Anju serves Korean tapas meant to go along with drinks. Similar concept to an Izakaya in Japanese cuisine. Korean fusion with a nice dash of urban vibe. The charming house that is home to this restaurant has changed hands over the years. When I last lived downtown, it was a coffee and tea house called Caffeine and Leaves. Tuesday night, early, we had no problem walking in without reservations. We sat upstairs in the lounge with a table facing the window. Cozy. Music was being piped in the other room, but it was not so loud that we couldn’t chat. It’s probably not like this most nights.
Onto the food. It was fantastic. The service was a little slow to start, but was good. I asked for a virgin cocktail based on a mojito. The bar put together something sweet, tasted like guava juice, infused with Thai basil. Lovely and a nice counterpoint to some of the spicy dishes we would have. I love their liberal use of gojujang, a red chili paste in their recipes. The base flavor was in many of the dishes we ordered, but tasted different enough for my liking. I loved the KFC, much better than Colonel Sander’s version. The fried anchovies were a nice trip back into childhood where Mom would serve fried dace with steamed rice and black beans. Except these are honey garlic. Mmmm. The salmon tacos were delish and I loved the gojujang sauce with the pulled pork tacos.
This place is popular. Reservations highly recommended.
