Top British Chefs try Korean BBQ for the first time!

Today we're trying Korean barbecue. Oh, here we go. That's a bold statement. I think that's probably the nicest barbeque I've ever had. Just like the colour of it, the fat like glistening over the top. Wow, this is mad. I heard you haven't had much Korean food. No, I wouldn't say I have to be honest with you. Unassuming barbecue. How the hell does that work? Have you ever been for Korean barbecue in London before? No, no, genuinely not. Have you ever been for Korean barbecue at all? No, this will be my first time. This is classic for a Korean barbecue restaurant. You always have the barbecue right in the middle of the table. It's in your restaurant then, I think. Yeah, we will in a couple of weeks, won't we? In the middle. Oh, is this a Korean tartare? It is. Remember when I was trying to do that? I got obsessed with it. We use venison for our tartare. I've always wanted to try this. So first up, what we're going to do, you grab a bit of yukhoe and then we're grabbing a bit of this. Any guesses? Daikon? This is actually a hit. A big Asiatic pear. Okay, yeah. Crunchy, sweet. Give it a taste. Quite an intense hit of raw garlic, isn't it? Yeah, that's a good point. Wow, I honestly wouldn't have even noticed that. Can I have some kimchi now? It's just like a, yeah, you can, you can. I didn't want to overwhelm you because this can be quite a strong taste. I'm absolutely starved. Go for it, go for it. We met because a YouTube chef, actually, from Sorted Food brought us to your restaurant, telling us it was his favourite meal that he's had in the last year and he claimed the best British food and potentially best British restaurant. Which was extremely hard to argue with after we had the meal. It feels like you've taken sort of classic British cuisine and put in a bit of a modern twist on it. It was our desire to want to use the British ingredients. So although we take inspiration from other places, you know, like a sriracha-based sauce, whatever, it's made with British chillies, served with British fish. Yeah, what does it even mean? What does it even mean, British food? That's true. Is this for the barbecue? That is for the barbecue. Excellent. This is called chadolbagi. You can see it's been cut extremely thinly. It's actually brisket. Oh, wow. So you can see the beef. It's cut almost like bacon, very, very thin. Are you guys ever slicing beef this thinly? For carpaccio, yeah. We're never with that cut in the UK. It'd be in like a braised barbecue cut, right? Yeah, it's like slow and slow. First taste of chadolbagi. Cheers, guys. Cheers. Korean barbecue, let's go. Mmm. It's almost like proper butchery. Bang it. Butchery. Buttery, yeah. Oh, battery. Sorry. So over here, we've got some sesame oil. Get a bit of the salt and pepper and the sesame oil and give it that taste. Yeah. It's getting better. Yeah, it's really good. I feel like I'm on a journey. Oh, yeah. It's like ingredients that you're mostly very familiar with, stuff that we come across very often, but just paired slightly differently. Eaten like very communally. Adds a bit of theatre to your meal. That's what everyone says when they come to our restaurant. They love... Because they're not just coming to eat, they're coming to then watch the kitchen cook, and you're seeing all the buzz and the atmosphere going. It's a bit like that. There's so much more than just the food. You've got food. Wow, this is mad. Is this a little garlic clove? What is it? So this one is black garlic. Oh, black garlic. It's a lot sweeter than the regular garlic that you have. That looks like a bavette, does it? So this one is a dense goat. Is that bavette? Bavette. Ah, okay. Oh, it is bavette. I've got it on my menu, yeah. Hey. Careful. Yeah. That's nice, that. That's very good marbling, that. That's the money shot. For anyone who hasn't seen at home, I love you guys' YouTube channel. Your POV videos, obviously, are one of the things that sort of blew up first on the channel. Because you have an open kitchen, getting to see from your perspective something that I've seen from the other side as like a guest eating there, which is really cool, like seeing the inner workings of the kitchen. Our background's Michelin, and we weren't allowed to post online. When we started doing Instagram, we were just like, I'm going to stick a camera in front of your face, and then you're going to cook what you normally do, and then just act normal. And it just got really well-received, and then the only reason it worked, Fallow is quite busy and fast-paced, because when you're filming it, we always film the busiest points, so I'm going down on service, and it never looks like that. It was always like, oh, I can't believe it looks so smooth. