The husband and wife owners of Calong in Stoke Newington are building on the excitement surrounding their Bib Gourmand award last month.
Inspectors for the gastronomic guide hand out the badge to selected neighbourhood restaurants which offer excellent value for the quality of their cooking.
Joo Won and Sujin Won opened their 30-seat restaurant in Stoke Newington Church Street a year ago after running a series of pop-ups.
Joo is ex head chef at the Michelin-star Galvin at Windows, while Sujin has past experience at The Wolseley, The Delauney, and Fischer’s in Marylebone.
In less than a year they have won praise from the likes of the Financial Times restaurant critic for signature dishes such as fried chicken with sweet chilli and peanut, or grilled pork jeyuk with apple kimchi and ssamjang dipping sauce.
Now there are four new items to try – all combining Korean flavours with western techniques.
Diners can order asparagus, cucumber and muchim salad with yuza and tofu sauce, or stir fried glass noodles with tropea onion, pea shoot and wild garlic.
There’s also a delicate pan fried hake with mushroom and seaweed dashi, and a roast lamb saddle with gochujang, lettuce and herbs.
The new dishes will be on the menu alongside the likes of Calong’s baked Alaska dessert.
As ever diners can wash their meal down with the dining spot’s choice of low-intervention ethical white, orange and red wines from small independent producers.
Calong is open for dinner Wednesday to Saturday and for lunch Friday to Sunday at 35 Stoke Newington Church Street. wwwcalonglondon.com
