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    Assa

    3.6 (50 reviews)
    ModerateKorean
    Closed 12:00 pm - 11:00 PM

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    Hotpot all mixed up :)
    Lise H.

    It was so hard to try and find a restaurant with spots in London - luckily Assa was not the case the Tuesday night we dropped by. Assa was recommended to me by a friend - and woo did it deliver! We came on a weekday night where there was a lot of open seats - we ordered the hotpot (which reminded me of budae jjigae - army stew) which came out with one of the portable stoves. The stew was amazing, and I love how you could customize the options. The portable stew definitely gave me homey vibes. We also got the seafood pancake and some stir fried udon as a compliment to our stew which also delivered. Amazing Korean place for my Asian fix in London! I've never had Korean bugae hotpot style, and Assa definitely delivered and hit the spot for me and my party!

    Kimchi jjigae and mandu for one! So good.
    Jenna S.

    Whenever I come to London, I will forever be making a stop here EVERY time!! I'm from LA and while I've been traveling, I've been trying to find amazing Korean food and this place takes the #1 spot! Great food - lovely service that's fast and pleasant - waiting in line was no big deal at all - and the restaurant has great energy and good vibes. I dined alone and didn't feel out of place or awkward. My meal was fantastic. I recommend the Mandi and kimchi jjigae!

    Jason A.

    Overall great dinner! I've always had a lot of Chinese hot pot, so I was curious when my London friend told me to try the Korean " hot pot ". It's kinda like stew but with a lot of ingredients. It's definitely a cool experience! The vibes were good but hard to get hold of the waiters since its so busy. Come early to avoid long queues!

    Bibimbap, seafood pancake and budae jjigae.
    Andy H.

    Great place for Korean food. The dishes were delicious and there was a huge queue to get in. It took a while, but once you get seared, the service is quick and the food did not disappoint. It is cramped, and obviously very busy due to it popularity. Many customers seem to be young students. I could not manage to use the toilet as there was no more paper in the stalls, and the place was a bit messy.

    Chicken Hot Pot
    Long N.

    TLDR: Great crowded vibe and hotpot. Not blow out of your mind food but ambience was very cool. It is crowded and there is a wait line starting around 6pm Food: 4/5, We ordered the Chicken Hotpot w/ extra ramen for two people. Normally, this pot came with half a piece of ramen, so we ordered an extra side for 3 pounds to split. The broth was decently flavorful. My taste bud showed the broth was a mix of Tom Yum and maybe something Salty (fish sauce?). My SO stated she didn't notice anything sour from it. The chicken sausage tasted great as well as the ham. The chicken thighs were average, not well marinated but that didn't matter. It was a big hot dish. It comes with two sides: bean sprouts (classic) and kimchi (did not taste like kimchi, it was the harder white green with a less sour taste) Ambience: 5/5, this is not for those in a rush. I'm a tourist. I was enjoying the line (10min) and the small cramped room.

    LA Galbi
    Vivienne C.

    Probably the most authentic Korean restaurant I've found so far in London which is surprising because it's located in the tourist areas. Was able to find a table easily even though it was a weekend which I was really happy about. - Complimentary Banchans - Honestly these weren't that good. I feel you can tell if a restaurant is good based on their kimchi, which was actually quite tough to chew on and didn't have a lot of flavor. My worries we're quickly assuaged as the rest of the meal turned out to be pretty good. - LA Galbi - Weird how galbi is associated with Los Angeles but anyways, I thought this meat was okay. Could skip because not as tender as I hoped. The weakest dish out of the three that we ordered. - Seafood Soondubu Jiggae - Actually very solid tofu soup, such comfort flavors! There was a ton of seafood in there and the soup was quite rich. Would highly recommend and its also not too spicy which is nice for people who have low spice tolerance like me. - Naengmyeon - I've never had Naengmyeon before and honestly didn't know how much I was missing out on until now. The noodles were super chewy but also very flavorful dipped in the slightly spicy "soup". I was always turned off by this dish because there's just a huge ice cube sitting there, but I'm actually so glad I ordered it because it was delicious. Overall, very satisfied with my experience here and will definitely come back to try their other dishes like the hot pot which it seemed like every other table was ordering.

    Dooboo kimchi. The tofu was so so and the pork was scarce
    Cory W.

