There’s been a huge influx of Korean culture in India. From Squid Games to BTS, Korean stuff has invaded us and how. So, amped up on Vitamin K, it was only a matter of time before we went hunting for Korean cuisine and our search lead us to Heng Bok in Bandra.

A small glimpse into the menu.

We had gone on a dry day so unfortunately, we couldn’t have the beer or some other exotic drink like Sake. When you sit down, they’ll give you a wet towel to freshen up. I found this to be a nice way to start the meal. They will also give you three types of Kimchi which is a Korean side dish of salted and fermented vegetables.

Quirky decor outside the restaurant!

Kimchi samplers.

We started with Tteokbokki with chicken. This falls more into the “street food” category and most people in Korea have it from hawkers on the roadside, sitting on plastic chairs. I had first heard of the dish on the show Squid Game, where the protagonist Gi-hun bought it for his daughter on her birthday as he couldn’t afford anything else. It’s a street food that’s very popular there. Tteokbokki itself is a simmered rice cake, which looked like mini sausages or pasta, which is stir fried and it is usually paired with eggs and seafood but we had ours with chicken. One thing of note here is that you won’t find too many crunchy elements in this dish but it is a tasty and filling dish.

Tteokbokki

The next item on the menu was Dolsot Bibimbap. Dolsot Bibimbap is Bibimbap, rice served in a sizzling hot stone bowl mixed vegetables, meat, chilli pepper sauce and is served with a fried egg. The server will mix the gochujang and kimchi in front of you in the stone bowl. The bottom layer of rice is crispy so it adds a nice texture and flavour while the top is soft and has a funky taste and smell thanks to the kimchi and gochujang.

Dolsot Bibimbap

The last thing we had was Pajeon which is a korean pancake and is usually made with scallion. It was like this pancake that was pan-friend and it reminded us a lot of dosas or crepes with stuffings in it.

Pajeon

Korean food is best as a one-off thing for us. We are mostly use to chinese or thai food which has strong flavours and are usually quite spicy and crunchy. Korean food, on the other hand, is an acquired taste and takes some getting use to. The service was decent and the food came to about Rs. 3000. It’ll be some time before we go back but would recommend it you are looking for Korean food in Mumbai.