Jeong - elevated Korean in West Town - from the Hanbun team

As most everyone here probably already knows, this is the new spot in West Town from Dave Park and Jennifer Tran, the team behind the highly regarded and now-shuttered Hanbun in Westmont.

My wife and I had a very tasty meal here earlier this week. A la carte and tasting menus both looked great but we opted for a la carte, more or less putting together our own DIY tasting menu . . . and even then, offerings were so tempting, it was difficult to choose. We started with a couple of well-conceived cocktails: the Manhattan-like Jujube (rye, sherry, orange, chocolate) and the refreshing Yuza (prosecco, sake, fernet, yuza). After that, we ordered two dishes from each of the three sections of the menu . . .

Broccoli | smoked mayo, fuji apple, chili oil, roasted cashew
Being a broccoli fanatic, this might have been my favorite dish of the entire meal. I appreciated the perfect texture of the florets (not too soft, not too hard) and the judicious application of the mayo, which was not overly smoked. Cashews, applies and chili oil rounded out the dish really well.

Yukhwe | beef tartare, asian pear, cucumber, deviled yolk, buckwheat & perilla cracker
Great stuff. There was nothing particularly unexpected here. A bit more refined in presentation, the flavors pretty much mirrored those of versions available at many Korean spots in town.

Tteokbokki | schmaltz, pickled mustard, quail egg, charred cabbage, spicy chili sauce
These pleasantly dense and chewy cylinders were sauteed in the schmaltz, which imparted great flavor and texture. I loved the accompaniments, especially the charred cabbage and chili sauce. This was a really cool and distinctive take on a dish I've had many versions of in the past.

Odeng | shrimp cake, gochujang aioli, radish
These hot and crispy little balls (think fried croquettes) were delicious. I could have eaten a dozen of them!

Kalbi Jjim | braised short rib, confit turnips, brown butter carrot veloute, iceburg, carrot jjangachi
Great flavors (meat, accoutrements and sauces) and a massive portion. Because it was such a big piece, the texture wasn't exactly uniform throughout. Some bites were a bit drier and more dense than others. It was missing just a bit of that unctuousness that I typically associate with short rib. But it was delicious and we finished it nonetheless.

Duck Confit | kabocha, sesame leaf kimchi, duck & gochujang jus
Again, another massive portion and a well executed dish. I loved the rich, texturally-varied duck and the sesame leaf kimchi (which were rolled up in little, berry-like balls) For me personally, I wasn't crazy about the fairly noticeable presence of orange (rind?) in the dish but this is just a choice that others could just as easily appreciate a lot.

The conversation-friendly room is beautiful and comfortable, if a bit narrow. Intimately lit, candles on the tables. There's no bar but there is a small, circular banquette near the front door where, I suppose, one could enjoy a cocktail or other libation while waiting to be seated. Chopsticks, tableware, etc. are gold in color. Aesthetically pleasing plates, bowls, etc., in comforting earth tones, appear to be hand-made. Water glasses are pretty much like stemless wine glasses. The entire service team was very friendly and proficient. Three cocktails and six dishes, with tax, totaled at $183.00 before tip. We'll be back soon for the chef's Tasting Menu, which is comprised exclusively of items not available on the a la carte menu.

=R=

Jeong (website)
1460 W Chicago Ave
Chicago, IL 60642
(312) 877-5016

How did you think it compared to Passerotto and parachute?

WhyBeeSea wrote:How did you think it compared to Passerotto and parachute?

Even though I'll admit to doing them in my head, I'm not sure how meaningful the comparisons are because I have no way of really knowing what the creative objectives of each place are. I'm also no more than fairly familiar with Korean cuisine.

All that said, I liked the food, the room and the service at Jeong more than any of those components at Passerotto.

I also liked the food at Jeong more than the food at my most recent Parachute meals, though I'm not sure that would also be true relative to my earliest meals at Parachute, which really blew me away. And Jeong's room is clearly superior, as Parachute is one of the most uncomfortable restaurant spaces I know. I think service-wise, they compare favorably. Both are top-tier.

=R=

Awesome. Thanks for your thoughts on
the question! Really looking forward to trying this place.

Feel the same way about parachute. Loved my first couple visits, but it was one of the worst meals I had last year.

WhyBeeSea wrote:Feel the same way about parachute. Loved my first couple visits, but it was one of the worst meals I had last year.

