This could well be the best new opening of 2025 so far.
It’s not in a fancy converted bank vault, or a Georgian townhouse that used to belong to minor royalty, or an ex-warehouse filled with mid-century furniture and people dressed like Wes Anderson characters. No. It’s just a simple, neighbourhood restaurant that happens to serve some of the most astonishingly well-executed food of its kind in the city.
Cálong comes to us from chef Joo Won, who has been quietly refining his craft for 17 years in Michelin-starred restaurants – seven of those spent as head chef at the 28th-floor dining room of Galvin at Windows, where the views stretched over London, and the plates were textbook French fine dining. Now, in a who-can-blame-him move, he’s decided to pour all that talent and experience into the food he actually wants to cook, taking over a small, probably-even-that-was-expensive spot on Stoke Newington Church Street.
It’s an apt location: a beautiful, buzzing stretch that’s home to an array of excellent independent restaurants and bars, with that rare thing – an actual neighbourhood feel. Inside, Cálong is compact, around 10 tables in total, which makes it feel almost like a secret you want to keep to yourself. The decor is unfussy: textured white walls, a pop of burnt orange from the bar, wildflower stems on the larger tables, shelves lined with funky wine bottles, etc.
One key fixture: the menu, which is scrawled on a blackboard and might shift daily, depending on what’s available – but what you can count on is beautifully executed European dishes, filtered through a Korean lens. Every dish we tried was exceptional. Not ‘oh, that’s nice’ exceptional – every dish was executed to the same, almost frustratingly high standard. Picking highlights feels impossible, but here are a few:
Kimchi fritters – tiny, golden medallions of fermented cabbage, fried to a perfect crisp and served with a zingy, curried tartare sauce.
Hwangtae croquettes – the smoky dried pollock is subtle and balanced beautifully with pickled mooli and more of that tartare sauce.
Sea trout crudo – super fresh, served in a sweet plum sauce that somehow works as a palate cleanser for the rest of the meal.
Fried chicken – frankly, absurdly good. The batter is extra crisp, with chunky, almost cornflake-like pieces, and the sweet chilli sauce is culinary black magic.
Beef onglet with mustard sauce – rich & deeply flavoured. The mustard has real punch, occasionally catching you off guard in a way that feels entirely intentional.
Custard tart with rhubarb juice & candied ginger – a dessert so good it warrants its own warning from the staff: do not share.
Beyond the food, the wine list is a major focus here, with a strong selection of low-intervention wines and plenty available by the glass. They also offer a handful of classic aperitif cocktails if you’re in that kind of mood.
The space is intimate enough for a date, buzzy enough for a small group of friends, and sufficiently impressive to bring your parents to. The service is just as polished as the food, with staff who genuinely know their menu and are happy to guide you through it. Dishes arrive quickly, which is ideal, because once you’ve taken your first bite, you’ll already be planning what to order next.
Cálong, by the way, means ‘trendy’ or ‘well-dressed’ in a Busan dialect, but there’s no unnecessary fuss here—just a small, unassuming neighbourhood restaurant serving some of the most quietly brilliant food in the city.
NOTE: Cálong is open now, Weds-Sat. You can find out more, and make a booking, at the Cálong website.
Cálong | 35 Stoke Newington Church Street, N16 0NX
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