Haenyeo — Restaurant in New York

I’ve walked past Haenyeo a lot and it’s always busy. I was expecting a lot more based on the reviews, and it’s past mentions in Michelin recommendations ( particularly excited due to the new stars awarded to Korean restaurants/chefs in NYC this year) so the experience was quite disappointing.

TL;DR Haenyeo does a good job adjusting classic Korean dishes to the American palette, but in doing so mutes away the edge and flavor that makes it special. The marketing is effective, but feels like an excuse to add upsell items, where the ingredients are forcibly tossed on top ( literally in this case). It’s like a tourist trap for those unfamiliar with Korean food, granted there aren’t many other options in Park Slope. Between the price, the atmosphere, and the taste/portions of food, it’s difficult to justify over going to Ktown.

Mixed messaging - they have a lot of branding and material about being authentic while having a modern/ playful twist. It’s at odds as most of the menu is some sort of fusion via ingredient swaps. It brings a lot of familiar exotic ingredients from the American palette to replace less approachable ones. The owner has 3? Other restaurants around NyC and has built what seems to be a very financially successful restaurant in Haenyeo. I would give the other ones a try but I wouldn’t go out of my way.

atmosphere - it looks inviting and lively on the outside. The white-washed exterior leads to a bar and restaurant stuffed to the brim with seating. It’s loud inside and the lighting was dim at our seat. The back is a bit dingy. Hard to hold a conversation, felt like a night club. Music choices were uptempo/upbeat.

service - Staff was kind and quick to respond. Dietary restrictions were asked and accommodated, but communicating that any thing was done felt like an afterthought. It was busy, and the staff covered for each other. Attentiveness was not a high priority but I could put blame on the tight seating arrangements.

food - good presentation, lackluster in flavor, forced in formulation, odd balances in quantity, execution was suspect.

we ordered 2 cocktails, school girl cocktail and pepper margarita. Both were great but not my taste preference. Gave me high hopes going into the meal.

banchan - no comments. Solid but we didn’t finish them.

kimchi ( made with fish sauce instead of shrimp paste. Mild and sweet. ) braised soy beans stir fried anchovies

We ordered apps Gamja Buchim, Dukboki Dundido and entrees Maine Uni Bibimbop and Suun Dubu.

Dukboki came out first. ( vegetarian option is just to have the chorizo on the side as its its just poured on top anyway.) The rice cakes themselves were fresh, the sauce was sweet and lacked depth. The chorizo was also mild. A lot of thought went into removing the spice element of the gochujang.

gamja buchim - The potato pancakes were crispy but bland. There was a thin slice of tuna sashimi on top that killed the crispy texture while adding nothing except to hide the small amount of crème fraiche, which also had no flavor. I also don’t understand when restaurants bring out 2 portions for 2 guests when the table next to them gets 3. The inconsistency bothers me when thinking about plating and price.

uni bibimbap - presentation was great. I liked the creamy texture added by the uni. The mushrooms were a nice flavor profile, and the various elements were there but light. Ie sesame. There was a surprising lack of rice to bowl ratio. there also wasn’t much balance or flavor but the combination of textures made it my favorite of the night. Which doesn’t say much because I wouldn’t order it again.

suun dubu - came with more rice than the bibimbap. The soup broth had good sea flavor but was spicy. Clams had some grit and there were shell pieces mixed into the soft tofu. Hopefully just an...

I've been here twice now - once when they had just opened, and last night. After we sat down yesterday, all I could think looking at the menu was that I'd be leaving with enough tasty looking untried dishes to justify a third visit. Unfortunately I won't be making that third trip back.

The first time we went, we were sat next to a table who knew the owner and were being treated a little. Whereas our food took a while to arrive and felt a bit stilted, but the owner noticed and apologised and gave us a couple of free drinks and a dessert. We put the long waits down to opening jitters, but were impressed enough to want to return once they'd had enough time to iron out a few creases.

Fast forward a few months to last night. We sit down, order a couple of drinks and our food, and have to wait over 30 minutes for one of our small plates to arrive, suggesting the kitchen still hadn't figured things out. Although that may not be the case - yet again, we were sat next to a table who knew the owner. Despite sitting down after us, they had 5 small plates arrive practically immediately - which makes me think that maybe the kitchen is fine, our table was just bumped because the friends took priority. We ordered one of the same dishes (fundido) and despite the other table already having 4 dishes, they were given theirs while we continued to wait for any of our dishes to arrive.

Our two small plates eventually arrived (with an unimpressive gap between the two) - the pork ribs had rich and succulent meat that came right off the bone, and who can avoid the rice cake fundido? We hoped that things were getting back on track when the garnishes for the main dishes were put down shortly after we'd finished. Unfortunately it was another 20 minute wait. The jalapeno fried chicken was another solid dish - juicy, tender chicken with a nice crispy batter and a sauce with just the right amount of heat. The baby lettuce salad was a tasty and good value solution to our 'we can't just order meat dishes' conundrum.

As soon as we'd been waiting a while, our waitress routinely refused to make eye contact or ask us how things were - despite asking other tables around us that very question - and there was never an acknowledgement of the wait(s). It baffles me when service is this bad - all we needed was an apology, a free drink, or something taken off the menu and we'd probably be happy to give it another go - but I felt early on that she'd just decided to write us off for the night and pretend we weren't there. You could be forgiven for thinking we've just been unlucky, but ultimately the staff did nothing whatsoever to try and make an obviously bad situation better.

If you want delicious Korean food in Park Slope, go here - we really wanted to love this place and have it become a fixture in our local restaurants as the food more than justifies it. But every now and then you come across a restaurant that has such terrible service you leave not caring about how good...

I do not understand how this restaurant is rated this highly on Google. We dined in as a party of three on a Saturday and everything was just off. They were understaffed and service and kitchen was extremely slow.

The tables are way too close together and you are sitting on top of other customers. I do not want to hear what Bob is doing for work but unfortunately it’s not possible to tune him out when his table is two feet next to you. We arrived at 7:30 and it took thirty minutes for appetizers to arrive and more than an hour until entrees.

I can deal with slow service if the food is good but my god is this beyond average. Their menu is overpriced beyond belief for the portion size. $17 for a pancake that is deep fried and the size of an appetizer plate. It was under seasoned and even the dipping sauce lacked any flavor. Their chicken wings were $16 for 4 wings, two drums and two flats. This was the only good item we had. The wings were juicy, crunchy and had the right amount of seasoning.

Now onto the entrees! We ordered the Bulgogi, uni bibimbap and spicy pork. The pork wasn’t spicy and the bulgogi looked like it was boiled. The two meat entrees was served with a bowl of rice and 3 pieces of lettuce and two shiso leaves to wrap your meats in. Their accompanied kimchi was just bland as well. I will say the uni bibimbap was decent, definitely the best item out of the three.

Their "sesame" creme brulee has ZERO flavor of sesame. It's just a plain creme brulee. Pretty disappointing.

Having an app and entree and dessert and not even half full is infuriating. I cannot in good conscience recommend this restaurant to anyone. Take your money elsewhere where it will be appreciated and you won't be taken advtange of as a clueless ATM while they serve you mediocre food. Do...