Kimchee To Go

Surprised how good this was. When it says ‘to go’ it means fast food… express if you will. But this Korean joint had some nice hot meals I craved. Namely the sweet and sour chicken. Popped in for a quick eat and it didn’t disappoint. Less of a sit down place though to stay for more than 30 mins. But conveniently placed on the Strand.

Another one of those asian «fast food» chain of restaurants/​take away places which are everywhere in London nowadays — this is one korean.
A friend had recommended it to me, but mentioned the restaurant (in Holborn) as opposed to the take away ones. In dear need of a quick & cheap meal whilst out and abouts the other weeks, we decided to give it a try. Didnt have any of the ready made take away dishes, but ordered from kitchen instead.
We tried the chicken & the bimbap. Oh my gosh, the latter was really amazing. Coming out pipping hot from kitchen, hot rice with lots of different sides (beef, mushrooms, courgettes etc) and a yolk for you to mix up together. Oh so good! Had nevertried that dish there or anywhere but this has now made me determined to eat more of that!!!

Got spicy beef kimchi rolls. There here bland with too much rice and no spice at all. I asked for a spicy sauce to make my rolls a bit more flavorful and got charged for it.

Had high hopes for this, but the food was a disappointment. The «spicy beef» kimbap was unfortunate; the rice was so mushy it was practically a paste, the beef didn’t have any spicy flavour at all and the other ingredients were overly sweet and watery. The tofu bibimbap was decent, but their gochujang sauce lacked the punch of real gochujang. Japchae, though surprisingly cold, was not bad.

Never having had Korean food before I opted for the spicy chicken Dosirak which came beautifully presented in a bento-​style box containing a large portion of spicy chicken, a side of rice, two gyoza and half a boiled egg. Back at my desk I opened my box of delights and tucked in. The spicy chicken was, well, spicy! The dumplings were a tad glutinous as they had begun to cool, in fact most of the meal was colder than I would have liked it to be probably from sitting in a heated area for a while rather than being prepared fresh for me. The boiled egg was a touch random but it made a nice change from my usual lunch!

Had quick stop to grab some food before a show. Ok to go. Of course, don’t expect great Korean food by taking the small already cooked boxes but for the price it’s ok and different from others fast foods. I’ll try somthing else from the menu next time :)

Stopped in for a quick bite before shopping. I have to say it’s a pleasant place to sit — stylish décor, well-​designed space, wifi. Menu is a hybrid of pre-​packed to-​go items and plated dishes that you order.
I had kimchee jigae and a plate of kimchee and other ban chan items — cucumbers, sprouts, radish.
Food was OK — definitely watered down flavors. The jigae needed salt and spice. The kimchee tasted more salted than fermented and lacked the funk that really good kimchee has (but the upside was I then did not spend the afternoon spelling like the funk that really good kimchee has). Same with the other veggies — I suppose one could charitably describe the flavor as «delicate,» which is all well and good but not particularly authentically Korean.
Presentation exceeded expectations for a fast-​food joint. My kimchee came beautifully stacked on a pretty plate and the soup was in a nice bowl. Prices were very reasonable — around £13 for soup, two plates of kimchee (yes, I like my fermented cabbage) and a plum tea.
On the whole, Kimchee To Go is an acceptable choice for a quick, reasonably-​priced bite to eat if you are in the Strand/​Covent Garden area.

Nice alternative to other fast food takeaway places. Interesting mix of options and seemingly with healthy ingredients. My favourite being the aloe Vera drink (£1.45) which is refreshing as well as having the interesting texture of bits. My gripes would be that there is no info on sit in prices — so I ended up paying more for my dish than on display ticket and that there was very little tofu in the dish (just 3 strips as you can see in pic) overly peppered for me but still interesting flavours and a decent amount of noodles.

Hrmph. I had my sights on Kimchee for a while now. I love the idea of Korean fast food. However, this was a disappointment. I definitely got the wrong thing.
I wanted something veggie and healthy so opted for the veg maki salad. Maki were essentially summer rolls that came with a very sweet dipping sauce. They sat on a bed of undressed lettuce and a tea egg. Asians cuisine does veggie stuff great but this was not anything close to what it could (should!) have been. While fresh and crunchy, it was also boring and unexciting. Oh well.

2 Thumbs up for a fast food Korean joint. Ok guys — can’t expect gourmet LA Ktown status Korean food as it is a quick take out spot. For the price and quality, it’s definitely worth it for a quite healthy lunch. Kimbap & Kimchi jjigae for less than GBP 7. Can’t beat that in London! Will definitely return to try other items. I hope they open more of these around the city!

You know the place is a disappointment when 3 people ask for refunds in the span of an hour you’re there.
The chicken bibimbap had tiny 1 cm cubes of chicken. When you advertise chicken on your menu you better put some chicken in there.
Took about 30 minutes to get our drinks, when we were pretty much halfway done already.
It’s disappointing how bad the service is, when their sister restaurant is so much better. The food is decent too, so it’s a shame how bad the service is. If you do eat here, get the takeaway food instead.

