Jun - Review - The Heights - Houston - The Infatuation

"Jūn in The Heights does the whole small plates thing better than the rest. The menu is a brief list of simple food, intruded by only a few clunky buzzwords. Drinks are wine and sake cocktails only, but each one is colorful and fun, so you almost forget other options exist. Everything inside has an organic edge, as though the restaurant was handwoven or built from a magical slab of clay. Sitting in here is so soothing and pleasant that finding anything negative to say about it would be immoral, like making a child cry. Simply put: dinner at Jūn in The Heights is all hits, no misses. Self-described as “New Asian American,” the food at Jūn blurs the line of any discernible cuisine. While the menu veers wildly in different directions—carrots dressed in salsa macha and Salvadoran cheese, crispy fried chicken with shrimp paste and thai chili, unassuming bowls of savory grits, chili oil, and cherry tomatoes—the end result is deceptively unassuming yet striking food. The flavors and textures so blissfully fade one into the next that when the roasted sweet potato hits the table, the meal becomes emotionally overwhelming, like the first time a dog rolls over and lets you pet its belly. photo credit: Liz Silva Even the space has the effect of a meditative inhale. Someone with an actual personality put this place together, seemingly with the intention of making you feel nice. Warm plaster walls and massive windows surround tall tropical plants, dried floral arrangements, and muted clusters of art, kind of like someone’s living room, if that someone had a hookup for all the chicest stuff at the Round Top Antique Show. No matter how many times you eat at Jūn, or what evolves on the menu, the experience remains unchanged, sort of like a weathered leather saddle or worn-in blue jeans. Just make those reservations in advance. photo credit: Liz Silva photo credit: Liz Silva photo credit: Liz Silva photo credit: Liz Silva photo credit: Liz Silva Pause Unmute Food Rundown Beef Tartare Although small and perhaps understated, the beef tartare packs flavor into each bite, mostly thanks to the crispy buñuelo over top. Flip it over, and you’ll see a thin ribbon of egg custard piped across the ornate fried dough, like a rich, savory surprise. photo credit: Liz Silva Sweet Potato Half of a perfectly roasted sweet potato sits over a simple swipe of labneh yogurt with a little bit of crunch from crushed walnuts. Oddly, there’s very little happening here, but sort of everything wonderful is happening all at the same time. photo credit: Liz Silva Grits We want to dive into this bowl of grits head first and swim around in its deep savoriness. Grits are cooked butter-soft, squishy roasted tomatoes add a pop of acid, and crispy bits of beef seca tie each texture together. If Jūn made this dish drinkable, we would hastily gulp it down. photo credit: Liz Silva Fried Chicken This is Houston’s best fried chicken dish. The shrimp paste marinade keeps the meat flavorful and moist beneath a thin, crispy layer of breading. It's covered in herbs and a side of sticky-sweet chili sauce. The sauce emphasizes the subtle, tangy spice of the chicken that complements anything else you might have on the table. Make sure to get an extra order unless you enjoy fist-fighting with loved ones. photo credit: Chelsea Thomas Whole Fish One bite of the charred whole fish with guajillo and lime turns anyone into a cartoon cat. We thought about putting the whole fish right in our mouth and pulling the bones out clean (and we kind of did). photo credit: Liz Silva" - Chelsea Thomas