Archive for 'Korean'

Find Comfort From the Elusive Spring Inside HanaMichi

In need of a warm culinary hug from all the bipolar weather recently? Impatient to see some blossoms and leaves on the trees already? HanaMichi comforts the senses on all those fronts. And with too many lunch specials on 32nd Street in the $15+ range, Hanamichi’s menu is a sight for sore eyes with several options within ML budget.

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Kang Ho Dong Baekjeong Now Serving Lunch


Photo courtesy of Serious Eats

For those that have tried and failed to dine at the ultra hot Manhattan outpost of Korean BBQ specialist, Kang Ho Dong Baekjeong, you now have a chance to score a table at lunch. The restaurant will now be open starting at 11:30am on the weekdays, and will remain open all day and late into the night. This is great news for those that have been quoted several hour wait times at dinner – I dined here last weekend and waited two hours, which was well worth it in my opinion. But such crowds are to be expected after the breathless coverage, glowing praise, and a level of hype that is typically reserved for a new Torrisi or Momofuku outpost.

The menu won’t waver from dinner, which means that few dishes will be in the ML $10 price threshold save for the $7.99 lunch box and soups and stews that start at $10.99. However, the main reason that you’re here is likely for the BBQ, which features nose-to-tail cuts of beef and pork, including a jaw-dropping dish of marinated pork collar.

At Baekjeong, good things come to those who wait. For those that don’t have the luxury of time, now there is lunch.

Kang Ho Dong Baekjong, 1 E. 32nd (at 5th Ave.) 212-966-9839

The Gobuki Korean Cart Serves Up Bargain BBQ

Sometimes I wander around in search of lunch, aimlessly, wondering what to eat. I really need some suggestions that y’all want to see here, so feel free to email me or comment on any of the posts I’ve written with recommendations – please! Your contributions are what make this site invaluable!

To that end, on my wanderings recently, I passed the Korean Gobuki Cart a few times before I decided sure, I can do Korean food – for less than $10… from a cart! Sounds like a win already; Korean food/BBQ is notoriously fairly pricy.

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Yogi BBQ Cart’s Gyro Brings Korean & Greek Together

Way back in 2012, Anna reviewed the Yogi BBQ Cart, then a newcomer offering Korean fusion in Midtown East. Anna was pleased by the cart’s tacos, but was intrigued by the Korean gyro she saw on the menu. So when I saw the Yogi Cart on the corner of 3rd Ave. and 49th, I jumped at the opportunity to try some Korean-Greek fusion.

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Get 35% Off Food & Drinks at BonChon: Korean fried chicken fanatics, start your engines. Google Offers has a deal today for 35% off food and drinks at BonChon's Turtle Bay location (2nd Ave. btw 50th+51st). The deal is good through June 6 and is only valid from 11am to 6pm, making it perfect to use for lunch.

What’s Going On with Daheen Wang Mandoo?


If you’ve walked by Daheen Wang Mandoo (32nd St. btw. Broadway + 6th) recently, you’re probably wondering what’s going on. Have they shuttered for good? What we know for sure is that they haven’t been open and there are two signs on the windows with something written in Korean. Well, according to Luncher Sam Kim – who wrote our Guy Fieri live-blog – and his somewhat shaky handle on the Korean language, it appears that Daheen is closing and will reopen with a new concept.

We’ll keep you posted as we find out more.

Build Your Own Bibimbap at Koso Fresh

Considering how often I’ve been to Treehaus (3rd Ave. btw 50th+51st) in recent weeks, it’s hard to believe that inside I missed  Kosofresh, a separate eatery specializing in build-your-own bibimbap-style rice bowls.

Kosofresh follows the basic Chipotle model: you choose either the Koso-Bap (rice bowl, $8.45) or Koso-Green (salad bowl, $7.45), you choose your protein (bulgogi, soy garlic chicken, spicy pork, or tofu), additional toppings typically found in bibimbap, and your sauce.

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Kofoo Is Decent And Inexpensive Out-Of-Bounds Korean


Raise your fists and bow your heads, those of us who work just near or completely in those out-of-bounds zones, that we may all struggle together against the oppressive forces of market dynamics causing all the good trucks to be on or near the 50s and Park. Yes, that’s where the disposable income professionals are, the big-money finance types. Though they command the markets both professionally and in terms of food dollars, we do not suffer gladly these slings and arrows. Nay, we look elsewhere. We recognize our own. With this in mind, if you’re like me and working in the 30s, and don’t mind a moderate walk (or voting with your Seamless dollars), and your knowledge of K-Town is confined to Food Gallery 32 and Woorijip, Kofoo is the option that was positively made for you.
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Flatiron Lunch: Take 31’s Lunch Menu is Under $10, Despite Being Hipster Korean

Every Friday we go south of the ML boundaries in search of a delicious lunch. Sometimes it’s Murray Hill south or the Flatiron District, sometimes Gramercy and everything in between- but we just like to call it Flatiron Lunch.

What is it about Korean food that has us obsessed? I am not complaining, but have you seen the Midtown Lunch archives on Korean food?? Seriously. I am guilty, and since K-town Proper is technically in the ML boundaries by a block (just one block!), I think it is only fair that we have our own Korean restaurants in the Flatiron District (not that we can’t and don’t walk that extra block to partake in the joys of K-town.) A few weeks ago, as I walked the northern most Flatiron boundaries, I spotted a small place hiding under scaffolding and went in to investigate further. It was dinner-time, and every table was filled with young, hip Koreans. I asked to see a lunch menu and didn’t see a single item over the ML budget, which isn’t surprising for K-town, but was for such a design-y, trendy spot.

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O-de-ppang’s Sushi Bibimbap Is More Filling Than You’d Think

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On Fridays during Lent I’m always on the lookout for a good meatless lunch. While I love me a good fried fish sandwich, sometimes I’m in the mood for something a little lighter but still filling. So when I saw that O-de-ppang! at Food Gallery 32 was now offering a Sashimi Bibimbap for $9.95, I had to check it out.

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