Ko Gu Ryo - Korean restaurant

The best restaurant I have ever come across: fantastic food, wonderful service and great value.

I have been going to Ko Gu Ryo at least once every fortnight since they opened a year and a half ago and have to say that every meal has been superb.

I was thinking of describing some of my favourite dishes but when I first tried this it ended up that I was copying out half of the menu - so if you want some idea of what is served look at www.verygoodfoods.com. My friends and I have tried most of what you will find on the menu and I can honestly say that every dish has been delicious.

To give you some idea of what to expect, we normally have a couple of starters between four of us (ranging in price from £6-£8) and then share three of four of the table BBQ dishes, so called because they are cooked right in front of you on your table (ranging in price from £7-£13). In addition we order a couple of rice accompaniments and KIM CHI (picked Chinese cabbage in chili, garlic and ginger), which also comes with a selection of other small side dishes. Overall, this means we normally spend between £15-£20 each, which for the amount of food is brilliant value.

In conclusion, if you are in Staines, or anywhere close, go to this restaurant - you won't regret it!

Ko Gu Ryu offers authentic Korean food at very reasonable prices, and it is excellent! The food and the service are so nice, I initially went there nearly every week when they first opened.

MENU:
The lunch menu includes set menus that are great value for money and give you not only a main, but also a salad, a soup and a desert, and sometimes the owners also offer you a free tea with it. You also get Kimchi, which here means a selection of small side dishes, but also refers to fermented spicy cabbage, a Korean specialty.
In the evening you get a bit less for your money, as you have to order Kimchi and any starters separately, but the prices are average for the area. The interesting thing then becomes the Korean table barbeque. Some of the dishes are prepared for you at your table, which has a hole in the middle in which they put a gas cooker. When they first opened you were even allowed to cook your meal yourself, but that changed pretty quickly after we left something on too long and filled the whole place with smoke, making waiters run over to try and fix it and rip open the door to let fresh air in. Sorry about that, it used to be fun :P

FOOD QUALITY:
This place is often full of Asian customers, which tells me it offers very authentic food, and that is often hard to find in restaurants around here. Everybody else seems intent on catering to the lowest common denominator, thinking it will bring in some of the less adventurous, more fussy eaters. After the first couple of visits I found out I was right tihnking it was very authentic; the recipe for Kimchi for example originally comes from the owner's mother.

SERVICE QUALITY:
The really great thing about Ko Gu Ryo though is the way the owners, a couple from South Korea, relate to their customers. They soon remember your face and always make an effort to be friendly and chat, without being intrusive during your meal. They will patiently explain any dish or answer questions and talk about Korea (or anything else for that matter) and even invited Matt and me for a Korean Barbeque at their place in summer - house warming party after they moved. And when there was a mix-up and we were served a wrong dish THEY were the ones to notice, apologised profusely and brought a free additional dish straight away. Even if we had been annoyed about it happening, we didn't have any time to complain. Can't really ask for any more service than that in a restaurant.