Restaurant review: Bistro Seoul, Wan Chai – enjoyable modern Korean fare
Some modern Korean places are far too fancy, but Bistro Seoul gets things right, and the dishes were mostly good - with charcoal-grilled Iberico pork cheek and pan-fried potato cakes the highlights
You can often tell the quality of a Korean restaurant as soon as you’ve tasted the banchan – the side dishes that are served as part of the meal. At Bistro Seoul, they served only three – on our visit it was soy-marinated lotus root, spiced cucumbers, and lightly fermented cabbage kimchi. But they were nicely presented and of good quality.
It’s easy to be sceptical of modern Korean restaurants: too often, they’re far too fancy, and the flavours are insipid. However, we enjoyed our meal here.
Crispy boneless chicken bites with home-made sweet and spicy sauce (HK$95) featured tender meat and a not-too-sticky sauce. Even better was the Korean pan-fried potato pancakes (HK$68). They would have made a Jewish grandmother feel proud: moist, with crisp edges, they reminded us very much of latkes, but instead of apple sauce, they were served with a light soy dipping sauce. We couldn’t figure out the point of the corn chips on top, though – they didn’t add anything.
Charcoal-grilled Iberico pork cheek with spiced grated radish (HK$128) was fantastic – our favourite dish of the night. We rolled the thin, tender pieces of meat around the radish pickle, which provided tart contrast to the fatty pork.