Jinjuu will be located at 15 Kingly Street and will have 85 covers over two floors.
The Korean street food restaurant will be opened in partnership between Joo, who will take the role of executive chef, and the founder of the Babbo Group, Kia Joorabchian.
Other members of the Jinjuu team will include head chef Andrew Hales, who has worked closely with Joo for years, head pastry chef Jaime Garbutt, and bar manager and mixologist Kristian Breivik.
Design
The restaurant’s interior was designed by Tibbatts.Abel, and on completion Jinjuu will feature Korean motifs throughout in a bid to reflect ‘the modern and traditional aspects of Seoul’.
The interior will include an exposed brick wall with a white crane bird patter, celadon coloured fabrics, Korean street graffiti art, and a bamboo ceiling feature.
The restaurant area downstairs will have banquette seating and counter-dining spaces for customers to watch the chefs at work, while the upstairs bar will have high tables, an outdoor terrace and an illuminated bar displaying bottles of typical Korean spirit Soju.
Food and drink offering
Jinjuu will serve ‘Korean comfort foods’. The main restaurant will be located downstairs, with the upstairs bar serving drinks and a separate menu.
The restaurant downstairs will serve typical Korean sharing platters and side dishes. Dishes will include barbecued meat wrapped in lettuce from the open kitchen grill, and ‘Korean carnitas fries’ (fries topped with braised pork and Kimchi).
The ground floor bar will serve drinks and ‘anju’ (Korean food consumed with alcohol). The bar snack menu will include Korean tacos, pajeon pancakes, and Jinjuu’s signature dish Korean fried chicken.
There will also be a selection of Asian beers and a large cocktail menu which will include drinks such as the Seoul Sour(Soju, ginseng spirit, honey and lavender syrup, egg white and fresh yuzu juice) and the South Korean Fling (plum-infused Soju, cherrybrandy, fresh citrus and aromatic bitters).