Overland has a fresh place to grab a quick, filling bite. J. Cho Korean Kitchen recently opened at 10094 Page, just a few doors down from its sibling shop, Sides of Seoul, at 10084 Page. The new spot is the longtime dream of husband-and-wife owners Jaeyeon and Youni Cho, and it gives them something their takeout-focused sibling shop could not: a sit-down room where they can watch guests enjoy the food.
The roughly 1,700-square-foot space, previously home to O! Wing Plus, was given a full refresh — new floors, a cozy grayish-blue dining room, and a cleaned-up kitchen — before the doors opened. There are 24 seats inside.
The menu centers on bunsik, the quick, satisfying street snacks popular with students and workers across South Korea. The star dessert is bingsu, made on a machine brought over from Korea: milk is frozen and shaved into snowflake-like ribbons, then topped with condensed milk. Five flavors are on offer in cup or bowl sizes — red bean, green tea, strawberry, blueberry, and cookies and cream. The classic red bean version comes with red bean paste, bean powder, and rice cakes, and Youni notes the dessert lands lighter and less sweet than regular ice cream.
Kimbop, the Korean seaweed rolls, follow the same recipes as Sides of Seoul, with fillings like vegetables (carrots, egg, burdock, and pickled radish), tuna, and sausage. Other crossover favorites include kimchi fried rice with Spam, beef sausage, or pork belly, and tteokbokki — rice cakes and fish cakes simmered in a sweet, spicy, savory sauce, made here with chewy cylinder-shaped garrae-tteok.
Ramyun, the spicy Korean noodle soup, gets a big section of the menu, including army ramyun loaded with Spam, sausage, kimchi, rice cake, and tofu. Youni repeats a saying from Korea: ramyun always tastes best when someone else cooks it for you. The menu also covers fried vegetable mandoo, uhmook tang (fish cake on a stick in homemade broth), and donkatsu, a fried pork cutlet with house-made katsu sauce, served as an appetizer or as a plate with white rice and pickled sweet yellow radish. Newer additions include kal-guksu, knife-cut noodles in a savory homemade broth with zucchini, onion, and carrots — a dish Youni says carries fond memories for her mother’s generation.
The family story runs deep. Sides of Seoul has served Korean food since 2018, led by Youni’s mother, Mimi Lee, who started cooking for her church before opening her own shop. Youni, her brother Terry Lee, and her husband Jaeyeon have run the family business together for years, shifting to carryout-only during the pandemic. That change meant Youni lost the face-to-face moments with guests — something the new dine-in room brings back. As she puts it, watching people eat and seeing their reactions is the most exciting part of having J. Cho.
Good to know before you go: J. Cho Korean Kitchen, 10094 Page, Overland, phone 314-279-1642. Hours are 11:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Monday through Wednesday, 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday, and 11:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
