Cocktail Bar with Korean & Japanese Cuisine – Okitchen

It’s more than ok, it’s Okitchen!!

S has walked past this place a lot but never noticed that it’s a cocktail bar with Korean and Japanese food. S finally got a chance to try this place since S loves Korean and Japanese food. It’s quite close to Didsbury Village which is just next to St James & Emmanuel C of E Church.

After entering the restaurant, you can see that the restaurant is separated into 2 sectors. One is around the bar area, and another is at the back which is more for a dining area. The decoration of the place is quite cosy and relaxing, and the staff are also friendly. 

There are both Japanese food like sushi, tempura and sashimi, and Korean food like Korean BBQ dishes, army stew and bibimbap on the menu. This time, we decided to try their Korean dishes first even though sushi looks super tempting too, but in this kind of cold day, what’s better than some spicy and warm army stew? Moreover, there are also plenty of interesting choices for the cocktails on the drink menu. For example, Japanese liquor like sake or plum wine is mixed with the standard cocktail like Martini, S would definitely give it a try next time!

S ordered Budae-Jjigae(£25) and a Dolsot Bibimbap with Spicy Pork(£9.8) the first time S visited. S visited again and decided to try something different. Kimchi Pancakes (£6.5), Samgyeopsal-Gul (grilled pork belly) (£9.3) and Kimchi Jjigae (£8.5) were the dishes S had on the second visit.

The Kimchi Pancakes from Okichen are thicker than the ones from Annyeong in city centre, yet there was a lot of kimchi in it. S really likes the crispy bit on the pancakes, it gives the dish a bit of different texture. S would definitely try their seafood pancakes next time since Korean pancake is one of S’s favourite Korean dishes.

The Dolsot Bibimbap with Spicy Pork came with some extra Korean spicy sauce with it. So once it’s served, you can choose to add it or not and quickly stir it before the rice stick on the dolsot. However, the dolsot was not hot enough to have any rice crust in the end. Otherwise, this dish is super for the taste. 

S wasn’t too sure about Budae-Jjigae(army stew) before ordering it, because sometimes it’s just too sweet. Yet, the taste of it was totally better than S expected! Army stew is a dish that was invented after the Korean War. Due to the lack of resources back then, people just put everything they can get like spam and leftover sausage from the American military base, also kimchi, instant noodles and beans etc. in a pot to make the stew. 

The Samgyeopsal-Gul (grilled pork belly) was precooked by the restaurant, and S was a bit confused when it was served. Since the Korean BBQ S knows is usually cooked by yourself instead of the restaurant cooking it for you. Yet the seasoning of the grilled pork is simple but delicious. Moreover, the portion size was decent with lots of small pickle dishes. It would be perfect if they had Korean spring onion like at Annyeong.

After S tried their army stew, S was determined to try their Kimchi Jjigae as well, and it wasn’t disappointing. The Kimchi Jjigae came with a bowl of rice which made this dish extra filling since there were some bean noodles in the casserole already. As you can see in the photos, there were quite a lot ingredients in this dish, such as tofu, meat, vegetable, kimchi etc. It’s the best dish to have whenever you want something warm on a cold winters day.

S would definitely love come back here again to try some Japanese dishes to see if it’s as good as the Korean dishes, also some cocktails too! If you’re in the neighbourhood and want some hot soup in this cold weather, Okitchen surely can warm you up! If you’re in the city centre and want some Korean food for lunch, you can go to eatGoody!

Restaurant info:
Address: 43 Barlow Moor Road, Didsbury, Manchester M20 6TW
Phone: 0161 434 1854
Opening hours: Tue.-Fri. 5-11pm/Sat. & Sun. 12-3pm; 5-11pm
Site: https://okitchendidsbury.co.uk