Not Bad, but Won't Be Back Korean Food @ Soju Pocha, Lisbon

We're not in Lisbon often, but when we are, we try to take advantage by trying out new restaurants. Most of the ones we love were recommended by friends or family, and it can be hard to find the gems in a city filled with so many different restaurants.

But I'd been itching to visit a Korean restaurant for years, and since most are located in Lisbon, I thought I'd give Soju Pocha a shot as the Korean restaurant I'd try in Lisbon.

I absolutely love Korean food - let me put that out there first and foremost. Back when I lived in Toronto, I spent my fair share of time in the Korean BBQ restaurants that litter the city, but my preference was always the traditional Korean restaurants, the more home-cooked the vibe, the better.

There was one on Yonge Street near Steeles (which I found out closed down soon after we'd moved to the UK back in 2016) that my husband Thomas and I would frequent very often, and it was like a divine little getaway, always leaving my taste buds delighted, feeling cheerful and full and oh-so-healthy to top it all off.

We were the only non-Koreans who would frequent that restaurant, and so somehow I knew we'd hit on an uncovered goldmine. Restaurants that cater to locals who are so acquainted with the style of cuisine and keeps bringing them back for more are always an indication that you have.

Sadly, Soju Pocha did not turn out to be one such restaurant. I won't deduct points for having a clientele of mostly tourists. I won't even deduct points for them going all out with the flashy lights and K-Pop blaring from massive speakers and shown on a large TV screen that made it hard to even hear what someone at your table is saying. My points off are for the food being, at best, average, and at worst - considerably over priced and sub par.

The menu had options for Korean barbeque, but being more into traditional Korean foods I had to test out their Bulgogi - especially since I'd been having a non-traditional but ridiculously high quality and tasty Bibimbap at the Soya Noodle Bar for years (much recommended by the way!), but hadn't had Bulgogi in over a decade.

We chose between a few starter options, opting for 3 different variants of Kimchi, and were disappointed to find that the Banchan starters were not on the house.

My disappointment with the pricing increased when I found out that the Bulgogi didn't even come with rice on the side and that it was extra, but we grabbed one bowl of rice with each of our main courses - Thomas getting a pork stew which also had rice as an "extra" although neither meal could reasonably be eaten without rice.

We got our appetizers and happily chomped away, feeling our decision when it came to picking out starters turned out quite well, but alas I do feel like the starters were the best part of the meal.

When the meals did come - I expected my bibimbap to come with vegetable wraps to come on the side since there was no rice included, but it did not, making me even more glad that I'd ordered the rice on the side.

Again - disappointment - as the rice had not got a lot of purple rice in it, and even more frustratingly, was not all that sticky, making it hard to pick up with chopsticks.

The Bibimbap itself was alright. In comparison to other Korean restaurants I'd been to, it was average.

Nothing to really complain about but certainly nothing to write home about either.

Thomas' pork stew came with a heavy lot of Kimchi in it.

Good to taste, but too heavy to be able to slurp down the remainder of the soup, which was disappointing for him.

He definitely could not recommend it, as while it was heavy on the Kimchi, it was not heavy on the meat, and the few pieces he did get were filled with ligament and not the tastiest.

Thomas also wanted me to mention that they cheated a little with the beers they gave us, as they were 0.48L, filled slightly above the line, when it said on the menu that they were half litre beers.

I'm the type to shrug this sort of thing off, but I know it rubs him the wrong way and does a lot of people, so it is worth mentioning.

With regards to ambiance, this place is designed to look aesthetic, but it's an overwhelming-stimulus nightmare, with the loud music blaring at all times, as I'd mentioned, but also with non-stop lighting that flashed on and off so quickly I wouldn't be surprised to learn it could set off a seizure.

They had buttons on the tables in case you needed to grab someone's attention, and I pressed this - once - only once, because when I did it set off a very loud alert sound that every person in the restaurant could hear.

All in all, not the worst, but not a great experience, and I will absolutely not be coming back - nor ordering takeaway from Soju Pocha to escape the stimulus overload.

I'll be sticking to my Bibimbap from Soya Noodle Bar instead. If anything, visiting Soju Pocha made me even more grateful to have this restaurant, and that it's the one nearer to our house.

If you'd like to visit a Korean restaurant in Lisbon, I'd try going elsewhere. And if you're happy to have Korean food in a pan-Asian restaurant, I'd highly recommend heading to Soya for the Bibimbap instead, it'll rock your world.

We frequent the one in Cascais, but there are also Soya Noodle Bar locations in Carcavelos and there is one in Lisbon in Algés as well, but I have not tried the other two locations to see if there is any difference in the menu or quality of the food.

And maybe I'll hazard a try of one of the other Korean restaurants in Lisbon one day - though it likely won't be anytime soon, as I've learned to count my blessings with the one gem of a Bibimbap dish I can reliably get at Soya.