Parksanbal — Restaurant in New York

Parksanbal is a small, cash-only spot that keeps things incredibly simple , it only serves one dish: Korean beef soup. Your only decision is whether you want it spicy or not spicy. That’s it. And honestly, that’s part of the charm.

The soup itself is rich and comforting. Simmered for hours using beef bones, the broth comes out cloudy and flavorful, with a deep, savory taste. There’s a mix of soft noodles, tender rice, and just a modest amount of meat. While it’s not overloaded with beef, the overall balance of flavors and textures works well. The rice in the broth especially stands out soft, savory, and filling.

Korean beef soup, known as gukbap (국밥), is a soul-warming dish with centuries of history. “Guk” means soup and “bap” means rice, and this meal has long been a staple in Korean households for its heartiness and restorative qualities. The version served at Parksanbal draws from the gomguk or gomtang tradition a milky broth simmered from beef bones for hours (or even days), extracting collagen and marrow to give it that rich, comforting depth.

Alongside the soup, you’ll get a small spread of traditional Korean side dishes: roasted seaweed, a fluffy Korean omelette, ssamjang (a soybean chili paste), Korean hot peppers, and kkakdugi a cubed radish kimchi that adds a nice crunch and tangy kick to the meal.

This dish has deep roots in Korean food culture. Known as gukbap (literally “soup with rice”), it’s a staple comfort food across the country, especially popular in cities like Busan. It’s working-class food in the best way humble, filling, and made with love and patience.

The space is pretty minimal no frills, just a few tables and a calm, unfussy vibe. It’s $20 for the set, which feels reasonable for the portion and overall experience. Definitely a good pick if you’re looking for a quiet, solid meal with...

First of all, they only do one item here in two variations, spicy or non-spicy. Fantastic food for the winter, gets super busy, super quickly so it's best to come at opening (10am). The space is small, probably sitting only 12-15 people, typical hole-in-the-wall restaurant. Pricing is very cheap for what you're getting, especially since Korean food is pricey by default, currently $14.99. You get a handful of /side dishes that you can get replenished at no extra cost (usually the norm for most Korean restaurants). Service was quick and friendly.

On to the food..... Go with the spicy version, it's very mild and adds another level of flavour (yes you white folk ;)). The beef flavour permeates throughout the soup BUT I think a fattier section of the cow would be a better pick, the flavours of marrow from the bones didn't really stick out in the broth base. This would have really added depth to the flavour profile, more fatty oils and marrow please. More glass noodles too ^^. The beef wasn't melt-in-your-mouth slowcooked but wasn't stringy either. Seasoning was good and didn't leave you desperate for water, I really like that the fats and other floating particulates were skimmed from the top, leaving a clean soup to slurp away.

I actually loved the side dishes, be sure to wrap some omelette and rice in the seaweed sheets. Take a bite of the chilli and follow it with your mini seaweed wrap you've just made,......delicious! They have self-serve water and tea station, so that was great too. Would definitely be back and highly recommend as a food venture to others.

P.s. there's a place called HanSol next door that sells pre-packages Korean snacks and meals at very reasonable prices so check...

This restaurant was doing everything right until the very end when it was time to pay. My wife and I were told by the waitress that only cash was accepted, even though the door had a sign showing a list of accepted credits cards. Given that I did not have enough cash on me, I walked a few blocks to the local bank to make a withdrawal. Upon returning, I observed an interaction between a customer and one of the Korean managers, where the customer pulled out a credit card asking in Korean if he could use it to pay, and the manager responding with an affirming head nod. Taken back by what I just saw, I asked the waitress once again if they take credit cards, and this time she gives me a different story, saying she is not sure if the credit card machine is working. Given the sudden change in payment options, I proceed to use the tap to pay option and sure enough the transaction went through without any issue.

What is frustrating about this restaurant is that the food is good, and the service is excellent, but having one standard for Korean speakers and another for non Korean speakers is flat out wrong. For me to take a 10 minute walk to the bank to get cash, only to find out that I was lied to left an incredibly horrible impression upon me and my wife. I would have happily given 5 stars, but not after the debacle my family and I had to go through. To be fair, I gave an extra star because the food and service while...