Prolific Sungchul Shim turned inward for his latest NYC restaurant, the ambitious personal tasting menu found inside his Theater District steakhouse, Gui. Korean fine dining restaurant Hwaro opened in October 2025, where the chef and his team cook in the center of the 22-seat oval counter. Marvel at the decor details like the mother-of-pearl inlay designs on the chargers and chopsticks. Don’t miss the display of ingredients on ice that will make up your meal. The $295 multi-course menu (bookable on Tock) is heavily rooted in Korean techniques and traditions; its name refers to a Korean charcoal braiser.
I enjoyed the way the two dessert items (and one surprise) went from light to heavier. It started with a simple persimmon, rounded out with chevre sabayon sauce and grated feta, for a citrus-tangy bite. This was followed by a lovely Earl Grey financier covered in chocolate with a scoop of pear sorbet. The surprise was the final item of the black sesame popsicle, something that had been on the menu of one of Shim’s other restaurants, Kochi. It was not too sweet, chewy, and nutty.
You check in at the reception booth on the ground floor of the address and can leave your coat and bags there, too. Then take the elevator upstairs, and the Hwaro entrance is to the left.
Chef Sungchul Shim’s most intimate project yet tucks inside his steakhouse, Gui. At Hwaro, a 22-seat marble counter, Shim leans into Korean technique and heritage through a multi-course tasting menu built around a custom charcoal grill — the restaurant’s namesake braiser. Dishes might include golden eye snapper with Chungju consomme, mushroom tart with porcini mornay, foie gras duck pastrami with fermented black rice, and cast-iron pot rice with pike mackerel. Mother-of-pearl inlays, custom ceramics, and brass-lit counter design frame the scene as Shim cooks an arm’s length away.