Elim Bakery & Juice

Hungry for some Korean food, and not wanting to drive too far, I decided on going to Elim Bakery & Juice.  In my opinion, the name of the shop is a bit of a misnomer.  For the most part, in all the years that I've been coming here, I don't recall seeing any bakery items on the menu or inside the shop, and there have only been a limited amount of juices on the menu.  Nevertheless, I think that Elim does serve some pretty good homestyle Korean food.

(Sorry for the bad picture.)

On my way there, I got a call from a friend who asked where I was headed.  When I mentioned Elim, he asked to join me for dinner.  Why not?  I enjoy company during dinner, that way I can have a variety of dishes to eat.

When I got there, I saw only 2 small tables available in the corner of the shop.  Since this is only a small shop, it can get crowded quickly and for some reason, this place is quite popular.

Since there were two of us eating, I decided to start with the fried combo (US$6.95).

This was a plate of deep-fried goodies - squid rings, shrimp and sweet potato.  When the plate arrived, it looked like Japanese-style tempura.  The batter was light and crisp, but just a little oily.  Apart from the slight oiliness, I would say that this was a little better than average.  I only wished that they wouldn't have rushed this out of the kitchen and that they would have drained this better.

Along with the fried combo, we were served pickled daikon radish...

and won bok (Chinese cabbage) kim chee...

For dinner, I ordered the jaeyook dup bap (US$6.95).

Marinated slices of belly pork were cooked with round onions, green onions, zucchini, and cabbage in a ko chu jang-based (hot bean paste) spicy sauce then topped with some white sesame seeds.  The flavor was both sweet and spicy at the same time.  This wasn't as spicy as I would have liked though, and the pork was a little too fatty for me.  I should have gone with my gut feeling and ordered the ojinga dup bap (squid).

Having never been here before, my friend didn't listen to my advice and decided to play it safe (when in doubt, order something in English right?).  This is the beef katsu (US$6.95) that was ordered.

In my opinion, this looked just like a nice beef cutlet.  It was served with some shredded cabbage and corn on the side.

Although I was a bit disappointed with the dish that I ordered tonight, I have had other dishes on the menu, such as the choll pokee, the duk pokee and the sesame leaves and dough flakes soup, all of which were very good.  If it hadn't been so cold, I probably would have opted for the soy milk & noodle soup, which I was told was quite delicious. 

Having tried quite a number of dishes on the menu, I can wholeheartedly recommend Elim Bakery & Juice to friends looking for some good home-style Korean food.

Elim Bakery & Juice
Sam Sung Plaza
655 Keeaumoku Street Suite 104
Telephone:  808.955.3546

Comments

[obachan]

Gee! That’s a lot of takuan slices they serve there! :D The jaeyook dup bap looks so tempting. Must be so nice with soy milk and noodle soup….

[Mrs T]

The fried combo does look like Japanese Style Tempura .. :) I love pickled radish..!! which make me think more japanese again.. :) As usual..i am no fan of pork.. so cannot envy you .. heheh!! i would love the beef katsu though.. :) And yer know wat.. ??!!!??? I used to attend a church back in singapore.. by the name of Elim Church .. when i was a kid.. hehhe!! ;)

[Julia]

The fried combo had me drooling! That's because I've a weakness for deep-fried, battered food, and that plate of goodies looks so crispy and delicious. Pity your friend ordered such an un-inspiring, un-Korean dish. I thought the spicy pork looked yummy, until you said it was too fatty.

[mariko]

Your site always makes me SOOOOOOO hungry. I want to go to Hawaii just so I can EAT.

[milgwimper]

Oh that looks so good! I'm dying to eat korean food, hmm maybe I cna get my husband toi take me out. I love pork, but my husband does not like it if its too fatty...*drool*.

[fish fish]

Geee... seem like this shop more like a Korean & Japanese foods place. Did u ask the owner why name it Bakery & Juice?

[Clinton]

Reid,

The beef katsu looks like the meat jun they serve at Kim Chee II. I'm still kind of biased when it comes to Korean food and think KC II is probably the best in Honolulu. I've had excellent Korean food served here in LA and then could go on and on...but I'm drooling too much. Keep up the good work!

[Reid]

Hi obachan,

Nice to hear from you! Yes, there were quite a lot of takuan slices. These were good because they weren't too sweet. The jaeyook dup bap was nice, although the pork was too fatty for me. =(

Hi MrsT,

The tempura was great as was the takuan. This wasn't Korean, it was more Japanese if you ask me. =) I'm not too big a fan of pork, but for some reason, I felt like eating it last night. Too bad it was so fatty.

Hi Julia,

The jaeyook dup bap was actually very appetizing when it first arrived at the table. I had no idea that it was fat until I had already eaten about 3 or 4 pieces of meat. My friend pointed out that each piece was half fat. =( If I wasn't told, I could have probably eaten the entire plate. On the other hand, the fried stuff was great...light and crisp!

Hi mariko,

Long time no hear! Thanks for the compliment. You should come to Hawaii. There's a lot of food just waiting to be eaten. =)

Hi milgwimger,

The food here is actually quite good. Like you said, too bad the pork was so fatty.

Hi fish fish,

This is actually a Korean restaurant so I don't know why the name is "bakery and juice". The next time I'm there, I'll ask the owner. They also have another shop located around the corner, it's called Elim II.

Hi Clinton,

To tell you the truth, the beef katsu was actually very different from meat jun. This dish had like a panko crust on the outside and seems to be deep-fried whereas meat jun is dipped in egg before being pan-fried.

[Julie]

Your pictures make me drool. By the way if you like Mandoo Soup, Elim's is very good.

[Reid]

Hi Julie,

Thank you for dropping by my blog. I've had the mandoo soup at Elim a while ago and have to agree that it was quite good. I also like their steamed mandoo a lot. =)

Thanks for the tips. Hope to hear from you again!

[brandon]

you should try the udon bokum it is duk buki with udon noodles mixed in IMO its the best dish they serve