On The Bab

This place was recommended by a friend and I wasn’t disappointed. Wow never eaten Korean food before but this place was amazing. As there were a few of us got to share some dishes. The Korean fried chicken was divine — half of them were ginger the other half sweet spicy. I also had the spicy pork on the noodles soup — was just oh my gosh. The egg in there was lovely and spices just right for me. We also tried the bulgogi beef on rice. Can’t wait to go back.
On the down side because it’s small we had to queue — best to go when less busy so not rushing. The amazing food made up for the queue.

Not much I can say about this place other than, the food is amazing. They’ve got me addicted and I spend too much money with them every month!
I might actually pop down there after writing this review.

i am so ridiculous because I walked into On The Bap, ate some good food, walked out and only now just realised that the name alludes and points to Korean baps! #fail.
So, I will plan to go back and check the baps out (wahey!), but in the meantime…
I stumbled across OtB last week while actually trying to find this Vietnamese place nearby.
My mate and I were starving and as he was over from NYC, I didnt wanna take him to a burger/​bbq joint (although the following day we went to Byron…).
Anyway, the venue is small so it was a little «cosy», and the authentic music was a little loud, but the service was good, and as I was feeling a little under the weather (not helped by the actual weather being sh1t), I ordered something a little more spicy. I wasnt disappointed and 45 mins later I was feeling sufficiently much warmer :) The menu overall looked good and there were a few things I recognised from other Korean restaurants as well as some other stuff that I hadnt heard of, that I would now like to try out. Like the baps.
I shall return to sample the baps!

The food here is great, which is probably why there’s always a queue in the evenings. The fried chicken is delicious, as is the bulgogi and the kimchi pancake. Highly recommend it.

My absolute favourite establishment in east London, next to Patty and Bun.
I’ve always had it as a takeaway as there is often not enough space to sit inside — a testament to its growing reputation I suppose. I usually either get the bulgogi beef or pork ‘on the bab’ (i.e. on a bed of rice, which includes delicious coleslaw with lashings of spicy mayo, bit of kimchi, some pickles, spring onions) or the bibimbab, but I’ve gotten the spicy chicken before, which is also good. Very very filling and not especially unhealthy — the meat is marinated in a kind of dense, slightly sweet and spicy sauce (I mean dense as in the flavouring penetrates the meat quite intensely, I don’t mean that the sauce is sticky or gloopy) and the sticky rice is very comforting to ‘discover’ at the bottom of your plate. Starters also very good — had the kimchi and arancini balls, very crispy and the dip was great.

Great sweet and spicy chicken and flawless buns — would give it 5 stars if it weren’t no-​reservations and if the service were a tad quicker.

Last night we were craving Korean and decided to try OTB. There was a line in front so I thought this place must be good. Now, I’ve been spoiled rotten with amazing Korean restaurants in LA and the OC. Korean food is my favourite cuisine. I love the flavors and all the condiments.
Listen, if you really know Korean food, most likely you will not like this place. Just saying. I ordered the Bibimbap without meat. I wish they had a veggie version with mushrooms. Btw, it did not come with kimchee, so I ordered a side of it. The entire dish came cold. The egg on top was chilled. The portion was big for me. I didn’t finish it.
The Mr ordered a medium portion of wings (12), half soy garlic and half sweet and spicy. He said the soy garlic was better. We also ordered an appetizer. It was a seaweed salad. It was good. The aloe punch was also nice. The staff and service were good.
The buns looked yummy.
I don’t think I’ll return.

First time in korean restaurant. Pleasant interior, nice atmosphere and very fast service, probably too fast. My friends ordered straight away, but I have asked the waitress to wait for my choice. Unfortunately the food arrived in 2 minutes before she took the order from me. English level of the staff is really poor so I wouldn’t count on their advise. 2 dishes arrived cold including beef buns and beef bibimbab. When we have asked about it, they told us ‘yes it’s cold’ — why isn’t it written in the menu? Not everyone is from Korea! Kimchi Bokeum Bab — kimchi bacon paella was quite tasty, though I can’t say it about beef bibimbab. No dessert menu which is not acceptable for dessert lover like me. The prices are ok, the service charge is included which is funny to add when the staff isn’t communicative at all. Too many restaurants to discover in London to choose this one again.

