Yami

Consider Yami as the best of New Malden’s Korean hot spots.
Its easy to find on the high street and has an array of options that you can enjoy at a leisurely pace. Note well: leisurely pace. It has this home like feel and there is never any pressure to leave because its got quite a lazy and easy going atmosphere.
The beef ribs have to be the go to dish — they make it in front of you on a hotplate — combine it with lettuce and rice with some of the sauces and you’re in business.
Great food + great atmosphere + easy to find = 5 stars.

So excited to discover Korean Central in New Malden.. The Korean restaurants recommended were closed on a Sunday so we opted for Yami’s for lunch which happened to be open and very busy. We were pleasantly surprised at the extra capacity in the back… There are even 3 private sectioned rooms for bigger groups. The food took a while to arrive — even those mini appetisers (which are free any the way — didn’t realise they aren’t usually in London). We ordered our usual — bulgogi, bibimbap and kimchi soup (kimchi jiggae). The bibimbap came in a clay mortar — they have us the option. I mostly tried the bulgogi and kimchi soup and found the kimchi soup tasty but the bulgogi very wet with too many soggy onions and much too sweet. I’ve had bulgogi wet like this but the taste wasn’t very good being sickeningly sweet. On the positive note, once they finally served us the free appetisers, the food cane quickly. Also, the prices were very reasonable. Much cheaper than in Edinburgh even for dinner.

Friendly service, tasty food. Bim bim bap didn’t come in a stone bowl which was a disappointment, but may be that’s and additional request. But the chicken soup certainly came out in a hot bowl and soup was seriously boiling! Loved it!

Yami is not yummy. I was really looking forward to pacifying my korean bbq cravings for the first time in London today. We drove out of our way from Central London to New Malden to try one of New Malden’s several korean bbq restaurants. Unfortunately only a handful of the restaurants have been reviewed on Unilocal,each with the same average of about 4 stars, and each had between 5 to 7 reviews. This made it a little difficult to decide which one to go to. I choose Yami because one of the reviews said that they don’t charge for the little side dishes that are normally complimentary in other countries such as the United States and Korea. We ordered the chap-​che noodles (buckwheat glass noodles with beef and vegetables) — this arrived very watery like a soup and was overly sweet. The fried pork dumplings had more soggy cabbage than pork. They were also in a different type of wrapper that was more like a flakey puffed pastry. We also ordered the classic marinated beef short ribs and pork belly, both to be grilled at our table. The pork belly was nice, but it is hard to go wrong when no preparation had to be done to it — it was simply pork belly with no marinade on a grill — simples. The marinated beef was a good quality beef, but the marinade tasted more sugary (like simple syrup sugar) instead of the savory caramelized combination of brown sugar, sesame oil, spring onions, etc. It was quality beef laced in some soy sauce and sugar. It did not have any sesame seeds and spring onions — most importantly, it was missing that one random mushroom that they usually chuck on to the grill when ordering this dish elsewhere. Also, note that you have to pay for rice!!! Service was very attentive and nice, and the waiter has control of the grill at your table. New Yorkers, there is a huge difference between this place in New Malden compared to the K-​town bbq establishments we are used to.

Great service but otherwise a fairly pedestrian experience. Was expecting so much more and it wasn’t that cheap either. The marinated beef was really good, shame we didn’t want to pay the extra £1.90 for lettuce leaves to go with them. I like good value and I wouldn’t be happy with that anywhere in central London and certainly not in New Malden! If you are in the area and want Korean food then go ahead, enjoy but don’t expect to be wowed.

Yami made me muse about moving from Hackney to the New Malden boonies. Mates (and mateys), it’s worth the trek out here.
After grumbling for months about how Korean joints in London charge for panchan (appetizer plates), Yami shut me up with the three panchan that showed up once we were shown to our table: potato shreds in sesame oil, kimchi, and some pickled turnip.
Bustling space that seems full at all hours, it’s pretty easy to explain the crowds once you try Yami’s food. My galbitang (short rib beef soup) made me honestly glad of the winter chill since the broth was just so RIGHT. Very clear broth despite the rich beefy flavor, and I can swear this stuff cures ailments. At the very least, I stopped whining about how much better Korean food is back home in California. Big chunks of rib meat on the bone, daikon, onion, and a dash of pepper, it’s perfect with the bowl of rice that accompanies.
Yami, please keep taking my money. I’ll be back!

