Earlier today I went to have lunch with my sister at this newly opened Korean restaurant in Kota Kasablanka that's currently on the hype-mosphere: OJJU! It's located at the UG level of the Food Society. This was my second visit to the restaurant, but the first time that I technically ate. Went yesterday but the queue was too crazy, ahead I had 35 people waiting to dine here. So bye bitch see you next time, and that "next time" happened to be just a few hours ago.
Ojju is another brainchild from the Gading Food (GF group) which also owns and manages restaurants such as Fish and Co, Tajima Yakiniku and many more. In case you wonder, Ojju is NOT a franchise, it's a self-made and established brand, but I think they are most likely influenced by the James Cheese Back Ribs at Myeongdong. It's just fun that this kind of meal and along with the concept is finally coming to town, it's just refreshing.
The interior had this warm and industrial vibe to it with majorly wood element applied to the design and furniture, a pop of color was shown by the mural illustration. Overall it was nicely designed, most importantly it did not bother me while dining here.
Details on point: I love the idea of using the hanging lamps!
The dining utensils are placed inside a drawer attached to the table. Grab grab.
Besides becoming popular for their signature Rolling Cheese Beef Ribs (more below), they also have some more Korean cuisine such as ramyeon, jjigae (seafood pot), fried rice, and Korean snacks for light bites.
Price range for food here starts from IDR 30k-IDR 220k while drinks range from IDR 20k-60k.
Banchan to start the meal
Watermelon Soda - IDR 39kDon't forget to stir this before taking a sip because all the sugar and syrup is located at the bottom. I took a big sip (greedy bitch) and was almost coughing. For some reasons, this drink was yes refreshing, but it's lacking that "watermelon" character I wanted. The watermelon came in this icy ball figure, I need overall flavor.
Ramyeon Seafood - IDR 79kI was a bit disappointed with how this dish turned out when it's served to me. I was expecting it to look like how it presented on the book menu (which by the way looked out of the world pretty) so that I could take a decent picture. I mean the cheese ribs came in a such an appetizing presentation why couldn't they put a little extra effort on this one? I ordered the seafood ramyeon, but if you don't eat seafood, they also have the chicken and beef topping for cheaper price (IDR 59k). Even though I was a bit disappointed with the presentation, I must say that for a IDR 79k, you get a lot of topping and they were generous enough to include a crab, egg, oden, vegetables, and many more. The soup was quite tasty with mild spiciness. Flavor wise it was pretty decent.
Rolling Cheese Beef Ribs - IDR 219kNow moving to the main star of Ojju: the rolling cheese beef ribs! First of all, price wise and value: GOOD! For IDR 219k you're getting these chunky ass ribs, generous cheese and potato wedges on the side! Now flavor... no, you better enjoy the pictures first and then quick review :P
Not too long after they turn on the stove and everything starts cooking, the aroma gets super annoying in the most delicate way!
After a few minutes of cooking, they removed the potato wedges first from the hot pan to avoid over-cooking.
AND TO THE FUCKING FUN PART!!! RIBS ROLLED IN CHEESE. Beware foodporns are going to be very distracting.
The ribs were covered in generous Gokjujang sauce glaze and I think the sauce was pretty tasty and has got to be the highlight of this dish, without the sauce, basically there's nothing. The beef ribs were meaty and quite tender with the sauce absorbing to the meat, and avid fan of cheese will be thrilled to find that the extra cheese rolling and wrapping the ribs added more fun to your dining experience.
Anyway, I have to say that even though overall this dish was quite tasty, but somehow I was expecting more from this dish, it's like you know it's delicious but before actually trying, you kinda how and kinda can guess how the flavor is going to turn out. I was not feeling fireworks and I wanted to be surprised. I guess I wasn't, but don't get me wrong, I am not saying this is a bad dish but this is just so expected and in a way... not special.
If you "upgraded" to their fried rice package for IDR 29k, right after done with the ribs, they will proceed to cook the fried rice with the excess cheese (you can add extra cheese topping for IDR 32k if you want more). The "twist" came from the heart shaped they made on the center of the pan for the egg.
Unfortunately, I was disappointed with the fried rice as it was seriously lacking flavor. I didn't experience any savory nor salty flavor. it was just nada.
However gotta give it to the presentation tho!
Chocolate Bingsoo - IDR 39kNow for dessert, I ordered this chocolate bingsoo based on the waitress' recommendation. The texture of the snow ice was soft and creamy with this milky flavor, but overall just ok, not out of the world special. It was just a sweet ending to my lunch.
Ojju is fun, but not THAT delicious to my standard. However, it's the place that I would definitely come back to when I tour my foreign friends around town or if they ask me to, but definitely NOT if I have to wait for 20+ waiting list queue. Thank you for reading, and I obviously wishing Ojju the best of luck, perfection is no such thing and it's best to learn and take criticism and from that people can learn to improve and be better. GOOD LUCK!
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Ojju Korean Restaurant
Mall Kota Kasablanka UG fl. (Food Society) - FSU 55
Jalan Casablanca Raya No. 88
Tebet, Jakarta Selatan
Opening hours: 10 AM-10 PM
Average spending for two: IDR 400k
Dresscode: casual
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