Antoya Korean BBQ — Restaurant in New York

This place was highly recommend and highly praised by a friend of mine, so when i had a NYC layover, i made sure to come and visit the place.

As soon as i approached the door, i was greeted by a friendly hostess that showed me right away to my table, she asked me if this was my first time eating here, where i'm from and she even showed me where the restroom is just in case i need to freshen up before eating.

i was very impressed with the decoration and it's not very smoky nor does it smell like smoke, not like the other KBBQ restaurants i've been too.

Within a minute of sitting down, i was approached and welcomed by two of the serving staff, Carl and Ace. They were very friendly and gave me a whole bottle of cold water (Which i needed, coz it was hot in NYC that day) and a complimentary Sangria (Which was amazing). I told them that this is my first time eating here and asked them for any recommendation. Carl got down to my eye level and told me everything that they offer and gave me his recommendation, since i was the only one, he recommended the Korean Chicken Wings for Appetizer, the Korean Pork Belly with the Egg Souffle and the Gyoza.

Within a minute of taking my order, Carl and Ace came back with a plethora of Korean side dishes. They brought me some Kimchi, Potato Salad, Anchovy Salad, Pickled Ferns, Pickled Radish,and some Pickled Spinach. Followed by the Chicken Wings, Gyoza ,the beautiful cut Pork Belly, the egg souffle and some rice. There was a LOT of food, i was very surprised and good thing that i didn't had anything to eat that day.

Carl then asked my how i like my pork belly (Crispy) and started to cook it. I wasn't really used to the serving stuff cooking it for me, cause usually other KBBQ just leaves the plate of meat to your table and leave. This whole time, Carl and Ace was talking to me and asking me questions and making me laugh and were just pure amazing, they were so much fun to be with and it just made my visit more special.

Carl made sure that my pork belly was perfectly crispy to my satisfaction and he even made sure that they were seasoned right. He gave me recommendations on what side dish to eat it with, at first i was hesitant to try the Anchovy Salad but with the Pork Belly, the kimchi and the radish, it was AMAZING!!!

The Korean Chicken Wings and Gyoza were perfect as well. The Chicken Wings was not too spicy and the Gyoza was cooked perfectly and partnered with the complimentary Korean Sangria just made it more perfect!!!!!

I walked in to this place, HUNGRY, HOT and TIRED from the all walking and walked out FULL, HAPPY and REFRESHED.

I definitely recommend this place to ANYONE....now, i know why my friend talks highly about this place and now i know why, this place deserves 10 STARS...NOT 5!!!!

CARL AND ACE, Both of you were amazing and hope to see you both again when i come back for a visit...Thank you for taking...

always a delight to come to Korea town located unofficially at the start of 32nd and 6th Ave. Back in the 90s, our family would have a fav restaurant that we would go to and bring relatives and friends. However, it closed about 10 years ago so we had to find new places to eat in that neighborhood. Lucky for us, we pretty much stick to the same menu and from past experience, we have enjoyed our meals. This time around, we decided on lunch at Antoya Korean BBQ. Actually, we did reserve only a few days ago so most if not all were either booked or didn't open till 5pm. And we had a choice here to either sit indoors or outdoor seating. We chose to reserve outdoor seating and when we got there, it was the right choice as indoor seating was packed and for the first 30 mins, we were the only ones outdoors (which they warmed up with personal heaters). The menu was available by scanning a barcode but it didn't load properly so waitress gave us a menu and mentioned that dinner was available all day weekends. We placed on one order of the Antoya Galbi which is marinated Korean traditional beef short rib, two orders of Bulgogi which is marinated sliced rib eye. We also got a side order of Beoseot Japchae which is stir-fried glass noodles with mixed vegetables. We were also eyeing the Nokdu Jeon which is a pancake but they didn't have the ingredient (scallion). As we were waiting for our order, I noticed that unlike other outdoor dining sheds, there were no cars on the street. Evidently, they had closed the entrance to 32nd and 6th and this made spacing of restaurants outdoor dining look much better with larger spaces. Appetizers came first and then our main course order. So, how was it? The appetizers were good, the meat was excellent, so juicy and tender. For the bulgogi, we actually thought initially, we had overorded, but we actually finished the meats. The Japchea was OK too. Had wanted to order desserts after a great meal but unfortunately, restaurant wasn't serving dessert. We did notice this of many restaurants during covid. All in all, I would recommend Antoya as a place for good Korean food. There are a lot more choices on the menu though as I mentioned previously, usually just stick to tried and tested and has...

The last time I went to this restaurant was when it was still known as Samwon Garden and I remember the food being excellent. Thus when I was looking for a place to host a lunch with coworkers, most of whom had never done Korean bbq before, I decided to do it here. Unfortunately, my memories duped me as I had such a disappointing experience. Biggest thing was that we were a table of 8 people and they squeezed us into a booth and then added a small table on the side where two of us would sit. However there needed to be a gap in the table so that the server could cook the food so essentially two of my party was separated from the rest of the group. They warned me that they would seat us like this when I called to make the reservation and I explicitly told them I didn’t want the table set up this way, to which they agreed. However they completely neglected my wishes and set it up that way anyway. We didn’t have a lot of time so we proceeded with the lunch but it was very upsetting to not have our entire group together and to have the servers back to a couple of our parties while he grilled.

The food was typical for K-bbq and not as outstanding as I remember Samwon to be. Thus, I would not come back to this restaurant as Antoya doesn't appear to be any different from any number of Korean bbq restaurants that line 32nd St and at least at Jongro or Kunjip they give you steamed egg or tofu soup on the house and enough rice to eat with your meals rather than being charged $4.99 for the egg or $3.99 for rice that was deemed to not accompany the number of meat entrees ordered. This place is definitely not of value for the price and the service and customer consideration is completely lacking. When I asked for a manager to discuss my concerns about the table arrangements, he never showed up though I was told he would. If there's one thing Koreans value is good service and this ain't it. There’s too many other places to go for anyone to spend their hard earned money on a restaurant that cares for nothing for customers. Go...