Kueche
Glasgow
I’M STILL awaiting a reply to my text about what kind of tea we were drinking; oh and how many people I had ordered for, and which sauces go where. But, and frankly, not already knowing the answers to these questions was entirely my own fault having declined the opportunity to meet the chef Hwa Sun Lee when collecting our food.
Though she was clearly there, chatting, as a masked lady handed me my bag of food and reminded me I had said in an email I would like to be in and out.
Whoosh, was the actual word I used and she repeated it as the exchange took place in a little food collective place called Soul Food Sisters at the edge of Glasgow’s Barra’s market.
Truth is, I think chefs should always do their talking on the plate. But then on the way home in the car, paper bag with food at our feet, we can’t decide if this delicious hot liquid we are sipping is some variety of peach tea or something altogether more exotic.
And now I think about it, that paper bag with the food is alarmingly light. So we check the hand-written labels. One of which contains, aw, a poem and underneath that there’s another label with the words: For Two.
Hang on; a poem? “Until the day I die,” it begins and here’s me still saying to Luca (having spent £54) that I’m pretty sure I ordered for three. I know I did.
I’ll put you out of your misery. We unpack at home and the order is for three people. Topped and tailed by a bundle of pancakes (starter) and with a dessert of, erm, three Korean wagon wheels. Yes, chocolate biscuits. Oh well, it’s all for a very good cause.
On the plastic wrapped biscuit front, I don’t think Burton’s have anything to worry about.
As for the actual meal, well, that’s the strange thing. I had actually asked for a copy of the menu when in the restaurant and the masked lady had said it was all in her head but would text it, which she did, but then blanked the follow up texts. So no idea is not only the answer on the tea-type front – but also on where to apply the sauces. More of an idea on the tub of kimchee though, proper salty, savoury and tangy stuff.
As for the soup pot of soy sauce; and the tub of oo-yah chilli sauce that roars like a rocket rising; crikey those are powerful. Do they go on the buchimgae Korean pancakes with their shrimp and spring onion filling, all wrapped up in kitchen roll in one of those signs of home-made that no commercial venue can compete with? If you’re putting poems instead of menus on the delivery bags how many signs does there need to be that this is a tad left-field?
The main course food is in proper plastic bowls with lids, I’ll see them the day after in our dishwasher so that’s how good they are. They contain bibimbap, a dish we are getting pretty familiar with in Scotland – Korean food being one of those stealth trends that is slowly flourishing.
Hand-made, home-made, all pretty meaningless terms in commercial premises, yet there is definitely something of the home in the way these are put together. In a good way.
Super-fresh vegetables: julienned carrots, sliced cabbage, peppers, onion, mushroom, all arranged in tidy little segments around the bowl. That sticky rice underneath. A yolky fried egg on top. And also the one thing that lifts this above the ordinary: little meatballs or patties that are firm and tasty. We slosh the soy sauce about, mix the fiery chilli around, give it a stir for good luck and dive in if not so much head first certainly with enthusiasm. It’s light, savoury tangy, very fresh and probably pretty healthy.
Good stuff.
Kueche
Soul Food Sisters
202 Gallowgate
Glasgow
Menu: This was a one-off event called A Korean Super to celebrate bibimbap; the Korean national dish. Interesting and a little bit different. 4/5
Price: It came in at £18 a pop to take home and eat right-away as it was already hot. Reasonable price and I think there may have been some info pack available (if not rushing in and out) and some chef-chatting time. 4/5
Atmosphere: I was in Soul Food Sisters to collect (Kueche seem to have organised this and many other food events according to their website) and only for a moment. 3/5
Service: There was loads of email to-and-froing beforehand, and the briefest of chats in the restaurant, but friendly and helpful people. 4/5
Food: It’s a bibimbap, with pancakes on the side and choco biscuits to follow. But a very good one that tasted like it had been put together with pride. 7/10
22/30
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