Korean: Polo

56 St. Giles High Street
WC2H 8LH
020 7379 3781 

Date of Last Visit: Wednesday, September 5, 2007

The Damage: £10

The Victim: Me, myself, and I

The Background: Tube strike. Hair appointment in Central London. Bus not moving. Too many people on street. Keep. Bumping. Into. People. Arrrggh. Must get away from madness. Must get out of the way until city calms down.

Well...now it is 7 p.m....I could have dinner somewhere...

And well...Team China did tell me about Centre Point and the restaurants around there.

Hmmm...Korean. I love Korean. Did I mention that I love Korean? This place looks fun...

The Entrance: Hello! Hello! Welcome! Welcome. Where would you like to sit?

I take the bar. I ask for tea and they bring me COLD tea in a 1/2 pint glass. This wasn't what I was expecting but it is PERFECT. Because I am all hot and worked up from the madness on the street. And they keep bringing me refills. It's fantastic.

I like my seat at the little bar. There are about 8 seats that wrap around. I can't really see what's going on behind the bar, but I can talk to the server and otherwise observe. The place is packed with a student crowd. (All two other tables, that is. Maybe three tables. I forget.) I hear lots of Korean. (Or well, I hear lots of "chuseyo"s and "gamsamnedas." Maybe they too, like me, just like to throw around the random "chuseyo" and "gamsamneda.")

The Food: I debate the pancake. I love love love Korean pancakes. But I sorta want some spicy tofu soup. The guy behind the bar tells me both would be too much, so I stick with the soup. It arrives in a cool eartheware type of bowl. And it is indeed spicy. It's got a good amount of tofu in it and a great amount of seafood. There's a whole little crab in there. And two shrimp. And 5 clams. I am somewhat regretful because it's a bit hot out and this hot and spicy soup is just making me hotter, and plus I learn later that I've got the flu so I'm even hotter than normal. (And hence all the extra crankiness.) But that doesn't prevent me from enjoying the deliciousness.

The Verdict: My new post-Oxford Street hangout. Love it. Love them. Gamsamneda.