Restaurant review: Exotic tastes in a Capital basement

Published on Tuesday 21 April 2009 15:14

MENTION KOREAN food in polite company and the chances are that someone will bring up the subject of eating canines. Rarely has a national cuisine suffered as much ill-informed calumny as that of Korea.

For the record, dog is eaten across the whole of South East Asia, including China, Vietnam and the Philippines. It was also once the chosen fare of European Antarctic explorers. South Korea, however, outlawed dog meat at the time of the Seoul Olympic Games in 1988.

Because there are so few Korean restaurants in the UK, it is a relatively rare eating experience. This is a pity because it is a very distinctive cuisine. Korean is less fussy and astringent than Japanese. It is spicier than the ubiquitous Thai fare you get in the UK. And it is more straightforward than Chinese, letting the distinct ingredients shine. There's also a dash of Western influence – Portuguese traders introduced chilli peppers to Korea in the 17th century.

You can try it for yourself at Shilla, named for one of the three ancient kingdoms of Korea. Shilla is a new sister to Kokuryo, in Glasgow's Argyle Street. It has inherited a labyrinthine New Town basement previously occupied by a series of so-so Anglo-Scottish restaurants, including Keepers and Haldanes. I suspect this is too quirky a space, and too off the main restaurant beats, ever to succeed as a pukka British eatery. However, now embellished with sharp, contemporary Korean design, it has been transformed into an exotic location for a night out. The kitchen staff and ultra polite waitresses are all Korean, and take infinite pains to explain the out-of-the-ordinary menu to the uninitiated. One import that other restaurants should copy – each table has a silent buzzer that connects directly with the serving staff, so no gyrating in your seat trying to attract attention.

Technically, there are no starters in a Korean meal but we began with a round of commendably fat pork dumplings (5) plus a classic pa jeon (7.99). This is a thin, creamy, soy-laced pancake filled with spring onions and (usually) seafood such as squid. The result is an unexpected but highly successful combination of tastes – sweet yet sharp, comforting yet edgy. What makes pa jeon different is the batter is flat and doughy with no aeration from a rising agent. Koreans eat pa jeon as a snack during the day.

From the extensive menu, we ordered another Korean culinary institution: bibimbap (9.99), a mixed rice concoction always served in a large, heated stone pot. The boiled rice is topped with thinly sliced beef and sauted vegetables, and flavoured with chilli pepper paste. A raw egg sits on top, but don't let that put you off.

The stone pot is so hot when it arrives on the table that any food touching the interior sizzles. The etiquette is to let the dish sit for a minute then stir with your chopsticks. The egg cooks against the sides of the pot binding the bibimbap into a delicious, glutinous mix in which the separate tastes are still clear. Before the rice is placed in the pot, the bottom of the bowl is coated with sesame oil, making the layer of the rice touching the hot surface turn golden and crispy.

Being greedy, we also had the jae chae (13), a beef dish on a bed of fried glass noodles. Eat quickly before it gets cold and congealed. Otherwise Shilla will be glad to wrap it for you to take home and stick in the microwave. The jap yuk bokum (10.99) is a stir-fried pork dish in a spicy sauce served with vegetables. The Koreans are also big on fish. I'm going back for the char-grilled white wild croaker.

You can't have a Korean meal without a side dish called kimchi (3). This is pickled Chinese cabbage, made super-spicy with red pepper, garlic and onion. That may sound unappealing to western ears (unless you like sauerkraut) but the texture of proper kimchi is buttery smooth, as this was. The Koreans swear by its health-giving qualities: one study claimed that chickens infected with avian flu recovered after eating it.

Koreans are not big on desserts. I tried the red bean ice-cream (5). This is actually a sweet paste made with aduki beans and sugar. The Shilla version came with real ice-cream and was delightfully presented.

What to drink with spicy Asian food? Wine works fine provided it is on the light and fruity side. Shilla knows its stuff and offers an international wine list full of happy, fruity whites and young reds, at under 20 a bottle. But when in Korea you should drink Korean. We plumped for the national firewater called soju (12). This is a clear, vodka-style drink distilled from potatoes rather than rice. Shilla offers soju straight or in a sweetened form. In the spirit of intrepid investigative reporters, we had the unvarnished stuff which was 19.5 per cent proof. You knock it back in one gulp. As a way of pacing oneself, and punctuating the generous portions at Shilla, I recommend soju.

Shilla is a classy addition to the Capital's restaurant offerings. Its success will depend on the notoriously conservative tastes of Edinburgh diners. Just in case you are wondering: there is no canine on the menu.