Charm personified at Koba

Korean barbecue restaurants are not ideal for first dates. There's the fiercely hot table-centre grill, anathema to the carefully wrought porcelain complexion.

It also separates you from the object of your affections unless you sit side-by-side. And - killer punch - you'll have the constant turning and basting company of the staff.

Still, you could not wish for nicer company than the staff at Koba. Charm personified, they manage a rare balance of chatty and unobtrusive, which was just as well since everything we ordered - I'm not going to bother with real names, just take it that all the bibimbaps, bulgogis and kimchis were present and correct - required their intervention.

And it was all - some rather leathery ox tongue excepted - superb, if perhaps a little toneddown heatwise: feather-light fried dumplings stuffed with savoury pork, peppery scented dumpling soup, a slightly too fridge-cold mound of raw beef and nashi pear seasoned with egg yolk and sesame oil.

Koba modeum gooi was a feast for two at a weeny £23.90: fat prawns, beef (ribs and skirt), chicken, onions and rather pointless pumpkin (which needed longer cooking).

Add spiced spring onions, bean paste, a vivid pepper and salt mix and floppy lettuce and you have something gorgeous. Go with an open mind - but without romantic inclinations.

A meal for two with wine, water and service costs about £65. 11 Rathbone Street W1. Tel: 020 7580 8825. Tube: Tottenham Court Road

Koba Restaurant
Rathbone Street, London, W1T 1NA