Given Kingston's large Korean community, it is likely that many locals were delighted to hear that a new authentic Korean restaurant was opening in Kingston.
Korea Hero officially opened its doors on Saturday, 5 April, after delays in its initial opening.
The restaurant has replaced Riverside Vegetaria on 64 High Street.
Korea Hero, which dubs itself as "Kingston's first riverside Korean restaurant", offers "authentic home-cooked flavours," says owner Linda.
At Korea Hero, every meal is inspired by the K-Tray, a modern take on Korea's traditional home dining experience.
K-Tray represents the perfect balance of flavours, textures, and nutrition, featuring a comforting main dish, a variety of freshly prepared side dishes (Banchan), and steaming hot soup.
Korea Hero's side dishes, carefully crafted by its Korean chef, are complimentary with every meal, just like in a traditional Korean home.
Now I've only tried Korean food a handful of times, so when I heard that Korea Hero had opened, I just had to try it.
When you first enter the restaurant, a large bar stretches across the small room, and a friendly waiter will guide you downstairs to the seating area.
The restaurant was absolutely packed, which I found was odd as it was a Wednesday lunchtime, but I was glad as this meant I had to sit outside in Korea Hero's terrace, which overlooks the river – it was a sunny day.
The vibe in the restaurant was just perfect, filled with families enjoying an Easter holiday lunch and pop music subtly playing in the background to set the mood.
The staff are all Korean - Linda says that she's hired lots of Korean students from the university so that the restaurant feels authentic.
Korea Hero's menu is vast with a variety of Korean-style appetizers ranging from various gyozas to Tofu Kimchi, sides, original mains which include stews and rice and noodle dishes, various chicken dishes, premium mains, and sharing platters.
But, as guided by owner Linda, I opted for a K-Tray and chose the Dolsot Bibimpap rice bowl with tofu as my tray's main.
The K-Trays cost £12.90 if you opt for an Original Main and £14.99 if you opt for a Premium Main. This, I think is an absolute bargain seeing as you get a full main and sides.
The dish I chose includes rice with seasonal vegetables and egg yolk and can come with your choice of either Bulgogi beef, Spicy pork, Spicy chicken, or Tofu.
Korea Hero's drinks menu is just as vast, offering a range of Soju (a Korean spirit) cocktails, classic cocktails, wines, beers, soft drinks, and coffees.
Linda says that she has bought a "fabulous" new coffee maker and sells the "best" coffees.
To drink, I had a So-Tonic, which is Soju mixed with tonic water and garnished with lemon slices.
The So-Tonic was super refreshing, ideal for a sunny day, and had a slight tangy taste which made it nicer than a standard G&T.
The food came out pretty quickly, which was great considering how busy the restaurant was.
First came the complimentary sides, which come with the K-Tray.
As the staff were rushed off their feet with every table taken, I didn't get a chance to ask what these were, but I can say that one was definitely a veggie gyoza, another was crunchy pineapple in a slightly spicy red sauce, and the third was a little bowl of berry-like foods.
Nevertheless, I tried each dish and every one was delicious, especially the gyoza with its soft texture melting in my mouth.
My main dish came shortly after and, having never tried a K-Tray before, Linda told me to drizzle some sesame oil on first followed by a drizzle of chilli oil and then to mix the bowl all together so that the yolk from the fried egg would spread through the whole dish.
I absolutely loved my main; the rice was so soft and fluffy (something I can never get right myself) and the veggies (mushrooms and stir-fried peppers) were cooked perfectly.
This, mixed with the egg yolk and dash of chilli oil made the dish burst with flavours and it wasn't too spicy, which was great for me.
The size of the meal was perfect too, it didn't give me that "I'm too full to move" feeling, but it didn't leave me still hungry either.
For dessert, I had Ice Mochi, as recommended by Linda, which is ice cream coated in a rice cake.
I had vanilla and mango, but the menu says you can ask the staff for what flavours are on offer.
The Ice Mochis were incredible, I loved how the balls were crunchy on the outside and soft in the middle like a Magnum.
The mango ball was super refreshing to go with the sunny weather, and I love vanilla, so no complaints there.
To accompany my dessert, I had a Korean-style tea called corn tea.
I love herbal teas, whether it be green tea or peppermint tea, but this tea was on another level.
It was slightly sweet and had a faintly milky flavour despite it having no milk in it.
As I finished eating, I noticed a family next to me enjoying and sharing a variety of K-Trays with various appetizers and side dishes which all looked delicious and made me want to try more food despite being full.
Thus, I would definitely recommend going as a group.
Overall, my meal was 10/10 and I would definitely recommend everyone to try Korea Hero.
My only complaint, as a veggie, is that there could be more vegetarian options, but for any veggies reading, go for the dish I had – it was excellent.
And Linda and her staff are amazing, they are extremely welcoming but not overbearing.
It is obvious that Linda is passionate about her job.
Linda and her husband are originally from Korea but currently live in New Malden.
Linda says she "loves" that there is a big Korean community in the borough and believes that now is the perfect time to open a Korean restaurant.
She told me that the restaurant has been "very busy" since it opened last Saturday and that "all the customers have been very nice".
She says that she will open the upstairs room soon, which will be open for private hire and have a karaoke machine.
Linda said: "People can hire the upstairs room for private functions and get discounts on food."
Korea Hero's diners can enjoy 30% off everything for the next three weeks if they follow Korea Hero on Instagram here.
