Joomak: The Perfect Korean Anju Spot in the Heart of the City
- Meisha Garvey
- 11 minutes ago
- 3 min read
Sheffield’s Korean scene is really kicking off, especially since Korea’s superstore Oseyo opened its largest UK store in October. Spanning 3 floors, Oseyo has brought skincare, homeware, toys and plenty of food, but it’s not the only place to try Korean cuisine in Sheffield, because there’s been an influx of Korean restaurants, cafes and vendors opening in the last few years. In fact, right around the corner from Oseyo is Joomak Kitchen + Pub, a Korean anju* style bistro (*food consumed with alcohol).
From the minds behind China Red, Wokie Box and Als Gongcha; Joomak Kitchen + Pub is their latest venture in the heart of the city centre. It’s a sleek, modern space with neon decor, rippling metallic walls, cute BE@RBRICK style statues and fun claw machines from @sheffentertainment.
Their menu is a combination of authentic traditional Korean dishes and popular street food, with an array of popular Korean alcohol beverages, soft drinks, cocktails, and of course mocktails, it truly has something for everyone! In November, we dined with our fellow foodies for an absolute feast.
We wanted the best of both worlds, so we tried a mix of Joomak’s street food and classic dishes:
Sausage and Tteokbokki* Skewer (*rice cakes)
Cheese Corndog
Korean Fried Chicken Fillets in Secret Korean Sauce with Fries
Korean Seaweed Rolls
Fried Squid Tentacles
Beef Bibimbap* (*Korean rice bowl with mixed vegetables, marinated
beef and a fried egg)
La Galbi* (*Barbecued beef short ribs)
Kimchi
To get the full anju experience, we were tempted to try the most iconic form of anju—chimaek, fried chicken and beer. Although we’re not big beer fans, Joomak offer soju bombs, which add shots of flavoured Jinro soju in beer, giving it extra sweetness that did sound nice. However, in the end we went with something we’d never tried before, Kooksoondang’s white grape flavoured makgeoli, and it was a revelation!
Makgeoli is a lightly sparkling rice wine drink, that’s milky in colour and texture
with a sweet, fruity flavour. It was so refreshing, and with it being a relatively
low alcohol drink (about 3%) we could keep washing the food down with it, without the risk of getting too tipsy.
We can honestly say we enjoyed every dish, although our favourite dishes were the La Galbi, Seaweed Rolls and Fried Squid Tentacles. In hindsight, we’d change the sauce we had with the KFC, we found the Korean Secret Sauce a little too sweet for our taste, but the La Galbi marinade more than made up for it, and we couldn’t stop using it as a dip for our fries. It was absolutely addictive and the beef was tender.
The Seaweed Rolls were a pretty unusual texture, they were crispy battered seaweed with chopped soft vermicelli inside, but they were absolutely packed with flavour. They came with a sweet chilli dip that they really didn’t need. And last of all the squid—we’re still thinking about it. The portion size was huge, it was fresh and crispy, exactly how you want fried squid tentacles to be.
Would we go back to Joomak? Absolutely, and next time we’d love to try one of their delicious soups and stews. The Galbitang* (*beef short rib and radish soup) looked hearty and warming, perfect for our current cold winter days. We’d also have the Beef Bibimbap again, because the crunchy vegetables and spicy rice (that’s both soft and crispy because of the scalding claypot) would go perfectly with broth soup.
Joomak is situated just off The Moor on Furnival Gate, between DaShu (another great Korean spot) and Als Gongcha. It’s open everyday from 12:00-21:00
For bookings visit:
32-34 Furnival Gate, City Centre, Sheffield, S1 4QP
0114 698 7110
Veggie and Vegan friendly
