You may have heard of dishes being described as “like a hug,” especially as we turn to comfort foods in the colder seasons, which brings me to the following question: why aren’t more verbs explored in the same context? A caress, a clasp, a cuddle... Anyhow, if one were to apply the above to the Domi Bibimbap at Genesis Restaurant, a Korean
ajumma’s all-encompassing embrace seems most fitting.
Steam rises from the heavy stone bowl containing the domi or snapper, and the accompanying salmon roe pop in our mouths most delightfully. We are advised to mix everything up with the seaweed rice cooked in a stock made of the same snapper’s bones. After all, the wise don’t like to waste.
Part of the ‘Ingenuity Set’ (588 RMB) at Genesis Restaurant, the above dish is just one of many that toes the line between comfortingly familiar and charmingly refreshing.
The Squid Sundae (pronounced “soon day” and not “Sunday”) is another: sausage casings are swapped for whole squids in this ancient dish, which transforms by region. Genesis Restaurant’s is served with a Jackson Pollock-esque splatter of different sundae sauces which, in Korea, is never done.
Genesis Restaurant opened with great aplomb in November 2021, and why not, with South Korean tastemaker and culinary wunderkind Tom Ryu on their side? The chef, who practically enjoys K-pop star status in Shanghai, has had a hand in Genesis Restaurant’s à la carte dishes and individual set menus (including the ‘Ingenuity Set’) since day one.
Most recently, however, Ryu helped Genesis rolled out their very first set menu designed for sharing. There is something cosy about congregating in cold weather, and the ‘Hanshang Set’ (788 RMB) feeds into our human need for warmth and connection.
Contrary to the ‘Ingenuity Set,’ where six dishes are served in succession (a format inspired by French haute cuisine), the ‘Hanshang Set’ sees a total of seven dishes emerging from the kitchen all at once, much in the style of everyday family meals in both Korea and China.
Less ‘everyday,’ however, are the types of dishes that make up the menu — I defy you to find a South Korean family that serves Kimchi Tomato Mozzarella Salad alongside Mushroom Japchae. The latter tastes like a textbook example of Korean glass noodles — except it’s tossed with multiple types of amazing mushrooms from Yunnan. Meanwhile, creaminess softens the spiciness in the former and offers a great example for eateries worldwide on how to create an exquisite salad.
Providing all the grilled goodness of Korean barbecue minus the mess, the Gochujang Beef Samgyeop is one of the most moreish dishes in the ‘Hanshang Set.’ Although ‘samgyeop-sal’ — which literally translates to ‘three-layers’ — usually alludes to fatty pork belly, bovine pleasures take the place of the porcine in this ‘DIY’ dish; load up the accompanying lettuce leaves with the fatty beef and tuck in. If it’s pork you’re after, however, there’s plenty of that in the Samgyeopsal Fried Rice, which has the kiss of kimchi and spices.
Both these dishes and the Jeju Mackerel, which is so fresh it might as well have been caught by a Korean mermaid or haenyeo this morning itself, aren’t available on the à la carte menu — all the more reason to rope a family member, friend or a date into sharing said menu with you.
At risk of sounding like an alky, the drinks at Genesis are what got my heart racing in my first few minutes of scanning the menu. Besides serving a balanced mix of new creations and twists on classics, such as the Gim Gui Martini containing seaweed-infused soju, Genesis offers a Bespoke Highball Programme (88 RMB per glass or 188 RMB for a two-hour free flow) that I’ll be suggesting to the girls for our next night out.
While highballs are largely associated with whisky, which isn’t my favourite, Genesis also offers soju-based highballs, and infuses some of their sojus with fun flavours, to boot. It’ll take repeat visits to try each and every house-infused soju — from roasted rice tea to shisho leaf and seaweed — on the playful programme. Plus, different soda choices, including some by PAO, a proudly Chinese soda brand, make for over 100 flavour combinations.
One of the restaurant’s initial talking points was the fact that it’s located above the Genesis car display on Huaihai Middle Road, but this fact barely registers at all during my meal. Up here on the second floor, surrounded by German artist Martin Roth’s analog music and a pleasing mix of concrete, cooper and wood elements, one might as well be in a penthouse in Gangnam-gu, Seoul.
Some, like myself, might argue that South Korean food is finally enjoying its share of the limelight in the tapestry of global gastronomy. Others, like Jojo Lau, general manager of Genesis Restaurant, believe that it’s still early days, especially since contemporary South Korean cuisine specialists are few and far between. But this fact only makes Genesis Restaurant all the more unique.
So put your pedal to the metal and place your reservations for the restaurant to experience a slew of dishes and drinks that have been made with love and ‘Seoul.’
By Sammi Sowerby
