u/DinerEnBlanc

Impressive plating but somewhat disappointing food for the price. Good, no doubt, but for a restaurant that has a Michelin star in Houston, it didn’t live up to expectations. I feel like I can get similar offerings at Kanyakumari at half the price. The standout dishes were the Black Onion & Paneer Rizala. The former is a battered and fried onion ring stuffed with potatoes and garlic; essentially a dressed up street food, but a delicious one. The latter is a pleasantly rosey curry with a ton of caramelized onions. We ordered a way too oily paratha to go with it. Other items like the paani puri, tandoori octopus, and lamb biryani ranged from just ok to good. Their supposedly award winning dessert, the Mishti Doi, is a complete let down. It’s great for photos, but the small dollop frozen yogurt could only do so much to offset the incredibly cloying almond “cake.” They call it a cake, but it was much closer to a halwa. Overall, great for the gram and good but unimpressive food from this Houston transplant.

https://www.musaaferrestaurants.com/musaafer-nyc

A somewhat casual and comparatively wallet-friendly restaurant from the people who brought us Atomix. Like most of their offerings, there’s some Korean influence. I took my sister here for her birthday and we both came away quite quite happy. The standout dish was definitely the Ox Tongue. It came with a wonderfully earthy romesco that paired very well with the fragrant sweetness from the freshly grated wasabi. The potato three ways and mutton chops round out my favorites. Though in hindsight I wouldn’t have picked two red meats. Our meal ended up being a bit too rich. Other things we ordered include kimchi cheese fries, some grilled shrimp in a smoked corn mayo, popcorn ice cream, a fig custard with a grape granita, & 2 drinks. We also got some bread & butter for free. I’d be remiss to not mention the incredibly warm staff who were just attentive enough without being intrusive. I can tell they’re going for that homey vibe and they absolutely achieved it.

https://somssi.nyc

Full disclosure, this is not a ranking of ALL dim sum in Brooklyn, but simply of the places I’ve been to. Even then, take it with a grain of a salt cause I did not go to all these places in a single month. If your favorite spot isn’t mentioned, drop a rec! And yes, I still need to go to New Phoenix.

• East Harbor Seafood (pictured) - A favorite for good reason. I feel like the best dim sum isn’t just about the quality of food, but also consistency. Though this is true for every restaurant, it’s especially true for dim sum due to the frequency of rotating chefs and no parlor is more consistent than East Harbor Seafood. It also passes in spades for its atmosphere; featuring push cart ladies that still loudly promotes their goods and customers that will fight you for the last plate of fresh egg tarts. It’s everything you want in dim sum.
• Canto Blu - New kid on the block, but they’re starting off strong. Comparable to East Harbor for their savory goods with their wonderfully springy dumpling skins and velvety steam rice rolls, though faltering a bit with some of their pastries. Their egg tarts and similar offerings are simply a step behind East Harbor’s; still serviceable, but far from the best. Push carts service is also available here, but it lacks the same energy. They do have East Harbor beat in terms of variety though.
• Bamboo Garden - What was my one of my least favorite dim sum parlor has become one of my favorites. While their dumplings aren’t as plump as the ginormous offerings at the East Harbor, it approaches them in quality. There’s also some small consistency issues on the weekdays, but that’s to be expected since they’re not turning over food as quickly.
• Golden Palace - A dim sum parlor that really struggles with consistency issues. My guess is a constantly rotating kitchen staff cause the quality varies by a wide margin. You could be having the silkiest rice roll you’ve ever had, or the most glue-y. It’s a toss up. They’re the only option in the immediate area though, so people who live here have little choice.
• Empire Dim Sum/Good Day - A very run of the mill dim sum restaurant and the complete opposite of Golden Palace. For better or for worse, they’re very consistent in their mediocrity. They do have a good variety of options though.
• New Pacific Palace - It hasn’t been the same since it was sold off. I have a lot of fond memories of the old Pacificana, but this new spot isn’t remotely comparable. Its menu is pretty barebones too. Similar to Empire, their dim sum isn’t bad, just average. It’s their smaller menu that puts them a spot below
• Park Asia (with a caveat) - Used to be my runner up to East Harbor, and it still would be in my top 3 if weren’t for their business practices. While good on weekends, dining here on weekdays can be downright abysmal due to their habit of serving leftover dim sum, particularly for orders to go. Unless stodgy and mealy dumplings is your thing, avoid Park Asia; at least on weekdays. They would be way higher up on this list if they would stop serving leftovers cause otherwise it’s as good as Bamboo Garden.
• Grand Royal Palace - Yeah, this place is terrible. It’s the only dim sum parlor in the area where no one spoke a word of Cantonese. That’s not to say that only Cantonese people can make good Dim Sum, but their offerings are just flat out bad. The rice noodles were weirdly cakey and served with a soy sauce that was much too salty, & their dumpling skins lacked the elasticity you’d expect from a fresh one. But the worst aspect was the complete lack of food. The place was 100% packed and they had 2 push carts circling their dining room. Most tables had customers with no food. This was the first time I went out for dim sum and couldn’t get anything except for har gow and a steamed rice noodle.

