Weekly Review: Sollip
Lesser known Michelin-starred beauty offering Korean-inspired discoveries with big, intriguing flavours in a lovely space.
Quick hit: Clever, sophisticated, and artistic Korean fusion cooking that delivers great tastes and new experiences.
Details: Booking essential. London Bridge. ££££.
Restaurant website. More on Instagram and from the Michelin Guide.
Find it on Google Maps. 8 Melior St, London SE1 3QP
The full picture: In my second ever review for Professional Lunch, I identified Trivet as my favourite restaurant in London. It remains so, and it’s the reason that I had never made it to Sollip.
You see, Sollip adjoins Trivet. I think they even share a delivery door. So, if I’m going to Snowfields (near London Bridge and Bermondsey), I’m probably going to Trivet. Or Texas Joe’s, which is 50 yards down the street.
Turns out that I should have gone to Sollip sooner.
It’s the project of Woongchul Park, who acts as head chef, and Bomee Ki who is pastry chef. They met while training at Le Cordon Bleu here in London. They fell in love, got married, and did what all new couples do: Decided to open a first rate restaurant and start a family. Park was previously at the Ledbury and Ki was at the Arts Club. Quite the pedigree. They first opened in 2020, in the midst of COVID, and they earned a star from Michelin in 2022.
The space at Sollip is tranquility itself. Very comfortable seating. An assortment of white, beige, and a cream on the walls, with little other decoration save a few bits of greenery dotted around. The restaurant accommodates only 28 people, and the space allotted to each is generous. (A similarly sized spot in Paris would cram in at least four more tables.)
Sollip offers a 9-course tasting menu or vegetarian alternative at dinner and a very reasonable 5-course version for lunch. On that basis, I am happy to recommend it for a Professional Lunch.
My tasting started with an assortment of snacks that included a fantastic beef tartare tart, a bowl of wonderfully refreshing broth, and a little bite of fast-fried chicken. All were fabulous and set the tone for the evening.
Subsequent courses included an outstanding “baby artichoke” — which was actually lobster and perfectly cooked cherry tomatoes served with a baby artichoke foam.
My favourite course of the evening was “Nurungii,” which is the Korean word used to describe the bits of crispy rice that stick to the pot after cooking. My rice was served with a morel mushroom that had been filled with foie gras and covered with a luxurious rice broth. It was a real discovery. Pork jowl and cheek were tender and beautiful, and while meaty, they offered delicate Asian flavours.
Desserts were similarly excellent. The star was “Black Pain Perdu,” which was like a bread pudding served with intensely flavoured ice cream. Score one (or more) for the pastry section.
The Sollip experience was let down very slightly by service, which seems underweight for a place of its quality. There were only three front of house staff working, and while they did a good job of staying on top of the set-piece moments, there was little other engagement or attention from them. Wines poured as part of their pairing were extraordinarily short and no one was around to do refills.
The wine list was generally interesting, although overwhelmingly drawn from Burgundy. There were some quite affordable and intriguing options, and having now experienced the menu, I would have gone for a dry German Riesling rather than the pairing.
Nevertheless, I am happy to recommend Sollip. The food was excellent and the space was perfect for a quiet lunch.
I am also conscious that my London Guide over-indexes on French spots and places with lots of meat and indulgent red wine. Some might consider this a problem.
Sollip is a solution.
If you have a client or colleague who is a foodie and loves to experience new things, Sollip might just be the surprising, lesser-known place that you’ve been looking for.
Have you been to Sollip? Hit reply and let me know what you thought.
I’m off to lunch shortly, at a restaurant that I’m surprised to visiting, and have a slightly cynical attitude about. I shall try to be open minded.
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