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Dotori

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3 Stroud Green Road, N4 2DQ Full details & map

Restaurant: Korean

 
© Tricia de Courcy Ling

Time Out says   16 Users say 4/5 Rate it

Posted: Aug 24 2011

This Korean-Japanese hybrid is hugely popular with locals, so it's wise to book ahead Dotori's interior is perfectly serviceable, with tables clustered closely together in a small but fairly attractive space.

However, it's the food that takes centre stage, the Korean/Japanese hybrid menu happily mixing sashimi and sushi with kimchi and bibambap. Shrimp tempura donburi was one of the best examples we've eaten of this battered shellfish on rice dish, while yukhoe tolsot bibimbap (thin slices of raw beef topped with a raw egg on rice, served in a fiercely hot stone bibambap dish) was delicious, the mixed ingredients continuing to cook while we ate, to produce a scrumptious layer of crispy, sesame oil-flavoured rice on the bottom of the bowl.

A shared dish of japch'ae - dangmyeon noodles with fried beef and vegetables - was top-notch, the sweetness perfectly balanced against a panoply of more complex flavours.

With two sides of kimchi and soft drinks, the bill for two came to little more than £25, making this one of the dining bargains of the year. Service can get rather haphazard when the restaurant is full, and if you show up without booking you may be in for a long wait, but the food is worth it.

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Dotori details

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Address

Dotori

3 Stroud Green Road N4 2DQ

Transport Finsbury Park tube/rail

Telephone

020 7263 3562

Lunch served noon-3pm, dinner served 5-10.30pm Tue-Sun

Main courses £6.50-£32. Set lunch £6.50-£7 2 courses. Set meal £12-£25

Credit cards MC, V

Facilities

Babies and children admitted, Booking advisable ( dinner ), Takeaway service, Vegetarian menu

Dotori map

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Comments & ratings 4/5 (Average of 16 ratings)

By Ronan - Apr 14 2012

Great food and very helpful staff. For particular value for money, the set meals are recommended,. If you don't like sushi, try the Korean set meal. Great value, great taste, great sauces and dressings! We can't stop going back! Also Asahi and Hite if you need a beer :-)

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By Valerie - Mar 27 2012
1/5

The food is good, but the service so poor that the experience was thoroughly miserable. Will not be going back.

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By Robin - Mar 27 2012
1/5

Great food, but let down by poor service. It's not that the staff aren't friendly, but they don't seem to mind providing inattentive service. In the past I have had to wait quite a long time for food and had an order for my girlfriend turn up ten minutes after my food arrived. On my last visit, I waited a good 5 mins by the door being ignored by staff. When I approached a waitress, they told me that my reserved table was not available and I would have to wait for a table to become free. After waiting a while, my girlfriend and I left. We explained why we were going to a waitress and she didn't seem that bothered that customers were walking out. I think I'm going to give up on this restaurant. Dotori could be so much better if its staff just tried.

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By Dani - Jan 2 2012
5/5

great Korean food at great price! Highly recommended. Especially their Korean set meal

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By ellen Grimås - Dec 18 2011
5/5

Food is incredible, some of the best I've eaten in London

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By anonymous - Aug 1 2011
1/5

The food was good but the service was so poor that I am not sure if I want to return.

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By Elle - Jun 18 2011
5/5

Some of the best and most reasonable Korean food I've eaten in London. Bulgoggi was melt in your mouth. Lovely service and pretty space. There was a queue out the door after we sat down on a saturday eve. Fantastic!

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By Sim - May 3 2011
5/5

Excellent restaurant, our favourite

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By Phy - Mar 17 2011
4/5

Excellent food, very authentic atmosphere. And it's too popular! So if you want to go there, even on a week night, you need to book at least 2 days in advance - we called on Wed to book for Thur night and can only get a 9pm slot.

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By Stephen - Dec 13 2010

Excellent food - cooked with soul - £12 per head for 5 course set menu - love it!

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By Maura - Aug 5 2010

Perhaps the best restaurant in London. Reasonably priced, completely gorgeous food and fantastic menu. The staff are lovely and the set menu is insane value for money. £23 for two people to eat gyoza, tempura, noodles, sushi AND Babimbap.

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By Rehana - Aug 4 2010

Went along with four others to this cosy little restaurant just a stones throw from Finsbury Park Station. The service was excellent; our food came out in perfectly reasonable time and it was completely delicious. I've been a couple of times now and always gone for the Korean menu - no disappointments as yet. The prices are very reasonable and I can see myself becoming a frequent visitor.

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By Laura Conway - Jul 18 2010

The best korean i have ever eaten. Fabulous food, atmosphere and so authentic. This has to be my new favourite restaurant!

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By Claire - Jun 28 2010

Have been there once and also ordered mostly from the korean menu which was outstanding but the sushi was great too. We went on a very busy Friday evening but the food came out promptly for each course so hopefully this is a sign that the timings have been sorted. Incredibly good value and a wonderful buzzy atmosphere. As a longtime resident of N4, Dotori is a much welcomed addition to great local restaurants such as Petek, Jai Krishnas and Chez Liline.

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By John Thomson - Jun 23 2010

Essentially this is a Korean resturant and if you want the best food they have order the Korean food. Dolsot Bibimbab is as good as it gets!

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By Joseph - May 18 2010

Dotori is amazing, staff are always trying their best in my eyes and sometimes sushi can be a little late but ive been to so many restaurants where I've waited over an hour to get my mains. I've seen no other restaurant that really put their effort into their food at such reasonable price. Such a gem.

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By John - Apr 24 2010

Dotori is like food lottery. If you are one of the ones the chef chooses at random to be served first you are lucky. If not you will have quite a wait. Having been three times we have waited 45min - 1hrs for our food, all times. I never make complaints at a restaurant, but this time I was compelled as I really wanted to enjoy my meal. Staff seem to do little or nothing to hurry things along and explained it was up to the chef what order the food came in. A group of people who had come in after us got their food before us, and the second course AND the desert before we got any food. Staff were rude and insulting.

The food was bland when it did arrive, and if you are looking for good Japanese there are a host of places that do it for cheaper in London. I dont mind waiting for good food but this was not. We live in Finsbury Park but I would happy take a trip into Soho or to any of the other areas with restaurants we know and love to AVOID this place.

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By el sayed evans - Mar 27 2010

great food and service, sushi was excellent and reasonably priced. Would recommened the rainbow roll, only down point was when a guy stuck his hand through the door a stole a little boys ipod while he was eating.

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