Following on from our lunch at Bun House and having enjoyed, but not as much as we had hoped, Crown Jewels, we set off in search of an early dinner, the buns having by then worn off.
Al Murray was a no-show for the show and whilst the unnamed understudy was ok, it did detract from the event. No matter.
We walked around Covent Garden, Seven Dials, Covent Garden, Leicester Square, Covent Garden, Seven Dials (you get the idea) for quite sometime, sharpening the appetite and looking for somewhere that, ideally, would have allowed to sit at an outside table, not near traffic, with a nice atmosphere away from the overamplified rickshaws with their tourist torturing music, with something to look at, that wasn't empty of customers and that had the right food with not too much wheat or carbohydrates in general. Hmm.
We eventually stumbled upon SuperStar Korean BBQ in Central Piazza, St Giles.
We weren't able to be seated outside, but the modern restaurant had high ceilings and walls of glass, so it was bright and clean looking.
There were plenty of customers and I can't remember any music, although there may have been some at an appropriate volume.
We waited a couple of minutes for a table to be cleared and were invited to sit and consider the menu.
Key to the idea of a Korean BBQ is the grill set into the tabletop between the diners. The menu includes hot dishes, brought to the table ready to eat, but the fun is best enjoyed by selecting some of the raw meats and cooking them for yourself.
After quite a bit of deliberation we chose a couple of starters, two meats and some rice. One of the starters was five pieces of KFC with Kimchi Mayo. KFC in this case stands for Korean Fried Chicken, but you can see where they got the idea. This was fresh, crisp juicy and in larger portions would make a great lunch. The other starter was five Mandoo, which were typical Asian dumplings filled with pork & vegetables. Also good.
Our selection of meats were Ox Tongue and Chandol, a thinly sliced cut of Wagyu beef. The tongue was a little disappointing, as we agreed it is a meat best served like revenge (cold) or cooked long and slow, and therefore a little tough.
The Wagyu was good, full of tasty fat and very melt-in-the-mouth, but was also very melt-on-the-grill, so next time a thicker and more expensive cut would be my preference. The rice was fried with kimchi, a Korean mainstay of pickled cabbage', and very pleasant.
For drinks we had a Seol Young Mae, and I'm sure you will recognise that as a sweet plum wine, and a Korean beer that had actually been brewed in Korea.
Good food, good fun, plenty to eat and plenty left to try next time. Will do this again.
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