The Best Korean Restaurants in New York City

Ellia Park and Junghyun Park serve the most exquisite multi-course menu. Dishes are delicate, yet satisfying and display extraordinary finesse and detail. The banchan alone will alert you that something special is happening here and, whether pickling, curing, fermenting or grilling, it’s apparent this is one with a mastery of all techniques. And the ingredients, be it Australian abalone, Hokkaido uni or Wagyu from Miyazaki are equally exemplary.

This modern counter tucked behind sister restaurant Oiji Mi showcases contemporary Korean fare with a focus on wagyu beef. The space itself is a stunner with soaring ceilings, sharply dressed servers, and a spacious marble counter that has built-in barbecue grills. These grills quietly work throughout the evening, searing off premium cuts such as tenderloin, short rib, and ribeye that are kept in a dry-aging chamber in full view of the dining room. But know that there is more at play here than just beef. The likes of uni, caviar, truffles, and crab make appearances, and the kitchen has no qualms about stacking such luxury on top of one another. Recent highlights include a croustade of baesuk, jujube, and tofu as well as bone broth with radish.

For a change of pace in bustling Koreatown, Cho Dang Gol offers the barbecue-weary an opportunity to explore some of this nation’s more rustic cooking. Soft tofu is the specialty of the house and it’s downright delicious, but bubbling casseroles and spicy stews are equally heartwarming. The menu also offers favorites like flaky pajeon, satisfying bibimbap and marinated meats. 

It's very hard to snag a table at this hot spot. (Pro tip: join the line out front if you can't get a reservation.) The rigamarole is worth it, as the ambience at this Korean fried chicken spot is just plain fun. There are other items on the compact menu, but you're here for the chicken. Available as a "bucket" that includes chicken consommé to start, followed by two waves of different types of gluten-free fried chicken with house-made sauces, along with cold perilla seed noodles. Finally, yogurt soft serve completes the meal. Stick to the bucket for a reasonable bill, but splurge, add caviar and extras and it climbs quickly. Cocktails play into the theme, but champagne is the star, with a nice range of offerings by the glass, as well as full and half bottles for every budget.

First-timers should head for the “Butcher’s Feast” where you’ll get four different cuts of beef and a luscious egg soufflé that’s a meal in itself. The USDA Prime meats are first presented raw for you to admire their marbling and color. Your server then rubs the smokeless grill with oil before expertly cooking them. The supporting cast of accompanying flavors—from the kimchi to the ssamjang—are all there to enhance their succulent and persuasive flavor even further.

Are there any rules about showering a scoop of honey-infused vanilla cream with grated Parmesan cheese? Is there a consensus on whether an entire orb of creamy burrata goes well with rice cakes and gochujang-marinated chicken? There’s a first time for everything at this rambunctious little restaurant in the Lower East Side. The team works with a solid foundation of Korean flavors and from there, springboards into uncharted waters. Creative, bold dishes—all of which beg to be shared—run up and down this menu. Those wanting to stick to something more familiar will not leave disappointed. Littleneck clams and house-made sweet potato soojebi bathed in a savory butter and pepper-tinged broth is a satisfying start, followed by tender medallions of grilled Iberico pork galbi resting in a pool of spicy red chili paste.

The ssam bap here offers a fun DIY experience with a long platter of fillings. Dark leafy lettuce and thin, herbaceous sesame leaves are topped with creamy slices of avocado, crunchy bean sprouts, pickled daikon, carrot, cucumber, radish and three rice options—white, brown and a nutty, purple-tinged multigrain. Topped with miso ssam sauce, each bite is a fresh burst of uplifting textures.

This kitchen specializes in ramyun—not ramen. Persian cucumber kimchi with a spicy plum dressing, shiso and sesame seeds is a culinary delight, while the mouthwatering aroma of pork bone broth that precedes the arrival of gochu ramyun brimming with curly noodles, bean sprouts and pickled cabbage is a veritable thesis on ace ingredients.

This Seoul transplant has an unusual entrance—via freight elevator up 16 floors—but the elegant space is instantly inviting. Echoing a traditional Korean home, guests are welcomed with savory crackers and drinks before being escorted to the dining room, where a minimalist design is juxtaposed with views of the Manhattan skyline. Joo Ok delivers a Korean tasting menu that is rooted in tradition but presented through a modern lens. Dishes are stunning, as in the jat jeup chae - tender lobster and Korean pear tucked inside salted cucumber slices. A puff of deeply savory soy sauce-braised chicken thighs is texturally effervescent, but their signature deul gi reum with diced geoduck, spotted shrimp, and a whole quail egg in house-pressed perilla seed oil is equally memorable.

What is most impressive here is that the Korean elements of the dishes seem to raise them to another level. Bibimbap composed with gochujang, crispy quinoa, and tender Wagyu beef tartare will live long in the memory; while the branzino served simply with white kimchi shows that this is also a kitchen with the utmost confidence in the quality of its ingredients. 

Kim weaves Western influences into his Korean prix-fixe in such an expert fashion that the results are nothing short of sumptuous and utterly crave-worthy. Kick off with caviar cradled by crisp seaweed prepared in the style of gim bugak; or cold-smoked slices of yellowtail imbued with yuzu and pepper. Sashimi is highly creative and may arrive with kombu, sliced blueberries, and finger lime.

Kudos to Chef Sungchul Shim, who taps into his Korean roots and fine-dining pedigree to create a solid but playful and technically proficient menu. Start with pine nut- and potato milk-soup, or sweet potato-and-sunchoke gratin, paired with a clever doenjang béchamel. Salmon bibimbap mingles pollock roe, candied anchovy, and toasted nori with brown soy-butter rice for a harmonious high point. 

Sungchul Shim reimagines the casual Japanese handroll at Hell's Kitchen's latest destination which literally translates into "roll". Equipped with top-notch ingredients and Korean flavors, Chef Shim reimagines familiar classics into a tasting menu filled with glistening planks of Ora King salmon; tender strips of cured mackerel; and melting slabs of pork belly. 

Eating underground in the subway system may not sound appealing, but that hasn't stopped Chef Dae Kim. In the heart of Koreatown at Herald Square behind a code-locked door, find a black marble counter that stretches the length of the room. Every chef is armed with tweezers to manage and primp gorgeous dishes that are largely contemporary in their design. Seafood is a serious focus with the likes of crab, fluke, clams, and mackerel. The restaurant’s signature is obvious once you spot the squab dry aging in a fridge. Against the backdrop of 80s hits playing overhead, a chef holds the bird up and repeatedly ladles hot oil over it in the style of Peking duck. It’s a defining reminder that in New York City, anything can happen anywhere.

What more could you want out of this little charmer in East Village? Always on the move, Hand Hospitality delivers again with a nicely pitched and portioned set menu of comforting Korean flavors. Find sleek degrees of refinement in winners like asparagus and lobster resting in a chilled pine nut sauce or snow crab wrapped in a thin cigar of daikon and set in a warm crab broth. All entrees like grilled duck with endive and black garlic puree come with banchan and a welcome bowl of rice and soup, which are kept warm in three cauldrons at the bar up front. Dessert is extra but worth ordering: A generous scoop of misugaru ice cream with rice caramel and cookie crumble is a sweet finale in this narrow, minimalist dining room.

Chef Brian Kim and his team are no strangers to modern Korean cuisine. Improving upon the now-closed Oiji, Oiji Mi's five-course prix fixe menu offers a more subtle approach to flavors. Some notable standouts called out by our Inspectors include the striped jack "hwe" and chili lobster ramyun. The finishing punctuation? A creative and nuanced beverage program with eye-catching cocktails and a well-curated wine list.