The Royal Exchange, a stone’s throw from Bank, is one of London’s most iconic settings, and is home to all manner of luxurious shops and a Fortnum & Mason champagne bar. Therefore, any restaurateur who opens an establishment here is taking on quite a challenge; I remember a previous incarnation of the space, Sauterelle, as offering decent although slightly unmemorable modern British cuisine. It needed a boost in order to turn this awe-inspiring spot into a true destination establishment, and, in the form of the new Japanese-Korean establishment Jang, it has well and truly got it.
The restaurant is fortunate enough to have the excellent Dana Choi in the kitchen, and her skills are remarkably varied and eclectic, ensuring that both Japanese and Korean dishes are presented and served with a mixture of consummate skill and not a little wit; the starter of “Jang KFC”, a selection of pieces of chicken karaage beautifully presented and served with gochujang sauce deserves to be a cult dish.
As Choi describes it, “Our intention at the beginning, when we first built this restaurant, was to present London with elevated Korean dishes. I was heavily influenced by Korean royal cuisine which is where I get all of my inspiration from for the Korean dishes. For the Japanese dishes, Korean cuisine actually shares many similarities with Japanese, and Japanese food is really familiar and popular in London, so I’ve been dining at lots of different Japanese restaurants which brought on a lot of new ideas.”
A particular highlight of this marriage comes in the stunning black cod dish, which forms the centrepiece of the menu and, frankly, makes the famous kind at Nobu look like a poor relation. Choi says that “I know that the miso black cod dish is very famous, but I wanted to present something more than the broadly recognised version and add a Korean twist, which is why I came up with our spicy miso black cod with gochujang, miso, sake and mirin through the sauce.
“Whenever I go to restaurants to try black cod, they always just serve the black cod itself or with a small side of vegetables, so I wanted to make it more like a proper main dish. I serve ours with a bowl of black cod soup which is made not only with the black cod fillet, but we also use the bones to create the stock for a boost of umami flavour. We use one black cod for each serving and showcase different cooking methods in one dish. The courgette element brings another dimension of texture to the dish and is what we call namul in Korea, a cooking method for vegetables.”
There are many other dishes here that are similarly fine – a stupendous selection of sashimi, and the aptly named ‘K-BBQ’, a sirloin steak served with sides that include everything from wasabi butter to pollock roe – and Choi seems undaunted by the iconic setting that her restaurant has found itself in.
“One of the challenges we had opening in The Royal Exchange,” she says, “was that people don’t know that we exist. The Royal Exchange is an iconic landmark, so they didn’t expect there to be a restaurant inside at the beginning. It can be seen as an intimidating building. As a Londoner myself, I didn’t even know about this building until I heard about the restaurant plans. We still have lots of people who are just passing by asking if they can come in, like they’re afraid that they’re not allowed to come in! In terms of opportunities, we’re very lucky for our restaurant’s views to be of one of the city’s most grand and beautiful Grade-I listed buildings.”
Dinner at Jang is a true pleasure from start to finish, with the plum sake that concludes the meal a suitably authentic – yet somehow irreverent – touch. It’s true to the spirit of the entire venture. “When we opened Jang,” Choi tells me, “our intention was to spotlight Korean food in an elevated way, so I hope that our guests think, ‘I’ve never seen Korean food like that, I didn’t know that Korean food could be luxurious like that,’ after a meal with us. I know that in London most Korean food is like street food. I hope that they leave thinking that there’s much more to Korean cuisine than just casual street food.”
On this evidence, it would be impossible not to.
Jang, The Mezzanine, First Floor, Royal Exchange, London, EC3V 3LQ. For more information, and for bookings, please visit www.jangrestaurant.co.uk.
Photos by Eleonora Boscarelli
