DWJ #2

DWJ #2
2156 Young Avenue
901-207-6204

I've had DWJ on my go to list for about two years. It's out in Southwind or some place far away, but supposedly has private karaoke rooms like in that movie with Bill Murray. Anyways, DWJ#2 opened up in the old Greencork space in Cooper-Young last Monday (9/12). On Wednesday, I told the monkeys (Satchel, 14 and Jiro, 12) that we were going to walk down for dinner. "How far is it?" Jiro whined. "Is it on Cooper?" asked Satchel.

We made it the three blocks without too much trauma, but you'd be surprised how hard it is for three people, two of them teenagers (ish), to share a sidewalk.



On our way there, I got a text from Warren about dropping off the kids' bag, so I ended up inviting him to join us.



Inside the restaurant was very nice and full of Cooper-Youngians. There weren't any karaoke rooms that I could see. I guess Mulan kinda has a corner on that market in Cooper-Young. (Literally! Ha!)

We tackled the menu while we waited on Warren.




I asked the waitress for help decoding, but she said it was her first day. So, she sent out the manager. Or maybe the chef? Anyways, he wasn't too much help either, but he did make some suggestions. I asked about cooking at the table, and he said it was for three or more and sort of guided us towards letting the kitchen do the cooking. That was fine by me.

"Mom, you need to up your Korean game," Satchel advised.

When the waitress came back, I ordered a couple of appetizers since Warren still hadn't made it. I decided on the Goonmandu, which is a tofu based dumpling, and the Kimbap, which is a Korean version of sushi. Each was $10.

Warren finally arrived and it became clear that we had a celebrity in our midst. Or that Warren had a jump on his Halloween costume.





When we finally stopped laughing, we put in the rest of our order. And laughed some more.

Then came the apps. The dumplings were really good. They tasted more meaty than tofu-y.



The monkeys were a little spooked by the green onions, so Warren and I ate most of them.

The Kimbap was also quite delicious. (I had seen it on someone else's table, otherwise I might never have ordered it.)



The monkeys liked it too, but both poked out the pickled daikon and cucumber.

We had a lively conversation about bullying at school and in general all enjoyed each other's company while we waited for the rest of the food. It was weird! But obviously good weird.

Honestly, I was pretty much full at this point. But I took one for the team and kept eating!

My Dolsot Bibimbap ($11.00) was super pretty.



It was lacking a little umami, or something. I don't usually get it with tofu, so maybe that was it? I needed to add a lot of hot sauce and I wished the egg wasn't all the way cooked when it came out. It was good, but not as good as Kwik Check.

Warren got the Donkatsu ($12.00), which is close to his standard pork tonkatsu that he always orders at Japanese restaurants. He also got a .50 side of kimchi.



He liked it and had to keep Satchel from stealing most of it. I thought Satchel's Daeji Bulgogi ($14.00) was the best. It was spicy and full of flavor.



Jiro's Chadolbaki ($14.00) was a bit of a zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz, but perfect for someone who doesn't like spice, I suppose.



When we were all done, the waitress brought our check and a little present for each of us. Awww...



Inside there was some candy and a little charm. We told the monkeys to save them for their girlfriends. (They don't have girlfriends. So, you know, it was hilarious.)



Our total was $78.11 plus tip, which was waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay more than I set out to spend on dinner on a Wednesday night. But, we did order waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too much food. Next time, we keep ourselves in check.