Stumbled here on a bank holiday at lunch after finding that my favorite banh mi joint across the street was closed.
Ordered the soondubu jjigae and the Korean fried chicken. Wait, I don’t think this even deserves to be called Korean fried chicken. If you’ve ever been to a Panda Express, the chicken was exactly that (not in a good way). Thick, battered chunks of chicken with thick, goopey sauce. It really reminded me of a «select any 5 items combo» that you would find in a mall fast food Chinese joint. The soondubu jjigae was also very bland and just tasted like tofu and chili powder.
Definitely would not return again and don’t understand how they’ve now expanded to two new locations.

Delicious Korean street food. I ordered the small plate of yangyum chicken which is Korean fried chicken served with crushed peanuts and in a sweet spicy sauce. I’m normal not a huge fan of fried chicken but Korean BBQ is a fav of mine so I figured this would be different and delicious. And I was right! So yummy.
I also got a soup noodle bowl with vegetable fritters and a egg. The broth was so flavourful and the fritter and egg and noodles all went so well together ! Really enjoyed it ! I was so full by the end ! Like really should have gotten two small dishes OR the soup bowl… (Instead of the one small and soup bowl I got!). I ordered a beer too that I mistakenly thought was a Korean beer, but it was a Belgium or something haha. For so reason Korean food is like Mexican it just takes better with a beer! Must have something to do with the spices !
Delicious place, hoping to make it back again this week!

Loved the kimchi pancake and fried chicken, a small portion of fried chicken would feed 2 people just enough as a side.
The environment is great but the seating can be very tight and uncomfortable.
People always queue outside so get there early.

Today was the second time I’d been and I got the same thing I had before: the spicy pork noodle soup. Let me just say that for £8, that is a massive pot of soup… but soooo delicious.
The servers and menu make things kind of confusing (i.e., my girlfriend ordered the spicy pork buns and he said, «do you want two portions?» which is what is on the menu — 2 buns — and she said, «how do you mean?» and he said, «do you want one portion or two?» and she said «are you saying I could get individual buns of different flavors?» and he said, «if you want two flavor buns, you need to pay full price for an order of two portions, but if you just want one bun, it’s £3.90» — so that was confusing. Just say yes if he asks if you want two portions.) but it’s pretty straightforward otherwise.
It’s a tight squeeze in there, you’ll get cozy with your neighbors when they get your butt in their face as you try to sit down, but hey, that’s London, eh?
I’ll be back — it’s delicious!

Good service, decent prices. Went there on a Friday but early side and place was just starting to get crowded.
Loved the shrimp dumplings and Bi Bim Bop dish.

The Korean-​style food is pretty good, and it can be cheap if you want it to be. You can get a bibimbap (£7.50 bowl of rice, meat and vegetables with an egg on top) that is filling and delicious especially when large amounts of gochujang (spicy fermented bean paste) are mixed in. You can probably share one of those between two of you so that you can quickly line your stomachs and get back to your Shoreditch Triangle™ pub golf tournament.
I wonder if this type of evening out is hinted at in the restaurant’s name? On the lash and on the pull, then on the bab before getting on the last train back to Chelmsford? The clientele are young and trendy so On The Bab will have to try harder if they want to pull in the jeans and untucked-​button-​down-​shirt crowd.
With our bibimbap we also shared a medium portion of fried chicken wings with cabbage salad. The wings were essentially sweet and sour fried chicken wings, which didn’t seem very Korean, but they were delicious. Cabbage kimchi and daikon kimchi is available at £2 a portion (quite small: we had four during the meal) and is served in sealed stainless steel pressure containers that look like they could comfortably contain low-​level nuclear waste. I would love to get hold of some as I’ve disastrously kept kimchi in my fridge before using only regular tupperware causing the entire fridge and its contents to become kimchi flavoured.
If you happen to be on the lash then bottles of lager (Asahi, £4.10) will add a bit to the price of your meal, and brought ours to £50 including service for two people.
The staff uniform is based around breton striped t-​shirts. The walls are part panelled with tongue and groove woodwork with little wooden hat pegs, and the bathrooms have rotating savon de marseille soap holders. The weirdly out of place Frenchness is however offset by pounding K-​pop which remains novel and exciting for at least half an hour.
(Our fried chicken wings, intended to be eaten with our hands, came with some On The Bab branded moist towelettes to help clean up after our meal[1]. Sadly, they were perfumed to have the scent of chewing gum, so if you find this smell unpleasant — I do – you may want to avoid On The Bab. Most customers are given them and the smell wafts throughout.)
[1] Relevant Dilbert comic:

