Han Kang

Han Kang
16 Hanway Street
W1T 1UE

Date of Last Visit: Saturday, April 4

The Victim: Me

The Damage: £10

It's never a good sign when I can't remember the name of the restaurant I had lunch at. I can remember the name of the restaurant I wanted to have lunch at–Kikuchi–because Q. and Nuno were giving it rave reviews the other night at dinner. So I trekked all the way over to Kikuchi on a Saturday afternoon, only to find out they were closed.

And I was starving.

So the Korean next door it was.

The Entrance: It's not a big restaurant. Two tables are full, and one table looks like they might know the owners. Service is prompt and efficient. The waitress brings me the lunch menu, I pick the bibimbap, and within five minutes, the dish is in front of me.

That always makes me the tiniest bit suspicious. Five minutes? Hey, in some ways, I'm not complaining. But really, it suggests a level of pre-preparation that I'm not sure I want.

And I'm right. The beef is stringy and gray. The rest of the dish is cold as in "I've been sitting in a refrigerator for ages, waiting for you to order me." Only the egg is fresh.

The redeeming quality is that mysteriously delicious red sauce. Packed with what I think is sesame oil. I dump that all over my dish, stir it up, and yaozah! Great stuff.

The Verdict: Serviceable. And a good deal at £10. But my review is just…eh.