Asadal

If possible I would have given zero stars. Food was’t that great and staff were downright racist. They simply denied a table initially and only gave table for 15 minutes, though there were no one waiting and plenty of tables empty! Never go there.. not worth it!
This restaurant simply ruined Korean image for me…..

Asadal. What can I say about it. Well from my experience as a chef, I have been to many restaurants and shops. I proudly say that this was the most adequate place I’ve ever been to. The restraunt is clean and the staff are very genourous and very welcoming. I would definitely recommend others to come to this amazing restaurant.

 Avoid at all costs. I’m saying this as a Korean British. I know how expensive food can get in London. Nevertheless, this place serves the worst Korean food ever. 1 person portion bulgogi(£9.5) is the size of my palm, the texture was stringy and tasteless. I’m convinced that the meat’s been in the freezer for a very long time. Bulgogi can’t taste bad. But Asadal proves it can.

A small sized stone bowl of Sullongtang(£10.50 + £2 for another tiny bowl of rice, which usually comes with the soup without extra charge) contained 4 slices of another bad quality meat in it, the broth is obviously not done right either, it lacked in depth of flavour(but it’s a beef bone broth). Never have I tasted such low-quality Sullongtang in my life. It’s too generous to call their dishes ‘overpriced’, they are tricksters. It gets even better with the quality of service. Never ever been treated like that in my life. The critiques of this restaurant aren’t exaggerated. This business is still up and running by ripping off non-Korean customers & tourists. During the meal, I complained to the owner’s wife and waiter but they really couldn’t care less. Lazy, unenthusiastic and grumpy as hell. 

+ Ended up complaining again before asking for the bill cause I genuinely felt scammed and there’s no way I’d pay over £22 for such nonsense. This time, I asked if I can talk to the owner himself. Not only was he in denial the entire time, but he also interrogated me to find out where my father runs his business(are you freaking out of your mind?) after asking him to run a business with a conscience when I really had enough with his rudeness and irresponsible attitude.

I asked him to get rid of bulgogi in my bill but he insisted he wouldn’t and instead gave it a 50% off. Even that, he tried to trick me to charge a little bit more extra. What a joke. Heard you mumbling ‘don’t pay then’ as I walked out! I don’t care how shameless you are but you gotta stop mocking Korean food and close down already.

We ordered the set meal. 

Not only was there no explanation of the meal, but the grill went out repeatedly, and the waitress gave us no clue as to whether we should cook the meat ourselves or wait for her to appear when she felt like it. 

The card machine failed to accept the (perfectly valid) Amex card of my friend. Far from being apologetic, the waiter was positively aggresssive until my friend produced an acceptable alternative, despite the fact that we’d made it clear that we would cover the difference.

We complained to the waiter, only to overhear a discussion amongst the staff to the effect that we’d paid the service charge so that it didn’t matter.

Our subsequent complaint to the manager was met with what amounted to blank incomprehension.

There are plenty of Korean restaurants in the Holborn/St Giles area that deserve your business. This place deserves to be put out of business