During the day, 1095 Yuyuan Road is just an ordinary old-style house, and it is difficult to attract the attention of pedestrians. If you are passing by at night, there will be an extra sign at the door that reads "*EJU *ZAKAYA". If you try to push open the iron door, you may be greeted by several people dining in harmony, and the chef will politely say to you standing at the door, "I will not accept customers". This is Shanghai's very popular *Le Jeju Izakaya.
SHANGHAINESE DINERS WHO LOVE KOREAN FOOD WILL BE FAMILIAR WITH "*ELLOCO". *Rak is famous for his creative Korean cuisine. Today, he has established restaurants in Shanghai, such as *Le, *Le-Li, *Le-Jeju Izakaya, etc., and the business is booming. *Founded in mid-2017, Rakuju Izakaya has attracted the attention of many Korean food lovers since its opening, and word of mouth has spread well, and the popularity has exploded since then. Due to the large number of visiting diners, *Rakujeju Izakaya has chosen to make a reservation. The restaurant is open in the evenings only and offers two meals per night for two and a half hours with only 8 seats. Such a rare dining opportunity has also attracted the attention of many food lovers.
*There are 3 chefs at the Rakujeju Izakaya, but there are usually 4 or 5 people present, and someone is in charge of helping with the work or interpreting. Diners can order their own food when they arrive, or they can choose to have the chef mix it according to their own preferences. For example, if a diner doesn't like spicy food, the chef will change the seasoning of the dish. Chef Chan has a good image and is very popular. He asks for the name of each visitor and memorizes it throughout the night, which is a wonderful experience for diners.
Eight chairs surround the counter in an L-shape, and the completely open kitchen is a novelty for many diners. Although the space is not large, the actual dining experience is good, and there is no feeling of crowding. Once seated, the chef will hand over a welcome drink and appetizers. The welcome wine has been blended by the store to have an appetizing effect, and it is changed once a week. The menu is also not fixed, and is usually slightly adjusted according to the season's special ingredients.
The kitchen is small, but there is a small seafood pool from which the chef will directly fish the ingredients for cooking, so that diners can see the freshness of the dishes. For example, when Chan makes stir-fried octopus with hot sauce, it is interesting to note that when the octopus is cooked, Chan will pick up the octopus and ask diners if they need to take a photo, and then cut it into small pieces and put it in the pot. Chef Kim is a big fan of stir-fried spinach with butter clams, which is not too difficult, and its products are only fresh and buttery.
The most popular and recommended dishes are grilled pork neck with anchovy sauce, handmade egg yolk tofu pickles, and cheese volcanic chicken cake. The skin of the pork neck is golden and crispy, refreshing and not greasy, and it tastes quite good with lemon juice, mustard or anchovy sauce. Handmade egg yolk tofu kimchi can make many tofu lovers shine. Fresh soybeans are pureed and wrung out with a cloth. The taste of tofu is very special, with a rich bean flavor, and it is a unique enjoyment with egg yolk and kimchi. As for the Cheese Volcanic Chicken Cake, it is a dish created by the chef reminiscent of the volcano of Jeju Island, and the steamed egg is made into an overflowing shape similar to a volcano, and the taste is very special.
However, the performance of the popular dish of garlic sea urchin pasta was not up to par. Generally, the pasta is seasoned with lobster juice or seafood, and the sweetness of the sea urchin is brought out through the salty aroma of the seafood. Although it is not unpalatable, it is enough to disappoint many diners. In contrast, although grilled mentai fish is only a simple accompaniment to alcohol, many people praise it for its proper cooking.
As an izakaya, the restaurant doesn't have a lot of alcohol, but there is a wide variety of whiskey, wine, shochu, and more. There weren't any drinks in the restaurant, which was a bit of a pity.
It is also important to point out that the restaurant has an open kitchen design, but its range hood performs mediocrely, and diners will find a faint smell of oily smoke when they go out.
*Rakujeju Izakaya only provides WeChat reservation method, and it is difficult to make a reservation. Generally speaking, *Rak Jeju Izakaya will open reservations for the following month on the 1st of each month. There were once diners who added the store's WeChat in January, became friends in February, and got the reservation qualification for April on March 1, which can be imagined. However, as the popularity decreases, so does the difficulty of making reservations, and diners are subject to the actual situation. Each diner is required to pay a minimum spend of $300 as a deposit, which is within a reasonable range.
