Proprietor/Chef: ?

Category: Korean/Chinese, Asian Fusion

Neighborhood: K-town
W. 32^nd St, New York, NY 10001
(212) -629-6450

Mood: Noodles….hot, stir fried or soup noodles… they have a great selection.  Great lunch spot as well.

Tastes Like: it will hit the spot for lunch…not so much for dinner.  I don’t know how I feel about Asian Fusion, but judging from the menu, it’s more korean dishes or chinese.  Take your pick.  I opted for a Korean combo of cold black bean noodles (jja jang noodles) and seafood noodle soup (jampong).  For $10, it’s a heaping amount of food that satiates both hot & cold.  We ordered some Chinese steamed white buns as apps, and they were gigantic.  They were decent enough, so no further complaints necessary.

Must Haves: Check out their $10 lunch specials.  Their food is OK, so nothing to rant must haves on.

Stay Away: NA

Ambiance: Definitely more Chinese restaurant style than Korean.  Whatever that can possibly mean.  Let’s just say I’m glad they tidied up the place.

Service: Took a little bit to order, but once we got past that hurdle, all was quick & attentive.  I guess you have to be during busy lunch service right?

Rating: 2.5 stars

Caveat: Obviously, this review is strictly for lunch only.  Dinner menu looks a bit pricey…but maybe decent at best.

www.bonchon.com

Proprietor: Myung J. Chung

Category: Korean

Neighborhood: Financial District
104 John St New York, NY 10038
(212) 682-7747

Mood: Junk food.  You’ve got to be in the mood for junk food or else this place will not satiate.  Be prepared for greasiness.

Tastes Like: the perfect fried food minus the grease and breaded battered crap.  I know it’s not really healthy for you, but I love the crispy texture minus the greasy feel on your lips.  I taste nothing but sweet, spicy, and savory sauce.  From the first bite to the last, it’s still crispy & hot.  the west coast version of “bonchon”… get ready for it… is “kyochon”.  In a recent March article of “Saveur”, I read a special on Kyochon and they so happened to name the secret ingredients into this crispy delight of chicken.  Proclaimed ingredients are the following: soy sauce, red pepper concentrate, garlic, sugar, ginger, strawberry jam & soda pop.  Feeling a little inspirational to recreate the glorified  masterpiece….I’ll let you know how it goes if I ever get to that tipping point.  the bulgogi tacos here are quite delightful, a rendition i can easily duplicate and can’t wait to try at home.

Must Haves: Zucchini fries topped with parmesan w/ a side of jalapeno sauce! in the words of my wise friends “O-M-G”.  yes, that’s what she said… it’s extremely savory with a spicy kick to it.  you’ll finish it, no worries.

Ambiance: BonChon just opened in the FiDi area, so everything was super clean & sleek.  Try sitting at the bar… fried chicken & beer deserves its place there.

Service: Generally very good here… you may have to flag them down for attention once in a while, but everything moves rather quickly.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Caveat: Supposedly they deliver..but we just tried ordering and had to order from another location. Bummer!

Proprietor/Chef:?

Category: Korean

Neighborhood: Murray Hill
34 W. 32^nd St. New York, NY 10001
(212) 736-9002

Mood: Simple, low key, comfort food… tons of soup options for those that love soon doo boo.

Tastes Like: The cure for the woes, blues, sniffs and all things of the like.  Two of my favorite dishes of all time can be found here: the spicy seafood soon dooboo and the yook hwe (beef tartare with pear citrus and cucumber with raw egg on top).  It’s my favorite place for soon dooboo, it’s well seasoned (unless I’ve stupidly mistaken well-seasoned for MSG….shrugs), the perfect spiciness and there is always the right amount of oysters, mussels and fresh clams….  You MUST stir in the raw egg and stir well.  The broth gets denser and you can bet your ass off that it excels the taste tenfold.  Thanks to my roommate, I am starting to eat red meat again, tartare style.  How bold & brave I was to try such a thing…. Haven’t touched a piece of steak in how long?  And yet, here I was, dared to eat raw beef.  It had a tint of citrus sweet, sheer rawness to it covered up by the flimsy layer of raw eggs… it was the perfect dish.

Must Have: Soon doobu (tofu soup) & yook hwe (beef tartare)  prime choices & great for sharing

Stay Away: NA

Ambiance: Pretty big… there are two major sides.  One is actually prettier than the other, believe it or not.  The pretty side, has pleasant visuals, nice wooden walls, almost brighter.  While the other side, remains pale, dreary and for whatever reason, smoky.  Sounds odd doesn’t it?

Service: For the most part, spot on… with a little punch of rudeness sometimes, or just “in the zone”.

Rating: 5 stars

Caveat: Seoul Garden is located on the second floor.  Your choice of staircase or the lazy elevator.  Their “panch’an” is not always that great, but they are free side dishes, so I am not one to complain.  It is always plentiful!

Abstraction: Soulful delight (seriously, no pun intended)

Proprietor/Chef: ?

Category: Korean

Neighborhood: Murray Hill
40-01 149^th Place Flushing, NY 11354
(718) 460-4560

Mood: Seafood delight.  For the awfully hungry.

Tastes Like: Authentic, homey Korean food, izakaya style.  For starters, we were served carrots & cucumbers with hot pepper paste, cold, mildly spicy.  Next, we were served eggs over easy cooked over a sterno pan on the table.  The second egg dish was a custard boiled in a small stone pot.  The last side dish was the “dubbuki” extremely sweet & spicy rice cake, my favorite side dish out of the four.  Our main dish wasn’t hard to choose, roommates and I wanted to check this place out because they advised that Anthony Bourdain went here to eat…. and what he ate was a massive pot of seafood.  Crawling live octopus, lobster, clams, crabs, mussels, shrimp, conch, udon noodles & veggies just to name a few and what he ate is exactly what we craved and demanded to order…Highlights included the clams, lobster, udon noodles and the vegetables.  The mussels were OK, I could have lived without the calamari and stupid octopus…which by the way, not a big fan of when it was semi-raw. Cannot stand the slimy texture.  It’s not the freshest seafood of the bunch, but when you have it all mixed in a broth, stewing over an extended period of time .. it makes for a delightful and memorable dining experience.

Ambiance: Reminds me of a bigger version of Yakitori … lots of wooden tables, low chairs and posters & flyers plastered everywhere.  Big open kitchen with the sweet and sizzling seafood aroma.  The homey-ish feel is a tiny reminder of what it feels like to be in another country eating on the streets, except, well you’re indoors.

Must Haves: seafood/live octopus hotpot.  When you’re done with the leftovers, have them make fried rice topped with parmesan cheese.  It’s unkempt but that’s probably why it’s so full of flavor

Service: The menu is all in Korean with very little descriptions.  Soliciting for a little help, our waiter did a fantastic job in explaining the items to us, so we were able to decide wisely.  We got what he deemed to be the most “popular” dish, but can’t help  wonder if it was before or well after the fact that Bourdain established his mark.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Caveat: We wasted a lot of food … and seafood is just not good to go.  Our waiter recommended mixing the remains of the broth to make fried rice.  We thought this was a great idea for some lunch leftovers!  Ah, of course, the caveat is that it isn’t free, so for an extra $5….they will make it and pack it to go for you.   Additionally, If you get the octopus seafood platter, it’s meant to be shared with 4-5 people…. NOT 3!