Restaurant in Seattle, United States
Modern Korean, no ceremony, easy to book.
Ranked #341 on Opinionated About Dining's Casual North America list in 2025 and rising, Paju delivers modern Korean cooking in a relaxed South Lake Union room that punches well above its casual framing. Chef Bill Soo Jeong's menu reworks Korean classics with real precision. Booking is currently easy — go before that changes.
Ranked #341 on Opinionated About Dining's Casual North America list for 2025 (up from #427 in 2024), Paju is one of the few restaurants in Seattle where the kitchen is clearly pulling harder than the price point demands. This is modern Korean cooking in a wood-paneled room in South Lake Union — relaxed in format, serious in execution, and worth booking before the wait catches up with the reputation.
The room at 513 Westlake Ave N is low-key in the leading sense: warm wood paneling, a neighborhood feel, no ceremony. It seats a relatively intimate crowd and runs Tuesday through Friday from 3 pm, with Saturday service starting at 4 pm. Sunday is closed, so plan accordingly. The vibe is casual enough that you won't feel underdressed in jeans, but the cooking is precise enough that the meal will feel like an occasion whether you intend it or not. If you've been once, the move on a return visit is to work deeper into the menu rather than sticking to what's familiar , chef Bill Soo Jeong's approach rewards curiosity.
The OAD write-up gives a rare specific portrait of what's on the plate: the crispy jeon with bonito shavings, scallions, and aioli is called an all-star dish, and the chips-and-dip opener (celeriac blended with peppers, topped with potato foam, served with celeriac rice crackers) is described as a must-start. The sujebi, a hand-torn-noodle soup reworked with chun-jang Bolognese and Korean pear, shows the kitchen's fluency in reframing Korean classics without flattening them. These are not menu descriptions invented for effect , they come directly from OAD's documented coverage across three consecutive years of recognition (2023 recommended, 2024 ranked, 2025 ranked higher). That trajectory matters: this is a restaurant moving in one direction.
Booking here is currently rated Easy, which is part of the appeal. Paju has OAD recognition and a 4.4 Google rating across 528 reviews, but it hasn't yet crossed into the territory where you need to plan three weeks ahead. Book a few days out for a weeknight, slightly earlier for a Friday or Saturday. Hours close at 9 pm Monday through Thursday and 10 pm Friday and Saturday, so an early-week dinner at 7 pm is the lowest-friction option. Given the upward ranking trajectory, that booking window is likely to tighten , this is a good moment to go.
Paju works well for a two-person dinner where you want genuine cooking without the formality of a tasting menu. It's a strong choice for a low-key special occasion , an anniversary or birthday dinner where the food carries the evening rather than the room. For larger groups or anyone who wants a splashier experience, the format here skews more intimate. If you're after Korean cooking benchmarked against Seoul's finest, consider Mingles or Kwonsooksoo for reference points , Paju is operating in a similar spirit of modern Korean refinement, translated for a Seattle neighborhood context.
Compared to Seattle's broader dining scene, Paju sits in a productive middle tier: more technically driven than most casual Korean spots, less expensive and less formal than Canlis or Altura. If the question is where to get disproportionate cooking quality for a relaxed evening out, Paju is a strong answer. For Asian cooking with a different register, Joule offers a comparable commitment to craft in a Korean-American framework , the two restaurants are worth knowing as a pair. Explore more options in our full Seattle restaurants guide, or check our Seattle bars guide and Seattle experiences guide to build out a full evening.
A few days is generally enough for a weeknight table. For Friday or Saturday, book earlier in the week to be safe. Booking difficulty is currently rated Easy, but Paju's OAD ranking has climbed two years running , that window will likely narrow. Go sooner rather than later.
The kitchen is modern Korean, not a traditional Korean BBQ or banchan setup , expect composed dishes and a chef-driven menu. OAD specifically calls out the chips-and-dip opener and the crispy jeon as standouts, so start there. The room is casual and the service won't feel stiff. This is a neighborhood restaurant punching well above its tier, ranked #341 in OAD Casual North America in 2025. Don't overthink the occasion , just go and order widely.
No dress code is specified. The room is wood-paneled and relaxed , smart casual is more than enough. Jeans are fine; there's no need to dress up. The food is precise, but the atmosphere is not formal.
Specific bar seating details aren't confirmed in available data. Given the intimate format and neighborhood scale, it's worth calling ahead to ask about bar or counter seats if you're going solo or as a pair. A short call before your visit is the cleanest way to sort this.
Yes, with the right expectations. The cooking is genuinely occasion-worthy , three consecutive years of OAD recognition and a rising rank tell you the kitchen is operating at a level well above its casual-restaurant framing. But the room is relaxed, not grand. If you want theater and ceremony, Canlis is the Seattle answer. If you want a meal that feels special because the food is that good, Paju delivers that without the formality tax.
Bar seating details aren't documented in the venue record, but the room at 513 Westlake Ave N is described as intimate with a neighborhood feel — not a large bar-forward space. Call ahead if bar seating is a priority. Booking the main room is currently rated Easy, so a table is a low-friction fallback.
Paju is a modern Korean restaurant, not a traditional one — chef Bill Jeong riffs on classics rather than replicate them. OAD has ranked it in the top 350 casual restaurants in North America for 2025, so expect technically driven cooking in a low-key wood-paneled room. Hours run from mid-afternoon into the evening Tuesday through Saturday, with Sunday closed, so plan accordingly.
The room is warm and unfussy — wood paneling, neighborhood scale, no white tablecloths. Neat casual fits the atmosphere; there's no evidence of a dress code. Overdressing would feel out of place.
Yes, with the right expectations. Paju works well for a low-key birthday or anniversary dinner where you want genuinely skilled cooking without a tasting-menu format or a formal room. It won't deliver the ceremony of Canlis, but the OAD ranking and the caliber of chef Bill Jeong's cooking give it enough substance for the occasion to feel considered.
Booking is currently rated Easy, so last-minute reservations are often possible. That said, OAD recognition tends to build demand over time, and the room is intimate — a few days' notice is sensible, more on weekends. Friday and Saturday hours run until 10 pm, giving you the most flexibility for a longer evening.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
