About
Dongnae is the second restaurant that Kyu Jeony Jeon and Duncan Robertson have opened together in Bristol.
The couple met in Paris at one Michelin-Starred L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon Rue du Bac. They then moved to Brive La Gaillarde in SW France where they opened and ran Restaurant L’Envie, which received a Michelin star two years after opening. Kyu and Duncan subsequently spent nine years in Korea, prior to moving to Bristol. They opened Bokman in 2019, bringing a delicate and creative take on authentic Korean dishes to their intimate spot on Ninetree hill.
The restaurant, on Chandos Road, is arranged across two former shop fronts. A wooden countertop created by Bristol-based Liam Rush unites both spaces. In the light, lively atmosphere, Guests can sit at the counter overlooking the kitchen or bar, or at handmade tables in the restaurant itself. The space features large street-facing bay windows, which allow plenty of light to flood into the restaurant and open kitchen.
Menu
We are open for lunch and dinner, Tuesday to Saturday.
Join us Tuesday to Thursday for lunch, where we offer our fantastic value set menu alongside a short selection of dishes from our evening menu.
For dinner and Saturday lunch, our à la carte menu is available. For the curious, our Hanjeongsik menu is available at dinner service only. (allergen advice to remain as is)
Ingredients & Processes
We are proud to focus on refined methods of Korean cooking with an emphasis on premium ingredients and time-honoured processes.
Kyu and Duncan spent over two years working on the concept and menu, deriving reference from traditional Korean recipes. Our kimchi and jeotgal are carefully fermented in-house and our banchan are all made fresh in house from local ingredients. We also make our own jangs (doenjang, gochujang, kanjang) by hand using traditional methods taught to us by the master Sukja Jo in Korea.
We work closely with a local network of producers and suppliers to source specific ingredients of the highest quality. Our seafood is supplied from The Conscious Fish Shop who specialise in sustainable fish sourced from Devon and Cornwall. Local farms are the source for our premium beef with our wagyu farmed by Cotswold Wagyu. When we do use ingredients imported from abroad, we either source them ourselves or painstakingly track down the finest foreign producers.
To learn more about our story, marination and supplier processes and general updates, sign up for our newsletter here.
Wine
We believe there is a certain synergy between our emphasis on long fermentation methods and the processes used to create low-intervention wine.
Since Day One of Dongnae, we have worked exclusively with our friends at Vine Trail to create our wine list. Bristol-based importers, Vine Trail’s specialism is in sourcing and distributing beguiling wines meticulously sourced from France, northern Spain and Sicily. Progressive and sustainable philosophies are at their core.
On our list you will find wines that have been cleverly selected to bring out different flavour profiles in our dishes. Be that a grower-champagne, an aromatic Alsace white or a chilled Pinot Noir, these are the wines that we feel complement our food. And for those looking for a little more, there are some special bottles on the list too from the likes of Domaine Labet and Pierre Gonon.
Take a look at our wine menu here.
