Koreatown is transforming.
Once seen as a touristy alternative to more authentic Korean food scenes in Queens, the Midtown enclave is now being taken seriously as a dining destination.
Several new spots that have popped up in recent months are setting higher standards, earning K-Town respect on par with the Queens ‘hoods of Flushing and Murray Hill.
Like Kang Ho Dong Baekjeong, a Korean barbecue chain that launched its first Manhattan location over the winter at 1 E. 32 St. and has two-hour waits some night. And it’s been drawing celebrity chefs like Anthony Bourdain, Danny Bowien and Scott Conant.
“It’s the best Korean barbecue I’ve had outside of Korea. They are raising the bar,” says Leah Cohen, a former “Top Chef” contestant and chef at Lower East Side spot Pig & Khao. “The quality of their beef is insane.”
Koreatown — long centered on 32nd St. between Fifth and Sixth Aves., nicknamed Korea Way — has expanded in recent months. The new Baekjeong spot, for example, is located just east of Fifth Ave.
“Korean food is raising its profile, and landlords realize people are going for the food and can raise the rents,” says Matt Rodbard, a food writer who’s co-writing “Koreatown: A Cookbook,” due out in February.
According to Rodbard, Koreatown started as a modest coupling of restaurants in 1980s, mostly barbecue grills and quick rice bowl to-go spots to feed workers in the nearby Garment District. “Over time, as the neighborhood became more touristy… the restaurants switched to 24 hours and a certified nightlife destination,” Rodbard says. “My first experience [in the early 2000s] with Koreatown was at the BYOB karaoke spot on 35th St. above a crappy Irish bar. But over the past 10 years — especially in the past 12 months — the ‘hood has become a food destination.”
What sets Baekjeong’s Manhattan outpost apart from locations in Flushing and L.A. is the hiring of Deuki Hong, a chef who trained under David Chang at Momofuku and chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten of the three-Michelin-starred Jean Georges on Central Park West.
“I definitely have friends at high-end places that call it a drop-off, but there is no shame in serious barbecue,” Hong says of leaving fine dining for more casual fare.
Hong has upgraded the barbecue experience by using minimally marinated prime cuts of meat, and cuts not usually seen in Korean cuisine, like pork jowl, which is more substantial than pork belly. Sides include dishes not normally found on Korea Way, including a cold daikon radish noodle dish eaten after the meat to cool your palate, and tin “shake boxes” — traditional rice, egg and kimchi lunch boxes that are shaken to distribute the ingredients.
The buzz the restaurant is generating may continue to push Korean business owners to venture outside of Korea Way. Second and third floor spaces can command ground-floor commercial rental rates, says Christopher N. Okada, president of Okada & Company, a commercial brokerage. Upper floor office space has jumped from $25 to $40 a foot in the last few years as karaoke lounges move in alongside accountants and lawyers.
“You look at the hustle and bustle of that block and then you cross over and it seems dead,” Hong says. “We’re hoping to persuade people to walk east a little bit and change that.”
Business owners might not have a choice but to expand beyond Korea Way, says chef Hooni Kim, who opened critically acclaimed Korean restaurants Danji in Hell’s Kitchen and Hanjan in Flatiron.
To pay for rent on Korea Way, some spots have to stay open 24 hours. Like The Kunjip, a popular spot open since 2001 that serves a mix of barbecue and other dishes. In January it expanded from a 90-seat restaurant to a 150-seat space.
Gong Cha , a milk tea place opened this month on Korea Way, and draws lines out the door. Franchise owner Anchal Lamba says the Taiwanese chain has more than 600 outposts in Seoul, so nostalgic Koreans that see the shop stop in.
There’s still room for some innovation on the strip in narrow, tucked away places. Yupdduk , which opened in October, specializes in unique spicy rice cakes, sometimes smothered in mozzarella cheese and dressed with Vienna sausages.
“You’re starting to see places run by second generation Koreans that grew up here,” says Hong. “They are not fighting for the next dollar like our parents did, so they get to try more daring concepts.”
Kihyun Lee took an even bigger gamble by opening a dual-concept spot midblock on 31st St. between Fifth and Madison Aves., a block that doesn’t have too much foot traffic. During lunch, it’s Cup & Cup , a coffee shop and café, and at night it’s Take 31 , a version of a Korean pocha — a spot for drinking and eating. They ferment their own makgeolli, a rice drink, which they serve slushy style in a large Mason jar flavored with yuzu ($15.95), which pairs well with a bo ssam, slow cooked pork belly topped with shredded scallions, daikon radish and gochujang sauce, a spicy pepper paste.
The crowd is mostly young, artsy and Korean — Lee went to the Fashion Institute of Technology — and the restaurant has a midcentury esthetic. It’s doing well enough that Lee is expanding next door this summer and opening up a restaurant called Her Name Is Han , named for his mother, which will be less drink-focused and serve more complicated dishes.
Other venues outside the traditional boundaries of Koreatown are seeing success. Soju Haus , an unmarked bar on 32nd St. east of Fifth Ave., has been luring drinkers by serving up a mixture of East meets hipster. Beer is served in Mason jars, and there are a few soju based cocktails meant to be shared, like one blended with pomegranate and drinking vinegar ($24.95). Food, including spicy fried chicken ($15.95) and kimchi pancakes ($11.95), is meant to break up the long social drinking sessions. The vibe is sleek and minimal — and it’s always packed.
Korean food fans like Rodbard are excited about the possibilities in K-town. Looking at vacant furniture stores that have gone out of business on Madison Ave. between 31st and 32nd Sts., he wonders if Koreatown could grow enough to take over the leases.
“This area is so quiet now,” he says. “It could turn into a real hotspot.”