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think you look a little bit smoother than me, but then... But you're always like, oh my, how does it look like that? Because we were getting absolutely pumped. Sometimes, if you feel like you're going really fast, on the camera, it's just like... Yeah, it looks so serene. I reckon try it first by itself, yeah. And tongue-sized. Mmm, it's so juicy. Mmm, very different texture. It's delicious. I actually prefer that one. Yeah, more the pie, though. More the pie. It's a bold statement. I think that's probably the nicest babette I've ever had. Wow. Okay, just by itself. You like that? I think it's so good. Yeah, I love it. It's delicious. Oh, you're going both? Double down. That's it, yeah? Okay, go for it. Rogue. Can't control this guy. I've been trying for five years. I love it. Look at this. Oh, yeah. Almost looks too good to eat. Yeah, I know. When you get the wagyu, it looks super red and then super white, but it's almost the meat, like even with the tartare at the beginning, it's quite pale. Is it quite young? Yeah. You can tell the age of the cow from looking at that. That's mad. It takes a big team to produce all the content that we have over the years, and that wouldn't be possible without the support of our partners like NordVPN. If you don't know about them already, they're only the fastest VPN on the planet. They protect us and our devices against malware and web trackers, and that's even more important if you're traveling, like we did to make a lot of these videos, because you're accessing public WiFis and servers, and who knows what else is going on. One feature that I found especially reassuring with NordVPN is that they monitor the dark web to see if anyone is leaking your personal information. We will use NordVPN over here at Career Engagement HQ, so if you've been thinking about your online security, please consider going to nordvpn.com.keman to support this channel and all the content that we have in the works right now, and even get an extra four months free using our exclusive deal. It really does help us out, because NordVPN keeps supporting us to keep making these videos that we love to share with you guys. So if you want to support us, please consider getting the fastest VPN on the planet. Go to nordvpn.com.keman and support the channel and get four months extra free. Mmm, that's beautiful. Oh my gosh, I wish I could be trying this again for the first time ever. Well, something I love about your POV videos and seeing behind the kitchen, with the rise of shows like The Bear, there's a lot of interest in what it's like in the kitchen. In Korea, there was a show not too long ago called Culinary Class Wars, where they took like... Oh, I've seen this. You've seen it on Netflix, yeah. I've seen this. Yeah, it's on Netflix. And so the interest in how does it work behind the kitchen and how does a restaurant that's being a bit more creative with their dishes run is at an all-time high, I'd say. I mean, in The Bear, it looks really intense. Yeah. It looks like a horrible working environment. It doesn't feel like that to me. Yeah. That show reminded me of the worst day of work I've ever had, which was like one episode of The Bear, which was like my worst day ever. I think that's what people want to see though. They want to see the drama of it all. I think there's a scene where they pull a box of stock or something off the top shelf and it goes all over, like things like that. That genuinely does happen. Oh, really? Kind of like, you know, going in the fridge and just screaming. Like that stuff does happen. Okay, okay. The shouting like at people, like that doesn't really, not so much. Oh, that is absolutely banging. Is it good? That's so good. It's good. Just like the color of it. And like the fat like glistening over the top. This is why I feel like it gets a bad rep because you never get like a really good crust on it. Okay. It's super tender, but like still got a banging crust on it. Yeah. What is this one? Yeah, it looks like spring onion salad, right? Pajeori, yeah. Gochujang? Gochujang, yeah. Is it gochujang? Gochujang is the base. Oh, I had no idea it was gochujang. Okay. Next up, because you can't come to a Korean barbecue and not also have a jjigae. So it's a doenjang base, which is like a fermented soybean. I feel like I'm on a, there's not many restaurants I go to and I actually like never had it before. I'm like on a real journey. Yeah, so like what is this going to taste like? You have no idea. What is this wizardry? That's great. All right, let's give this jjigae a taste. Doenjang jjigae. That's banging. Just like we're really warm and comforting. Typically, would you have the barbecue before the stew? Exactly. Proteins first and then carb load right at the end. Really? Yeah. That's proper different, isn't it? You can imagine like if you've done a hard day's work, winter vibes, it's banging. Rice is banging. Soaks up the jjigae. You like that? Yeah. So good. I love it. Getting stuck in, look at that. Do you want a bit more or do you want? No, no, yeah, I'll have a little bit more as well. Family style. This is exactly how you'd be eating at a Korean restaurant. I mean, this is perfect. Oh my gosh, that looks so good. It's absolutely banging. Wow, I totally lost my train of thought. So this is seungsin, Korean style rib eye. It'll have that distinct marbling. Almost like a wagyu but more beefy. How I would describe it to most people is in between like an American rib eye and a Japanese rib eye. Bit of finesse there with the garlic balls as well. Like lubing it up with the garlic. What would be the most popular meat in Korea? Probably pork belly, yeah? Yeah. Okay, so I was planning on just giving you like every cut of Korean beef. All my favorite cuts of Korean beef. But if you haven't had samgyeopsal, maybe we should do a little bit of pork belly barbecue as well. Oh, yeah. Finish with some pork. Oh, yeah. If you can handle it. I don't know if we can handle it after this. So we're just going from all Korean beef to all Korean meat. Yeah, we'll just do it. Basically just eating all of Korea. All Korean barbecue cuts. All right, guys. You never wait, Korean rib eye. Cheers. There you go. I've been let down now. You should do. I didn't think anyone was going to beat the shutter. They just melt in your mouth. It's so much flavor. It's so buttery. You guys have also got recipes on your