Co&KO Korean Restaurant Review – Soho
Co&KO is a Korean restaurant situated in London’s Soho district. Using authentic Korean techniques and the freshest ingredients their mission is to allow diners to experience the essence of Korean food culture. Korean cuisine relies on a variety of sauces pastes, some of which include Gonchugaru, Huchu, Gangjang, and Chamgireum. Korean food is bold, unique and as a big fan myself it’s a cuisine I’d highly recommend exploring.
Co&KO, is a small but quaint and charming restaurant that after visiting I would class as a hidden gem. Located on a side road between Oxford Circus and Tottenham Court Road I would recommend booking in advance. We booked our table via OpenTable using the Soho location search. Whilst they do acceptable walk-ins, we went on a Friday evening and there wasn’t a single table free. There was a real intimate and cosy vibe within the restaurant and the staff were welcoming and friendly.
The menu has a wide range of dishes available including meat, fish, vegetarian, and vegan options. Between two of us we ordered seven dishes from the menu and chose a bottle of Prosecco to pair them with. The whole bill came to £93, which included a tip, which I found really reasonable. Most dishes range in cost from £2 and £14.50 but there are a few specials that cost more. Three chef special selections and two mixed platters, which to be fair you would expect to cost more.
We chose a selection of dishes from across the different sections of the menu. To start with we went for Chicken Fried Dumplings and Grilled Scallops. You get three dumplings, drizzled with a Mixed Co&KO Sweet Chilli sauce and sesame seeds. You also get three scallops, served on the shell sitting in Co&KO’s Seafood sauce which was delicious. We had both ordered some pitta bread on the side and I kept the sauce to dip it into. Literally made sure I moped up every last drop of it!
Additionally, we ordered K-Pop Chicken and Japchae. The K-Pop Chicken comes in three different flavours, original, soy, and spicy and I opted for the soy flavouring. Soaked in a honey-sweet soy sauce, the meat was tender, succulent, and really tasty. Japchae is a dish of stir friend glass noodles with vegetables. It’s a very popular Korean dish which is one of the most south after dishes during the Korean festive holidays. Typically made from just two ingredients – sweet potato starch and water – they are naturally gluten free.
Our final selection was one of the Chef Special Selections; So-Galbi. A type of grilled dish in Korean cuisine, Galbi is the Korean word for rib. Served atop a leaf on a tabletop grill with sweet potato crisps it’s a spectacular dish. We may have ordered one dish too many, but everything was so delicious that I’m glad we overordered. I genuinely couldn’t pick a favourite as all our selections were so appetising!
Co&KO has such a great selection of food that I plan on returning multiple times. First to try a different selection from the menu and then to go back and reorder all my favourites. I think it was really good value for money and has something for everyone to try out. All the dishes were beautifully prepared, and the portion sizes were just right. You could see the staff were very proud of their restaurant and the service was prompt. If you are looking for a new restaurant to try out and you’re a fan of Korean cuisine definitely get yourself booked into Co&KO. I’ve already recommended it to friends and family!
