19 March 2015 | Food | By: Sejal Sukhadwala

In this series,we review restaurants from an entirely vegetarian angle. While some restaurants will be specifically vegetarian, others will be mainstream. Well be tasting everything from veggie burgers, to posh meat-free menus. Along the way, well try to find out, as far as possible, whether chicken stock, cheese made from animal rennet, gelatine, fish sauce and so on are not lurking in the supposedly vegetarian dishes.

Jinjuu restaurant interior

Londonist Rating:

Jinjuu is a hoot. Theres much that we liked about this contemporary Korean newcomer, from the vibe of the place to the vibrancy of its food. Tucked away in the now pedestrianised Kingly Street, it opened just a couple of months ago. The cool, atmospheric venue is split over two floors: a bar with stools, benches and restaurant-style seating at the ground level, and a restaurant with open-view kitchen in the basement. Both rock a hip, grungy look that references Americas street food trucks, the usual bare-brick-walls-and-exposed-piping shtick given a twist with bright graffiti art and moody lighting.

Jinjuu which means pearl (a delicate, old-fashioned word at odds with its hip urban surroundings) is co-owned by Korean-American Judy Joo, who has several sparkly culinary feathers to her name dipped in celebrity gold dust. Shes a regular face on the Cooking Channel USA, Food Network USA and UK, the only female Iron Chef UK, and also a judge on that programme. A former recipe developer for Saveur food magazine, shes worked at the Restaurant Gordon Ramsay and, more recently, as executive chef at the Playboy Club London. In the kitchen here, however, is British-born head chef Andrew Hales whom Joo worked with at the Playboy Club. Hes put his French fine dining background to one side, as the cooking is centred on American interpretations of Korean street food classics and Korean interpretations of American dirty food. Its the sort of rough-and-ready, big flavoured grub thats been popularised by Korean-American street vendors from Los Angeles to New York though the veggie options are more saintly than guilt-inducing (mores the pity).

Miso-flavoured portobello mushroom tacos

Drinks are a strong point, so arrive early to try the imaginative Korean-influenced cocktails, soju (vodka-like Korean spirit) innovatively infused with a few different flavours, and Asian beers. Korean bloody mary, made from kimchi paste (without fish), celery and black pepper-infused soju and Korean chilli flakes will kick your appetite into shape with its loud, look-at-me chilli hit and gorgeously savoury layered flavours. (Beware the cute little cone of shrimp chips attached to it though). Vegetarian anju small dishes consumed with alcohol consist of just edamame beans and a couple of salads. Then there are tacos, dumplings, stir-fried sweet potato noodles with vegetables and eggs, bibimbap (stone rice bowl with vegetables, eggs and crispy marinated tofu), a barbecue sharing platter, and half a dozen salads and side vegetables. Marked with a V, none of these, were told, contain fish sauce. However, theres no exciting meat-free equivalent to their signature dishes of sliders, prawn pops and fried chicken.

Prepare to get your hands dirty (though we squeamishly opted for cutlery) for small, soft tacos heaped with miso-spiked portobello mushrooms, tiny black beans, buttery avocado slices and curls of kale given a sharp kick by an overload of sour cream (hence the cutlery). The miso that the mushrooms are cooked in is barely discernible, and the tacos are more straightforwardly Mexican-influenced than Korean-tasting. We like their fresh, verdant taste but theyre the mellowest, most low-key of all the dishes. More typical of the strident flavours to follow is a lively dipping sauce made from soy sauce, sesame oil, vinegar, chilli and garlic. A LOT of garlic. It comes with substantial yet light mandoo dumplings stuffed with vegetables, tofu and sweet potato noodles.

Celebrity chef and co-owner Judy Joo

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Vegetarian London: Jinjuu Restaurant Review