This Korean joint in the heart of Shoreditch always seems busy.
I had:
Plum Tea — Very nice. Very addictive. ⁸⁄₁₀
Spicy Pork buns — Bit sloppy but good ⁷⁄₁₀
Spicy chicken wings — Very good 8.5÷10
Egg, Kimchi and Slaw — Good ⁷⁄₁₀
Can’t help but think it’s not totally authentic (like in New Malden) but it’s good.

On the bab est un petit restaurant coréen sans prétentions qui vous propose en plus des traditionnels bibimbap et bbq, une sorte de version coréenne des domburi, ces plats japonais avec de la viande et/​ou des légumes au dessus d’une bolée de riz.
On entre, c’est très mignon, la J-​Pop envahit vos oreilles, et le service est rapide et efficace.
Pour moi, ça sera le «on the bab» beef, du boeuf épicé sur du riz, avec des raviolis grillés au poulet en entrée. C’est très bon, et le tout revient à peu près à £15, ce qui est plus que bien pour Londres.
Ma préférence en termes de cuisine coréenne sur Londres va toujours à Seoul Bakery, mais On the bab est une très bonne alternative!
PS: Bien d’accord avec Malaika, venez en fin ou début de service pour éviter la queue!

Great Korean place for a bite early in the night as I hate waiting in line. We sat at the back table which means we’re pretty ignored by the staff but despite having to ask for everything the food was really good. Especially great as I had plenty veggie options for myself and my friends loved the chicken wings etc.

I suppose the appeal of this place is that there isn’t a satisfying Korean place in London. NO I don’t think Kimchee fits the bill. Paying for panchan is a blasphemy. And having your soondubu jigae swimming in chili oil is not right.
BUT I will commend the buns here. The pork and chicken buns were loaded with meat and sauce. I would come back for them.

Tiny little Korean street food restaurant near old street. Lovely staff. Amazing buns.
We shared all sorts of things and they were all pretty good. A little expensive but they pretty much had one staff member on per two/​three tables. Wine list is super pricey and I would like to see some local beers.
Whatever you do (unless you are vegetarian) order the pork buns. They are so flipping good. They come out in servings of two but you can order one extra if you are a three. The dumplings are tasty too but very small serving size. The kimchi is a good mild ‘beginners’ kimchi to start people on. Fried chicken looked nice and I loved the tofu with toasted seaweed but the others weren’t so sold. Kimchi pancake also delicious. Rice with veg was a bit yawn so would skip that next time.
There is often a line at this place but it moves super quick. Food comes out fast and aesthetically this place rocks. Lots of beautiful design to take in without trying too hard. So I will be back.

