All products featured on Condé Nast Traveler are independently selected by Condé Nast Traveler editors. However, when you buy something through our retail links, Condé Nast may earn an affiliate commission.
Kisa
The best Korean restaurants throughout New York City are a mix of old and new: Korean-American mainstays that have been barbecuing meats or slinging bowls of soups for decades, as well as imports of hot spots straight from Korea, plus modern restaurants serving innovative riffs on classic Korean fare. As a Korean American who grew up eating my mom’s home cooking and visiting Seoul every summer, I can’t go more than a week without getting my Korean food fix in New York City, where I now live. Thankfully, with the rising popularity of Korean food, culture, and drinking, there’s an ever-growing list of spots to check out. Confused on where to start? Let me be your guide—I literally wrote the book on how to eat and drink like a Korean with my new cookbook, Soju Party, and run Orion Bar, a Korean American spot in Bushwick that’s equal parts K-town boozer and American dive bar.
Whether you’re gathering in Manhattan’s Koreatown (a section of 32nd Street, known as Korea Way, and its surrounding neighborhood), making a pilgrimage to Flushing to hit up some old school spots, or looking for comfort food in Brooklyn, these are my favorite Korean restaurants in New York City.
Read our complete New York City guide here, which includes:
Tal Bistro
32 W 32nd Street Floor 3, Manhattan
At this new addition to Korea Way, the chef and owner of Tal Bistro spent nearly a decade honing his chops at the nearby Jongro BBQ. Tal Bistro is more of a Korean drinking pub, focusing on classic pairings like makgeolli (a milky rice wine) with kimchi pancakes, beopju (a clear rice liquor) with acorn jelly salads, and soju with spicy stir-fried pork and kimchi. The must-order here is their sweet potato makgeolli, an in-house specialty, in which the creamy earthiness of the Korean sweet potato (known as goguma) shines through the sweet and tangy libation.
Gopchang Story
312 5th Avenue 2nd Floor, Manhattan
This is my go-to whenever I want a night of classic Korean drinking. Grilled intestines might not suit everyone’s taste, but the smoky fattiness of the daechang (large intestine) here easily outshines most other Korean barbecued meats. Pair the mixed combo which includes various grilled intestines covered in their secret “magic powder” with a few bottles of soju, and bust out your favorite soju tricks.
Haejang guk banchan
New WonjoNew Wonjo
23 W 32nd Street, Manhattan
Whenever my parents are in town, they go to New Wonjo at least three times a week. They’re obsessed with the restaurant’s lunch special, which features a wide variety of soups and stews that taste like home to them. We always get the ddaro gukbap, a cozy spicy beef stew, or hae jang guk, a spicy ox bone soup with vegetables and (optional) ox blood. Their complimentary banchan (side dishes) spread is invariably on point, and if you go earlier in the week you’ll likely be treated to some “sebiseu” or service dishes on the house (more free food!). Plus, it’s a great spot for Korean barbecue with a crowd, since it’s easier to get a reservation or a table here than at surrounding BBQ restaurants, with an even better spread. It’s also the oldest Korean barbecue joint in NYC.
Korean Noodle House
210-09 Northern Boulevard, Bayside, Queens
My favorite thing about this Korean-Chinese noodle restaurant is that its name is actually 넌짜장 난짬뽕 (“Jjajang for You, Jjampong for Me”) which is a perfect representation of the two best things to get here—and at any Korean-Chinese restaurant for that matter. You know it’s good because the clientele is nearly all Korean, but incredibly diverse with regard to age and group size—high school couples, gaggles of churchgoers, families, et cetera. Pick your fighter: jjajangmyun, savory fermented black bean noodles, or jjampong, a spicy seafood noodle soup, and get a plate of tangsooyuk (crispy pork in a sweet and sour sauce) to share with the table.
Soy Glazed Bossam
Hojokban NYCHojokban NYC
128 Madison Avenue, Manhattan
Hojokban NYC is the American offshoot of a trendy restaurant in Cheongdam-dong, Seoul, and features many of their popular dishes: a collection of very satisfying, well-seasoned, and innovative anju (a category of Korean food that’s best paired with alcohol). My favorites are the ssook-got salad, a tangle of chrysanthemum greens tossed in a creamy black sesame dressing; the tender, garlic-infused bossam (slow-braised pork belly); and the show-stopping ramyun fried rice, which comes with an actual Shin Ramyun cup inverted atop the rich, bacon-flecked fried rice.
