Church Street in Stoke Newington has figured something out that a lot of London neighbourhoods are still working on. The restaurants are good, the crowd is local, and nobody is performing for anyone. Filled with plenty of great pubs, shops and cafes. It’s always been just short of something for the evenings.
Joo Young Won brings Calong to Church Street, as somewhere to drink well and eat better, and that’s exactly what it does. Think of a serious wine bar that decided, at some point, to start cooking Korean-European food at a level that makes the wine almost secondary. A small purposeful list of ethically made bottles, and staff who actually know what’s on it.
The menu is written on a blackboard and changes frequently depending on what’s worth buying. Seasonal and deliberate. Kimchi fritters with chilli mayo take something familiar and turn it into something you keep reaching for – the ferment softened just enough by the fry, the mayo there to cool it down before you go back in. The pork rillette ssam is a mouthful worth slowing down for: crunch from the lettuce, the rillette deeply savoury and rich, wrapped up and eaten in one go the way ssam should be. Joo’s fried chicken with sweet chilli and peanut is the dish you’d order at any Korean restaurant without looking at the menu – except this is the house version, and it earns that status.
Octopus arrives in thick slices, sitting in a light chojang dressing with fresh perilla and watercress scattered across – herby and sharp, the acidity of the chojang doing the work. The Cornish pollock comes as a proper thick fillet on a colourful bed of mooli jorim, cavolo nero crisp on top. Grilled pork jeyuk is served in delicate slices, which turns out to be the point – thin enough that you can load each one properly with apple kimchi and ssamjang, and you will.
It’s a perfect date spot. Even better night for friends you’ve been postponing seeing for three months and finally ran out of excuses. The room is warm and close, bookings are available but walk-ins are always accommodated, and Church Street is exactly the right place to end up on a night with no particular plan.
