Eat The Menu: Kim Envisions Korea

Hmmm, you might ponder, walking into Kim’s—restaurateur Ann Kim’s newest oeuvre: Wasn’t this place called Sooki & Mimi’s before I took a nap? And didn’t Kim specialize in offbeat pizza? (Sure thing, in her Lolo, Hello and Young Joni concepts.)

Correct. The familiar room itself represents, as a wise wordsmith once stated, “deja vu all over again.” And that’s not a bad thing. If it’s not broke, don’t fix it, to quote another poet. But switch out the menu and bring in a new concept if you like, and that’s what Ms. Kim has decided to do with her appealing Uptown space—as white, bright, cosmo and crowded with James Beard groupies as ever before. This round, Kim has chosen to return to the food of her roots, modified by an upbringing in Minnesota.

We began with the Snacks section ($8-17) of the menu, and you should, too. Bypassing the Korean fried chicken wings (big mistake, to be rectified next visit), we spied an order of Shin Ramyun fries at the next table and couldn’t resist (don’t even try). The slim, tender spuds gain heft and flavor from the beefy essence of the popular Shin Ramyun brand, served here with a “fancy sauce,” which is menu-ese for a pleasant jolt of sweet and heat.

Next, we were intrigued by the sound of the Bubbling Egg Souffle ($11), seasoned, so the promise states, with essence of seaweed and salted shrimp. In practice, it posed as a pot of overcooked scrambled eggs with little else going on. Two bites sufficed.

Better: the shrimp and vegetable pancake—a sturdy circlet flecked with tendrils of scallions, carrot, potato, and soy-pickled jalapenos and onions: a tasty way to start the meal.

Among the list of Plates & Bowls ($15-27), we zeroed in on what I learned to love while traveling in Korea a few years past, the national dish called Bibimbap. It’s a bounteous meal in a dish, based upon a bed of rice. The pearly grains come generously covered with sweet, tender leaves of beef surrounded by mounds of spinach, cucumber, bean sprouts, zucchini, cabbage, seaweed and such. It’s centered by a shimmering, sunny egg and accompanied by chojang—a sauce fired by chili peppers sweetened with sugar, then sparked with vinegar. The bibimbap list also salutes a cured salmon rice bowl and one starring fire chicken, blazing with red chili sauce, serrano, scallions, mozzarella(?) and rice cakes.

Next, an order of bulgogi (choose the pork version with sweet red peppers or the tasty beef rendition, for which we opted ($25), calling on husky mustard greens, onion and scallion, to contrast with thin, tender leaves of barbecued beef. Next time, the Peterson Farms short ribs version, $34. Kimchee, of course, is on hand to accent whatever you may fancy—choose cabbage, radish or a trio of zucchini, bean sprouts and cukes ($10).

Yes, Virginia, there is a dessert list ($12)—a tiramisu starring the usual suspects, plus a shot of misugaru, made from nutty roasted grains, plus a straight-up carrot cake. Or go for Amaro in several sippable versions, or what Kim touts as Not An Espresso Martini, which is calling my name.

Kim’s does not take reservations nor accept names on a call-in list, which makes life easier for a restaurant owner but harder for her patrons. Yet on a busy Saturday night, we were ushered ASAP to a pleasant table, then ably aided by our server, on hand to decipher the many terms on the menu you’ll need to have explained.

Take a peek at the glam mural on the alley side of the building as you enter, and consider an after-dinner drink (and/or snacks) in the below-stairs Bronto Bar. Something for everyone!

Kim’s
1432 W. 31st St., Minneapolis
(612) 540-2554
www.Kimsmpls.com