Jihwaja
Korean restaurant · Vauxhall
353 Kennington Ln, London SE11 5QY, United Kingdom
Highlights
Korean fried chicken, karaoke, soju, kimchi jeon
Korean fried chicken, karaoke, soju, kimchi jeon
"This Korean canteen-cum-karaoke bar in Vauxhall is a riot at 1:30am when you’ve got the uncontrollable urge to sing All Saints. Ask if any karaoke rooms are available. You can eat in these semi-soundproofed dens—think saucy yangnyeom chicken and a crunchy kimchi jeon—before picking up the mic and shrieking to ‘Murder On The Dancefloor’." - jake missing, sinead cranna
"Jihwaja can be dinner, a show, and an evening not to tell your grandkids about all at once. The late-night Korean canteen in Vauxhall is a non-descript, satisfying restaurant, but really it’s all about karaoke here. You’ll be led down glowing pink corridors, soundtracked by people murdering BTS. Once your food is cleared—get the kimchi jeon and yangnyeom chicken—the lights dim, disco lights swirl, and Jihwaja's extensive (but highly baffling) music library is your oyster." - jake missing, daisy meager, sinead cranna, rianne shlebak, heidi lauth beasley
"If done correctly, Jihwaja can be dinner, a show, and something not to tell your grandkids about all at once. The late-night Korean canteen in Vauxhall is a non-descript, satisfying restaurant if you’re just coming for the food—but few people do that. Here, it’s about the karaoke too. photo credit: Jihwaja photo credit: Jihwaja photo credit: Jihwaja Forget the basic dining room and book a private booth instead. You’ll be led down glowing pink corridors, soundtracked by people murdering Springsteen, Eminem, and BTS from multiple directions. In a semi-soundproofed room, you’ll eat dinner before your set. Keep it simple from the enormous menu and stick to the classics. The generous sharing plates of yangneom chicken are glistening and have an excellent crunching fry, and the kimchi jeon is good too. Once your food is cleared, the lights are dimmed, the disco lights swirl, and Jihwaja's extensive (but highly baffling) music library is your oyster. Let the soju flow and carefully read the instructions for finding a song. Actually, probably not in that order." - Jake Missing
"London’s most famous ‘press for service’ buttons might summon champagne at Soho’s Bob Bob Ricard, but there’s an argument for their counterparts at Jihwaja bringing more joy, since they’ve the power to make Korean fried chicken appear with a side of ice cold beer — or for the more enthusiastic, soju. The sounds of K Pop reverberate as table after table of youngsters clamours to share stacks of craggy double-fried chicken, tossed with a signature sticky-sweet sauce that leaves diners’ faces gochujang red. The chicken really is the star of the menu here, and a much better option than the rapidly nose-diving Chee Mc in Camberwell." - Helen Graves
Whitney Riley
Callum Swanston
Yui Fan Law
Amy
Amerie tagle
abi mills
Albina Babu
David van Zijl
Chris M.
Ada C.
Sean C.
Ben V.