Came here with a friend for the first time, and thank goodness. Yami is wonderful. The brown rice tea is delicious (although I wish the waiters would check and fill the teapot). They brought small, complimentary appetizer dishes of salad, kimchi, vegetable pancakes, potato soup, and some egg thing. I ordered the beef bulgogi (good, but not amazing as bulgogi goes) and chicken teriyaki (really delicious). The waiter was very polite. I would recommend offering the guests water and refilling the tea when it’s empty. It also took a long time to get our check and to have my payment picked up.

I had a great dinner at Yami (69 High Street) last night. Having never been to New Malden before, I was tempted to try Palace and some of the other ones that are more well known. However, I asked a few groups of Koreans about what their favorite restaurant was, and they all said Yami. Yami was the most crowded of the Korean restaurants on the High Street and so we decided to go in.
I started with the seafood pancake, which was one the best I’ve had. It was not too thick nor greasy — there was generous portions of seafood.
For mains, I had the stonepot bibimbap which was fantastic. The raw meat was of a high quality, the egg was perfect and the rice crispy. The hot sauce was just right as well.
My companion had the fish cakes with squid. The texture of the fish cakes was perfect, not too sticky and with enough bite.
Finally, we also split the sweet/​sour chicken, which I had thought was Korean fried chicken. It’s not. It wasn’t very good.
The service was pretty good although they overcharged us by quite a bit. Once I pointed that out, they changed the bill. There is also a mandatory service charge which annoys me.
All in all, one of the best Korean meals I’ve had.
i think most people get the BBQ, but I just wanted to try something else.

Eve L and I and a few other friends decided to have a girls night in New Malden (Sorry Eve L’s hubby!) and since it’s pretty much London’s K-​town, we just picked any BBQ. The Steamed Pork plate with tofu and kimchi was amazing value, £13 or something and we didn’t even finish. It was like a spicy version of the chinese twice cooked pork!
Also ordered bibimbap and some BBQ, the galbi was great. It was quite tender and we didn’t end up smelling like BBQ because their ventilation was so strong. but the star of the show was definitely steamed pork.
Between 4 of us, it was just under £70, value for money. I’d say.

Fantastic BBQ. The bulgogi was great but the highlight for me was the marinated short rib which was so sweet and delicious. I ate it and then immediately wanted to eat 8 more plates of it. Also yummy was the dolsot (bibimbap). Perfect comfort food for a rainy Sunday night, especially when accompanied with unusually good tea. Finally, the banchan (side dishes) were excellent.
Really friendly staff, although they were a bit stretched over all the tables. This place is a very short walk from the station so come check it out!
It’s true that you come out smelling of BBQ, although unlike Tom E, I’m probably not going to wash my hoodie right away. I smell delicious.

Wonderful, reasonably priced Korean food at this restaurant. BBQ meat dishes range from £10 for beef and £7.50 for pork. There is a good selection of beer, wine and spirits, I definitely recommend going for a soju with your meal. If only I wasn’t so far away from this place, I’d definitely come here more often!

Yami is state-​of-​the-​art Korean BBQ. I’m talking LED lights, extendible extractor hose fans and novelty call buttons to summon the waiters. It’s slick, modern and very good. And unlike many of New Malden’s more traditional Korean restaurants it’s also open on Sunday nights.
It’s where on a cold Feb Sunday night my wife, myself and Monica Y ate a real meat feast with beer, sides and appetisers for £60 total. We plumped for the BBQ set menu #1 which could easily have filled four or five, but instead ate it all for ourselves. Fatty pork, bacon, prime rib cut from the bone in front of us and sesame-​covered steak. We matched it with wonderful pot-​stickers and some fried soft tofu that would embarrass most Japanese attempts. Are you salivating yet?
Despite the techno extractor hoses and our own best attempts, we still left stinking of sizzling meats and our clothes are now awaiting washing. Such is the sacrifice of good Korean BBQ.
Yami is a good stop in New Malden for Korean BBQ, and the hordes of young fashion-​following Koreans there will back me up. The menu isn’t particularly diverse or interesting but everything is done well.