Best of Koreatown
Ten Koreatown restaurants in Manhattan, checked against the living city today, from two Michelin-starred tasting rooms to an all-night BBQ house.
Your pick lands here
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- 1Koreatown · $$ · 34 St-Herald Sq (B D F M N Q R W) · 22 W 32nd St, 16th Floor
Two-Michelin-star Korean tasting-menu restaurant reached by a manually operated freight elevator to the 16th floor of an office building.
Because it holds two Michelin stars as of 2025, awarded after the restaurant relocated here from Seoul in September 2024.
Order The tasting menu is the only order there is, no a la carte here.
Book on Resy well ahead, the room seats very few; arrive right at your reservation time since the freight elevator only fits a few people per trip.
- 2Koreatown · $$ · 34 St-Herald Sq (B D F M N Q R W) · 49 W 32nd St (basement level)
One-Michelin-star tasting-menu restaurant for 15 guests, built into a basement space under the Herald Square subway complex.
Because it has held a Michelin star for both 2024 and 2025, in a room with only 15 seats total.
Order The chef's tasting menu, since it is the only thing on offer.
Reserve on Resy weeks out given how few seats there are; the entrance sits below street level near the Herald Square subway complex with minimal signage.
- 3Koreatown · $$ · 33 St (6) · 12 E 32nd St
Shoes-off, vegetarian/vegan-only Korean fine-dining restaurant with low floor tables and a meditative, temple-like dining room.
Because the menu has been entirely plant-based since it opened, with shoes off at the door and seating on low floor cushions rather than chairs.
Order The multi-course vegetarian tasting menu, since there is no meat anywhere on it.
Shoes come off at the entrance and you sit on the floor, so dress with that in mind; cubbies are provided for your shoes.
- 4Koreatown · $$ · 34 St-Herald Sq (B D F M N Q R W) · 55 W 35th St
Also No. 4 on Best of Midtown →
Homestyle Korean restaurant built around handmade tofu, served bubbling in black stone pots as sundubu jjigae.
Because every table gets a complimentary tofu starter before anything else is ordered, and the tofu is made in house.
Order The soft tofu (sundubu) jjigae, the dish the whole menu is built around.
Go hungry, the free tofu starter arrives almost immediately; the stone pots keep bubbling for a while after they land, so let them cool a beat.
- 5Koreatown · $$ · 34 St-Herald Sq (B D F M N Q R W) · 23 W 32nd St
Long-running Korean BBQ house specializing in Black Angus beef, open nearly around the clock (10am-5am daily).
Because it has run nearly around the clock, roughly 10am to 5am, since opening in 1993.
Order The Black Angus galbi, grilled tableside.
Kitchen runs until about 4am even though the room stays open to 5am, so it is a real option after a late shift, not just a marketing line.
- 6Koreatown · $$ · 33 St (6) · 17 E 31st St
Rustic, modern Korean bistro named for owner Kihyun Lee's mother, one block off the main 32nd Street strip.
Because it is named for owner Kihyun Lee's mother and sits deliberately one block off the main 32nd Street strip rather than on it.
Order Whatever the seasonal, banchan-forward special is that week, the menu leans on rotating dishes.
It is easy to walk past since it is off the main strip, so confirm you are looking on East 31st Street, not 32nd, before you go.
- 7Koreatown · $$ · 33 St (6) · 12 W 32nd St
Grab-and-go Korean cafeteria with steam-table banchan, bibimbap, and bento boxes, mostly under $10.
Because it has run long enough as a grab-and-go steam-table counter that Koreatown regulars now call it an institution.
Order The bibimbap box or a mixed bento, both priced under $10.
Go before the lunch rush if you want the full run of banchan trays still stocked; it moves fast at a counter, not table service.
- 8Koreatown · $$ · 28 St (R W) · 312 5th Ave, 2nd Floor
Korean BBQ specialist devoted almost exclusively to gopchang, grilled beef small intestine, cooked tableside to order.
Because the menu is built almost entirely around one cut, grilled beef small intestine, cooked tableside rather than a full BBQ spread.
Order The grilled gopchang, cooked tableside, since it is the reason the menu exists.
This is a one-focus menu, so call ahead for a table if you are coming as a group; it is on the 2nd floor, not street level.
- 9Koreatown · $$ · 34 St-Herald Sq (B D F M N Q R W) · 5 W 32nd St
Also No. 7 on Best Late-Night Eats in NYC →
Late-night Korean tofu-stew (sundubu) chain flagship with an extensive banchan spread and hot stone bibimbap.
Because this branch runs Sunday through Thursday until 1am and Friday and Saturday until 5am, serving sundubu deep into the night on weekends.
Order The seafood sundubu jjigae, with the hot stone bibimbap on the side.
A solid backup if a nearby BBQ spot has already closed its kitchen for the night, it keeps later weekend hours than most of the block.
- 10Koreatown · $$ · 34 St-Herald Sq (B D F M N Q R W) · 31 W 32nd St
Korean-French bakery-cafe serving milk bread, cream buns, and pastries with Korean and Japanese flavor twists, open into the early morning hours.
Because it is a Korean-French bakery-cafe rather than a standard restaurant, still serving milk bread and cream buns into the early morning.
Order A cream bun or a loaf of milk bread, fresh depending on the hour you go.
Grab a tray and tongs at the self-serve counter, then pay at the register; it fills up in the after-dinner dessert hours.