Song Que Cafe

[magnolia]

Wonderful, but unless I'm losing my sight (which is possible considering......) is STILL DO NOT HAVE THE ADDRESS OF HUNAN, and I desperately want to go!!! Thanks.

Peter the address of Hunan is 51 Pimplico Road SW1 - phone is 7730 5712

[Akiko]

Thomas,

Chris and I went for lunch at han kang today. You are right, it is solid dependable versions of classic Korean dishes. Not amazing but good korean food at reasonable prices. We had spicy beef soups, chap chae (vermicelli noodles with shredded beef and veggies), and bibimbap. Loved the pan chan of kim chie and spicy potatoes.

Why is it that these dependable basic dishes can vary so much from place to place? Han Kang's bibimbap and chap chae were good but lacked that "wow" this is so flavourful sensation that those dishes can have. I wonder what secret ingredient or ingredients make the difference between good and mindblowingly great.

[Thomas Secor]

I hope it was worth the trip, if not mindblowing. As I mentioned, its a good neighborhood place, but I am not sure how far I would travel to get there.

Brings up a funny story though, the last time I went by Han Kang was to get takeout, and I was absolutely ravenous. I picked up the food and hurried home, smelling the bulgogi through the bag all the way and already anticipating the first mouthful of kimchi. I rushed upstairs and tore the bag open. I then decided that since my wife was out of the house, I could indulge in a favorite activity I am usually forbidden, and that is a cigarette before my meal. Of course, a wife who doesnt want one to smoke at all, is certainly not understanding about smoking in the house, so I made my way downstairs cigarette in one hand, beer in the other, putting my much anticipated meal on hold for five minutes. Well, of course, as soon as I got outside and heard the door click behind me, I realized I had forgotten my keys. No money, no keys, half a beer, half a cigarette, and the realization that a feast was waiting upstairs in an empty but well-lit apartment.

[Akiko]

Thomas,

How horrible! Especially after having to go home being able to smell the delicious food... I might have cried!

And all for a smoke

I am the person who cannot wait to get home and finishes all her mcdonald's fries before the commute is over. I also, love an occasional cigarette (most enjoyed when sitting over drinks or coffee with girlfriends) and this has been highly discouraged by my husband. I would be in a great deal of trouble if I ever lit up in the flat... which is why I have been so overjoyed that our new one has a balcony!

Han Kang is a great central find for reliable korean... thanks,

[wgallois]

Thanks to Simon and others for recommending Hunan. Went there for the first time on Saturday and had a very enjoyable meal. Having read this and other threads I prepared our party by telling them that they had to be very cheery with Mr Peng and to stress that we wanted 'adventurous' and 'exciting' dishes. This enthusiasm seemed to do the trick as we were served a lot of good dishes and were impressed with two aspects of the service: firstly, they really looked after the two vegetarians in the group and ensured that they had as wide a range of dishes as the omnivores, and, secondly, there seemed to be a high staff-customer ratio, so all our needs were looked after very quickly.

Since it was a Saturday night we really were looking for entertainment as well as a good meal, and Mr Peng did not disappoint on that front. Having said that I wasn't the one who was fed dishes like a child... This isn't a complaint, but an observation on the kind of experience one might have there.

Since we didn't see a menu, I can't really speak in much detail about the dishes, other than to say that they were much better at the beginning of the evening than the end. The dishes served as small portions/amuses tended to be much more interesting than the more generic Chinese offerings of meat/fish/vegetables in sauce that predominated later (pudding was also pretty unmemorable). Four standouts were the green beans in tempura, the lettuce wraps of diced, chillied vegetables, the crunchy noodles with egg and chilli, and the spinach and coriander parcels wrapped in sesame seeds. Most of the best dishes did come with a fair amount of chilli (as Simon alluded to), so I would make sure that you let them know if you like hot food.

Mr Peng asked where we had heard about the restaurant, but didn't seem to be up on egullet! One final plus for the restaurant is that they will feed you until you are full, and were quite happy to bring dishes until we had decided we were done (stuffed emoticon). The food was about twenty eight pounds each, as reported in the new Time Out guide.

[Simon Majumdar]

I am thrilled you enjoyed. It is not to everyone's taste given the manner of ordering and the spicyness of hunanese food, but I do enjoy it very much

perhaps the site for an Egullet dinner next year??

S