Bibigo Bar & Grill is the latest addition to restaurant scene in Islington. Offering healthy and fresh Korean cuisine Bibigo gone somewhere no one’s been before. But perhaps not without calculated risk.

How many of you had ‘Health’ on your new year resolution lists?
I bet quite a few, me including! But you have to admit that it’s so hard to keep up, especially if you hang out in a buzzing place like Angel. So with that in mind Bibigo’s new branch launch in mid January was very clever indeed.

I have a few Korean friends who have taken me to many great Korean restaurants and Korean supermarkets. We sampled delicious traditional bbq and Korean home cooking. And with all that experience I have always thought of Korean food as healthy, so when Bibigo claimed to serve just that i didn’t think much of it.

We walked into a stunning room with tall ceilings and timber slate walls. I was pleasantly surprised to find this restaurant packed on a Tuesday night. But having made a booking earlier that day we were quickly seated in a darkly lit corner.

Menu is quite large with four pages per course. As tacky as it is, that’s when I appreciate having a photo next to the names of dishes.

We stared with Korean style pancake with courgette, sweet potato and butternut squash served with rocket salad. Having picked it from ‘small dishes’ menu i was surprised by how massive it was. It was crispy and soft with delicate steamed chuncks of sweet potato on top. Although it was very delicious, between two of us we couldn’t finish it.

Pancake was followed by Green Taco. Perhaps this is the dish that takes ‘healthy’ too far. These ‘tacos’ are lettuce wraps with pickled mooli and jalapeno, and fresh tomato salsa and tofu topping. I would have preferred this dish served as a side salad and not as a starter.

Soondae – Korean black pudding with glass noodles and pork. This dish was presented beautifully but lacked true deep gritty flavour of black pudding.

Bibigo skewers of char-grilled beef, oyster mushrooms and spring onions were also fun to look at, but i found their ginger sauce a little too salty.

Four starters down and still hungry we ordered Bossam (pork belly) and Galbi Jjim (braised short rib). Both these dishes in their meaty glory have finally satisfied us.

It is very clear to me that this restaurant doesn’t call them selves healthy for the sake of it. It is the perfect hangout for conceous eaters and people on a diet. For meat lovers like me and dad it didnt hit the spot but i wouldnt write it off just yet. I look forward to coming back but this time ordering with help of Bibigo’s waiters.

Bibigo Bar & Grill
407 St. John Street Angel, Islington London EC1V 4AB
http://bibigouk.com