Soul & Busan, Jenn Kim’s Korean American pop-up restaurant, returns for run at Taco Heart
It’s a “mash-up of what I like to eat, what Korean American means to me and my tastebuds,” as Kim puts it. She will in residence in South Philadelphia at Taco Heart from Feb. 17-20.
Soul & Busan, Jenn Kim’s Korean American pop-up, is returning for the first time since 2021.
It’s a “mash-up of what I like to eat, what Korean American means to me and my tastebuds,” as she puts it.
This outing will run from Friday, Feb. 17 through Monday, Feb. 20 at Taco Heart, 1001 E. Passyunk Ave. (Taco Heart will be open for breakfast on those days.)
This weekend’s menu includes Miggy’s K-fried chicken sandwich as well as a marinated and breaded tofu version of that sandwich. This is not typical KFC. “The Korean chicken sandwiches I’ve had is a fried chicken sandwich covered in some kind of Korean sauce and then put in a sandwich,” Kim said.
Rather than sauce it up, she marinates and serves it as a cutlet, much like katsu. It’s also a Mexican-Korean hybrid. “When my chicken sandwich started off, it was inspired by my husband, Miguel,” Kim said. Hence the “Miggy” in the sandwich name.
“He’s originally from Oaxaca, and his favorite traditional food is a fried chicken Milanese torta. [He said] ‘wouldn’t it be cool if we did the Korean version of a torta?’” That explains the hint of lime in the marinade, an atypical Korean ingredient.
Sides include korokke (potato croquettes), fries, and Korean-spiced French fries, plus a tangy oi muchim cucumber salad. For dessert, Kim will debut hotteok rice krispie treats: She layers the flavors of Korean rice flour hotteok pancakes onto the familiar American snack, for a sesame-forward, cinnamon-spiced confection. The hotteok treats come in classic and chocolate varieties.
It’s walk-in service (with some indoor seating) from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday; Monday hours are noon to 8:30 p.m. Soul & Busan happens to be Kim’s passion project; by day, she’s an architect.
In her last pop-ups, she said, she was focusing on the Korean food her mother made while she was growing up in Denver and New York. “This time, I’m just kind of switching it. This is going to be quick and easy and fun,” she said.
She will offer combo meals of sandwiches, fries, and sides.
Any plans to drop architecture for the restaurant business? “I can answer that after this pop-up,” she said.