The Kimchi has become one of Norwich’s most popular restaurants since opening a year ago, but it has been far from the first 12 months the owners expected.
The Kimchi opened in Brigg Street in October 2019 and is run by couple Junghee Park and chef Bongha Kim, who both grew up in South Korea.
The pair moved to London in 2005 and last year they finally decided to take the plunge and open their own Korean restaurant.
As Korean food was something new for the city, they expected it would take a few years to build up a customer base, but straight away there were queues down the street.
Items on the menu include bibim-bap, a rice dish with assorted vegetables and a choice of toppings, barbecue meats, Korean Fried Chicken, its version of KFC, and complimentary kimchi.
After a brilliant first few months, business ground to a halt overnight as the nation went into lockdown in March.
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Two months later, the couple decided to start offering takeaways for collection, after receiving so many requests from customers, which kept them busy until the restaurant reopened in July.
Ms Park said: “August was great and the Eat Out to Help Out Scheme helped us a lot, then we had a little dip in September but October was brilliant.
“We are so gutted to have another lockdown all of a sudden and it is really sad. It has been a rollercoaster year and we have experienced a lot, but we are lucky we had a good start.
“This second lockdown is a little bit better than the first one as we are more prepared.”
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The Kimchi will once again be offering takeaways to collect and the menu includes bibim-bap and combination boxes, with rice, Korean barbecue beef or pork, ‘KFC’ and dumplings.
While it will just be collection at first, from Tuesdays to Sundays 12pm-3pm and 5.30pm-8pm, delivery will launch later in November.
Ms Park added: “Whenever we think about our customers we are speechless and can’t thank them enough.”
Message The Kimchi on Facebook or call 01603 629215 to order takeaways.
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