A new Korean eatery is now fermenting in Oakland.
Chez Maeju opened in late September in the Rockridge District, at 6200 Claremont Ave., a triangle-shaped building that formerly held the modern Asian-American restaurant Oken. Its name is a combination of chez, French for “home,” and maeju, Korean for “dried and fermented soybeans,” with which the place works a lot.
“Made from soybeans, shaped by hand, and slowly transformed through time and air, maeju becomes the foundation for soy sauce, doenjang and gochujang — the essential flavors of the Korean table,” states the restaurant’s website. “The name Chez Maeju reflects that same respect for time, patience and tradition.”
The chef is Sujin Kim, a graduate of Le Cordon Bleu in San Francisco, who has also run the business Chez Maejoo making weekly Korean meal kits for delivery to Bay Area residents. The chef and the team make all the fermented sauces and condiments at Chez Maeju themselves, and age it in traditional onggi crocks, from doenjang (soybean paste) to ganjang (soy or seasoning sauce) to gochujang (a sweet/spicy red-chili paste).
Oh, and the kimchi is also scratch-made, and comes in less-than-usual varieties like olive, tomato and “fresh” with organic lettuce and chili vinaigrette.
Diners are offered a sampler of jangs to start their meal. The most-recent menu has three — a caramelized-apple gochujang, sesame-doenjang cream and perilla ssamjang – served with garden crudites. There are also crispy “snowflake dumplings” stuffed with shrimp and pork and sporting a lacy and crisp “skirt,” crispy baby-back ribs with two types of glazes and “lava-lime” chicken wings with a buttery and spicy sauce.
For larger dishes, there is your typical bibimbap rice bowl with seasonal vegetables and a choice of protein, and a fried egg and a mushroom japchae with glass noodles and three types of mushrooms. Ramen comes with beef brisket and seared veggies, and a hearty stew features house-fermented chili paste with silken tofu and various side dishes.
A grilled Pacific mackerel with gochujang glaze occupies a prominent place on the menu under “Seafood & Meat.” There are grilled short ribs marinated in Korean pear and bossam, that delectable slow-cooked pork belly served with lettuce wraps and radish kimchi. Other interesting entrees include hwe-muchim, raw seasonal fish with sesame leaves and spicy vinaigrette, and ganjang-gejang that pairs raw, soy-marinated crab with a fish-roe rice bowl.
For dessert, there are currently two treats: an ice-cream sundae with sweet red beans and yakgwa (a Korean honey cookie) and a chilled cinnamon-ginger punch served with walnut-filled persimmon rolls. There is also beer, sake, wine and Korean spirits, plus nonalcoholic options like fruit-infused sodas.
Details: Soft-opening hours are 5-9 p.m. Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays and 5-10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays (closed Tuesdays), 6200 Claremont Ave., Oakland; chezmaeju.com.
Dining and Cooking