New Malden is home to Europe’s densest population of Korean expatriates, with an eclectic culinary culture to boot. From bibimbap to bingsu, Caitlin Barr tours the ‘Little Korea’ that’s only a stone’s throw from Waterloo.
As you walk along New Malden high street, familiar shops and restaurants blend into the background. Poundland. Nandos. The cavernous space that used to be a Wilko. You’d be forgiven for thinking that the suburb, tucked in the capital’s south-west border with Surrey, is just like every other London suburb. Look a little closer though and you’ll notice an array of shops and eateries that aren’t so common on high streets.
New Malden is host to over 30 Korean establishments: restaurants, cafes, supermarkets, and bubble tea shops. Until a couple of years ago, you could sample authentic Korean sake at Sing Sing, an infamously sticky but generally beloved karaoke bar which was bulldozed to make way for yet another block of newbuild flats – New Malden’s other identifiable trait. Nestled amongst the countless Korean eateries are churches conducting services in both English and Korean, specialist Korean travel and estate agents, and, until recently, a William Hill betting shop with Korean lettering in its sign.
There are a few theories about why this ‘Little Korea’ – an unassuming commuter suburb, quiet except for the A-Road slicing through its centre – has attracted over 20,000 Korean residents, the densest population outside of the Korean peninsula. The most obvious theory would be the fact that the South Korean embassy used to be in the leafy suburb. Korean tech giant Samsung had offices there too before moving nearby to Chertsey in 2005, no doubt attracting Korean workers to the area. As Koreans emigrated, whether for work or to escape increasing tensions in the region during the 2000s, family and friends moved to join them, seeking familiarity and community away from ‘home’.
“We get people from a variety of countries coming to visit, as food is a universal love language”
Jungwha Song
No matter the reason, the result is a delicious assortment of interesting eateries, which have garnered New Malden viral fame. K-Town BBQ, directly opposite the train station, is now TikTok famous, with one video recommending it receiving over 363,000 likes. This Korean barbecue joint offers an all-you-can-eat experience, where visitors grill their own dinner in traditional Korean style, before smothering it in sweet marinades. A few hundred metres down the high street is Bingsoo, a cafe styled like an English tearoom, with cakes served on blue and white china. But alongside classic scones and Victoria sponge, this tearoom’s bestseller is the eponymous dish (sometimes spelled bingsu): a milk-based shaved ice dessert topped with syrups, red bean paste, or (if you’re feeling less adventurous) Oreos. Plenty of other cafes and restaurants line the streets, all offering delicious Korean dishes including bibimbap [rice topped with vegetables or meat and chilli sauce], kimchi [spiced fermented cabbage], and samgyeopsal [grilled pork belly].
Jungwha Song, owner of Imone, a snug Korean restaurant sandwiched between a fish and chip shop and Pizza Express, is proud of his extensive Korean menu. “Our specialty is Saengsunjjim – a spicy fish dish that’s steamed for 20 minutes in our special sauce, topped with crown daisy and bean sprouts. I’d say that’s my favourite,” he tells me. It’s not just London’s Korean diaspora who frequent these eateries – Imone’s clientele are as varied as its menu: “We get people from a variety of countries coming to visit, as food is a universal love language.”
There’s a wide choice when it comes to specialist Korean supermarkets in the area – Seoul Plaza, Korea Foods, and H Mart each boast an array of imported products which are difficult to source anywhere else in London. They sell the most authentic spicy noodles (according to Korean natives), soju [a clear and potent alcoholic drink distilled from grains], and spicy chicken buldak sauce, as well as items from an array of other Asian cultures. Korea Foods, a huge warehouse next to the B&Q, attracts visitors from all across London for its tofu, made on-site.
As someone with no ties to Korea growing up in New Malden, I distinctly remember the time we visited Korea Foods and came home with exciting White Rabbit sweets, almost impossibly chewy but entirely novel to us. I’m pretty sure that marshmallow-filled individually wrapped cakes called ‘choco pies’ got me through my A Levels. My friends and I would frequently pour into Bingsoo after school and give ourselves brain freeze when we shovelled sweet shaved ice topped with Oreos into our mouths before we were due home. Whenever I come across Korean foods in Asian supermarkets anywhere else in the UK and turn them over to see Korea Foods’ New Malden address on the back, I feel a sense of weird and unfounded pride.
New Malden is a special place thanks to the diversity of people who have chosen to make it their home, not least the Korean residents. I feel lucky to have grown up there and to have such incredible food on my doorstep – and it’s definitely worth the 20 minute train ride from Waterloo.