While my meal was good, the noise level will keep me from going back.

Very much enjoyed our dinner here (maybe more so than my visit to Parachute, though that was several years ago).

The yuza cocktail is their version of a French 75, with cava and yuzu sake. Lovely, but I particularly admired the beautiful flute it was served in with paper thin glass.

broccoli - loved this dish and would concur with ronnie's description of it. Savory and umami packed, with the contrast from the diced apples (I think lightly pickled, as they were more tart than I would have expected) and sweetness from the roasted cashews. One of our favorites.

beet - found the crispy yuba skin to be fascinatingly unique - basically the texture of giant chicharron packed with flavor from seasoning sprinkled on. The beets were beautifully sourced and packed with sweetness.

mandu - we liked these, but would not say we loved these. The cucumber kimchi was beautifully prepared - teeny tiny diced cucumbers on a cucumber emulsion underneath the mandu (there are 3 served in a portion, which we found a little odd).

cod - loved this dish. Lightly poached, flavorful broth, and the smoked trout roe added a savory punch. The mussels do add a heavier fishy-flavor, and the cubes of bacon complement all of the flavors.


juk - my favorite - absolutely delightful. Not so much porridge as a riff on risotto, with mushroom pearl barley, hon shimeji and king trumpet mushrooms, parmesan for creaminess, and a lovely tongue of rich rich uni. Umami on umamni. LOVED.


It wasn't overly loud at all - definitely conversation-friendly. That said, we dined at 5:30pm and were finished by 7pm. Great, speedy service!

Fantastic, fantastic meal here a couple of weeks ago. We did the tasting menu and supplemented it with a couple of dishes. It's not advertised, but they do have a pescatarian tasting menu as well. I'm not sure how often either one changes, but in our case, the pescatarian menu was the same as the regular tasting but with seafood replacements for the duck and beef courses. The pescatarian option actually sounded better and, thanks to some bite trading at the table, I can confirm that it was. The highlights:

salmon tartare. dwenjang yuza gastrique. bubu arare. creme fraiche. This is the one that gets the Instagram love and it's as good as it looks. Actually better in this case since we didn't get the most colorful of salmon.

scallop. spinach namul. clementine beurre blanc. Would eat a platter of these.

tteokbokki — schmaltz. pickled mustard. quail egg. charred cabbage. spicy chili sauce. Upscale bar food done right.

The two pescatarian replacements are both available as entrees on the a la carte menu. They were both outstanding. One was the juk, which
bluepig described and photographed perfectly above. The other:

cod — wakame. mussels. bacon. miyukguk sauce

chestnut financier. dwenjang caramel. smoked chestnut cream. chocolate. Did not expect dessert to be particularly good. I was wrong. Every element was great, but that caramel needs to be bottled.

The only letdown of the night was the mandu, which we added on to appease a dumpling lover at the table. They were fine, but the relatively muted flavors weren't on par with the rest of what we had. Also didn't love the duck course that's part of the regular tasting menu. Again, it was fine, but it paled in comparison to the juk and the cod.

Fantastic photos!

Mrs Willie & I dined at Jeong last night. Service was terrific and music was certainly present but we didn't feel too loud.

Yuza & the Roasted Barley cocktails were quite delicious.

As for items, we partook of a number of items discussed/photographed in this thread:
salmon tartare
cod
tteokbokki
duck confit
bavette of beef

We very much enjoyed each and every dish we had, but there wasn't any thriller, nothing that wowed us.
I suspect we'll be back at some time to try some other items, we just won't rush back.

A quick update: what's coming out of the kitchen is still on point, with strong technique and nuanced flavors. That said, reviewing previous posts in this thread did make me raise an eyebrow or two: the menu appears to have changed very little over what is now three seasons since Ronnie's first post. We had the same tartare, broccoli, rice cakes, and short rib preps as Ronnie did; the table next to us had many of the same tasting menu dishes--salmon tartare, scallop, etc.--as those captured in another post. I sense that the dishes have been refined some since opening--the smoke is definitely coming through in the broccoli dish, say--but it's still surprising to see a restaurant of this ambition not push itself/flex its muscles.

