E Jo Korean BBQ Restaurant
3250 S. 700 East, Salt Lake City ; 801-474-0047
(see
map)
Pleasant service and Korean cuisine including hot pot.
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Cuisine: Korean, Barbecue
Price: $$
Hours: M-S, 11 a.m.-9:30 p.m.; Su, noon-9 p.m.
Liquor: Wine
Reservations: Accepted
Accepts:    
Recommended Dishes: Bulgogi, spicy blue crab casserole, grilled pork.
December 26, 2003
By Nancy Hobbs
It wasn't long ago that Salt Lakers could easily find the chubby burger boy with checkered overalls on the corner of 3300 South and 700 East. JB's Big Boy was one of those landmarks that, even if you didn't patronize it, was likely used as a compass point. But when too few people did the patronizing, even the icon became orphaned, leaving new ventures to attempt to fill the void.
The good news for diners is that the current tenant is neither a franchise nor a pizza parlor -- both of which are well represented throughout the valley. Instead, E Jo Korean BBQ offers something new.
Owner Un Young opened his restaurant, offering authentic Korean cuisine, about seven months ago. The unveiling came after gutting the building's interior and turning its front half into a large, open and inviting dining area. Tables are positioned around the room with enough space for privacy, as well as sufficient room for servers to cook part of the meal at tabletop grills.
Lacking much experience with Korean food -- but always open to a new dining adventure -- we asked our servers' recommendations on a couple of visits to the restaurant.
For dinner, our server suggested bul go gi ($16.99) as one of the most popular Korean specialties on the menu. She brought out a bowl of thinly sliced beef, marinating in a soy-based sauce, and quickly seared it on the grill at our table, explaining that it is traditionally wrapped in individual leaves of lettuce, garnished with bean paste and a mixture of thinly sliced green onions and cilantro. "Like a burrito," except in lettuce, was her description.
Probably the food most-often associated with Korea is kimchi (also kimchee), brought to the table as a side dish but also offered as a menu item itself or in such entrées as kimchi chi gae, a stew with pork and vegetables. Kimchi is pickled and fermented vegetables, often cabbage, that are generally spicy and pungent. Growing up, our server revealed, she had to eat it with every meal. Now that it's not quite a dietary staple, she enjoys it more, but understands others who turn up their noses.
At E Jo, it was quite tasty in limited portions. A meal of kimchi might be hard to swallow, especially because of its heat, something common to many Korean dishes.
We ordered the hot pot dish of gae chi gae, or spicy blue crab casserole ($12.99), prepared on the mild end of "spicy." Even then, the casserole (which was more like a soup, with a couple of whole blue crabs and variety of vegetables) had quite a bit of bite.
Our lunch server, doing her best to make our visit to E Jo a pleasant one, helped guide my lunch companions to some of the menu's milder options. The beef teriyaki ($7.99) and grilled pork in spicy red-pepper sauce ($6.99), both prepared in the kitchen at lunch, rather than at the table, were delicious and not too spicy hot, served in traditional sectioned luncheon plates with battered and deep-fried vegetables, marinated radish and rice. Miso soup and a cold, crisp green salad came with each meal.
It's always an adventure to try a new cuisine, and at E Jo, servers seem to enjoy introducing a varied menu to their guests. Be careful of the spice, but give it a try.
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