Seoul Garden

34 West 32nd Street, 2nd Floor

(between Broadway and Fifth Avenue)

Found my new favorite Korean restaurant!

The restaurant itself is spacious, with generously spaced tables (so you’re neither on top of your neighbor nor listening to their private conversation). It is also not as crowded as many other K-Town restaurants. Perhaps because it’s located on the second floor, it may not get as many street walk-ins.

As such, they do not rush you out. And as opposed to many other K-Town restaurants, they seat you even if your entire party had not arrived. Due to traffic issues, my dinner date actually showed up a half hour late and the staff never made me feel uncomfortable or force me to order anything while I was seated at the table.

The food itself was delicious. To start we ordered the seafood and scallion pancake. Unbelievably good! The seafood was particularly fresh.

As the weather was rather hot and humid, I went for a bowl of nang myun: buckwheat vermicelli noodle in homemade beef broth served cold. 

Refreshing and filling. It definitely hit the spot!

My friend ordered the seafood fried rice topped with an egg. I’ve typically seen it placed literally on top of the rice, so thought it was a neat idea to place the egg on the side!

Of course, once we ordered, the banchan were immediately placed on the table. It was good, but I wish there were some more interesting offerings.

To wash it all down, I ordered a cold can of Hite beer, which I found a smidge too bitter.

Reminder: The restaurant is on the second floor, so when looking for the signage, look up!

Pros:

Friendly service.

Clean bathroom facilities.

Cons:

Better variety of banchan.

Final Thoughts

I will be a frequent customer, as the food is good, there’s no waiting for seating, and the staff is friendly.