KBBQ is a hot topic within NYC. With so many options, it’s hard to settle on a consensus, but I think I’ve eaten at enough spots by now to give my not so definitive list. Note that I’ve not been to any of the options in Queens and plan on going to Gaonuri & Bom in the city later this year. Also open to recs.

• HOWOO - Possibly my favorite high end spot due to the ease of reservation, meat quality, and a robust selection of leafy greens that come with everything from endive to perilla leaves. The value is there despite the higher price tag, and the beautiful dining room makes it a great choice for occasions.
• Yoon Haeundae Galbi - Possibly the best value KBBQ in Manhattan. Excellent cuts of beef & a good selection of greens at very agreeable prices. There was a time when they slimmed down their menu because of sourcing issues, but it seems like they’ve rectified the situation. Also, they do have a tendency to rush tables, so don’t get too comfortable.
• Nubiani - Similar to HOWOO, albeit a bit more casual. I think I generally had a better time at HOWOO, but it’s a better fit for a celebration. For regular outings, I’d probably do Nubiani. Their small selection of leafy greens also brings it down a notch for me.
• Aghassi Gochang - I know about Gopchang Story, but I haven’t been, so this will be my Gopchang restaurant of choice. What you get is a very good selection of Gopchang sets as well as some more agreeable offal-less sets for the less adventurous. The dining room is bright and spacious; a nice change from the usual ambience. Like Nubiani, their leafy greens are a bit lacking.
• COTE - Used to be at the top of my list, but it’s lost some luster. I still love the ambience, but the Butcher’s fest seems a bit lacking now that we have so many high end options for KBBQ. It’s not like I weighed the meat, but I feel like I get way more for my money at HOWOO. My last visit actually left me feeling a little hungry. Strange.
• Jongro/Jongro Gopchang - The quintessential KBBQ in NYC. Yes, you can argue that it’s kinda middle of the road nowadays, but it’s also the baseline for good KBBQ. Their Gopchang space is pretty much what you’d expect; similar options with a focus on gopchang. IIRC, you can still order the regular sets since they’re in the same building. I generally prefer Aghassi over it, but there’s this one caramelized beef intestine dish they make that keeps me coming back.
• Jeong Yuk Jeom - One of the newer high end options in the city. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but something was kinda lacking about this place. I think the service was just a tad too casual for what’s seemingly a high end spot. It’s pretty much HOWOO, but slightly worse in every way.
• ATTI - They wanted to emulate the COTE experience but it’s not quite there. Still very good bbq, but I feel like the lack of customers has lead to a decline in overall quality over the years. It’s in a pretty bad location for a restaurant.
• Antoya - A surprisingly solid spot on the Main Street of Koreatown. For the price, there are better options, but if the wait is too long elsewhere, Antoya is an adequate substitute.
• Don’s Bogam - A shell of its former self. It’s used to be a very solid spot that had a huge selection of leafy greens to accompany the meat. To this day it was the biggest variety of greens I’ve seen in KBBQ. Sadly, the pandemic happened and they’ve never been the same. The BBQ is just alright for the prices you pay.
• Let’s Meat - Very middle of the road; nothing offensive and nothing stood out. A great AYCE spot for hungry students who want to stuff their faces on a budget. Unfortunately, I no longer have the stomach for it.
• Insa - I started this list and I knew I would put this place on the bottom. Now, I’m not a purist, but this was the only time I went to a KBBQ place and felt like something was wrong. Something about the atmosphere and the banchan selection gave it away. Like the tables were way too far apart. The dining room was weirdly cold and lacking in that communal vibe. I asked my waitress if this place was owned by a white guy and she reluctantly said yes. Listen, I’m not even someone who needs a cuisine to be authentic. When it comes to overrepresented cuisines, I actually prefer they branch out and try something new. Recontexualize it. Get creative. But when you take aspects of a cuisine away, you need to replace it with something else. In Insa’s case, they didn’t replace it with anything. It was KBBQ minus most of the things that made it special. With that said, our server was great. lol

No longer with us, but I have to shoutout Baekjeong; an animal house of a KBBQ restaurant that left me with many fond memories.

I grabbed a quick bite here after helping a friend break down her booth at the end of Anime NYC. They have some kinda accolade from a Thai organization that caught my attention at the door. Unfortunately, I neglected to note the organization’s name and I can’t find any information online about it. It’s an upscale spot that doesn’t shy from serving Thai with a bit of heat. While not as spicy as say Ugly Baby, it’s certainly spicier than what you’d expect from an upscale joint. I was dining alone so I didn’t get to try too much of the menu, but I quite enjoyed the duck curry, which was probably the chunkiest Thai curry I’ve ever had. I can’t say I’m a huge fan of their sago dumplings or drinks though, both were way too sugary. Their dessert selection was also a bit of a letdown, with the only options being 3 iterations of a much too stiff mousse cake. Overall, a solid spot, but I would stick to their entrees if I were to go again.

a Mod

https://www.instagram.com/stories/celinekim218/