Restaurants

Hankook has an unpromising location, tucked between an accountancy firm and an air-conditioner dealer in a New Malden industrial complex. But while it doesn’t look much from the outside, step through the doors and you’ll find a surprisingly cosy wood-lined dining hall and a row of traditional banquet rooms, complete with low tables and sliding paper screens. The decor doesn’t quite disguise the fact that this used to be an industrial unit, but waiting staff aim to please and the menu includes some interesting dishes imported from Korea by way of Los Angeles. Our favourite dish here is the LA-style ribs, cut into thin slices across the bone to add extra flavour on the barbecue; order the ribs as a stand-alone dish or with a bubbling bowl of seafood chigae. You’ll need deep pockets to sample the house speciality: fresh turbot and lobster sashimi. Live lobsters and turbots splash around in an aquarium at the back of the restaurant, seemingly unaware of their fate. Because of the location, Hankook tends to be fairly quiet for lunch, but gets busier in the evenings.

Time Out Eating & Drinking Guide 2009