It is a decent fast food place. I like the store design which is quite clean and chic. As the name suggests, the food is Korean, which is not a very popular cuisine in London. I have had some really good Korean food in the US, so this restaurant definitely doesn’t measure up to authentic Korean, however, it is adequate for being a fast food place. You can have made-​to-​order hot dishes like Bibimbap, noodles etc and if you are in a hurry, you can pick up rolls and cold dishes in the cold case. I had Bibimbap last time, and it was quite blend, to be honest. However, the food packaging is attractive, so I think I will give the cold case a chance next time.

Good if you don’t wanna wait in «queue a.k.a. lines for my fellow Americans «for food. However, be warned it was very mediocre. Like very.

Decent Korean food here for cheap (by London standard) price. Gimbab was good, as was bimbimbab. The fried chicken was only okay.
Staff/​service was slightly off as the non-​Korean cashier tried to tell me I was wrong about how to eat one of the korean foods (even though I am korean). Atmosphere was clean and pleasant for sure.
A-​okay is right!

Kimchee-​land is fantastic for a quick bite to eat (either at lunch, or after work pre-​theatre etc.)
— It looks really trendy, so I guess it wouldn’t be embarrassing to bring a date here for speedy food.
— The salads are pretty amazing! Mine was so huge that I struggled to finish it! I mean a SALAD that was so huge i couldn’t fit it all in my belly?! That has never happened to me before!
— The meal deals are especially good value, but they are also massive.
— This is never going to be as good as freshly made Korean food, so don’t compare it to that, BUT it is excellent as a fast food option.
* I love that Yee Gan said Korean food is a «nice variation of Japanese food» …that made me smile. I’ve heard my boyfriend describe Korean food as «the meaty, spicy version of Japanese food»…

Though I’m not the biggrest fan of fast food, sometimes the fast part is paramount when seeking out food
I’ve been impressed by the increasing variety of fast food available in London. Some of my favourites include Kati roll, Mooli’s and Pitt Cue
While hurrying to the theatre, I decided to give Kimchee To Go a go. They offer Korean food, which is a nice variation of Japanese food. I love exploring new cuisines and it was nice poking round the cabinets, just looking at unfamiliar dishes
I got the meal deal, which was tremendous value at £8.95. They make their soup noodle bowls to order. I went for spicy, which was perfect for warming me up on a cold day. The sweet and spicy chicken side was yummy though the batter wasn’t titlly crunchy due to having been boxed up. The meal deal was completed with a cup of aloe vera drink
I will return when I next need fast food. Or perhaps, even when I don’t…

The quality can vary a bit from day to day. It seems like every few weeks they change things about the standard salads, like the dressing and rice spices. In general, though one of the best lunch places on the strand for healthy asian food. The tofu salad and the kimchee sides are my favourite.

Branch of the famous Kimchee restaurant. The takeaways is amazing and it’s obvious that it takes after its bigger brother’s delicious and enormous dishes.

Good for a quick bite. Selected the beef bibimbap. Ingredients were fresh and tasty. The spicy red pepper paste was sweet and had the right level of heat. Generous portion of rice was added to the dish.

I was walking down the Strand one night and straight away noticed the bright green signage and knew straight away that it looked like another branch of Kimchee. I wasn’t a very big fan of the restaurant food in Holborn but I gotta give it to their designers as it’s a stunning space. When I looked up the info and found out it was more of a fancier Wasabi with Korean fast food dishes.
Okay, so I might’ve gotten a bit excited about this place… I stopped by for lunch the very next day. The space is so nice for a takeaway kinda joint — funnily enough the same people that run wasabi manages kimchee as well. There is a cold food section that includes kimbap (love it!!), bibimbap, salads etc and then there’s a variety of hot food like doshirak and fried udon. They also have hot noodle soups that you can order and they’ll make it to order. I don’t know if I’d ever make it to breakfast here but they have juk!!!
Prices are reasonable — given that it’s only a little bit more than what you’d spend at Wasabi and food is so much tastier.
My lunch options just got so much better now that I have Kimchee to go.

Going on the opening day of this restaurant was a similar experience when going to the opening of their main restaurant in Holbornchaos! I guess they havent learned from the poor PR they go from the Holborn opening.
Having waited for 5 minutes my lunch, after it was given out to two customers who had ordered after me, seemingly not having a process in place for giving out the meals in order of purchase.
It is a shame that they do not keep to their heritage of serving pork dishes which Korean food is famous for but to go for the usual chicken, beef or tofu is a shame. I had a spicy noodle soup which was better then its competitor across the road which is Itsu.
I think once they have learnt how to run a high volume takeaway operation and ensure better customer flow through the store, they have tables blocking where people queue, it could be quite good.
I will give it one more chance when it has calmed down and hope they bring pork onto the menu!