Unlimited beef in multiple cuts seems to be the Americanized ideal of Korean food. That's evident from the popularity of Korean BBQ places at which an all-you-can-eat price allows as much tabletop grilling as customers can handle. What sometimes gets lost in the popularity of KBBQ is that Korea is a peninsula with a coastline of over 5,000 miles protruding into the seas that surround it. Those waters are home to an abundance of marine life, and Zu & Pocha in Tempe is one of the few local restaurants to emphasize the seafood side of Korean cuisine.
pollack pasta
Zu & Pocha is located along Apache Boulevard, one block west of the Apache/Dorsey station for both light rail and the Tempe Streetcar. A bike rack is found right outside the entrance and adjacent to a shaded patio for outdoor dining. Most seating, however, is found inside the stylish dining room. The decor reinforces the notion, also evidence from Cocina Chiwas a mile to the east, that Apache is becoming more of an upscale dining destination while managing so far to retain the diverse array of international influences for which the corridor has long been known.
yaki mandu
The dining room is framed by a bar on one side and a counter full of raw seafood on the other. A trellis anchored to the ceiling support a canopy of plants overhead while natural wood and marble dominate the furnishing. It's a sleek, contemporary atmosphere that suggests a modern approach to Korean cuisine with selected influences from Japan and Europe. The raw bar is accentuated because Zu & Pocha always offers a seasonal selection of oysters on the half shell. These are discounted Monday and Tuesday as the restaurant kicks off another week.
nigiri flight
The raw bar is also responsible for a full menu of sushi and sashimi with familiar species such
as toro, salmon, tuna, and yellowtail offered as nigiri, either a la carte or in a flight selected by the chef. A lobster tempura roll takes a light touch with both the breading and the crab mix inside the roll, allowing the meat on top to shine. Listed above the rolls on the menu are a series of even more substantial raw bar items, including ceviche, poke, tiradito, and carpaccio. QR codes on the menu lead to details of the chef's omakase, as well as the oyster selection.
Brussels sprouts
Cooked appetizers include straightforward items like edamame, miso soup, and yaki mandu, crisp dumplings filled with ground chicken and accompanied by a spicy ponzu sauce. Kimchi fried rice is flavorful throughout with bursts of tang from pickled cabbage and the soothing presence of a fried egg on top. Brussels sprouts roasted with carrots, sesame, and gochujang turn out a little sweeter than expected but are still a satisfying vegetable dish. Shrimp and vegetable tempura continue the Japanese influences while butter corn is contemporary Korean.
lobster tempura roll
The restaurant's signature entree is its pollack pasta. Dark noodles colored with squid ink swim in a pool of creamy, briny sauce flavored with fish roe, mushrooms, scallions, and shredded parmesan. It's a big bowl full of umami-rich Korean pasta, a growing genre of noodle dishes that blend European and Asian influences. A more traditional noodle-based dish is bulgogi teokbokki, one of several non-seafood dishes, which features tender grilled beef with cylindrical rice cakes and some japchae sweet potato noodles, along with sesame and scallions.
kimchi fried rice
Another classic Korean favorite, one that returns to the aquatic theme, is jjampong, a spicy seafood stew that contains shrimp, scallops, mussels, and clams in a dark, bubbly broth. A side of steamed rice can be added to the pot as needed to add substance and cool things off, both in terms of temperature and spice level. Pickled daikon radish and kimchi, on the other hand, add a level of hot and sour notes. A ribeye steak is served with potatoes and mushrooms while spicy fried chicken is a hearty serving of poultry with condiments of gochujang, salt, and pepper.
bulgogi tteokbokki
The ramen served at Zu & Pocha involves bossam, pork belly cooked with cabbage, and that ingredient is also the centerpiece of a bossam board, which is sort of a Korean version of charcuterie. Along with many of the small plates and some of the sushi, it's part of a happy hour menu that extends all day on Sundays. Happy hour pricing also features discounts on draft beer, wine, soju, and some of the restaurant's original cocktails. The "Yujarita" cocktail is similar to a margarita in its use of mezcal. Tart yuzu adds an acidic note to the distinctive drink.
boricha creme brulee
Bingtanbok is fruity but also botanical. It blends bokbunja, a Korean raspberry wine, sparkling water, and crystalized basil. It lands halfway between a wine spritzer and a gin and tonic in terms of its flavor profile. Zu and Pocha offers two dessert, both of which are additional instances of adapting Korean ingredients to Western confections. Creme brûlée has a nuttiness from boricha, or barley tea, and a layer of pineapple hiding at the bottom. Goguma toffee cake incorporates Korean sweet potato into its airy texture with a bit of ice cream and berries on top.
Yujarita
The menu at Zu & Pocha changes periodically with selected dishes rotated in and out. Nevertheless, the theme of Korean seafood meeting with cross-cultural combinations of ingredients and techniques from Europe and Japan has endured since the restaurant's opening. There is abundant Korean food found a few miles away where Apache Boulevard becomes Main Street in the Mesa Asian District, but with its full service approach, stylish decor, and fusion food and drinks, Zu & Pocha adds something new not previously found in Tempe.
1212 E. Apache Blvd., Tempe AZ 85281
https://www.zuandpocha.com
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