As a Korean native, it has been truly heartwarming to see Korean restaurants make a huge impact in New York City’s fine dining scene, with trailblazers such as Atomix changing the way American diners view Korean cuisine. For my wife Jun and I, what really stood out from this tremendous moment in time is how talented Korean chefs keep pushing the boundary beyond what people around the world associate Korean cuisine with (such as Korean BBQ, bibimbap, etc.) and develop their own unique vision to tell the story of Korea’s rich culinary tradition. One restaurant that has done this very well in NYC is Jua, in which chef Hoyoung Kim (who worked at the OG Korean fine dining restaurant Jungsik) presents a wood-fired menu of modern Korean dishes. If you are judging Jungsik solely based on the number of dishes (seven, compared to a dozen or more courses) or the price point (it was $140 per person on our most recent visit, undoubtedly a bargain compared to $250+ you encounter at other fine dining places), the restaurant may seem like it has a more modest ambition. If, on the other hand, you evaluate the restaurant’s worth based on the consistently amazing food coming out from the kitchen, you will soon discover that Jua is the real deal. We first visited the restaurant in fall 2020 (that’s right, in the middle of the pandemic), and a few more times since then (the most recent one on our trip to NYC last month), and we have never had a bad meal at Jua.

Jua’s menu format has not changed since its opening. Do we sometimes wish the restaurant changed its dishes more often? Sure, but then you may miss a delightful bite of caviar kim (with generous servings of caviar on top of a seaweed roll). And I certainly wouldn’t have been very happy if the menu didn’t have the rice porridge (jook) that impressed us every time we tried it with its soulfully aromatic flavor (do yourself a favor and splurge on $20 extra to add the abalone, you won’t regret it). On our recent visit, the kitchen presented refreshing sea bream mulhoe (think Korean version of ceviche), and for the seafood course we also had dover sole from Spain that was wonderfully grilled. The final savory dish is usually the highlight at Jua, with a rotating menu of different meal options, accompanied by a gorgeous looking plate of small side dishes (ban chan); I could tell that Jun, who is always picky when it comes to duck meat, was really enjoying the duck breast that displayed lovely juicy texture. The desserts at Jua are also fantastic. During last month’s dinner, after a strawberry-based palate cleanser, we had sweet potato donut (goguma juak) along with brown butter ice cream and cookie crumble. I’m not much of a donut enthusiast or aficionado but this one was tremendously delicious and brought me to my childhood memories of sticky chapssal doughnuts made of glutinous rice.    

Getting a reservation at Jua may be challenging during the peak times on the weekend, especially given the relatively modest size of the restaurant, so booking in advance is always highly recommended. The sleek ambiance of the dimly lit dining room aligns very well with the modern sensibilities that Jua is looking to present to diners. One very underrated aspect of the dining experience at Jua is the beverage list. In addition to playful cocktails using ingredients and flavors familiar to Korean culinary culture, the restaurant also has a very good wine list featuring wines from all over the world designed to pair well with all the delicious food. In the constantly evolving restaurant scene, it may be ridiculous difficult if not impossible to maintain consistency of excellence and vision; if there is a restaurant that seems to espouse that word with effortless ease, Jua in my mind is most certainly one.

Address:  36 E 22nd Street, New York, NY 10010

KenScale: 8.5/10 (Jun’s Score: 8.5/10)

Website: https://juanyc.com/

Reservation via Resy