Dubbed KOBA 2.0 by the restaurateur, the relaunch has seen the move away from the familiar table barbecue, where guests grilled their own food at the table, to a more contemporary sharing style, and marks the restaurant’s 20th anniversary.
KOBA now serves individual barbecue dishes such as bosot bulgogi - grilled soy marinated bulgogi beef and mixed mushrooms; go galbi - mackerel with sweet soy sauce and spring onion; and saewoo gui - king prawns with fermented shrimp sauce. All are served with mixed ssam - lettuce leaves for wrapping, soybean sauces and pickles.
Starters include mul hwei - sliced mixed raw fish, shrimp and trout roe with icy gochujang vinaigrette; and dakgangjeong - deep-fried chicken in honey-soy sauce with rice-cake and mixed seeds, and all come with a selection of banchan - small dishes of accompaniments such as kimchi, omelette and preserved vegetables, as is traditional in Korea.
As well as barbecue, the new menu features a selection of jorim, hearty braised dishes for two to share that include so galbi jjim - soy marinated braised beef short ribs and glass noodles; and special pot dishes including hwei dubbab - sliced mixed raw fish, shrimp, trout roe, vegetables and rice, with spicy sauce; and yeoneo sotbab - soy-glazed salmon and seaweed pot rice.
To complement its new culinary direction, the Fitzrovia restaurant has undergone a complete refurbishment, with a neutral ‘wabi sabi’ colour palette, and textural wood and stone surfaces.
“KOBA was my first Korean restaurant in London and the past twenty years have been magical. I am proud of what KOBA has achieved in terms of building, and maintaining, a reputation for serving the best table barbecue,” says Lee.
“But at heart I am an innovator, I have always sought to introduce diners to new ways of eating Korean food, and it is time for KOBA to evolve.
“The 20th anniversary felt like the right moment both to look back with gratitude on the past twenty years, and to look forward with excitement for the next twenty and beyond.
“The modern, elevated style of food will give London a real taste of Seoul as it is today, and together with the new interior, KOBA will feel like a completely new restaurant - I call it ‘KOBA 2.0’.”