We just want to start by saying how grateful we are that so many restaurants in the Twin Cities have recently announced brunch menus for the summer, including Blondette, Petite Leon, Mito, and of course Young Joni. There’s nothing better than a boozy brunch and some greasy food after the nights out we’re planning to have. You may already be familiar with Chef Ann Kim’s popular northeast restaurant, best known for their pizzas, but we’re not here to talk about pizza. As of May 27th, they have entered a new era with their brunch menu, and of course we had to try it out as soon as possible, and it did not disappoint.

This might be a record holder for how quickly we got on the same page for what to order. If you have ever witnessed us deciding on our order at a restaurant, you’re probably aware of how ridiculous our methods are and how long it will take. This took one read through and we immediately knew, so lets get into it.

First item on the roster was the Juk, and if you know how we order, there was never a chance we wouldn’t order this. There are a few items that if we ever see listed in the description guarantee that we will order it, and those include soft eggs, fried garlic, and chili crisp. Off the bat, this dish looked amazing and was steaming hot. After our first bite, Amy said that “this is the best decision we’ve made in awhile”, and she couldn’t be more right. This item is an absolute must-order if you go here. I personally struggle with spice, but the pain was so worth it. Luckily our next dish gave us (mainly me) a much-needed break from the spice.

We love rhubarb, so ordering the Dutch Baby came as no surprise. It came piping hot, and how adorable is this dish in that mini cast iron pan!? This was perfectly sweet and balanced and a great break. Our one regret is not eating it faster. We had about three quarters of this dish before taking a break for our next one, and that was a mistake. The dutch part of this baby turned a bit chewy and spongy after sitting out for maybe half an hour, so this is not something you’d want to take home as leftovers. (On the other hand, the Juk held up very well in our fridge!) But with something as sweet and delicious like this, I’m not sure how it could ever make it to being a leftover.

For our final dish, we ordered the Sakura Pork Belly because we simply are obsessed with pork belly. This was really quite simple; it came with kimchi, jalapeños, and lettuce to wrap it in. The lettuce was nice and crisp which helped calm down the pork as it was a bit salty. This reminded me a lot of some Korean Barbecue I had in Shin-Ōkubo, but a bit less labor since I didn’t have to cook it myself. Unlike our other two dishes, this one we got sick of eating after a bit, despite being delicious, so we had to pack it up to go. At the end of the day, this was good, but we think there is better and more tender pork belly elsewhere. We wish we would have gotten a pizza instead.

VIBE CHECK

Our photos don’t do it justice, but the vibes at Young Joni are amazing. We could hang out there all day. Not to mention the servers were incredible. We wanted an orange juice when it wasn’t even on the menu and our server snuck us some away from the mimosa stash.

Dish It Out

Please reference our rating system, 1 being awful and 5 being fantastic.