I was driving back from Greenville to Atlanta on Friday, which of course meant I’d be stopping in Duluth to eat. Duluth is so far from my place on the Westside, and my schedule has been so busy, I really don’t get up that way to eat much lately unless I happen to be passing through.
I’m a huge nerd, so I keep a Google Docs spreadsheet of all the places I want to try up that way, but on this occasion I just wanted to get take-out and I wasn’t sure what would be appropriate. So I went right to the source and texted Chow Down Atlanta. She came through, naturally.
It’s well known that I’m a complete idiot with directions, so it took a long time for me to find her recommendation, Dan Moo Ji, a Korean restaurant that I’ve been eager to try. Google will tell you it’s possible to make a left directly onto Steve Reynolds off of Pleasant Hill. I think you can cut through a shopping center directly off Pleasant Hill, but you’re better off making a left onto Old Norcross, then a left onto Steve Reynolds. The Nukoa shopping center is maybe half a mile on the left.
Anyways, I walked in what I thought was Dan Moo Ji, but turned out to be a different Korean restaurant to the left of Windmill bakery that didn’t have an English sign. Dan Moo Ji is to the right of Windmill. I was too embarrassed to walk out after ordering a drink so I ended up eating there. The dolsot bi bim bap wasn’t bad.
I still ordered my take-out from Dan Moo Ji though. I ordered ten wings and some kimchi fried rice and waited in the small, post-it note decorated restaurant, all the while trying to avert my eyes from the high school aged waitresses wearing skimpy, eccentric outfits. Everyone in there seemed to be sixteen. I haven’t felt that old and out of place since I visited an underground hipster bar in Columbia.
Even after a thirty minute drive, the food rocked. The wings were still crunchy and warm, the thick wing batter is flavorless, but the peppery wing sauce quickly remedied that. I saved the rest of the wing sauce. It’s worth saving.
The fried rice was also excellent. Tons of kimchi flavor, well distributed throughout. Crunchy and pleasantly oily.
Dan Moo Ji is a style of Korean restaurant that is new to me; young, cool, a genre-buster with a menu that begs to be explored.
I can’t pretend to know a bunch about this cuisine though. For more info read Chloe’s post that I linked above, or Jen’s Creative Loafing post.
