What’s on the menu at Seoul Shakers, Leemo Han’s new Korean–South American snack bar in Bloordale
By Renée Suen| Photography by Renée Suen
| November 1, 2018
Name: Seoul Shakers
Contact: 1241 Bloor St. W., no phone, @seoulshakersclub Neighbourhood: Bloordale
Previously: Holy Oak Cafe
Owners: Leemo Han (Juanmoto, Pinky’s Ca Phe, Hanmoto) and Ihn Huh (Pinky’s Ca Phe)
Chefs: Executive chef Leemo Han and chef de cuisine Jason Poon (Beast Restaurant)
The food
A menu of Korean mash-ups with some South American influence. Expect things like kalbi empanadas, dressed with pico de gallo, aji sauce and black mint; tempura salt cod; and parrilla-grilled beef ribs served with potatoes and shishito peppers in a gochujang-tomato sauce. “I always wanted to come back to Korean after Oddseoul,” says Han. “This is my take on it, but for 2018.”
Tempura salt cod sits on a pool of aji and tartar sauces. $10.
Mongo squid yukkae tops beef tartare with sliced mongo squid sashimi, matchsticks of Korean pear and egg yolk. It’s served with sheets of seaweed. $15.
Eggplant kangpungi tosses fried eggplant in a spicy sweet soy glaze with bell peppers, scallions and chili oil. $10.
The kimchi-pear wedge salad tops a thick slice of iceberg lettuce doused in ginger-onion dressing with fermented Korean pear, stilton, roasted brown rice, pickled chilies and shredded radish. $10.
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The roast kimchi chopped-cheese sandwich stuffs Martins potato rolls with a chopped ground beef patty, roasted kimchi, pickles, special sauce, lettuce, onions and cheese. It comes as Biggie ($15, shown here) or Smalls ($8).
And from above.
The steak and potatoes dish features a parrilla-grilled beef rib, potatoes with a gochujang-tomato sauce, shishito peppers and saamjang sauce. $32.
The SS Trompo tacos are made with gochujang-marinated pork neck that’s roasted on this vertical spit.
Chef de cuisine Jason Poon.
The drinks
A short list of easy-drinking beers, an equally short selection of wine and and a few large-format brut ciders. The draw here are Huh’s specialty cocktails and the house makgeolli (a Korean sparkling rice wine).
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The booze supply.
The Belmont Rouge is made with Dillon’s Cassis, Campari, pisco, lemon and grapefruit juices and egg white. $14.
The Fino Berry is made with gin, Tio Pepe, lemon juice, blackberry shrub and cucumber bitters. $13.
The Mak Shake is a riff on the bourbon sour and made with bourbon, lime juice, orgeat, cinnamon and egg white. It’s topped off with Korean rice wine and garnished with a maraschino cherry. $14.
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The space
No stranger to creating unique spaces, Han gutted the room and clad it in a whole lotta wood and custom arches. He outfitted the front room with a bar salvaged from a now-closed Hamilton establishment. Han, who loves collecting antiques, wanted to make the space look dated “like an old man’s, bar or an uncle’s man cave but with a cantina vibe.” Nailed it.
Quite the patina on that mirror.
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A banquette near the entrance sits under a curtain of beads that Han sourced from Montreal’s Chinatown, then custom-cut and tied.
This is a working jukebox. Han looked high and low for eight years for one just like it.
Here’s a closer look. (Not close enough to see any of the selections, unfortunately.)
