Kimbap Korean Restaurant
Where: 68 Adelaide Tambo Drive, Durban North
Open: Tuesday to Sunday 11.30am to 8pm
Call: 082 731 9974
There’s one thing I won’t recommend, and that’s tucking into a bowl of spicy Korean noodles while wearing a white T-shirt. I was so splattered with spicy red sauce I looked like I had just walked off the set of a horror movie.
But the noodles were worth it.
The Glass Guy and I popped into a new Korean restaurant that has recently opened Durban North. It’s hidden in an outbuilding behind Panaji, off the car park that runs between the Indian restaurant and the Mad Italian. There is signage but it’s difficult to see at night. Look for the large looming dark grey building.
Inside it’s like two garages, one with three or four tables for eating, the other the area for food preparation with a counter in between. It’s painted white and the metal chairs squeak on the white tiled floor. There is the bang and clatter of pots and pans from the kitchen, so it’s pretty ambienceless. Outside there are a few tables with stools overlooking the car park, which when we arrived was thick with the scent of Durban herbs. Scooter delivery drivers were in and out. But then in Korea the setting is less important ‒ it’s the food that matters.
The menu is simple. There’s the dish after which the restaurant is named (kim being seaweed and bap, rice). It’s a seaweed roll around a rice salad and a variety of different proteins. Some view it as Korean sushi, but the cognoscenti frown at that. There’s a version with chicken sausage and spicy chicken sausage, another with chilli pickle and an omelette and another with yubu (fried tofu). We opt for the tuna mayo version (R96) with lettuce green beans, pickled radish, carrot and cucumber. They are pleasant, and next time I’ll try one of the spicier versions, but this could have benefited from a dipping sauce.
We also shared Korean dumplings or mandu. These were pork and veg (R78), nice and fresh and flavourful dumped in a spicy soy and sesame seed sauce.
On my first visit here ‒ long story ‒ I had enjoyed their seafood dumplings. But sadly that was all I got to try. On day two the kitchen was still in some disarray, so I had to leave for an appointment before the serious food was sampled. It was those dumplings that made me want to come back and everything was working like clockwork. In fact, dishes were sent out of the kitchen when they were ready. Most of the time we had one lined up.
We enjoyed the crunchy chicken nuggets in a sweet and spicy sauce (R123). This was the famed Korean gochujang sauce with garlic and peanuts. It came with a cabbage salad dressed with pineapple juice. We lapped it all up and were pleased we were spared the dreaded kimchi.
There is a bibimbap, or rice bowl, option topped with seasonal veg, shitake mushrooms and more gochujang sauce. It’s usually topped with a fried egg. A variant on a poke bowl if you must.
Then there was the bowl of ramyeon noodles (the twisty curly ones similar to Japanese Ramen noodles). They were out of the thicker jjajang noodles that evening. We opted for the seafood ramyeon (R179) which was prawns, calamari and mussels in a fiery Korean broth, and enjoyed it so much we splattered broth all over ourselves and the table and each other. Admittedly it’s not the easiest thing to eat with chopsticks.
As with things coming when they were ready, our Korean iced-coffees (R49) only arrived midway through us slurping up noodles. Our waitress did apologise for the delay. No matter, they made for a good dessert. The restaurant is not licensed.
Food: 3 ½
Service: 3
Ambience: 2
The Bill: R574 for two