English version:
I came with my friend during our trip in London. We really enjoyed our time.
We took two different starters (kind of pancakes and some dumplings) which were great, then a bibimbap (nice!) for me and the two buns for him.
We also tried the traditional alcohol but we didn’t really like it…
But… One problem… When we were waiting for our starters we saw a couple who was eating some amazing chicken pieces with an amazing sauce (I guessed all of that)
So at the end of our dinner we took a risk and asked for it, and I can say that all my wishes about this chicken became true.
I think I can not put 5 stars because I know another Korean restaurant in Paris and it is a bit better. But if you go in London you have to try this restaurant !
Version française:
Je suis venue avec un ami pendant notre séjour à Londres. Nous avons vraiment adoré. Commençant par deux entrées différentes (une sorte de pancakes et quelques raviolis) qui étaient très bonnes, puis un bibimbap (bon!) pour moi et les deux sandwichs pour lui.
Nous avons aussi essayé leur alcool traditionnel mais sans apprécier plus que cela.
Seulement… Un problème… Quand nous attendions nos entrées, nous avons vu un couple manger d’incroyables morceaux de poulet avec une sauce incroyable (je supposais) donc à la fin de notre dîner nous avons pris un risqué et demandé une portion, et je peux dire que toutes mes espérances à propos de ce poulet sont devenues vraies.
Je pense né pas pouvoir mettre 5 étoiles à ce restaurant car j’en connais un légèrement meilleur à Paris. Mais si vous passez à Londres vous devez à tout prix vous y arrêter si vous appréciez un minimum la cuisine coréenne.

I’ve only been here when most other people aren’t here, ie not at lunch time or dinner time but in between. If you go at those times, prepare to stand outside in a queue. The place is pretty small inside with limited seating and has clearly been formulated from the book on how to do hipster restaurants: ‘street’ food, beat up white enamel dishes and metal dishes, almost illegible menu written in tiny brown letters on brown paper, brick /​tile walls, whatever. Fortunately overall the food wins out.
My favourite is the spicy noodle soup with beef. It’s got those curly noodles like the kind you get in packs of instant noodles but works perfectly with the spicy broth and other ingredients. Warming and satisfying comfort food.
The korean fried chicken with sweet, spicy sauce is amazing. It comes in different sizes ranging from very small to quite large so take your pick.
The noodles with seafood was less successful having scant seafood and gritty mussels, just not as good as it could be.
Service was pretty good and food comes quite quickly. Prices are reasonable.

J’aime la cuisine coréenne. Je pourrais né manger que ça jusqu’à la fin de mes jours. Je pourrais me réincarner en kimchi. Bref, cet avis est donc hyper biaisé.
Ce jour-​là, on avait prévu (depuis plusieurs jours on en salivait) de manger au Breakfast Club au coin de la rue… Mais après avoir vu le panneau «Korean Street Food» au loin, le rêve du gros brunch dégoulinant a vite et lâchement disparu au profit de kimchis volants et de bibimbap multicolores. Priorities.
Le resto est tout petit et on est vite un peu kolésérrés, mais le service est sympa et rapide. Et puis surtout, surtout, c’est vachement bon. Parfait pour manger rapidement (ben oui, il y a des gens qui attendent) après une balade dans Shoreditch et/​ou Brick Lane.
Les petites pancakes en entrée étaient bien bonnes, et le bibimpap était exquis. Je regrette né pas avoir testé les espèces de sandwichs-​bao («on the bun «) qui étaient bien intrigants (et que tout le monde prenait): faut que je revienne pour réparer cette erreur !
Tip: venir en début de service pour éviter la queue, ou en fin de service pour né pas se faire éjecter. On est arrivés vers 14h en semaine, c’était parfait. J’ai re faim maintenant.

We needed something quick and delicious before running out to an event. Luckily we ran into someone who knew the neighbourhood well and pointed us right to On The Bab. And my god were they right.
Billing themselves as Korean Street Food, it’s easy to see why this place is popular. We were sat right away and constantly looked after. There aren’t that many tables here and a ton of staff so waiting isn’t really an issue. We ordered and our food came down 10 minutes later, if that.
The food here is good. I got the Bi Bim Bap which was £7, and £2 more with added beef, chicken or shrimp. It’s not as big a bowl as other Bi Bim Bap you’ll get in the area but very fresh and tasty.
We ate quick, paid and ran and they didn’t blink an eye. I’m sure we’re not the first person to need a quick great meal here. If you too are stuck for an option and don’t want something like a terrible fast food burrito, stop here. You’ll be happy you did.