London is set to welcome its first-ever Seaweed Roastery on 17 November, bringing a much-loved staple of everyday Korean food culture to the capital.
Located just moments from the British Museum, Seaweed Roastery aims to introduce Londoners to gim (traditional Korean seaweed) and the simple pleasure of eating it freshly roasted.
While Korean cuisine continues to grow in popularity across the UK, seaweed is still largely associated with sushi, garnishes and packaged snacks. In Korea, however, freshly roasted seaweed is a staple of the family table, commonly enjoyed wrapped around warm rice or served alongside everyday meals.
At Seaweed Roastery, the roasting process takes centre stage. Customers can watch as Korean seaweed is freshly roasted in-store, filling the space with its distinctive toasted aroma. Each sheet is individually checked before being loaded into the roasting machine, creating crisp, freshly prepared seaweed ready to enjoy.
Customers will be able to choose from three varieties: Classic Seaweed, a thin, tender everyday snack sheet; Green Seaweed, blended with green sea lettuce for a fresher aroma and more pronounced taste of the sea, ideal for sprinkling on soups and rice; and Gimbap Seaweed, a thicker, stronger, unroasted sheet with no added oil or salt, designed to hold fillings without tearing.
Seaweed will be available both roasted and unroasted. Roasted gim is toasted in-store until crisp and ready to eat, either as a snack or alongside rice. Unroasted gim is the dried raw sheet, which customers can toast themselves over a flame or in a pan, or use to make gimbap and other Korean dishes at home. Customers will also soon be able to customise their roasted seaweed with different flavours in store too.
Alongside its signature seaweed, the roastery will serve freshly prepared gimbap made to order. Similar in appearance to sushi rolls, gimbap combines cooked, seasoned fillings with rice, all wrapped in seaweed and sliced into bite-sized rounds. Fillings will include pork belly, tofu and bulgogi. Also on offer will be Korean cup-bap, warm rice served in a bowl and topped with a choice of fillings and crispy seaweed flakes.
The menu will also feature a selection of Korean comfort food, snacks and drinks, including freshly prepared gimbap, from £7.95, and cup-bap, from £8.95. Customers can also enjoy freshly roasted seaweed, available from £1 per sheet, with multi-buy options of three sheets for £2.50 or six for £4.50
The concept brings together the simplicity of traditional Korean food with a contemporary grab-and-go setting. The roastery will initially offer 25 covers, with a further 12 planned when its basement floor opens. Alongside its physical location, Seaweed Roastery has already launched its online shop, delivering freshly roasted Korean seaweed directly to customers, with ambitions to expand its reach to households across the UK. Future plans also include collaborations with Korean artists and musicians.
The Seaweed begins its journey in the cold waters of Korea, where it is grown on ropes between November and March. Once harvested, it is washed, chopped and dried into delicate sheets before making its way to the roastery. Here, each sheet is carefully inspected before being freshly roasted in-store.
Founded by JC Bae and David Kim, Seaweed Roastery was born from a shared ambition to bring an authentic part of everyday Korean food culture to London. Inspired by the specialist seaweed roasting shops he grew up with in Korea, David had long dreamed of introducing freshly roasted gim to London. When he shared the idea with JC, it was his young daughter’s love of Korean seaweed that helped bring the vision to life.
Coincidently, Seaweed Roastery opened at 37 Museum Street, the very same location where David had worked making gimbap 20 years earlier.
David Kim & JC Bae, co-founders of Seaweed Roastery comment:
“For us, seaweed is more than just a snack, it's a taste of home. We wanted to bring the simple pleasure of freshly roasted Korean gim to London, and seeing customers discover it for the first time has been incredibly rewarding. We hope Seaweed Roastery becomes a place where people can enjoy great food while discovering a little more about Korean culture.”
For many visitors, it will be their first opportunity to experience Korean seaweed straight from the roaster; warm, crisp and freshly prepared.
