Charm Juk

We found this spot through Mike Chan. Korean juk is basically the same thing as Chinese congee. It is a hearty bowl of rice porridge with meat and various Korean side dishes that you can add into your juk to add texture and flavor to it. We ordered the abalone juk and the deluxe seafood juk. Both juks were huge. It can be shared if you want to try different juks. You can split it into roughly 3 medium bowls or 2 large bowls. The bowls being the ones they gave on the side. The sides were sliced mushrooms, bean sprouts and kimchi. The sides gave the juk more texture. It makes a heart meal.

SO MUCH MORE THAN RICE PORRIDGE! I've never had the Korean version of rice porridge before but when I ate at Charm Juk, I felt the warmth of a hug to my heart. Seriously. I'm not being dramatic. It was a comfort food I didn't know I needed. I went there with the s/o one morning, we were trying to go somewhere else in the same plaza, but they were closed. THANK GOD THEY WERE! We were just sitting in the parking lot scrolling through Google map and looking at restaurants around us that were open. Neither of us have ever tried Korean rice porridge, so we were intrigued. The space is small, but cozy with a few tables. Service was great. Waitress gave us a few recommendations, and when the food came out, she explained how to best enjoy the juk and the banchan. (OMG, I might even say I liked the banchan more than the porridge... I wanted to buy a jar of it. But I'm digressing..) We got the seafood kimchi juk and the beef juk. I liked that the menu categorizes the juk based on health, etc. The portions were huge. One order can definitely need 2-3 people. We wanted to try at least two kinds. We had a ton of leftovers for the week. It was even better as leftovers to be honest. The next time it's chilly outside or if you're just having a hangover and you don't feel like waiting at a pho place, go here. It'll make your heart, soul, and head feel better. It's an absolute gem.

Being relatively new to Korean cuisine, this was mine and my daughter's first time trying juk. After our two day winter weather, I wanted soup and this sounded like a wonderful option. The food at Charm Juk was yummy and the service excellent. We had fried dumplings, chicken juk, and beef hot pot rice. The serving sizes were perfect. Since this was our first time to try juk, I did ask our waitress for her recommendations. She suggested chicken or beef and described the chicken juk as being similar to American chicken noodle soup. I agree with her description (chicken and wild rice soup would also be a good comparison), but would add that it has a deeper flavor, which is most likely due to the broth. It tasted like fresh, homemade stock. Our waitress also explained the sides and gave advice for seasoning the beef rice. In addition to the food we ate at the restaurant, I placed a to go order for shiitake mushroom and shrimp juk to bring home for my husband. However, we wanted to shop at H Mart first. Our waitress kindly accommodated our request to pick the order up later and it ready exactly on time. The to go order was hot when we picked it up and my husband very much enjoyed his meal. It was a great experience and we look forward to visiting again.