book written by Koreans, for Koreans.

So we tried one from the book. Han Kang, on Hanway Street. It was good! They did charge for kimchi, which is a bit like charging for tapwater realy. But the food was good, and truly Korean. Phew: a good Korean restaurant we don't need to go to New Malden to enjoy.

And we still have the rest of the book to work through!