Worth A Try
TLDR: Jungsik offers a once in a lifetime meal. This two Michelin star restaurant is the pinnacle of fancy pants so go if you have something big to celebrate and don’t mind seriously shelling out for a memorable experience.
Jungsik is a Fine Dining – with a capital F – restaurant inspired by traditional Korean foods. This place has not one but two Michelin stars and certainly knows how to do fancy food. I’m not gonna lie, this meal is crazy expensive (even for corporate cards). It would not be unfair to suggest that no meal is worth that kind of dough. You’re probably right.
However, Jungsik is serving art. And sometimes you pay up for art.
Being the fancy schmancy establishment that it is, Jungsik focuses around its 9 course tasting menu; they have a handful of bar seats you can do a la carte, but it’s probably not worth it for that. I chose to do the signature menu. It’s important you go hungry to accommodate all the food coming your way, but as far as tastings go Jungsik does a really great job of not over-stuffing you so you actually enjoy everything you get.
The meal starts off with a novel interpretation of banchan and flows from there into several seafood dishes, then beef, then dessert (3 different desserts!). To my veggie friends: this is not the place for you. I attempted to order an add on salad option, but it was actually just duck breast with a few leaves scattered about.
Despite the dearth of vegetation, every dish at Jungsik feels quite well balanced and not too heavy. I loved the langoustine, which had a hefty serving of caviar over top and a bright, tangy sauce. The octopus was definitely the best octopus I’ve ever eaten – crispy on the outside, chewy interior and just gob-smackingly beautiful presentation. The kimbap was too cute; expertly rolled and served in the crispiest wrapper I can imagine. The galbi (basically a perfect cube of wagyu beef) was also incredible. Each bite burst with insanely good marbling…my mouth is watering just thinking about it.
Everything through the main dishes was truly artfully done, but dessert blew me away. I’ll take a moment here to just thank the pastry chef at Jungsik. Well 👏 fucking 👏 done 👏. The pastry elements took the meal to a whole new level.
After a quick palate cleansing strawberry dish comes the show. Our server arrived with a box of fresh carrots and potatoes sitting in dirt. Except it was not dirt and it was not carrots or potatoes. Inside these perfect, edible replicas was in fact cake – carrot cake with cream cheese frosting and a cream mousse, respectively. The carrot, in particular, looked SO REAL. I almost didn’t want to eat it because of how incredible it was. Almost.
As if that wasn’t enough, we were then presented with a bowl of walnuts, only on closer inspection two of them were pastry masquerading as nuts. It was truly mind shattering to me how realistically they were able to mask these desserts as other foods.
Lastly, they presented 3 tiny financiers. I’ve never seen a macaron so cute in my life. The skill-level of Jungsik’s dessert team is certainly one of the highest I’ve ever seen. And all that topping off what was already a delicious meal!
The experience was definitely once in a lifetime. As much as I enjoyed my meal, I don’t feel a need to return to Jungsik. There are certain dining experiences that ought not to be repeated and are remembered more fondly for it – One Hit Wonders™. Jungsik is one of them.
So if you have something to celebrate and a lot of cash to burn, consider Jungsik, if only once.