    This place was such a let down. Having lived in Korea for 6 years I feel confident that I know what Korean food is supposed to taste like, and my dear Assa, this ain't it. The "kimchi" was nothing more than seasoned raw cabbage. Even a quick fresh kimchi is more wilted than whatever it is that they served us and called "kimchi". I ordered the dooboo kimchi, one of my favorite drinking foods and the pork , if you could find any, was cut so small, and sautéed with another disappointing kimchi ( this dish is supposed to be made with very fermented kimchi) that it lacked the beautiful depth of flavor this dish was supposed to have. At least the prices were decent. There are way too many other Korean spots in the area to waste your precious stomach real estate (and money) on this place.

    retro budaejiggae(?)
    Nicole L.

    This place is super popular with young people! Most people come here with a group, so if you wanna eat with 3+ people, expect for a really long queue. Overall, the food was pretty good (the hot pot was hot and spicy!!) and so was service :)

    Setting the scene^=_=^
    Katie W.

    Food was amazing, just nice and hot, perfect on a cold autumn day. However, staff was not polite nor willing to come to your table to help. Top TIP: get there at 6pm or before otherwise it is crowded af and you have to wait in the cold. If staff were better, I'd definitely give a 4.5/5 stars. Food was pricey but still affordable, a typical hot pot you can share costs £26, and that's without ramyeon, glass noodles, rice or tteok (rice cakes).

    Spicy Tofu/Pork Stew
    Jing Shyang Y.

    I'll just get out the way that the service was a little poor, as was the allergy advice, but assuming that's fine, the food and drink were tasty and offset most of the negativity. A member of our group had an egg allergy, and despite asking if the Bimibap had egg, and whether we could have it without egg, we were assured that it did not have egg. So imagine our surprise when it came with just an egg yolk on top. Luckily we fished this out, allowed our friend to take the bits that hadn't touched this, then went to mix it, hilariously we then found egg white at the very bottom of the dish. Noting that our companion had already started eating this and not triggered his allergy, we did kind of laugh this off... Anyway, the rest of the food was great. We ordered Soju and a plum wine, and note eating is a lot more fun with drinking games and shots during random intervals. The pancakes were filling, the kimchi, just spicy enough without requiring a light cool tea which is helpfully provided for free. The chicken soba noodles were good, as was a broth made from a lot of Korean red pepper paste, with pork, peppers and other vegetables. The only thing I could fault were the ribs, that were extremely small and bony. At the end of the meal, it was strange, as we opted between ourselves to split the bill onto our 4 cards, only to be told the place has a policy where only 2 cards could be used. Trying to ask why explaining that the fee Assa pays from 4 cards would be just the same as from 2 cards, was just met with uncomfortable silence, at least the way I understand credit companies to work. So just note this when you try to pay. Anyway, that failed to spoil a brilliant experience and I'd be back, just hopefully they don't remember me as the guy that tried to argue about % fee on credit card payments... :D

    Hot pot
    Daniel F.

    I first knew of Assa when I was walking past that part of soho one evening and saw droves of Asians (Koreans) braving the cold to line up in wait. I did my own version of them this very month, waiting patiently for 20 minutes. A member staff actually kept us informed quite well and once in you realise it's a big restaurant. Not many tourists inside which was good sign. We of course ordered the Korean hot pot, with beef and tofu. I love this process though it is always a bit funny that they give you the ingredients and you have to cook. But it's authentically Korean. I liked the broth a lot and the marinated beef was tender. The vegetables good too. All in all I quite like it. Compared to Seoul it of course isn't the best as and this is what frustrates me about Korean food here is that you have to pay for the sides (kimchi etc) when normally they should be free. Pity.

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    Assa Reviews in Other Languages

    Review Highlights - Assa

    First of all, this place is known for its Korean hot pot, but we were rebels and didn't have any.

    Mentioned in 3 reviews

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    People searched for Korean 917 times last month within 15 miles of this business.

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    K Place - Those are extractor fans.

