Joodooboo is Oakland’s most exciting Korean restaurant

Banchan, Korean side dishes, can enhance a meal but are rarely the focus. At his Oakland restaurant Joodooboo, where banchan takes center stage, chef Steve Joo cooks with similar subtlety. His style is unostentatious and rarely draws attention.

Still, Joo’s casual self-service restaurant and banchan shop has become the most exciting place in Oakland to experience Korean cuisine, with a focus on its often overshadowed, softer side.

It wasn’t always this way. At first, Joodooboo seemed less like a restaurant and more like a market, with limited food options and only a handful of seats. But today, Joodooboo is a happy place that seems genuinely interested in integrating itself into the community.

The menu has expanded from fresh tofu and banchan—as well as kimchi and marinated fish or seasoned vegetables—to include large portions. Although you could always enjoy your banchan there, the shop now has more seating options, including tables inside, two bar areas (one overlooking the kitchen and one facing the street), and a few tables on the sidewalk. The most obvious sign of Joodooboo’s progress, however, is its expanded hours, which have been expanded from four to five days a week for lunch, both dinner and lunch.

Opened in 2022, Joodooboo is the backbone of the namesake dooboo, freshly made tofu (side for $3; 12 ounces for $9). It’s exquisite and shows a true level of craftsmanship; it has a hint of sweetness, a fluffy but not quite silky texture, with wobbly but compact curds. It’s miles superior to any store-bought variety—and made even better by a Meyer lemon soy sauce with scallions ($2).

If all calendars suddenly fail us, you can easily track the seasons by looking at Joo’s banchan. In summer, the restaurant uses tomatoes heavily; winter months might be marked by braised kabocha squash; spring might feature herbed snow peas with artichokes; and fall is devoted to persimmon kimchi and chestnut sweet potatoes with a chile seed salsa. You can try these banchan individually in packs (four for $13), in larger 6-ounce portions ($9), or in the vegetable-focused Farmer’s Bowl ($18), a rice bowl adorned with salads and seasonal banchan.

Among the first offerings was the acorn noodles ($18), a cold noodle dish with plenty of umami, consisting of a savory egg (cooked for 8 minutes, no more, no less), fresh pickled mushrooms, and a zingy nori vinaigrette. It’s an affordable but surprisingly tasty lunch option.

Then, over the course of two years, Joodooboo gradually introduced additional dining options.

A standout offering is the popular deep-fried dooboo set ($20), an artful selection of banchan that plays a supporting role to crispy tofu. Each small plate is so neatly arranged that director Wes Anderson would be jealous. Rice flour and potato starch give the tofu a crispy, chewy coating, and Joo’s signature lemon soy sauce adds dramatic flavor.

The specials kept coming. Earlier this year, I tried the wonderful Fish Broil ($15), flaky local cod drenched in a “spicy sauce” of white wine, olive oil and garlic-chili sauce—a variation on Italy’s Acqua Pazza, inspired by Joo’s time at Italian restaurant Terra in Napa. Recently, the restaurant introduced a Fish Fry ($15), which features the same sauce as the broil, just with more emphasis on texture.

Not long ago, the restaurant took things to a new level with the melt-in-your-mouth Albacore Tuna Ssam ($28), a platter of grilled tuna with all the necessary ingredients for wraps like perilla leaves, chrysanthemum petals, ssamjang, and crispy fried pumpkin flowers. Every bite was to die for. For optimal flavor, start your wraps with perilla leaves to better bring out the licorice flavor.

The good news is that some specialties like Fish Broil and Fish Fry are usually available, partly due to the abundance of Rockfish. Other specialties like Ssam unfortunately have a limited lifespan. At Joodooboo, the seasons are the law, so you may not find the dish you’re hoping for. Think of it as an opportunity to try something new.

Wine and beer are available, but I’m loyal to the seasonal spritzers. Flavors include tangy watermelon, strawberry with wild garlic, and salty cucumber. The syrups are made in collaboration with Alex Phillips, who trades his syrup-making services for goods from the store.

That’s Jodooboo’s secret power, in my opinion: a lively spirit of collaboration and community. It’s not unlike the inherent communal aspects of banchan, a staple of a Korean table where everything is shared. Joo sources his ingredients from various farmers’ markets, but friends also gift him ingredients, from small donations like herbs and stone fruit to key ingredients like the perilla leaves in the ssam (a gift from Kristyn Leach of her farm, Gohyang Fields). One day, you might stop by for a summer barbecue, where smoky galbi ($28) is grilled on the sidewalk. Or you might happen upon a Garnacha day, when employee Carlos Santiago showcases dishes from his Guatemalan heritage. There’s always something exciting going on at the shop.

Time has been Joodooboo’s greatest asset and it has been a joy to watch it grow into a full-fledged restaurant, from a newbie to a street festival venue.

4201 Market St., Oakland. joodooboo.co or 510-500-1001

Hours: 12:00–15:00 and 16:30–20:00, Tuesday–Saturday.

Accessibility: Everything on one floor. Wheelchair accessible tables. Outdoor seating.

Noise level: Quiet to mild.

Meal for two, without drinks: $40 to $60

What you should order: Fried fish ($15), grilled fish ($15), albacore tuna ssam ($28).

Meatless alternatives: Acorn noodles ($18), farmer’s bowl ($18), fried dooboo set ($20).

Transport: Parking on the street. Close to bus lines 57, 88 and F.

Proven methods: Order the noodle or tofu set and a seasonal spritz. Don’t forget to pick up some tofu and the matching sauce.

Reach Cesar Hernandez: [email protected]; Twitter: @cesarischafa