Cheap Eats: Korean Dinner at Joo Joo!

I know what you're thinking... again? Two Asian dinners in a row?

Well, true. Our cheap eats dinner this month is at Joo Joo, a brand new Korean restaurant at the corner of Olive and Fee Fee in Creve Coeur! But if you're thinking that Korean food is indistinguishable from Chinese... you're in for a very big surprise! True, there are similarities in that the meats tend to be cut into small strips, some of the sauces bear some resemblance, and you can eat with chopsticks... but that's about where the similarity stops!

Korean food is, put simply, much less familiar to us! And, to be honest, you need to be a bit adventurous to experiment with some of it! Seafood is a large part of Korean cuisine, so the menu includes a variety of items from the sea... from spicy squid and octopus with vegetables, to codfish or fish cake soup, to fried mackerel, oyster, or squid! Beef, and to a lesser degree pork, make up a huge part of the menu as well, with about every imaginable combination of beef or pork and veggies, along with some wild spice and accompaniment combinations as well. In fact, it's rather fascinating; there are almost no all-vegetable dishes, but unlike American portions, most of the dishes have a high ratio of vegetables to meat, which surely is healthier! Besides the entrees, all dinners include banchan, an assortment of cold plates such as seasoned potatoes, broccoli, cabbage, seaweed, and a couple other items I couldn't quite identify, included for all to enjoy.

I was fortunate, not being familiar with the quirks of this cuisine, that a friend joined me for dinner who is a serious aficionado of Korean food... and I'm pleased to report that she loved it! I stayed on the conservative end of the menu but still loved my Pyo Go, beef with mushrooms and bamboo shoots, and Don Katsu, a pork dish similar to the Japanese dish of the same name, but with a wildly different - and incredibly delicious - sauce! My friend's favorite was the Bi Bim Bop, a pot with seasoned beef and more veggies than I could identify, all over rice and topped with fried egg. If you're feeling really daring, you'll find dishes with kimchi, ginseng, or oxtail! And, beware... Korean food can be made as spicy hot as you can endure, although that's not the norm.

But the nice thing is that prices are amazingly low! The vast majority of dishes are in the $8-$10 range, making this ideal for our "cheap eats" dinner. A handful of items are a bit more... by a dollar or two! There are also some appetizers in the $5 range. Finally there are what they call "side dishes", but in reality are large platters intended for sharing between about four people, that run from $12-$25. In general, one dish is sufficient for a meal, although if you're like me you might get a couple for the variety... in which case you'll almost surely have leftovers to take home!

Additional information:
- The entire restaurant is smoke-free.
- They are happy to give us separate checks.
- No tip will be added to the bills, so we'll want to be generous.
- Note that Joo Joo is on the northwest corner of Olive Blvd. and Fee Fee Rd. It's behind the 7-11, in the corner between Happy China and Astoria. It is NOT on the corner with Pink Galleon! You'll find tons of parking right out front.

I hope to see lots of our more adventurous foodies at Joo Joo on July 7th!