Woo Jung is a longstanding Korean restaurant at 73 New Oxford Street, reached through a discreet basement entrance beneath a Korean food shop. The unpretentious dining room is known for traditional dishes served in generous portions, making it a convenient central London choice for lunch or a relaxed shared dinner. The menu moves from small plates and rice bowls to sizzling barbecue and larger pots made for the table.
Starters include crisp seaweed rolls, fried mandu dumplings and chewy rice cakes cooked in a spicy sauce. Seafood pancake brings prawns and other seafood together in a savoury batter, while kimchi pancake offers a sharper fermented flavour. These opening dishes work especially well for sharing and introduce the combination of heat, texture and deep seasoning found across the rest of the menu.
Sizzling plates cover marinated beef bulgogi, chicken bulgogi and spicy pork, alongside stir fried squid and baby octopus. Pork belly can be grilled with vegetables, while cheese buldak combines fiery chicken with a richer melted topping. Rice bowl versions pair beef, pork, chicken, squid or tofu with steamed rice, giving solo diners a complete meal in a simpler format.
Larger specialities include budae jjigae, a warming stew of meat, tofu and vegetables, and bulgogi jeongol, which cooks marinated beef with broth and vegetables in a shared pot. Bossam, braised pig’s trotters and tofu with kimchi add further traditional choices for groups. Kimchi, rice and crisp seaweed complete the savoury meal, with barley, corn, buckwheat and citron teas among the drinks.
Address: 73 New Oxford Street, London WC1A 1DG, United Kingdom