If you’ve never been to New Malden, the name probably doesn’t mean much. But step off the train at New Malden station and walk five minutes down the High Street, and you’ll understand why locals call it London’s Little Korea. Between the Korean supermarkets, BBQ restaurants, bakeries and hairdressers, this quiet corner of South West London is home to the largest Korean community in Europe and it deserves a proper local’s guide, not just a mention in passing. At Premier Minicabs, our New Malden minicabs cover this neighborhood every day, so we know it block by block. This guide walks you through the best of Little Korea and exactly how to get around it by minicab, whether you’re a resident, a first-time visitor, or just curious about one of London’s most underrated food destinations.
Most local transport sites drop a single line about New Malden being the Korean capital of Europe and move straight back to talking about fares and fleet size. That’s a missed opportunity, because if you’re actually planning a visit for dinner, for shopping, or to explore you need real, practical information: where to go, how far apart things are, and how to get there without wasting an evening waiting for a bus that never comes. That’s what this guide is for.
Why New Malden Is Known as Little Korea
New Malden’s Korean story goes back further than most people expect. The Korean Embassy was based here in the 1970s, and Samsung’s UK offices followed in the early 2000s, both drew Korean families to settle in the area, and the community has grown steadily ever since. Today, an estimated 10,000 Korean residents live in and around New Malden, including one of the largest North Korean communities outside the Korean peninsula, making it a genuinely unique pocket of London.
Walk down New Malden High Street and Burlington Road and you’ll see the evidence immediately: Korean grocery signs, karaoke bars, Korean-language churches, and more than 20 Korean restaurants and cafés packed into a fairly small stretch. It’s dense enough to explore on foot once you’re there, but spread just widely enough plus tucked just off the main road in places that a New Malden minicab between stops makes far more sense than trying to walk the whole route in one go, especially in the evening or with a group.
Getting Around Little Korea: Where a New Malden Minicab Actually Helps
The High Street itself is walkable, but New Malden‘s best-kept secrets aren’t all on the High Street. Several of the most-loved spots sit on side streets like Burlington Road or a short drive away in neighbouring Raynes Park close enough to feel local, far enough that you don’t want to be doing it in the rain with shopping bags. This is exactly where our New Malden minicabs come in: short, quick, flat-fare hops between the station, the High Street, and the surrounding food streets, so your evening is about the food and not the logistics.
Korean Restaurants Worth the Trip
New Malden’s restaurant scene is the reason most first-time visitors come at all. You’ll find everything from smoky charcoal BBQ joints to hotpot specialists serving braised meats and chewy sweet potato noodles, alongside newer spots doing Korean fried chicken and shaved-ice desserts. Several of the most talked-about restaurants sit just off the main strip, which is where a quick minicab ride between venues becomes genuinely useful if you’re doing a proper food crawl rather than a single dinner stop.
Korea Foods and the Supermarket Run
If you only do one thing in New Malden, make it a Korean supermarket visit. Korea Foods and similar stores stock everything from fresh produce and imported snacks to cooking pots and ready-made kimbap, and it’s easy to lose half an hour just wandering the aisles. It’s also the one part of the trip where a minicab genuinely earns its keep bags of groceries and public transport don’t mix well, and a New Malden minicab straight from the supermarket door to your home avoids the awkward bus-with-shopping situation entirely.
New Malden Station to the High Street
For visitors coming from central London, New Malden station is the natural starting point, and it’s only a short walk to the top of the High Street. But if you’re arriving with luggage, in a group, in bad weather, or simply want to start the evening without a walk first, booking a New Malden station minicab in advance means you land straight into Little Korea without the ten-minute trek.
What Most New Malden Taxi and Minicab Pages Get Wrong
Here’s the honest gap in the market: most minicab operators serving New Malden us included, until now — talk about fixed fares, licensed drivers, and airport transfers, but say almost nothing about the neighbourhood itself. Search around and you’ll find plenty of generic service pages mentioning “the Korean capital of Europe” in a single sentence and then pivoting straight back to fleet types and booking apps. None of them actually help you plan a visit to Little Korea, work out where things are, or understand why the area is worth a special trip in the first place.
We think that’s backwards. A New Malden minicab isn’t just a way to get to the airport for a huge number of our passengers, it’s the way they discover this neighbourhood in the first place. So instead of treating Little Korea as a footnote, we wanted to actually write about it, because knowing the area properly is part of what makes our local drivers useful in the first place.
Booking a New Malden Minicab for Your Little Korea Trip
Whether you’re planning a full evening on the High Street, a supermarket stock-up, or picking up friends from New Malden station before dinner, booking ahead is the easiest way to avoid a wait once you’re there. Premier Minicabs offers:
- Fixed, transparent fares | no surge pricing on a Friday night food crawl
- Local, licensed drivers | who know Burlington Road, the High Street, and the side streets in between
- Free waiting time, | useful if you’re nipping into a supermarket or restaurant for a quick stop
- 24/7 availability,| including the evenings and weekends when Little Korea is busiest
- 10% off app bookings, | so pre-booking your evening out is also the cheaper option
You can book your New Malden minicab online, through our app, or with a quick phone call — and if you’re new to the area, just tell your driver what kind of food you’re after. Chances are they’ll know exactly where to drop you.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is New Malden called Little Korea?
New Malden is home to the largest Korean community in Europe, a legacy that dates back to the Korean Embassy being based there in the 1970s. The area now has more than 20 Korean restaurants, several Korean supermarkets, and a strong cultural presence along the High Street.
Is New Malden’s Korean Quarter walkable from the station?
The main High Street is a short walk from New Malden station, but several well-known spots sit on side streets like Burlington Road or slightly further out, which is where a quick minicab ride is genuinely useful, especially at night or with a group.
What’s the easiest way to get a minicab in New Malden?
Book ahead through Premier Minicabs online, via our app, or by phone. Pre-booking a New Malden minicab guarantees a fixed fare and avoids any wait once you’re on the High Street.
Do New Malden minicabs run late at night?
Yes. Premier Minicabs operates 24/7 across New Malden, including late evenings and weekends, which covers the busiest times for Little Korea’s restaurants and cafés.