Went a couple of weeks ago. It is still hitting on all cylinders. I feel like this is a legit grown up restaurant in a way that Parachute and Passeretto are not. A step up in seating and service. Not to say that it was bad at the other places, just a little less formal and a little more cluttered. The cocktails were great, real balance and flat out yummy. The food was excellent. We ordered a la carte and had an excellent meal. We thoroughly enjoyed the desserts. They had a chocolate cake and banana cake, so we got both. Even after eating a great meal, the desserts really stood out. They were well thought out and complimented by the ice creams. I can't recommend them enough.

Had an absolutely lovely dinner last night at Jeong. We did the tasting menu.
What I liked:
1. Room, while not hushed, allowed me to talk to my wife in a normal voice.
2. We found each and very bite delicious. Not a miss in the bunch. I particularly enjoyed the fact that most of the proteins were accompanied by a pickled item, so you got protein with sweet, sour and spicy tastes at the same time.
3. The portions were, for us (we're lighter eaters), perfect. We've had a few negative experiences with tasting menus where we're uncomfortably stuffed while eating the last course or two (Next was our most recent encounter with this). Here, we left very, but comfortably, full.
4. At $75 a person, this is a good value for this kind of menu.
5. The staff, particularly those who met you at the door, were particularly friendly.

What I disliked:

All in all, one of our better meals in quite a while.

Shout-out for Jeong's seasonal beef and kimchi pies to go. We ordered one during the initial release, picked it up December 23, and enjoyed it New Year's weekend. It was so good that we immediately ordered another one and will pick it up tonight, to keep in the freezer until the next comfort food emergency. Although it says it serves eight, two of us ate 3/4 of it, with side salads, for dinner. It had just the right amount of spice, not as funky as the name might imply, the perfect balance of outstanding ingredients, thoughtfulness, and talented technique.

Smassey wrote:Shout-out for Jeong's seasonal beef and kimchi pies to go. We ordered one during the initial release, picked it up December 23, and enjoyed it New Year's weekend. It was so good that we immediately ordered another one and will pick it up tonight, to keep in the freezer until the next comfort food emergency. Although it says it serves eight, two of us ate 3/4 of it, with side salads, for dinner. It had just the right amount of spice, not as funky as the name might imply, the perfect balance of outstanding ingredients, thoughtfulness, and talented technique.

per the site, they're sold out now... looks like I'll be thinking about this one for a year.

dudefella wrote:

Smassey wrote:Shout-out for Jeong's seasonal beef and kimchi pies to go. We ordered one during the initial release, picked it up December 23, and enjoyed it New Year's weekend. It was so good that we immediately ordered another one and will pick it up tonight, to keep in the freezer until the next comfort food emergency. Although it says it serves eight, two of us ate 3/4 of it, with side salads, for dinner. It had just the right amount of spice, not as funky as the name might imply, the perfect balance of outstanding ingredients, thoughtfulness, and talented technique.

per the site, they're sold out now... looks like I'll be thinking about this one for a year.

My experience with their pies wasn't nearly as positive. I'm guessing that they must have improved since we ordered them in 2020. We bought two and thought they were bland, skimpy and overpriced (north of $37/pie). What little "meat" they contained was mostly big pieces of fat. We still joke about how bad they were. I love Jeong but our pie experience was a big check in the minus column.

=R=

First time at Jeong with some friends last night and everything was pretty solid. No clear favorite course, but there were no duds in the bunch.

I believe we were the only group of more than 2 people; the other tables seemed real lovey dovey, and the space really dictates that -- it was extremely dark to the point where I had trouble seeing my courses. Editing the photos with the brightness turned up to 200, I had a few, "ooooh, that's what it looked like" moments.

Menu


Chawanmushi
King crab. Osetra Caviar. Scallion


Salmon
Yuza. Dwenjang. Creme Fraiche. Crispy Rice Pearls


Seared Scallop
Beurre Blanc. Spinach. Trout Roe. Chives


Sea Bream
Miyuk. Celtuce. Chili Crisp


Truffle Jook
Five Spice Granola, Allium


Australian Wagyu
Carrot. Jorim Glaze. Cabbage


Kkaetnip
Korean Yogurt. Buckwheat


Hi-Chew
Mochi. Mokgeoilli. Honeycomb Candy

Ate there again a couple of weeks ago, menu as pictured in preceding post, and really found it spectacularly delicious. We were a group of 3 and there were plenty of other groups, but agree that there is an intimacy in the space, which I would like more to the quiet than the dark.