11:42, 17 Aug 2025<\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0_image002-2.jpg\")
The team at Bristol restaurant Dongnae(Image: Dongnae)<\/p>\n
A top Bristol restaurant has received high praise from MasterChef star and food expert Grace Dent, even though she likened it to a student bedsit. The Korean eatery Dongnae<\/a> was called \u201codd, unique and absolutely a roaring hit\u201d by Dent in a Guardian review<\/a>.<\/p>\n The critic and TV celebrity said the eatery, in Bristol\u2019s \u201cvery cool\u201d Chandos Road haven for foodies<\/a>, was a \u201clittle stranger and more homespun\u201d than traditional neighbourhood Korean barbecue restaurants. She even said it was a bit like a student bedsit, but nevertheless approved of the furniture, wallpaper and counters.<\/p>\n Dongnae has been noted for its minimalist design with paper lanterns, recycled plastic stools, and a communal wooden countertop overlooking the open kitchen. Dent called it \u201cpared back\u201d and said the paper lanterns were like something bought in Ikea.<\/p>\n But she loved the place and acclaimed the menu for its \u201cginger old fashioneds, a low-intervention wine list, delicate servings of grilled monkfish with octopus alongside tiny bowls of seasoned seaweed or mustard leaf kimchi, and a very good raw sea bass mulhwe soup made with fresh sugar tomatoes\u201d.<\/p>\n Dent said: \u201cExpect octopus and lamb fat kkochi (skewers), assorted punchy kimchis, hand-dived scallops, cockle and mussel bibimbap, and Korean beef tartare. Expect cold, bracing Korean soups and peculiar but unforgettable pond-green puddings\u201d.<\/p>\n And she said the seven-course hanjeongsik menu, which costs \u00a365 and changes daily, offered \u201ca handpicked flurry of Korean loveliness\u201d.<\/p>\n She also praised the staff for being helpful and able to explain the difference between \u201cyour naengchae and your naengguk\u201d and concluded by saying: \u201cGrab a seat if you can. Buckle up. Enjoy the ride.\u201d<\/p>\n Dent\u2019s glowing review is not the first accolade Dongnae has received in its short history.<\/p>\n Opened only last year, the venue, named from the Korean word for neighbourhood, has already been named in a list of the UK\u2019s top 100 restaurants<\/a>, listed in the Michelin Guide<\/a> and received a five-start review from BristolLive<\/a>.<\/p>\n Dongnae, charging \u00a350 a head a la carte and \u00a324 for set lunch, is run by husband and wife team Duncan Robertson and Kyu Jeong Jeon.<\/p>\n The pair met at famous Parisian restaurant L\u2019Atelier de Jo\u00ebl Robuchon, ran a restaurant in South West France, and spent nearly 10-years in Ms Jeon\u2019s native Korea.<\/p>\n In 2019, they moved to Bristol to open the hit Bokman diner in Stokes Croft, before opening Dongnae last year.<\/p>\n The Chandos Road area of Redland is also home to Michelin-starred Wilsons and the highly-rated Little Hollows Pasta.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There is a lot going on in her review William Telford Business Editor 11:42, 17 Aug 2025 The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":351647,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8818],"tags":[381,748,393,786,4884,20077,15125,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-351646","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bristol","8":"tag-bristol","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-food-and-drink","12":"tag-great-britain","13":"tag-redland","14":"tag-things-to-do-in-bristol","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115044196361921207","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/351646","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=351646"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/351646\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/351647"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=351646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=351646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=351646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Restaurant](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0_Im-A-Celebrity-Get-Me-Out-Of-Here-2023.jpg\")
Restaurant critic Grace Dent(Image: PA)<\/p>\n![\"Dishes](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/31025_EFR_Dongnaejfif.jpg\")
Dishes served at Dongnae(Image: BristolLive)<\/p>\n