Seoul Food – Review of Yee Hwa Restaurant

You know those moments. Where you have been living in a city for a long time (let’s say eight years) and you think you know everything about it. Every nook and cranny. Then, you discover something new and you shout it from the rooftops and everyone else is like “Um yeah. Thanks Scoop.”

That happened twice this month. The first time when I discovered Chillis did home delivery. When the delivery guy came to my door with a bag of deliciousness, I commented on how I was surprised he found my building. The delivery guy shot me a withering look and said: “Yes Madam. Everyone orders from us here.” Boom.

The second time was with the discovery of Yee Hwa Korean Japanese Restaurant.

This was borne out of a craving for sushi and ramen and a desire not to venture too far from my hood. I hit the Zomato Doha app and it literally led my direct to their doorstep via their google maps integration.

I arrived just after 12pm and there was already a scrum for tables. The clientele was predominately Korean, which made me happy and relieved.

The extensive menu run the full range of sushi, sashimi and Korean and Japanese favorites including noodles, tempura and bulgogi.

I settled on tempura maki rolls, the kimchi pancake and the spicy seafood soup.

My adventure that day was a solo one and big thanks to the waiter for handling this well. When I looked around the restaurant I saw several other lone diners happily slurping away.

Like all Korean restaurants I was served up a selection of freebie side dishes including the ubiquitous kim chi (spicy fermented cabbage). Now I love a side dish so I had to restrain myself.

The restaurant has it’s own sushi chefs and everything is prepared to order, so be prepared to wait between dishes.

My sushi rolls were fresh and as promised, crispy inside. I wanted to take home a vat of the special sauce they were served with but it wouldn’t fit in my purse.

When the kimchi pancake arrived, it was the size of a large pizza. I looked around the room and no one was judging me for this. I managed two pieces before asking them to pack it up to take it home with me for dinner. It was a little greasy as I expected, but was also tasty, with the sour tang of the kimchi offset by the added vegetables.

The  spicy seafood soup was the recommendation of the waiter, who knew his audience. It was more a vat than a bowl of soup. I regretted instantly wearing white that day, but it was filled with noodles, prawns and squid and soon had me wanting to drink from the bowl. It also cleared my sinuses.

I was done within an hour and as I was leaving, I noticed the restaurant was heaving and there was a line of hungry patrons waiting.

Everyone in that restaurant was in on the secret. And finally, I can say that I am too.

Finally.

The Details:

Yee Hwa

Ground Floor, Doha Downtown Hotel Apartment,

Al Kinana Street

Al Nasr, Doha

Phone: +974 44419898