If the name SooWoo sounds familiar to you, it's likely you've visited or heard about the Korean/Japanese restaurant's former location in Doral. But come the end of October, a revamped, sleeker SooWoo will open on Washington Ave. in South Beach.
Along with Korean dishes like bulgogi (thinly sliced marinated rib eye steak) and bibimbop (vegetables mixed with fried egg, beef and rice), a selection of Japanese dishes, including sushi will be offered. SooWoo will also have teppanyaki tables -- you know, the ones where chef's prepare Japanese food in front of you on an iron griddle.
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Short Order spoke with the eatery's owner Bok H. An, a Seoul-born chef trained by his mother, and he informed us the teppanyaki experience will be entirely different from what we're used to. However, he comforted us by saying the teppanyaki chefs will most definitely entertain the customers, though he wouldn't go into greater detail until the grand unveiling. So there's still hope for fans of flying shrimp.
Bok calls this a "new era for SooWoo" and says he hopes to make his venture "one of the most original Japanese and Korean restaurant combination restaurants in the USA, not just in Miami." The menu has received a huge makeover and items such as live Uni (sea urchin), Korean fried chicken and Chinese buns have been added. Bok himself is most excited about the truffle infused uni fried rice which will be served on a limited basis depending on the availability of uni.
Another distinguishing characteristic of SooWoo will be a late night noodle menu from 11:00 p.m. to 2 a.m. To promote the menu, the restaurant has launched a #suckitup campaign on Instagram encouraging folks to post images showcasing how they like to slurp their noodles. There will also in all likelihood be some karaoke to go along with the after hours eating according to SooWoo's publicist.
The 200 seat restaurant plus sushi counter was envisioned by award winning designer, Callin Fortis of Big Time Design Studios. Fortis drew upon the Shinden style of traditional Japanese displayed in Kyoto architecture for his inspiration.
SooWoo will be open for lunch, dinner, brunch and late night dining. Given the success of Drunken Dragon, a Korean restaurant in SoBe that opened this past summer, we're curious to see how SooWoo 2.0 fares.
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