{"id":112276,"date":"2026-08-07T16:00:12","date_gmt":"2026-08-07T16:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/112276\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T16:00:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T16:00:12","slug":"mokja-a-korean-market-and-cafe-opens-in-highland-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/112276\/","title":{"rendered":"Mokja, a Korean Market and Cafe, Opens in Highland Park"},"content":{"rendered":"

The all-day concept brings a self-serve ramen bar, Korean-inflected coffee drinks and a curated retail shop to the neighborhood<\/p>\n

Highland Park\u2019s Korean food scene keeps getting better and better.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Steps from her modern Korean pub Yi Cha<\/a>, chef Debbie Lee opens Mokja<\/a> today. The market-caf\u00e9, built in partnership with Be Bright Coffee\u2019s Frank and Michelle La, offers the casual atmosphere of a Korean corner store.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Credit: Stan Lee<\/p>\n

The name loosely translates to \u201clet\u2019s eat,\u201d and the space answers with a caf\u00e9, retail shop, coffee bar and grab-and-go counter, all under one roof. Diners can build their own bowl at a self-serve ramen bar or choose from a rotating menu of Korean-American mashup dishes. The \u201cSeoulful Snackies\u201d include a braised oxtail hand pie, a Korean Cobb salad with gochu shredded chicken and crispy pork belly and a mayak egg sando on milk bread.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Credit: Stan Lee<\/p>\n

Pastry chef Dara Yu handles dessert, featuring a yuja cha ice box pie, while the to-go case holds daily kimchi, banchan and KBBQ ssam plates.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The coffee menu marks new territory for Frank, the 2024 U.S. Barista Champion, who\u2019s spent 16 years in the industry but never built a program around his own Korean heritage until now. The result is a creative lineup of lattes, Americanos and teas alongside signatures, like a Sweet Corn Latte made with condensed milk pur\u00e9e and a Misugaru Latte finished with mixed-grain cold foam.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Scroll to continue reading<\/p>\n

\"\"Credit: Stan Lee<\/p>\n

Architect Kahi Lee, who also designed Yi Cha, gave the 1,400-square-foot space exposed brick and dark wood \u2014 veering away from the light, minimalist aesthetic common to newer specialty caf\u00e9s. The room seats 12 at tables, with additional seating at a standing bar.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Credit: Stan Lee<\/p>\n

Mokja intends to function as more than a caf\u00e9, exemplified by its retail offerings. Shelving curated by Michelle carries cookbooks, Korean pantry goods, house-made tote bags and branded hats, as well as products from AAPI-owned brands including Seoul Sausage, Rooted Fare, Woon Kitchen and Valerie Confections.<\/p>\n

The space also plans to host pop-ups, cooking demos and K-beauty classes throughout the year, with a second location already in the works at Orange County\u2019s OC Vibe.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mokja is located at 5715 N. Figueroa St. in Highland Park, daily from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The all-day concept brings a self-serve ramen bar, Korean-inflected coffee drinks and a curated retail shop to the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":112277,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[9571,57688,171,8972],"class_list":["post-112276","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-korea","tag-cafe","tag-highland-park","tag-korean","tag-korean-cuisine"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112276","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=112276"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112276\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/112277"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=112276"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=112276"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=112276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}