![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2185937030.jpg\")
\n\t\tThere\u2019s more to Manhattan than Midtown and Times Square (Picture: Getty Images)<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tThere\u2019s more to Manhattan than Midtown and Times Square (Picture: Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Take a three-minute walk from the Empire State Building, around the corner from Fifth Avenue, and you\u2019ll discover a place in Manhattan that\u2019s not quite as famous as its neighbours.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Koreatown, which spans just a few blocks in the centre of the city, is one of the largest Korean<\/a> commercial districts in the States<\/a> \u2014 and its atmosphere is infectious.<\/p>\n It is dense and resolutely vertical. Restaurants, bakeries, karaoke bars, beauty shops, and supermarkets stack on top of one another like a game of Jenga, glowing with neon signs late into the night.\u00a0<\/p>\n And in recent years, with the swell of interest in Korean culture \u2013 from KPop Demon Hunters to K-beauty \u2013 Manhattan\u2019s Koreatown has finally started having its moment. In fact, New York<\/a> as a whole is seeing a Korean cultural renaissance.<\/p>\n Propelled by viral TikTok<\/a> fame, restaurants now have lines stretching around the block, while sought-after lounges and late-night speakeasies can be difficult to get into.<\/p>\n \t\t Today, it is a hive of activity. Yet only half a century ago, it was a less desirable part of the city, a place where Korean immigrants settled following the liberalised Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965.\u00a0<\/p>\n The bill green lit a surge in Korean immigration to the United States, growing to a community of more than 1.7 million people by 2010.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\tWIN a relaxing countryside getaway for two\t\t\t<\/p>\n Need a bit of R&R? We’re giving you the chance to win a restorative break for two at Albion\u00a0Aberteifi<\/a>, a top-rated hotel in the beautiful coastal town of Cardigan, Wales.<\/p>\n The two-night stay includes Scandi-style breakfast, cocktails for two at the hotel bar, and a Nature Spa experience at\u00a0nearby wellness retreat Fforest\u00a0Farm, for two hours of basking in cedar saunas and wood-fired hot tubs. Blissful.<\/p>\n \t\t For your chance to win this gorgeous spring getaway, enter your details into the form before midnight on Sunday, April 19<\/a>. And don’t forget to sign up to The Getaway Expert<\/a>, our seven-day guide to becoming a more confident traveller.<\/p>\n \nClick here to enter <\/a>\n<\/p>\n Full T&Cs apply, see here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Today, New York\u2019s Koreatown is home to some 2,000 residents and over 100 businesses, ranging from Michelin-starred restaurants to nail salons.\u00a0<\/p>\n Tony Perrottet<\/a>, a Manhattan-based writer and historian, told Metro he has seen the neighbourhood change drastically over the 30 years he has lived in the city.<\/p>\n He said: \u2018When I first moved to New York, Koreatown was literally in the shadow of the Empire State Building. It really was a forgotten commercial enclave that nobody particularly wanted to go to \u2013 or if you ventured there, it was likely by accident.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2018But in recent years, it has been transformed into a Manhattan destination in its own right, with amazing restaurants, bars, noraebang (karaoke rooms), spas \u2013 you name it, the whole smorgasbord of Korean cultural entertainment. Now I am happy to plot an outing there and will go out of my way to.\u2019<\/p>\n Korean was introduced to a wider American audience in 1993, when Ruth Reichl reviewed the now-closed restaurant Kang Suh for The New York Times.<\/p>\n \t\t She described the cuisine as a \u2018thrilling\u2019 and \u2018entirely satisfying\u2019 experience filled with contrasting flavours.<\/p>\n However, she noted at the time that the neighbourhood was largely kept a secret by the Korean community, and non-Korean visitors were rare. She wrote: \u2018Why hasn\u2019t Korean food become more popular in New York City? \u2026 This may be because Koreans are perfectly content to keep their food to themselves.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2018Walk along 32nd Street between Fifth Avenue and Avenue of the Americas and you find a self-contained little neighbourhood of shops, supermarkets and restaurants catering to a mostly Korean clientele. Even Kang Suh\u2026 has a menu that is hard to navigate.\u2019<\/p>\n \t\t Today, Koreatown is far more accessible, with English-language menus at most spots and a growing international clientele.<\/p>\n I have lived in New York myself, and some of my favourite spots are in Koreatown. <\/p>\n There\u2019s the slick subterranean restaurant and bar Museak; the Korean-style gastropub Osamil (with a cool speakeasy upstairs); Koku Ramen, with its affordable prices and deliciously crispy dumplings, Antoya BBQ for DIY<\/a> grilling (it also hosted the cast of KPop Demon Hunters), and Miss Korea BBQ for its traditional cold noodles in ice \u2013 unusual, but mercifully refreshing on a summer\u2019s day in the Big Apple.<\/p>\n \t\t Beyond food, Koreatown has recently become a hotspot for beauty and wellness<\/a>. <\/p>\n Many spas, I discovered, offer treatments at significantly lower prices than elsewhere in the city.\u00a0<\/p>\n Dr Harim Kim, founder of Riko Spa near Times Square, told Metro that these services were once known only within the Korean community.\u00a0<\/p>\n But over the past five years, they have become increasingly accessible to a broader clientele, with English-language menus and easy-to-navigate websites.<\/p>\n One example is Bared Monkey Laser Spa, which offers FDA-approved laser hair removal and non-invasive skin treatments.\u00a0<\/p>\n I tried it myself, and returned many times, saving a chunk of cash in the process.<\/p>\n Dr Kim says beauty treatments in Korea are \u2018very affordable \u2013 not like in America \u2013 and that\u2019s why you\u2019ll find better value for money in Koreatown.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n At her spa, which opened in August 2025, she serves up to 60 clients a day, offering everything from Botox and fillers to skin-tightening laser treatments. \u2018With more volume, prices stay low,\u2019 she explains, \u2018and I believe looking good should be accessible to everyone.\u2019<\/p>\n Koreatown may still sit in the shadow of the Empire State Building, but it no longer hides in it.\u00a0<\/p>\n What was once a quiet enclave has evolved into one of Manhattan\u2019s most dynamic neighbourhoods, a place where culture, cuisine and commerce collide. <\/p>\n And where anyone willing to wander a few blocks off the beaten path is richly rewarded.<\/p>\n Arrow Arrow Arrow![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/image3-9d4a-e1776424930603.jpeg\")
\n\t\tKorean food and culture were once confined to the area around West 32nd Street, that\u2019s no longer the case (Picture: Sadie Whitelocks)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/SEI_291821810-0619.jpg\")
\n\t\tWish you were here? Enter now below (Picture: Brook Aurora)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/image6-e6fe.jpeg\")
\n\t\tKorean kitchens have been hailed for their mix of creativity and simple ingredients (Picture: Sadie Whitelocks)<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/image7-86b3-rotated-e1776426009970.jpeg\")
\n\t\tKoreatown is finally having its moment (Picture: Sadie Whitelocks)<\/p>\n![\"Writer](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/image0-2-f0c2-e1776426044877.jpeg\")
\n\t\tWriter Sadie Whitelocks fell in love with this up-and-coming part of Manhattan when she lived in New York (Picture: Sadie Whitelocks)<\/p>\n
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