    K Place

    (30 reviews)

    ££

    Aldgate

    K, K Place, I really wanted to like you but, in the end, you were just (O)K…read more We'd read some things about how K Place was doing an AYCE Korean BBQ option. It's so rare in London that we thought we should definitely give it a try. We made a reservation for Friday night easily and they were flexible when we were running late. When we arrived, we headed down the stairs to the basement where the restaurant was. It isn't a huge place, with seating for about 30-40. Not all of the tables have grills, but the vast majority do. We were seated near the entrance and heard another group come in for karaoke and were directed out of the restaurant, so if you're looking for dinner and karaoke all in one - K Place could be a great option! After having a look at the menu, we decided to go with Set B Buffet, which was described as 10 course buffet with unlimited meats (£28.99). They also have a Set C with unlimited meats and seafood for £33.99. Soon after ordering, the dishes started to arrive. Banchan arrived first with 4 dishes: kimchi, radish kimchi, beansprouts, and cucumbers(?!). Odd. The cucumbers weren't the usual pickled cucumbers (oijangajji) but just some slices of raw cucumber. Maybe they had just run out of their pickles for the day? But we would have preferred them not providing this super random banchan. All the banchan were OK, but a bit bland. Next came the egg roll, dakdoritang (chicken and potato spicy stew) and mackerel. Everything was fine, though the dakdoritang was a bit bland as was the egg roll. The mackerel was overcooked. The kimchi pancake was standard, not the best I've ever had but not the worst - pretty middle of the road. The steamed mussels was probably the highlight. Fresh and sweet, cooked well in their own juices and a sprinkling of green onion. We then received a platter of 9 different meats - it was easy to tell that these weren't the highest quality. Yes, I know I'm at an AYCE place but I've had great quality AYCE meat at Korean BBQ places (Looking at you, LA). Spicy pork, (fatty) chicken, pork belly, rib eye, chuck, etc. all super unmemorable and pretty bland. At least the service was good and our server came over to turn over the meats and cut them for us. They gave us a small platter of some vegetables to grill as well as lettuce to wrap the meat in. There was also a huge container of ssamjang, which I always slather into my lettuce wraps so that was a plus as well. We could have ordered more meat since we weren't stuffed but found it all just mediocre and decided that we didn't want the extra calories for such blah food. Sigh, I had high hopes but I think I'll just wait until I'm back in LA to have the real deal. Additionally, at this price point, I expected a bit more. Maybe due to it being in the City, they charge more? The hunt for good AYCE Korean BBQ in London continues.

    I had never tried Korean barbecue before so I was excited to give this place a go. It's on the…read moretastecard which is how I found it so you can get some money off your bill and if you select the 10 course set menu you really get enough food to be stuffed by the end. As I found out, when you go for Korean barbecue you have the actual barbecue in the middle of your table so you can cook your own meat and veggies just like you want them. But before you get to that there is an array of delicious starters and sides that are put in your table, meats, fish, seafood, vegetables, rice and soups. Once you go through most of those, you meats of choice are brought out and the barbecue is turned heated up. You can then start cooking your steaks using the special wooden cutlery and cut them up with a pair or scissors. This way you can be sure you have everything as soon as it's done and nothing gets cold. We decided to go with the set menu that offers 3 types of meat per person but if you really want to push your limits or have not eater for days there's an unlimited meat option too. If you pick that one, I salute you. Anyway, I definitely enjoyed everything I tried and look forward to going back soon. I recommend going there with a group as that would be great fun and you can order a greater variety of foods. Either way it's worth putting it in your schedule.

    Hot Stone - First course: sashimi

    Hot Stone

    (14 reviews)

    Islington

    Solid experience at hot stone! The food is delicious and service on point. Perfect for date night,…read moreor a hang out with your girlfriends. Highly recommend buying their vouchers when available to come, to get the most value. We purchased the 5 year birthday offer at £30/person which came with a five course meal. The vouchers go on sale during certain holidays - you can find all their previous offers online. Be sure to ensure there are promotional seating when making a reservation and follow the terms and conditions. Total meal with drinks, the oyster supplement and service charge was just under £100 for two (including the vouchers). Price is quite steep without the voucher and doesn't represent value to me personally. (You've been warned!)

    That Wagyu though!…read more Swung by here at the tail end of my trip in London. Showed up around 8 and got a seat at the bar without any wait on a Tuesday night. Ordered myself 2 orders of salmon sashimi, and the wagyu hot stone meal. The Salmon Sashimi: Very generous thick cuts of salmon. Fresh tasting and delicious. What more could you want? Get This. The Wagyu Hot Stone meal: Oh man I love wagyu steak, and here you can get it for only 25 quid. Cut up your steak and grill it on the stone for a little on each side, and have it melt in your mouth. This came with a side of seaweed salad and a nice spicy sauce to dip the meat in. Get this. If you're coming to a place called Hot Stone you've gotta take in the experience of grilling your meats on an actual hot stone, but also add some sushi / sashimi to your meal because the slices are thick, and its as fresh as I had during my stay in London. Will be back!

    Assa - korean - Updated May 2026

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