What can you tell me about Bo Drake?
Bo Drake is a South-east Asian restaurant with a strong focus on smoking and barbeque and Korean flavours. Heading things up is Jan Lee, who was previously at Roka, and he's teamed up with Head Chef Heath McDonald who brings his experience from Californian street trucks. For more about the background, check out our original story on the opening.
Where is it?
In Soho - it's on the top end of Greek Street, so more or less halfway between Leicester Square and Tottenham Court Road.
Where should I go for a drink first?
The most obvious spot seems to be right next door at the just-opened Milroy's (although they weren't open when we visited last week). Otherwise you could head over for a quick drink at L'Escargot, . As ever for restaurants in Soho, though, there are almost boundless options nearby, so you'll stumble onto a decent drinking establishment in any direction.
And how about drinks at Bo Drake itself?
It's definitely worth grabbing a seat at the bar for a drink too. There's a small cocktail list, split into classics and signatures, all around the £7 mark, with the Bo Drake Marmalade at £7.50 being the best - but one that would benefit from instructions (it comes with a spoon of marmalade). The wine list is actually shorter than the cocktail list, with four each of red and white, ranging from £18 to £29 (a £26 Verdejo went down well).
When I get there, where should I sit?
First up - it's a no reservations restaurant and if there isn't a seat, you'll have to wait near the bar until there is one (i.e. no leaving a number). So in the evening, you'll sit where you can. We actually liked the bar, where we sat, particularly down by the front where it stretches out to kind of a sharing table (people sitting on both sides). The bar is wide enough to so you're not encroaching on other diners - and you'll need that space.
Obviously, there's standard seating available and we thought the tables towards the front of the room looked the best.
And what should I order?
We'd happily recommend a tour through most of the compact menu (taking care to note what the specials are too). Note some dishes can be on the spicy side (or were for us, anyway). Trying to cool the kimchi nachos that we ordered with the equally spicy queso freso turned out to be a mistake (they were good though). So make sure to have a jug of water handy at all times.
As for the highlights, our top three things to order are:
- The Bo Ssam - they offer pulled pork in a bun too, but wrapped up in a lettuce leaf with samjang and spring onion oil is a better option in our minds (£12)
- The Korean lamb cutlets with nashi pear - perfectly cooked and spiced. We could have happily ordered up a second batch of these babies (£12)
- Pan fried cauliflower with mushroom puree and red cabbage - an excellent veg dish, but we'd have preferred a more generous hand with the cauliflower, which pairs wonderfully with the puree mushroom (£5)
But all of it was wolfed down, so don't shy away from the smalls, or the excellent sweet potato fries.
There's one dessert - sesame soft serve ice cream which (alas) wasn't available on the night we visited. So we finished instead with a dessert cocktail - the soju sparkle which comes with yakult yoghurt, strawberry puree and lemon pellegrino.
Anything else I should know about ordering?
One thing to be aware of is that all the mains came out pretty quick - and they're all sharing style. So you might want to use the small plates restaurant ordering technique - i.e. order what you want to eat when you want it so you can set the pace.
And overall?
Bo Drake is another fine addition to Soho. We were fans of the counter dining scene there, the food and cocktails impressed and the staff is lovely. Definitely worth a visit.
Bo Drake is at 6 Greek St, Soho, London W1D 4DE. Find out more about Bo Drake.
Hot Dinners were invited to eat at Bo Drake
