FFDN: Joule

This FFDN was actually in January but I'm doing my best to get caught up on my blog posts. I had heard of Joule when I first moved to Seattle and was looking at the restaurants in my surrounding neighborhoods. They do Sunday BBQ's in the summer with a twist. I had always meant to go but it always somehow would get forgotten when it was time to think of a place to go for dinner. 

Brian was the one that suggested Joule for FFDN. He had read in the Seattle Times that the executive chef/owners of the restaurant were actually going to be contestants on the Food Network's show Iron Chef America.  We had gone to the viewing party the Sunday before and had a sneak peak to what their cooking was like. In case you missed that episode, chefs/husband and wife team Rachel Yang and Seif Chirchi lost to the newest Iron Chef, Jose Garces, by 1 point. They were robbed!! 

The menu is a fusion of French and Korean cuisine.  Joule's plates are mainly shared plates, which really is one of my favorite ways to dine. I don't like to be confined to just one dish. And most of the time there are so many different dishes on a menu that I want to try. Shared plates allow you to do this without having to order multiple entrees.

Left: duck breast, maple vinegar apple, daikon soubise

Right: fried whole mackerel, white kimchi, scallion salsa verde

Left: korean mochi, oxtail ragout, lacinato kale, soy cured egg

Right: kimchi chicken liver fried rice, sesame leaf, chili

I was extremely happy with the dishes we had ordered. I know some people that shy away from whole fish since the bones and head are still in tact. I personally don't have an issue with it and love a good fried whole fish. The most interesting dish was the korean mochi w/ oxtail ragout, and soy cured egg. When we were eating the dish we couldn't quite place one of the ingredients and seeing how we no longer had the menu we were at a loss. It was the mochi! For some reason I completely glazed over that part on the menu and only focused on the oxtail. To me, mochi is a delightful ice cream treat like we had a Nishino. But I guess mochi is really just a sticky rice cake which in the dessert form is just the outer shell encasing the ice cream. In the case of this dish it was just sliced and added to the dish for texture.

Have you ever been pleasantly surprised by an ingredient in your dish that you weren't quite expecting?