When Japanese people hear Jojoen, a certain image comes to mind, and I struggle to think of a Korean restaurant that carries a similar image. It is a franchise yakiniku restaurant you find right in the middle of town all over the place, popular yet upmarket, and priced just high enough to match. Byeokje Galbi is not quite the same thing either.. anyway, saying you went to Jojoen today also means you spent a bit of money. To be honest, someone like me who cares about value for money does not really end up going to restaurants where the service is lovely but the prices are up there. If the taste is about the same there are plenty of cheaper places, and if you spend a little more you can go somewhere far fancier.. It sits in a slightly awkward position, but on this day a few reasons overlapped and I ended up visiting. Live long enough and days like this come around..
The entrance
Those in the know will know, but Jojoen is usually set up on a prime upper floor with a good view.
Inside
The atmosphere is not bad. It is not extremely fancy, but a meat restaurant that feels too formal is no fun either, so this level is about right. More than that, the beautiful staff member serving in a kimono was so gracious that she could match the concierge at a decent hotel..
The menu
As you can roughly see, the menu sits around 3,000 yen, so if two of you order three or four plates of yakiniku plus drinks, a salad and something to finish with, you can eat well for somewhere in the low to mid ten thousands. A normal good yakiniku place comes to about 7,000-8,000 yen for two, so.. it is indeed something like 1.5 to 2 times more expensive.
White peach drink
There is a seasonal drink too, and when I ordered it, it was good.
Salad
It feels like they have put a lot of research into the dressing. If anything, I do not remember eating a salad in this style back in Korea..
The sauces
Tsubozuke karubi (jar-marinated short rib)
It is short rib marinated inside a jar. You can grill all the vegetables too. Nicely judged as a menu item.
The meat inside
From the outside it did not look like much, but the meat turned out to be far bigger than I expected. There are plenty of vegetables in there too, and 3,400 yen does not feel all that expensive.
Grilled up nicely..
There were a few slightly chewy bits, but overall the quality of the meat was good. Ah, so this is why people talk about Jojoen, I thought.
Jo-rosu, the premium loin
Well.. compared with the jo-rosu at the other famous yakiniku places it feels a touch behind, but it is classy.
Dessert
Judged on value alone it is admittedly a little underwhelming, but when you need to entertain clients, or want a high standard of service (a date, maybe?), I doubt there are many places like Jojoen. Of course, spend a little more and you could go to an even fancier restaurant, but places like that are often not easy to get to. Jojoen is in Shibuya, it is in Shinjuku, it is in pretty much anywhere people gather, so it really is easy to get to.
Anyway, I would like to visit this branch once more, but I have no idea whether I will ever again have a reason to go all the way to Suidobashi for Jojoen.. it would be hard for coincidences to line up twice the way they did this time. Even if I do go, it will probably be a different branch.
Bread
There is a bakery on the first floor of the building Jojoen is in, and they were selling cute bread, so I bought some. Purely as good eating there is no reason to buy it, but every now and then you want bread like this.
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