Thanks to the #EATWNYC challenge by Mr. Dan Vineberg, fellow travel addict and South Korea enthusiast, I was on the search to find the best South Korean food in NYC. And boyyyy did I find it. But it wasn’t easy. In fact, it was the hardest challenge yet.
WHY, you might ask? No, not because there isn’t a surplus of South Korean restaurants jam packed into this city. In fact, there is an entire neighborhood full of them! It’s called Koreatown, and you can’t stub your toe without running into one. However, to find the best? I had to push a few buttons. Literally.
Picture this. You walk into a discrete business-looking office building. You greet the dude in the collared shirt standing at the little desk-like podium. And then you look around. “Huh. Funny. This doesn’t look like a South Korean restaurant…”
You pace around the lobby for a little bit longer looking for some secret door that says Seoul Garden. Nothing.
The desk dude is staring at you with a little smirk on his face. He knows something you don’t, but he’s not going to say anything until you do. After all, how else is he going to get entertainment from staring at a door all day?
“Um hi! Excuse me, is there a South Korean restaurant here? Seoul Garden, it’s called? ”
His smirk continues. “Into the elevator and up.”
HAHA. Oh…
The elevator opens, and the smell of Korean BBQ hits me like the smell of bacon waking you up from a hangover. YEA. I found the place.
I followed the lovely Korean lady to my seat, and the fun began. She turned up the heat (literally…there are gas charcoal grill tops on every table), and got orderin’!
First thing’s first. Soju. The Korean version of saki. Careful kids, this stuff is strong.
Obviously, I had to order the classic Korean Beef Short Rib BBQ, aka galbi. 
And shrimp.
Decked out with all the Banchan, or (awesome FREE) sides, of course. Low and behold…
So, what the heck are all these little side dishes of veggie-liciousness?
Pickled everything, or kimchi. Kimchi just means the way a food (usually a veggie) is prepared. How? By you guessed it…pickling it! 
The most common form is pickled cabbage, as seen above in multiple different forms. Then there’s sukjunamul, a.k.a pickled bean sprouts
and japchae, or a mix of stir fried noodles, steak and veggies.
And don’t forget to add my personal fave, the ssamjang, a spicy sauce made with a base of bean paste, red chili and garlic. OH. And last but not least, there are the very important raw garlic cloves. And yes, you eat them whole.
Did I mention this is NOT a first date place?
Finally, it’s a wrap! Roll it up into some lettuce, and chow down.
It’s almost as good as shtuping a nice tuchis.
…And don’t forget the complimentary oranges at the end.
After all, if orange is the new black, then purple is the new Asian.
Do you want to go to Seoul Garden? Here are the deets!
WHERE: Koreatown! 34 W 32nd St #2, New York, NY 10001
CONTACT: (212) 736-9002
HOURS: Monday- Friday 11 am to 12 am, and Saturday- Sunday 11 am- 2am
Now, it’s my favorite part! Comment time. What’s YOUR experience with Korean BBQ? If you’ve never tried it, on a scale of 1-10, how much are you dying to try it now?
AND FINALLY.
I have my end-of-the-post riddle for you guys. I was dared by a dear friend to plug 3 mystery sentences into this post. I have weird friends, I know. Comment below if you think you know what the 3 sentences are. And if you get it right? YOU WIN! Here’s a hint. It’s NOT “The rodeo clown bandits stole my VHS copy of the disco sucks propaganda shorts from my fannypack on saint Beatrice drive in Shamokin, Pennsylvania after the ’07 monster truck rally.” Definitely, not.
Orange is the new black
Pickle me i dare you
It’s a wrap
How did I do Casie?
-B