At Calong, Joo and Sujin Won bring European flourishes to dishes from their native Korea. While Calong started as a pop-up in 2021, it’s embedded itself as a firm neighbourhood favourite since opening in Stoke Newington in early 2025 – though its reputation has expanded well beyond Hackney’s borders thanks to its sharp cooking (think kimchi fritters, pork rillette ssam and golden fried chicken) plus a low-intervention wine list that emphasises small producers, and a recent Michelin Bib Gourmand.
Between them, the Wons have worked around the capital, including at Galvin at Windows (where Joo was head chef), The Wolseley and The Delaunay, and Londoners come from all over to try their astute take on Korean dining. But where do they go on a day or night off?
What’s getting you excited about eating out in London right now?
We’re really excited by how much London’s bakery scene has grown recently. There’s a lot more focus on quality, fermentation and seasonal ingredients, and it feels like people are becoming more interested in simple things done really well. We also love seeing more chefs blending their own cultural backgrounds into modern cooking in a natural way, rather than following trends.
Calong’s crisp and craggy fried chicken is rightly celebrated. But where else in London do you love for fried chicken?
The fish sauce chilli wings at Smoking Goat. It’s a massive fried wing coated in a sweet sticky glaze – sweet, sour and spicy all at once, with a proper chilli kick. It is our favourite snack to start a meal.
What’s your go-to for a quick takeaway dinner?
We love roast duck and crispy pork belly with rice from Three Uncles. It’s comforting, delicious and so filling. Ordering extra soy and rock sugar sauce and ginger and spring onion is essential. It’s basically Joo’s ideal lazy day-off dinner.
Where do you head for lunch on the go?
We often stop by bakeries or sandwich shops around east London. The falafel from Pockets in London Fields is always worth the queue. We also love grabbing sandwiches from E5 Bakehouse or Rogue Sarnies around Hackney, or Mondo Sando when we’re in Camberwell.
What’s your favourite coffee spot?
Allpress on Dalston Lane is somewhere we go back to a lot. We also really like Watchhouse near Tower Bridge – but only for drinking in, never takeaway. Somehow coffee always tastes better when you slow down properly and sit with it.
It’s date night. Where are you booking?
Probably somewhere relaxed where we can share plates and stay for a long time. We love Levan in Peckham because it feels lively but still intimate and comfortable. Tempo in Bethnal Green has a really thoughtful atmosphere and cooking style that we enjoy, and Rogues on Hackney Road is somewhere we always feel relaxed – great food without ever feeling too formal or complicated.
Where do you take out-of-towners?
We usually try to show them a mix of old and new London. Maybe Borough Market during the day, then dinner somewhere in east London. We love taking people to neighbourhood restaurants that feel personal and genuinely local rather than just famous places.
Your favourite breakfast spot?
Lately we’ve been going to Good as Gold in Brockley quite a lot. It’s the kind of place we love: really good coffee, friendly people and a relaxed neighbourhood atmosphere. It feels very genuine and unpretentious.
Where do you buy groceries?
We shop everywhere depending on what we need – especially local greengrocers that focus on seasonal vegetables. There are some great places around London Fields, Stoke Newington Church Street and Borough Market. For Korean ingredients we usually go to Oseyo. We like going to Borough Market for fresh fish, and for meat we love using our supplier, Swaledale. We enjoy mixing seasonal British produce with Korean ingredients both at home and [at Calong].
What’s a hidden gem more Londoners should know about?
There aren’t really many hidden gems in London anymore, because people seem to know everything now. But if we had to pick one, we’d probably say a small Korean restaurant in Putney called Sodaeng. It might not be a hidden gem for locals, but we really like how humble and consistent it is. The menu is quite simple and includes dishes you can find at other Korean restaurants, but the flavours are always good and comforting. If it were closer to where we live, we’d probably go a couple of times a month on our days off.
What’s your favourite London sweet treat?
The custard bun from Buns From Home. It’s filled with an almost dangerous amount of custard cream – definitely heart-attack level – but somehow you never get bored of it. So simple and so satisfying.
Tell us your bucket-list restaurant.
Mingles in Seoul is somewhere very special to us. We visited when it was still in its earlier basement space, and it’s been amazing watching the restaurant evolve over the years. Earlier on the cooking felt more European-influenced, but now it feels much more authentically Korean while still keeping a very refined modern elegance. We would really love to visit again, especially now that they have three Michelin stars.
Le Suquet by Sébastien Bras in Laguiole is another dream restaurant for us. Michel Bras was a huge inspiration when we were young chefs, and now seeing his son Sébastien Bras carry on his father’s legacy in his own way feels incredibly meaningful. Staying there, experiencing the landscape and having a meal at the restaurant has always been something we’ve dreamed about.
