Masigo w Londynie

We have been loyal customers for as long as we have been living in the area- around 6 years or so. Masigo was a true hidden gem in London. It was a Korean restaurant with a lovely Korean lady and her team minding the kitchen, a floor full of Korea and East Asian staff. My dining companion and I are both also of East Asian descent and it was such a beloved food destination for us. The food has been authentic and the quality and cooking undeniable- UNTIL yesterday. The contrast was so sharp and glaringly and it was immensely disappointing that I am compelled to post this- since we were not able to get a straight response to our query and complaints on the night- which I would have preferred, I would not be posting this if we had been able to speak with a manager or had been able to find out what happened behind the scene at the restaurant, but the waiters did not speak good enough English (perhaps they were pretending, I don't know, but I am giving 5 stars for the service as the quality of the food was not the wait staff's fault) for us to even explain why the food was all wrong. They also could not tell us if there were a manager that we could at least ask if there had been a change of ownership etc. One of them started working there 2 months ago and another 2 weeks ago! The fried chicken was not only NOT crispy, but actually watery- and I am not talking juicy. It was watery and the sauce (the iconic sweet and spicy Korean sauce) was watery. The meat was cooked, but it was most definitely not fried chicken. There was hardly any crispy coating on the outside, and the chicken inside was tough to chew yet surprisingly bland. It was all wrong. And the Glass noodle dish was also immediately, visibly different. The minute that I picked some of the noodles up from the plate, the sauce was watery, when it should be sticky and thick with flavour- for 6 years, this never happened. The rice was okay but there was just too much wrong. Then my friend and I looked through the tiny window into the kitchen, and the whole kitchen was staffed with a totally different crew- not a single Korean person or East Asian person (man or woman regardless) in sight- hey, every nation can learn to cook a different cuisine- and I would not even have noticed if all the dishes had just worked as usual! Though the pancake with Kimchi was fine, the glass noodles and the fried chicken were so sub par, that it would not pass at other generic takeaway places, let along Masigo. Knowing how proud people of South Korea are about their cuisine, I cannot imagine that this would be the same owner. Yet our query with the waiters was met with "I'm sorry, I only started here (2 weeks ago, 2 months ago), I really don't know". We said "I understand, is there a manager that we can ask?" "I really don't know, sorry, really sorry." And that is why I am posting this here. Will this get me a response from Masigo? But then, if the ownership has totally changed hands, then perhaps they no longer ca...

Authentic Korean classics. We had some really juicy fried chicken (very large portions!) and a very generous budae jjigae for two. We're so full! The service was warm and authentic, from a team that's always smiling. I saw many other customers having happy interactions with staff. 🙂 That joy is infectious and appetising! We were asked to move to a different table shortly after we made our order so they could make room for a table of four. It was a really minor inconvenience to us and we really didn't mind at all, but the staff was empathetic. They apologised a few times and treated us a complimentary drink on the house. We weren't expecting it but it's a nice gesture. 🤝🏻 The ladies room was clean and tidy too. A restaurant that pays attention to the restroom always scores an extra point! We'll be back if we're in the area again. 🙂