YouTube channel. I actually, last night, tried your pom boulanger. Oh, really? Yeah. Oh, cool. Took three and a half hours. Yeah, yeah. To be honest, a lot of those dishes, we don't really even plan ahead too much on those ones. Like simple dishes like that. Really? There you go. Are you sure you're following the same recipe? Oh, my gosh. I'll never recover. Ollie's heart just dropped. Where do your recipes come from? Point between you two? Or is it like the whole team? Where do they come from? It's kind of evolving as things are going. We're now, what, how long? The restaurant's been open five years? Four years now. At the beginning, it was just all us every day. We'd just be talking to each other. It was just us side by side in the kitchen every day. Whereas in the last year or two, it's slowly changing because, obviously, our roles are diversifying. We've got a team on board now that helps with it. We've got 35 passionate chefs at Fowler. We close the restaurant at Fowler on a Monday night. We let them do the pop-up in the restaurant. They keep the profits if they make any. So literally, the more you just encourage them to be passionate and creative, everyone wins because the menu just gets better and evolves over time. Everyone's always thinking about different ways to change it. We work in very different ways. It's sometimes challenging, but we've always said it's probably our best, our strongest attribute. It's that individually, we're strong, but together, we're stronger. Yeah, yeah. This one is the marinated short ribs. Oh! You like the sound of that? That looks so good. Look at the fat running through it. I know. Are we cheersing or what? Yeah. He's waiting. For the last cut. The last cut. We all know it. Yangnyeom galbi short ribs. Oh, I thought you were saying cheers or something. Whoa, that is... That's next level. It's more like collagen, gelatin-y, like, oh, that is sexy. Is that marinated for a long time? In soy or something? Yeah, in soy. It's been marinated for a couple of days. Oh, okay. And that must, like, break it down slightly. Yeah, you can tell. Yeah. It's changed the texture of the meat, right? So good, yeah. That's the one. I'm going to come back here on my lunch break and just get that on my plate. One of the last combos I want you guys to try is we've got some bibim guksu, essentially a bowl of cold noodles. Like noodles cold before? No. Genuinely not, no. Okay, first time. Let's try the noodles with the meat here. I thought you were going to go all in one then. Go on, Pelican. Cold noodles. That's banging. Yeah? Yeah. Let's... What we're going to do is get a piece of hot meat fresh off the barbecue and then have that with the cold noodles together. Very nice. Absolutely perfect. You could just come and just have that, though. You know, we always finish the meal with carbs, noodles, rice. Yeah, it's interesting. When you think about it, like you're appreciating that high value thing. Exactly, exactly. It's like if you're drinking wine, you drink your expensive wine first. Exactly, exactly. And as you get more drunk, you drink the cheapest. I think the combination, the hot and cold is like, I love that. So we call this samgyeopsal, which essentially translates as like three layers of fat. They scored it all the way down. You've never had pork belly like this? Usually we either have it slow roasted. Yeah. But I've never had it like freshly cooked. So this cut here is the most popular cut of Korean barbecue in all of Korea. So many Korean dishes that use the rest of the pig. Yeah, oh yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So Koreans, I mean, you guys are big on sort of using everything, sustainability, really making the most of all the ingredients. Korea as well. Anything that you can think of will be used. So a spicy pig's feet, very, very popular dish. It's like one of the top delivery foods in Korea. You'll get like big pig's trotters and then they'll use pig's head to make like a big hangover stew. Oh, look at this. They get good color on everything, don't they? That's the best thing. Yeah, yeah. My gosh, I'm salivating. How am I still hungry? We've eaten so much. First up, we want to taste a bit more of the pork. So I dip it in a little bit of this salt and oil, just a tiny little bit, bring out the flavor of the pork. Banging. Very different to the beef. Absolutely banging. My favorite dip for that is in the ssamjang. Oh, yeah. I see what you mean. It's better with that than the beef. You guys had soju before? No, I've not had that. Is that the... It's the Korean spirit. It's not too strong. It's like half as strong as vodka. Often it'll pair with very fatty or greasy foods. Just cut straight through that grease. Cheers. To Korean barbecue for the first time. Yeah. Goes down a treat, doesn't it? It goes down so easy. So this is the thing, that's why Koreans drink so much of that, is it just goes down so, so easy. Honestly, I'm going to book a trip to Korea, like straight away. You're booking a trip to Korea? My eyes are open. That has been a tour through my favorite cuts of Korean beef, ending with Korean pork belly as well. I don't know why, but I wasn't expecting it to be so different. I actually was pretty surprised by all the different things. I wasn't expecting the barbecue. What, in the middle of the table? Didn't really think of it until we were going to do Korean barbecue. I thought we were just going to have Korean meal. Yeah, yeah, yeah. All right. Well, guys, the way we end our videos is we say, that's all for today in Korean. One, two, three. Amazing. Great stuff, guys.