Hurwundeki – review

Some of the offerings available at Hurwundeki

There aren’t many places in London where a girl can get a haircut and supper for £24.

There certainly aren’t many, if any, where you can get top-class styling and mouth-watering cuisine for that price – and it’s even cheaper for chaps.

Occupying two arches under Cambridge Heath Station, with one half dedicated to its bright and airy BYOB Korean restaurant and the other half set up as a salon filled with comfy antiques and big mirrors, Hurwundeki is quietly carving out a quirky little niche for itself.

It might seem like a bizarre concept, but the steady stream of customers filing through the doors all evening suggests owner Ki is onto something here.

Let’s start with the food. It Is excellent. I had a healing cup of stem ginger and honey tea and the seafood pancake to kick things off.

Don’t think of stodgy pancakes though.

This was the lightest panful of batter, shallow-fried and bursting with the taste of bright red chilies, translucent spring onions, juicy little shrimps and squid.

It was one of the most delicious things I have ever put in my mouth.

Ki tells me that unlike in a lot of oriental kitchens, MSGs and artificial flavourings are banned from his kitchen.

And you can tell.

Everything tastes fresh and crisp with flavour.

I also had a side of four little exotic-looking piles of veg including a sunset-coloured heap of chili-spiced radish and sesame seeds I could have eaten indefinitely.

For mains I had a sizzling plate of sweet crispy pork that was equally delicious.

Hurwundeki is marvellously surreal.

You might have walked past its garden, dripping with creepers and filled with old kids toys like pumpkin carriages and rocking horses around the tables and chairs.

Inside it’s filled with beautiful and bizarre pieces of art and design and the atmosphere is super-chilled.

Meanwhile next door, Ki and his team are running a bustling hair salon.

The concept is mega fast, mega cheap and mega high-quality.

Despite the affordable rates and swift turnaround, the standard is high, and – mercifully – cuts out the tiresome primping and preening that usually make haircuts take three times as long as they need to.

Whether it’s a swift trim or a nice evening with some great food and a bottle of wine, get yourselves down to Hurwendeki.

It’s no surprise word is spreading fast, so you had better book early.

299 Railway Arches,

Cambridge Heath Road,

E2 9HA