Charm Juk

Last week I had dinner with 2 of my friends. I suggested Charm Juk by H-Mart in Carrollton. I was supposed to go there a few weeks ago, but plans got cancelled. I only recently came across this place. I didn't even know it existed! 

Charm Juk 
2625 Old Denton Rd. 
Carrollton, TX 75007 
(972) 245-6288 
http://charmjuk.com/ 
Price: $$ 

They feature juk (pronounced jook), which is Korean rice porridge. I never really stopped and thought that Koreans had their own style of porridge. Growing up with Chinese congee has blinded me I guess. haha. But the healthiness of their dishes definitely caught my eye. From their website, they state that the porridge is made with milled rice that contains highly nutritious rice germ. Also they use fresh ingredients and no msg. I try to eat healthy on the weekdays so this seemed like a great choice. Plus all the pictures on the website looked tasty. hehe. 

From all the pictures and reviews I knew that the portions were quite large so between the 3 of us, we ordered 2 savory juk and 1 sweet to share. No kidding on the size! Each bowl is huge! And the savory ones come with ban chan (Korean side dishes). And yes, you can ask for refill on those. :) 

Beef Juk $7.99~ 

From most of the reviews I read, people claimed this was bland and not that good. But none of us found it bland. It was light but definitely still had flavor. I think the point of it WAS to be light. We all liked it. Although, you know me, I had to mix some of the spicy side dish into it. hehe. 

Spicy Octopus Juk $9.99~ 

I wanted to try this. The flavor was much bolder than the beef one, so I guess if you try both, you'd think the beef was bland. I actually liked how the 2 flavors contrasted each other. It wasn't very spicy (for those of you that can't handle spice). I wish there was more octopus. It was cut in very small pieces so I didn't get very much of it. I did like the addition of the bean sprouts though. I liked it a lot. 

Black Sesame Juk $8.99~ 

I loveeeee black sesame, so of course I had to try this. They also had a pumpkin one which caused a dilemma for me. But this just means I'll have to go back and try that one another time. haha. The sweet juk is just as big as the savory ones. The consistency is a little gummy, my friend says it's probably because they mixed rice into it? But it still had good sesame flavor. I just wanted more of that sesame grainy texture. Yummy. I had 2 small bowls of it. We even had leftovers to take home! 

One concern going in was that the prices seemed a bit steep. Which it kinda is... $10+ for porridge? But knowing that they use fresh ingredients and give you a huge portion, it's not that bad. Our waitress was a young Korean girl... I swear she's a teenager. Looked super young. Anyhoo... she was very nice and accommodating. Gave us very good service. :) 

I'll definitely be back in the future. I've got tons more to try!! Oh.. and they have bibimbap (hot stone rice) there too if you aren't in the mood for porridge. 

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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~