Jua is one of those new-ish Korean restaurants that has received a number of praises from all sorts of diners. I was able to get a 2-seater a few days before Valentine’s Day on a Saturday evening. It did require me to sit and snipe on Resy, which fortunately was not as difficult as trying to get reservations at Don Angie. Jua is a restaurant by chef Hoyoung Kim, who was the former executive chef of Jungsik. It is a 7-course tasting menu ($135 per person) and utilizes a variety of wood-fire techniques.

Jua was awarded 1 Michelin Star in 2022.

Ambiance & Service

The interior of the restaurant is very new age with a lot of dark accents everywhere. There is a bunch of exposed brick, and the seating is fairly comfortable. Over the air, they play some electronic ambient music. The noise level is not loud, so conversations are very easy.

The service was very good. Your water was always filled, and the wait staff was very attentive.

Food

The Jeju Spritz ($16 - left) came with Jeju soju, mandarin orange, and lemon. This was very smooth with noticeable tangy, citrus flavors.

The Gewürztraminer ($17 - right) is a 2021 skin contact wine from Bloomer Creek vineyard, NY. This one has a slight funk to it but is nice and crispy. It has a very subtle hint of that orange citrus flavor. It’s one of the better skin contact wines I’ve had as of late.

This is the bottle of the Bloomer Creek skin contact wine.

The first course was the Caviar Kim. It had bluefin tartar, seaweed, avocado, and some sort of truffle flavors in it. The seaweed was very formed and crispy. The caviar was very delectable, and they definitely weren’t conservative with portion sizing. It’s meant to be eaten in 1 to 2 bites, and it was pretty good.

The Uni Kim (+$28) was an add-on and came with Maine sea urchin, soy sauce, seaweed, and radish. Like the caviar kim, the seaweed is very sturdy, formed, and crispy. I was a little underwhelmed with the Main sea urchin since it’s not as creamy as Hokkaido sea urchin nor as flavorful as Santa Barbara sea urchin. This probably is worth getting if you are curious about the flavors, but if you have a good imagination of flavors, there wasn’t too much of a surprise to me here.

This is the insides of the uni kim. It definitely had more “layers” than the caviar kim above.

The second course was the Striped Jack. This came with an orange ginger sauce, sesame chili oil, Japanese ginger, shiso leaves, and a char smoked to it. The fish was very tender and fresh. The sauce was absolutely delectable. The orange ginger sauce has a nice complementary flavor profile that matches the striped jack well. All of the little ingredients made this a wonderful medley to eat.

The third course was the Jook, which came with shaved black truffle (+$27). The jook is basically porridge and had duck broth, foie gras, and some scallop pieces. It was all really good with one exception. The waiter said that the shaved black truffle would make it taste like a truffle risotto. That sounded great in words, but in execution, it failed. The black truffle had very little flavor, if any. To describe it concisely, the truffle add-on was literally worthless. Historically, I’ve always been skeptical of black truffle shavings due to the lack of flavor, and this reminded me again why it’s an unnecessary add on.

The fourth course was the Nong-Eo. This was 3 day dry-aged branzino with herb tomato sauce. The branzino skin was so crispy and tasty. The meat itself was very tender and flavorful. It sat on a little tomato and herb relish.

The fifth course was the Duck & Chan. This came with a plate of dry-aged duck breast. The duck breast was wonderful. The skin was crispy and had good smoke to it. There’s a layer of fat that might be uncomfortable to those who don’t like eating fat. The seasoning on the duck breast was perfect for me.

On another plate to the side, there was the banchan. Starting from 6 ‘o’ clock and going clockwise:

1. chimichurri - it was pretty good when you smear it on the duck breast.
2. fuji apple kimchi - you get that sweet, fuji apple flavor with a little of that vinegar kimchi brine.
3. buckwheat noodle roll - this reminded me of kimbap but with small noodles.
4. baby bok choy - this had a slight pickling to it
5. Korean cauliflower - this was ok and was a bit forgettable
6. gochujang marinated lotus root - this had a tempura texture coating the lotus root with some of that gochujang flavor
7. cucumber - I was expecting this to have more pickling, but it did just tasted like a regular cucumber
8. pear perilla (center) - this I think is the hidden gem of this whole banchan. The perilla and pear concoction makes this an excellent wrap for the duck breast. Some Korean restaurants give you this to use to wrap meats.

The sixth course was the Citrus dessert. This was coconut foam, sumo orange mandarin sorbet, and meringue crackers on top. There wasn’t too much special about this, but it was an excellent not-to-sweet cold dessert.

The seventh and final course was the Goguma Juak. This was a sweet potato donut and served with a brown butter ice cream on the side. The donut was surprisingly very good. The texture was very soft but sticky and mushy. It was difficult to separate the donut despite it was mushy. The sweetness of the sweet potato was very prominent and deliciously flavorful. The brown butter ice cream was a very nice complement to this. It actually lessens the sweetness of the donut and gives it a little of that salty, nutty, brown butter flavor it.

Final Verdict

Jua is a very good Korean Michelin Star restaurant in the Flatiron area. Many people like to compare all the new modern Korean restaurants to each other, and they often say value wise this is beyond its competitors. We think that Atomix Bar is still our favorite modern Korean upscale restaurant, but we do recommend this restaurant for those that don’t want to spend as much.

Yelp Jabs

I believe a lot of people would agree that JUA’s food is up there with other 2-3 Michelin’s star restaurants.

There is no way this restaurant’s food is up there with other 2-3 Michelin star restaurants in the same cuisine. The bar and restaurant in Atomix is much better in both food and service. I would not compare it to the other non-Korean restaurants since those really make little sense.

You are able to add on a supplement to compliment the dish which I definitely recommend as it added a lovely flavor and I mean who doesn’t love truffles?

If you really want Maine uni, go for that add-on. If you don’t have a cigarette tongue, I would definitely avoid the truffle add-on. Black truffles are generally very mild, and each day that passes, the flavor exponentially dissipates. White truffles are even worse in terms of flavor decay. By the time it arrives from Europe, it’s already lost a lot of its original aroma.

Revisions

1. Feb 11, 2023 - Initial revision.