Sang Sang 1060

Review

Imagination, Korean

Photo: Heribert Corn In recent years, Hanil has seemed like just one of many small, somewhat old-fashioned restaurants that are unremarkable in their pan-Asian diversity. But it has an impressive history: founded 30 years ago by Mr. Jeong-Woo Lee and his wife Kum-Soon, Hanil was more or less the father of all pan-Asian restaurants. Then they expanded, with restaurants in the city center, in Währing, in Hietzing and even one of the first running sushi restaurants at the Naschmarkt. Almost all of these have been sold in recent years, but in the summer the family decided to renovate the main building. The renovation was completed a few weeks ago, but Hanil not only looked completely different, it also had a new name, Sang Sang. "If you're going to do it, do it," says Sang-Won Lee, one of the two sons. In addition, Sang Sang means imagination, fantasy, fantasy in Korean, and this in turn was also seen as the motto for the redesign. So Gregorio Santamaria Lubroth, one of the two partners of the architecture firm Tzou Lubroth (including Shanghai Tan, Kaffeeküche, Birdyard, Miranda, Finkh ...) and professor at the Angewandte, was allowed to come up with something. There were pictures of flying cities or vent-like houses with children playing on the terraces, animals grazing, laundry drying and sausages sizzling on the grill. It would have taken seven or nine hours to transfer the drawings onto the walls by projection, says Sung-Eun Lee, daughter-in-law, student at the Angewandte and responsible for service at Sang Sang. Speaking of which, the Lee parents also cook, although they have already retired. The sushi range and a few classics have been retained, "because of the regulars", but otherwise the menu has become much more Korean than before: lots of kimchi, Korean stews, ramyun noodle soups, pickled garlic cloves ... The Korean potato salad Gamja Jorim, for example, with its olive-sized balls cooked in soy sauce, is almost reminiscent of chestnuts (€ 3.80), Pa Jeon, a pancake with shrimps and spring onions, is one of the best omelettes you can get in the area, you can get in the area (€ 10.90), and you simply have to love Jeyuk Bok Kum, marinated, thinly sliced and seared belly meat with sweet and spicy red sauce, mushrooms, onions, carrots and tofu (€ 15.90). If you come in the evening, there are many more dishes to choose from, such as Korean military stew, bulgogi, kimchi stew with spare ribs and a whole range of great things from the table grill.
Incidentally, the Korean beer Hike tastes like nothing, but has a funny label and indicates the ideal drinking temperature. To sum up: good old Hanil is reinventing itself and becoming more Korean than it ever was before. Sang Sang, 6th, Gumpendorfer Straße 14, Tel. 01/587 79 41, Mon-Fri 12-14.30, Mon-Sat 18-23 hrs,

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