The Eatery: 305 Old Street, London, EC1V 9LA
The Site: http://onthebab.com/
The Companion: cheeky date before a few drinks on Old Street!
The Dolla: £15-£20 a head
MCM Rating: 4/5
It's a rare occurrence for me to venture to the depths of East London from nappy valley but when I do I remember why everybody else does! On the Bab serves up tasty Korean street food - it's casual, unassuming and the babs weren't too bad either.
First things first, the drinks menu definitely met the needs of my sad dry Jan! Great selection of teas and non-alcoholic cocktails - the OMG (preserved ginger, honey and lemonade) was awesome. There were also some great Soju (rice liquor) based cocktails that I'll definitely be going back for.
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| Sweet and Spicy YangYum Chicken with crushed peanuts |
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| Kimchi Bokeum Bab- Korean style kimchi bacon paella with a fried egg on top |
There's a pretty extensive selection of mains to choose from; either bulgogi beef, spicy chicken, spicy pork or vegetable fritters - 'on the rice', 'on the soup noodle' or 'on the bun'. Each dish we had was full of flavour and had a pretty spicy kick- maybe not the best choice of restaurant if you're not good with spice. I was loving the addition of the perfectly fried egg on top that you eventually mix into your food.
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| Bibimbab: spicy pork on rice with a fried egg, vegetables mixed with gochujang |
It can feel like a bit of a gamble picking from this menu if you don't know a huge amount about Korean food...I felt like a bit of a winner when I got my Traditional Bibimbab with spicy pork, fried egg, vegetables and rice - add some Kimchi if you're hungry and haven't tried it before!
The bottom line: tasty food, staff a little busy and distracted but a good little buzzy gem worth trying.
