Jin Ju

Aside from Korean BBQ, I've really only eaten Korean food once. It was at a restaurant that I could recognize and return to without knowing the name (which is written in Korean on their rather large sign). Jin Ju is nowhere near that type of environment. It's not quiet. It's not predominately Korean and I could figure out, or was told exactly what was what.

It's a Korean restaurant for Americans... easy enough. But oddly it's pretty unique in that respect. From myriad plates of Kim Chee and other "items" to the phonetically challenging dish names Korean food is pretty unusual and has not really been geared to Americans in any major way.

So while we have adopted Thai food as the Asian fare de rigueur and Vietnamese pho is more unusual, Korean is pretty much off the map. But maybe Jin Ju will help to change that.

It's your typical Andersonville restaurant in most ways. The crowd is fun, waiting for a table isn't an evil experience, it's up beat. The menu is nice with fish options and vegeterian options as well. I was looking for hot and our very helpful waiter recommended the Bulgogi which I asked for extra hot. A couple of Dol Sut Be Bim Baps were ordered.

To start we ate around the kim chee and got mandoo, beef dumplings and pajun, a scallion pancake. As a saki fan I was interested in the so-ju martini things. It's a distilled rice wine that somewhat shares a taste with sake. While I thought it had a higher alcohol content the drinks were mixed with vodka so after two let's just say I loved everything.

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The appetizers were very tasty. My association with Korean food is a bit of a vinegary pickled flavor. Not exactly kim chee but heading there. It's kind of the way Thai is lemongrass and Vietnamese is fish sauce. The dishes were very good. The pancake came with a soy-dumpling dipping sauce and the mandoo we ordered steamed.

The entrees were nice but a criticizm of the Dol Suts was that there was little other than noodles in the bowl. Little protein, mostly carbs. My bulgogi was hot enough to not bother trying anyone else's food. It was delicious and I'd have a hard time not ordering it again. It was peppery hot with that hint of vinegar that, like salt, brought out the flavors of the onions and the peppers.

The waiter was very helpful stirring in the raw egg in the dol suts and the soybean paste soup on the side was fantastic. I wish it was an option in more pan asian restaurants instead of the very similar miso soup.

The next day I did have a big headache, I'm assuming from the So-Ju, though it may have been from the rail vodka tonics from a bar across the street.

Jin Ju
5203 N. Clark