London’s Korean food scene runs from a Michelin-recognised family kitchen on the edge of Regent’s Canal to New Malden, a Kingston-upon-Thames suburb that’s home to the largest Korean community in Europe and a startling density of barbecue joints and banchan counters. It takes in a Judy Joo fusion spot in the heart of Soho, a queue-out-the-door canteen near Tottenham Court Road covered floor to ceiling in K-pop fan doodles, and a cash-only Finsbury Park favourite that’s quietly been feeding the neighbourhood for over a decade. Here are the eight best Korean restaurants in London worth seeking out in 2026.

Miga’s story starts in New Malden over two decades ago, where chef Hyun Sang Ko — trained by Korean and Japanese master chefs after learning from his grandmother, one of Seoul’s top chefs in the 1970s — first opened a restaurant with the same name. His sons brought Miga to a small single-storey space on Mare Street in 2024, and the family’s history is painted on the wall outside for anyone waiting for a table to read. The restaurant won a Michelin Bib Gourmand within its first year.

The menu is short — around a dozen items — and built around what the open kitchen does best: soy-braised short rib and a beef tartare are the two dishes that come up in nearly every review, alongside a rotating raw fish selection. It’s BYOB, cash-conscious, and squarely a family affair, with dad running the grill and his sons managing the floor.

Miga — 1 Mare Street, Hackney, London E8 4RP | Book via SevenRooms

Jinjuu opened on Kingly Street in 2015, the first solo restaurant from Korean-American chef Judy Joo, who left a career in investment banking to train in Gordon Ramsay’s kitchens before hosting Food Network’s Korean Food Made Simple. The industrial basement dining room — corrugated metal, bare bulbs, Korean street graffiti — spreads across two floors, with a more casual ground-floor bar serving “anju,” Korean food built to go with a drink.

The Korean fried chicken, served with a choice of red gochujang or Jinjuu’s own black soy sauce, is the dish the restaurant is best known for, alongside kimchi fries and a trio of mandoo dumplings that includes an unlikely but well-loved Philly cheesesteak filling. Set lunch menus running two to four courses make it one of the more accessible ways into central London’s fine-dining-adjacent Korean scene.

Jinjuu — 15 Kingly Street, Soho, London W1B 5PS | jinjuu.com

New Malden is home to the largest concentration of Koreans in Europe, and its high street carries an almost bewildering density of restaurants, bakeries and grocers as a result. Imone — whose name means “Aunt’s place” in Korean — has become one of the most recommended stops on that strip, a cosy family-run restaurant that’s since expanded next door into a dedicated Imone BBQ.

The seafood pancake is the dish most reviewers single out for its size and flavour, while the hot stone bibimbap and goon mandoo (pan-fried dumplings) round out the dishes regulars order without needing to check the menu. It’s unpretentious and reasonably priced even by New Malden’s already competitive standards, which is a genuinely high bar.

Imone — 169 High Street, New Malden, KT3 4BH | imonelondon.com

On The Bab’s original Old Street restaurant helped introduce Seoul-style street food to a wider London audience, and it’s since grown into a small chain across the City and Covent Garden while keeping the same no-bookings, queue-if-you-have-to approach at its Shoreditch home. The name is a nod to Korean slang for “with rice,” and the menu leans into hearty, shareable comfort food rather than formal dining.

The Korean fried chicken bao buns are the dish most associated with the brand, alongside a kimchi bacon paella that’s become something of a signature twist on a classic. Expect a wait at peak times — the Shoreditch branch doesn’t take reservations — but turnover is quick once you’re seated.

On The Bab — 305 Old Street, Shoreditch, London EC1V 9LA | onthebab.com

A two-minute walk from Tottenham Court Road station, Seoul Bakery has been an independent, family-run fixture for more than 19 years, and its walls — covered floor to ceiling in doodles, K-pop declarations and messages left by students over the better part of two decades — are as much a part of the experience as the food. It’s tiny, cash-conscious, and reliably has a queue out the door by early evening.

The bibimbap, available in chicken, beef, tuna or vegetable versions, is the dish most closely associated with the restaurant, alongside a bulgogi gimbap and a seafood pajeon pancake that regularly appear in “best cheap eats” round-ups of the area. Mains run £6–£9, making it one of the better-value sit-down meals in central London.

Seoul Bakery — 14 Great Russell Street, Fitzrovia, London WC1B 3NH | Website

Tucked just off Golden Square, Arang has been serving Korean barbecue in the same Soho spot for close to two decades, with tabletop grills built into futuristic-looking tables that regulars have grown fond of despite — or perhaps because of — the restaurant’s slightly dated décor. It’s a Halal-friendly menu, which makes it a rarer option among London’s Korean BBQ spots.

Bulgogi and kalbi (sweet, savoury grilled short ribs) are the two dishes most ordered off the barbecue section, while japchae stir-fried glass noodles and a generous spread of complimentary banchan round out a typical order. Set menus are available for anyone unsure where to start, and staff are generally happy to talk newcomers through the tabletop grilling process.

Arang — 9 Golden Square, Soho, London W1F 9HZ | Menu & booking

Opened in 2011 by Korean entrepreneur Dong Hyun Kim, Kimchee helped put High Holborn — sometimes nicknamed central London’s own “Little Korea” for its Korean restaurants and offices — on the capital’s Korean food map. The dining room is designed around a large open kitchen where the tabletop barbecue is prepared, with dark wood panelling and a water feature giving the busy, canteen-style room a calmer edge.

The table BBQ menu, including a Japanese wagyu beef bulgogi, is the restaurant’s main draw, while the kimchee itself — pickled cabbage with chilli and garlic — arrives at every table as a starting point. A basement cocktail bar, Kimchee Bar, gives the restaurant a second life after the kitchen service winds down.

Kimchee — 71 High Holborn, London WC1V 6EA | kimchee.uk.com

Tucked into a quiet stretch of Stroud Green Road between Finsbury Park station and Crouch Hill, Dotori has been a family-run neighbourhood favourite for more than ten years, blending Korean and Japanese cooking on one menu — a combination the restaurant’s regulars have come to trust despite the general rule that fusion Asian menus are usually a red flag. It’s cash-only and walk-in for smaller groups, with reservations only accepted for parties of three or more.

The set menu for two, mixing sushi, a seafood pancake, crispy chicken and beef bulgogi, is the easiest way to see the kitchen’s range in one sitting, while regulars single out the dragon roll and a red-hot bowl of bibimbap that closes out most meals here. The room is small, bustling and unpretentious — exactly the kind of place that survives on repeat local custom rather than passing footfall.

Dotori — 3 Stroud Green Road, Finsbury Park, London N4 2DQ | Book via OpenTable