Jinjuu Soho
15 Kingly Street
London W1B 5PS
Nearest Tube: Piccadilly Circus
4 Yummy Stars
Price ££ Snacks/small plates £5-£14; mains £13-£32 (at time of writing)
☏ 020 8181 8887
Korean fried chicken (signature dish at Jinjuu Soho) on spring onion pancakes
Buzz Factor 4/5 stars
Food 4 /5 stars
Value for money 4/5 stars
Jinjuu means “Pearl” in Korean (and Chinese). Is this restaurant from the American Korean “celebrity” chef, Judy Joo, a gem? The pressure is on as she has appeared on TV (Food Network TV Channel and Iron Chef US tv series) and has her own cookbook. She originally studied engineering in the US, then worked at Morgan Stanley before retraining at French Culinary Institute. Andrew Hales, the Head Chef, has some serious credentials himself, having been a regional finalist in Roux Scholarship and classically trained.
The menu is a take on modern Korean cuisine with many nods to American food preferences. You can’t get more American than KFC with waffles (which was part of their weekend brunch menu). Yes, KFC aka Korean fried chicken is their signature dish on the menu. The crunchy golden ball arrived sitting on a spring onion pancake, encasing the most succulent chicken. It tasted divine with the honey soya sauce drizzled on top and had just the right amount of heat from the chilli. But do you eat KFC with a pancake? Was the spring onion inside supposed to be one of your five a day?
The Vegetable Chips were definitely worth having just for the kimchi soy guacamole dip with some piquancy from the kimchi. See-Woo Pops (crispy prawn cake balls perched on a stick like a lollie pop) were a delight with the seriously flavoursome gochujang (Korean chilli paste) mayo with its savoury, sweet and spicy notes. I didn’t care too much for the Philly Cheeseteak Mandoo (crispy fried dumplings with bulgogi beef shortrib and cheddar cheese). In the fight for dominance, the beef must have been swallowed by the cheese and the cheese didn’t come out winning either. Just plonk the dumpling into the spicy dipping sauce and all is forgiven (well, nearly).
Excitement and anticipation stirred inside us in equal measure as the Bulgogi beef fillet main course arrived with a piping hot stone for you to cook the thinly sliced marinated beef to your liking. The briefly seared beef was as soft as marshmellow. Of the 3 dips, the soya with ginger glaze reigned supreme with the truffle and seaweed aioli coming second. The perilla leaf (ie sesame leaf) chimichuri (but with olive oil!?!) was rather bland in comparison with the other 2.
The intimate restaurant, with modern lava-like lights dangling over the bar, soon filled up with some customers sitting on trendy banquettes and some on high stools at bar-height tables. The staff were attentive. They refilled our water efficiently without having to be asked and wiped our table before serving desserts.
We felt like spoilt little kids when our matcha shaved ice with red beans and mango shaved ice (with coconut sorbet) was presented with a big tray of heavenly goodies - fresh berries, passionfruit, mango, lychee, grilled rum pineapple, toasted coconut, mochi, candied almonds, rice & sesame tuile, granola, condensed milk, honey. What a way to finish a most satisfying meal. Was it a gem then? Oh yes.
November 2018
