NYCReview
Included In
The first time Meju’s chef mentions natural fermentation, it feels a little like an infomercial. There you are, sitting at an eight-seat counter in a hidden room that looks like a fancy Star Wars cantina, and now some guy who was silently toasting seaweed for the past five minutes is talking healthy bacteria, promising you’ll leave feeling better than when you arrived.
We can’t speak to the health benefits of Meju, but we can tell you that by the time you finish your meal at this serene tasting-menu spot in Long Island City, you’ll have experienced something uniquely endearing, mildly educational, and so deeply delicious it’ll make all other food taste unseasoned.
photo credit: Alex Staniloff
photo credit: Alex Staniloff
photo credit: Alex Staniloff
Meju’s chef isn't new to the scene. His first two restaurants, the now-closed Hanjan and Danji, paved the way for the recent boom in NYC Korean dining, and his banchan shop in LIC is a great place to pick up some kimchi and potato salad. In the back of that shop, you’ll find this tiny restaurant with a marble counter surrounding an open kitchen under a huge, metallic chandelier. The servers speak in whispers, and the only offering is a $185 meal centered around the art of fermentation.
Dinner amounts to around seven courses, all of which involve fermented elements, often in the form of a sauce or condiment. Dishes progress from snack to roughly entree, but, no matter the size, everything makes an impression. First, you’ll get a little bowl of tofu topped with an earthy doenjang broth so opaque it’s almost ink. Next, you’ll eat a few slivers of uncommonly luxurious amberjack while the chef tells you about the epiphanies he’s experienced under the mentorship of an “ancient medicine man” based in Jeju. Around the ssam course, Etta James might come on the stereo, setting the proper mood for New York strip that dissolves in your mouth, and pork collar topped with preserved shrimp that’ll make you feel like you’re eating in HD.
photo credit: Alex Staniloff
photo credit: Alex Staniloff
photo credit: Alex Staniloff
photo credit: Alex Staniloff
The chef’s mentor ages his shrimp for 35 years, but Meju doesn’t have that kind of time. Here, it’s only seven years—and you can taste every one. At some point, you’ll also receive a dab of 128-year-old soy sauce on the back of your hand. Concentrated and yeasty, it's both sweeter and less salty than you’d expect.
Meju is a deeply nerdy place. But even when the chef goes on about his illuminati-esque mentor, or uses words like “culmination” and “ten years of training,” it never feels self-serious. If you’re a probiotics enthusiast, this restaurant is non-optional. You might even learn a thing or two. You do not, however, need an academic interest in fermented foods to comprehend how good they can taste.
Food Rundown
Tasting Menu
photo credit: Alex Staniloff
Doenjang + Tofu
photo credit: Alex Staniloff
Gochujang + Hwe
photo credit: Alex Staniloff
Gangjang + Jeon
Ssamjang + Beef
Jeotgal + Pork
photo credit: Alex Staniloff