A new Korean kitchen has opened its doors in Overland, serving up shaved-ice bingsu, kimbop, and street food. J. Cho Korean Kitchen now occupies the former O! Wing Plus space, with a dining room where customers can sit down for quick bites rather than relying solely on carryout.
The restaurant is owned by Jaeyeon and Youni Cho, and according to St. Louis Magazine, Youni Cho said her husband's dream of opening the shop had lasted five years. The couple spent about three months cleaning and updating kitchen equipment and setting up the dining room before opening, and they renovated the dining area with new floors and a grayish-blue paint job, per the same report.
Bingsu on the Menu
J. Cho Korean Kitchen serves bingsu.
Bingsu is a shaved-ice dessert. The menu also leans into bunsik, or Korean street food.
Kimbop, Ramyun, and Tteokbokki Round Out the Menu
Beyond dessert, the kitchen serves kimbop with vegetable, tuna, and sausage fillings, along with kimchi fried rice made with spam, beef sausage, or pork belly. The tteokbokki uses garrae-tteok rice cakes paired with fish cakes in a sweet, spicy, and savory sauce, and the army ramyun stacks spam, sausage, kimchi, rice cake, and tofu into one bowl, per the same reporting.
The menu also includes fried mandoo, donkatsu, and kal-guksu.
Sides of Seoul's Family Roots
Sides of Seoul, the banchan shop at 10084 Page Avenue, is a family business. Feast Magazine describes Mimi Lee as the family matriarch whose recipes inspire the food. The shop has served Korean food in Overland since 2018. Sides of Seoul shifted to a carryout-only model during the pandemic and kept that setup afterward because it worked so well, Feast reports.
Sides of Seoul has earned its own local following for pairing fast-casual service with home-cooked comfort food, as St. Louis Today noted in a review that highlighted the $10.99 seolleongtang, served with rice, white-radish kimchi, and three more banchan. The restaurant simmers its ox bone broth for more than 48 hours, Feast Magazine reports.
Part of a Busy Season for St. Louis Dining
The Overland opening lands amid a season of turnover across the St. Louis restaurant scene. Downtown, Coffeestamp opened a new Washington Avenue location, according to a report from STLPR.
The opening adds a new option to Overland's dining scene.