Kisa
205 Allen Street, Manhattan
Run by brothers Steve and Eric Choi with their childhood friend David Yun, Kisa—previously named one of Condé Nast Traveler’s Best New Restaurants in New York City—is an ode to the Korean taxi driver cafeteria. This cozy corner spot in the Lower East Side doles out circular metal platters brimming with a revolving selection of banchan which adorn the main dish of your choice. The banchan are the star here—they are impressively diverse and hearty, impeccably seasoned, and incredibly delicious, like the mul hwe (raw fish in a cold spicy sauce) and bulgogi japchae (stir-fried potato starch noodles). But the hospitality is what makes Kisa stand out, whether it’s the oft-complimentary canned Korean drinks or a gratis pour of whatever Korean alcohol the staff is loving. Don’t skip the free coffee machine on your way out: It’s a staple of old school Korean restaurants. I particularly love the yulmu-cha, a high-protein tea that’s made with Job’s tears, grains, and nuts, that is the perfect sweet and nutty cap to a satisfying meal.
Tosokchon
Tosokchon
14 E 33rd Street, Manhattan
Tosokchon is where the staff from your favorite Korean restaurants go when they get off work. It’s open til 4 a.m. most weekdays and a whopping 6 a.m. on weekend nights, making it a reliable place for a hearty post-shift meal while decompressing with co-workers. Try the assorted soondae (Korean-style sausage) and the sool-guk, a spicy, nourishing hangover soup that’s chock full of bean sprouts, napa cabbage, and pork bone.
Gahwa
Gahwa
29-32 Union Street, Flushing, Queens
Whenever I make the trip to stock up at the Union H Mart in Flushing, I build time into my day for lunch at this very old school soup spot. Gahwa specializes in seolleongtang, a rich, milky soup made by boiling oxtail bones for many hours until the marrow and beef bone flavor completely melt into the healing broth. Sometimes I’ll grab a table for a solo lunch, or pick up a few bowls to go. The seolleongtang comes unseasoned, so make sure to garnish to taste with the scallions, salt, and pepper that’s provided. Dunk a spoonful (or the whole bowl) of white rice to sop up the soup, and pair it with crunchy bites of their kkakdugi (spicy radish kimchi). The dogani tang (cow knee soup) and the sokkori tang (oxtail soup) are also excellent alternatives if you want to try some other Korean soup favorites.
All products featured on Condé Nast Traveler are independently selected by Condé Nast Traveler editors. However, when you buy something through our retail links, Condé Nast may earn an affiliate commission.
Musician Michelle Zauner on Childhood Trips to Korea and the Food That Shaped Her
Michelle Zauner, who performs under the name Japanese Breakfast, chats with us about her new memoir, ‘Crying in H Mart.’
fried chicken
Peeps KitchenPeeps Kitchen
Scrappleland, 1150 Manhattan Avenue, Brooklyn
The first time I tried Peeps Kitchen, I realized my hunt for the best Korean fried chicken was over. Their gang jeong (sweet glazed fried chicken) and padak (scallion chicken) are both immediate hits, but just their classic fried chicken drumsticks were the arrow to my food heart. The chicken is expertly butchered in a way where the chicken skin soaks up even more batter, resulting in max crispiness. The chef-owner will even throw extra chicken skin crispies into the box, which make for a perfect little beer snack. And you should trust his expertise when it comes to fried chicken—he opened and operated several popular Korean fried chicken franchises in Korea before immigrating to the US.
Sunn’s
139 Division Street, Manhattan
I loved Chef Sunny Lee’s long-running popup at Achille’s Heel in Greenpoint. It’s where I first fell for her brightly colored salad with seasonal radishes and persimmons. Now, she’s finally running her own brick-and-mortar restaurant in Chinatown. From behind the tiny bar, Lee is able to churn out pitch-perfect seasonal banchan, steaming dishes of straciatella-adorned tteokbokki, and chewy parcels of sesame mochi cake. It’s an ideal spot to tuck into with a friend or a date: lovingly cozy, intimate, and delicious.
Originally Appeared on Condé Nast Traveler
The Latest Stories from Condé Nast Traveler