‘A balmy stew for the soul’: Moiim, Berry Street, reviewed

Korean culture has really made a march on the UK in the last few years. 

It fast went from long-misunderstood, to little-understood, to A Thing That People Are Into, be it film (Parasite), music (BLACKPINK), TV or food -  or in the case of Culinary Class Wars, both. 

I’d argue it’s still quite novel, even when you’re walking down Berry Street, past the Bombed Out Church and into the part of town that’s been devoted to East Asia for longer than any other city in Europe. 

Berry Street was absolutely brassic as I wandered down on Tuesday morning, and I’d have probably jumped into a storm drain if it got me out of the icy winds. Fortunately, Moiim was there, open and inviting, so I went in there instead.

The place already does something of a roaring trade in deliveries, but thankfully knows the value of a few stools, a clean counter and a window to gaze out of. Sitting on your sofa eating takeout doesn’t quite deliver the same sense of satisfaction, you’ve got to be out in the wild. 

It’s a cute but understated layout inside, with plants and trinkets on the walled shelving and the odd framed poster nodding to the sort of imagery we’re now familiar with. There’s not so much a sense of humour as a decision not to take itself too seriously, which in the current world of food and drink is very refreshing. 

A chalk-drawn cartoon dragon on the sign outside urges you to “Try our tasty corndog!”, which was all the excuse I needed.

A simple setup of a deli counter, a one-page menu and somewhere to sit is a great joy when it comes to eating during the day, and especially lunchtime. There’s not the need for too many bells and whistles, if any at all, and sometimes a lunch without the temptation of a lager or glass of wine is so much more enjoyable. Sometimes. Like with Moiim. 

The cheery woman behind the counter greeted me, we talked about the weather, and I set about ordering before taking out a crisp £20 note, as the place is cash only. Consider that fair warning. 

With a few coins now rattling around in my wallet I took a seat on a stool in the snuggest-looking corner and sat patiently, listening to the K-Pop coming out of the speakers and feeling oh so very out of touch.

The weather meant it was a day for something warming and ideally spicy, so I decided to order the brothiest dish I could get my hands on, Dak Bokkeum Tang (£12.90); braised chicken on the bone in a spicy stew with potato and carrots and served with rice.

Sometimes a stew is the only thing that will do, and especially if it’s chockfull of chilli. This was just what I needed and was one of those dishes where you greedily get through it with a chorus of ‘hmms’ and ‘ooohs’, a balm for the soul for just shy of £13 isn’t too bad. 

When chicken’s on the bone it makes an untold difference to the makeup of a good broth compared to simply having breast meat bobbing about, it’s like painting with watercolours after years of scribbling with crayons. 

The braised chicken didn’t so much fall off the bone as collapse off it like an archer off a battlement, Wilhelm screaming into the deep amber broth. You know a dish is good when the meat is second billing to the broth, and this was a gorgeous and moreish stew given extra depth by the carrots, which were a Trojan horse for the enthusiastic whack of chilli that crept in.

Of course I couldn’t ignore the cartoon dragon, so ordered a Korean corn dog of the classic variety (£5); a frankfurter coated in batter and panko breadcrumbs and deep fried to the point of taking on a satisfying crunch. With the addition of Moiim sauce (ketchup, mustard and gochujang) it had a sweet, tangy and beautifully mustardy flavour that cut through the salty sausage and batter just right.

Moiim was just what I needed that day, and the stew so good that I’d happily dive into it most lunchtimes. I still haven’t seen Parasite (I know, I know), and I’ve got a TV watchlist longer than Anna Karenina so may not have time for Culinary Class Wars, but when it comes to Korean culture I’m utterly sold on the food. Whatever the weather.

Moiim, 40-42 Berry St, Liverpool L1 4JQ