“It was overwhelming in the best way possible … but so special to see people excited about Korean baking culture.” KungYeon Hwang, pastry chef at the three Michelin-starred Lecture Room & Library at Sketch, saw her glossy cheese crumble salt breads and delicate Korean walnut cakes disappear within hours at Jung Korean Food Festival, over the early May bank holiday weekend. It was the first festival of its kind in the UK.
Day one saw King’s Cross tangled with queues of Londoners eager to try Korean bakes, street food snacks and drinks. Eventually, organisers had to implement a time-slot ticketing system, and many gave up trying to get in. “Everybody was genuinely surprised by how many people showed up,” co-organiser and influencer Rollin Lee tells Broadsheet. “Never in a million years did we expect turnout like this.”
While some vendors made a one-off appearance, the festival’s backbone was made up of established London diners and pop-ups repping top-shelf cocktails, spicy tteokbokki, noodle bowls and Seoul-style pancakes. Here are five of them, and where you can find them across the capital.
Hoho, Broadway Market and Victoria Park Market
The festival’s standout vendor was Hoho, says Lee. Run by couple Jinny Jang and Luke Lehepuu, the east London market stall specialises in hotteok: crisp, chewy pancakes rarely seen in the UK, with savoury combinations like glass noodle and bulgogi, or the original sweet pancake with melted brown sugar and cinnamon. “It’s something you cannot easily find in London and even if you do, no one does it as well as them,” says Lee.
On Saturdays and Sundays Hoho is at Broadway Market. On Sundays it’s also at Victoria Park Market.
@hoho.ldn
Dopi, Bethnal Green
At Jung Festival, Dopi offered a taste of everyday Korean dining, with boiled pork simmered in fragrant house-made broth and bowls of cold spicy noodles. The Shoreditch restaurant channels Korean pochas (lively street pubs) serving dishes designed for sharing. Expect crisp fried chicken, gunmandu (pan-fried dumplings) and glossy japchae (sweet potato noodles).
Dopi, 142 Bethnal Green Road, E2 6DG.
@dopi.london
Hongdae Pocha, Soho
The Soho drinking den has been on Romilly Street for five years – and at Jung Festival, it brought a slice of retro Seoul with pocha-style plates like grilled short-rib patties. Hongdae Pocha is built for communal drinking under neon lights, with snacks including tteokbokki, Hongdae crispy chicken and bulgogi jeongol (mushroom stew) – with soju cocktails, Korean beers and fruit wines rounding out the menu.
Hongdae Pocha, 26 Romilly St, W1D 5AJ.
@hongdae.pochalondon
Ogam Bar, Islington
Cocktail bar Ogam is tucked away in Angel, with owner Tae Yeol Kim behind the bar serving top-shelf cocktails on hand-cut ice. A must-order is the fermented tomato and maesil (Korean green plum) cocktail blended with vodka, plum soju and verjuice. On the tapas menu, beeline for the kimchi and gochujang pork tacos.
Ogam Bar, 10 Chapel Market, N1 9EZ.
@ogam_london
Miss Kim Snacks, various locations
Pantry brands like Miss Kim attracted food shoppers at the festival. Founded by Korean-born, London-based curator Heejin No, who was among the first to bring contemporary Korean art into London galleries, the small-scale brand is now stocked at Selfridges Food Hall and independent grocers across London. Bestsellers include nurungji, the crisp, golden layer of scorched rice at the bottom of a pot reimagined as a snack or stirred into chicken soup, and the crunchy vegan kimchi.
Miss Kim products are stocked at Selfridges Food Hall, Panzer’s Delicatessen St John’s Wood and Kavanagh’s Belsize Park.
@misskimfood
