Hanbat

53 West 35th Street between Fifth and Sixth
212/629.5588
about $30 for two, with two drinks, without tip
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If you tell any New Yorker Korean that you like Hanbat, they’ll tell you that it’s “peasant food” because their vegetables are traditionally from the mountains of Korea. I love the bibimbap, or mixed meal, which is a large bowl of rice topped with different kinds of root vegetables, shredded beef and fried egg, all brought together with gochujang or chili pepper paste. It can be served either hot or cold. I prefer it hot because I love watching the egg cook on top of the newly-cooked rice. My tongue burns every time I try to eat the first few spoonfuls but I can’t help myself from digging in.

Peasant food has never been this good.

Gam Mee Ok / Gahm Mi Oak

43 West 32nd Street between Fifth and Sixth
212/695.4113
about $30 for two solontangs, with two drinks, with tip
♥ ♥

Solontang is bone marrow soup that the Koreans have perfected. Gam Mee Ok slow-cooks beef bone marrows in large vats of water until the broth becomes milky white. It is served in a clay pot with rice and noodles and all you have to do is sprinkle it with scallions and add some salt to bring out the beef taste.

Gam Mee Ok also makes the best radish kimchi in New York City’s Koreablock.

Related post/s:
I love Han Bat three blocks away