Joomak Banjum — Restaurant in New York

Terrible service. Our reservation was at 8:00, and we only got seated at 8:25 because the previous party was still there when we arrived. Our waiter did not come to take our order until 8:35. There were a lot of inattentive staff walking around mindlessly without paying any attention to us. No one refilled our water. The waiter disappeared after taking our order and didn’t even bother to ask us if we’d like something to drink. In fact, it was confusing WHO even was our waiter. There were at least four different people tending our table - including the front desk guy and the sommelier. No one actually cared though. The courses came in strange intervals. There was a large group of people waiting for their table next to us literally just standing in the middle of the restaurant for 30+ minutes. The waiters seemed like they have never waited tables before and always looked like they had no idea what they were doing. Only our sommelier was aware of the embarrassingly chaotic situation. The owner only apologized superficially after hearing our complaint without doing anything to improve the situation. Guy was just like, “ok, sos. Bye!” Then proceeded to sit down at another table, gesturing at us in a manner that screams “we had some bad customers tonight.” Also hilariously, we had a spoon and a pair of chopsticks for a grilled fish dish- so I was comically using my spoon as a knife. And when I asked for fork and knife (I am Chinese so I know how to use chopsticks, lmao), the waiter said “oh we never had complaints with this before.” and then they put a knife on the left side of the table and fork on the right, like que paso hermano For $160 a person and bottles of wine starting at $80, this service was outrageous. - Not to mention the food was bland, tasteless and overall unappetizing. The caviar was warm, the mushroom was uncooked, and the fish was bitter. Even worse was the wagyu with truffle dish for an additional $200. Not only was the amount of truffles embarrassingly little (tiny amount of shaved flakes rather than the slices you’d expect for the price) the 2 tiny portions of wagyu beef was not only bland and lacking in the premium wagyu flavor one would expect, but just downright rubbery and bad. One could get more flavor from chewing on an eraser. Would most certainly not recommend. when we confronted the waiter about the absolutely disappointing wagyu that we couldn’t even finish. The waiter had the audacity to say we couldn’t finish the dish because we were full. Unbelievable lack of accountability. to top off all the unpleasantness. Our dessert served in PLASTIC spoons. Can you believe it?! At a restaurant charging this price. It was just so unbelievably unprofessional and I would say Joomak is the worst restaurant I have ever been to in my entire life. It kind of shocked me as I never thought an Asian restaurant would be so shamelessly bad and unapologetic to their...

I really wanted to love this experience but a few things prevented me for ever wanting to go back. We ordered the 7 course dinner tour. Let's start with the great---the cod, the noodles, the eclair and the bah mi were amazing. Balanced, creative flavors that worked very well. Now the rest: The chefs welcome bite and a about 1/2 of the courses confused our palette big time. We are also not cream lovers in texture or as an overused ingredient (all of which this menu has plenty, sadly). The desserts also didn't blend well. ie: Tomatos on a creamy dessert? Our pallete was confused for about 50% of the entire dinner flight. Service was rushed and the price tag here (with no alcohol and NO add ons, which there were plenty to be had) was close to $500 for two (with tip). Crazy! The restaurant was a bit brazen to add a scalop for $50 each (which we declined) or even trying to sell us chocolate truffles or a fun chocolate bar ($45 additional) WHILE we were in the middle of our flight. Salesey! That left a very bad taste in our mouths. Even the after dinner hot tea was giving as a prefilled little cup vs. having an individual kettle so I can refill it (like most restauants do). We felt nickel and dimed and like the staff was encouraging getting as much money out of you as possible. At this unjustifiable price tag, perhaps GIVE not sell the mini truffle box as a parting gift after the meal. Make your customer feel special and that YOU want them back. Reduce your prices by 30%, slow down, and increase your portion sizes especially on the protein+cod selections. We left sort of hungry and unsatisfied, and almost $500 in the hole ---after 1.15 hours. (we asked them to slow down too late in game). Did the Michelin star in 2022 go to their heads?! If you want an experience that will leave you wanting more, go to Jua instead. It was amazing at about 30% the cost and you'll want to go back. ...

Absolutely lovely and delicious meal! While I am no food critic or even a self defined "Foodie" I have been lucky enough to dine at quite a few Michelin star restaurants around the world. I am not going to be your uber-picky reviewer looking for some F up with a placement setting or something trivial to ding in a review. I just expect my meal at a top rated restaurant to be unique and thoroughly enjoyable. Joomak Banjum was exactly that. The combinations with almost each course were truly creative and unexpected. With both chefs coming from pastry chef backgrounds the sweet(ish) with savory came out in most of the dishes and my GF and I just loved it. We had the 4 course menu which is great because you can each pick from 4 choices for each course and try more of the menu without having to do the 11 course prefix. And the portions are larger than what you typically get at a high end tasting restaurant.

Highlights for us were the Hiramasa Eclair (yellowtail in a raspberry euclair!), the beef tartar banh mi, Octopus in Koshikari rice, Duck leg and the black cod. We got the lamb which was cooked to perfection but I felt was lacking a bit in overall flavor from the sauces they include on the dish. Dessert was yummy though my GF wasn't thrilled with the pop-rocks effect in the Curry Leaf Curd, but liked the curd. I had the boston cream pie which was a fun deconstructed take on an old school east coast dessert. The black cardamom ice cream on that dish was amazing (and I am quite a snoot on ice cream as I make my own at home).

The entire wait staff were so friendly and attentive. If you want a foofy place where only your server and the sommelier speaks to you then this isn't it. The staff will engage if you do which makes the meal feel more inclusive rather than just exclusive...