SEA by Jungsik — Restaurant in New York

Came here during their grand opening week and was excited to try out the food since it is Jungsik's sister restaurant so I knew the food had to be delicious!!

The decor of the restaurant def has South East Asian influence. Starting from the lightings above the bar section to the wooden table!

When seated I tried their mocktail version of thai ice tea which was delicious and not too sweet which i liked. And I also tried their coconut water which was probably the cleanest and most natural coconut water i have ever tasted.

for apps the seafood tower and the prawn roll are a must get! the visual of the seafood tower is eye opening and the condiments that accompany the seafood tower were very delicious! you can tell the seafoods were very fresh based on taste and visual! also the prawn roll was super super delicious!! it's best eaten when you use the greens that it comes with as a wrap and eat it all together!! and although it is fried, it doesn't feel heavy at all!!

the heritage chicken was absolutely amazing! probably one of the best chicken i've ever had! it was super super juicy and the seasoning was out of this world! i would most definitely come back just to eat this chicken! imo excellent chicken is hard to come by since when you fry chicken the meat and become very dry but this heritage chicken was on a different level! the skills from running a decade+ long 2-Michelin star restaurant is shown in this chicken dish! A MUST BUY!!!!

The crab fried rice was also amazing! I am personally a fried rice lover and this dish is definitely on my top 3! the egg omelette was a unique spin and it added a layer of flavoring and texture that complemented the rice and crab really well! the seasoning was perfect and I literally couldn't put my spoon down after taking the first bite. it was light but umami at the same time! big props to the Chef and the team for creating this amazing dish! ALSO A MUST BUY! definitely won't be disappointed!

Lastly the coconut ice cream was absolutely superb! my only regret is that i didn't order 2 of it! the texture was light but the flavor was powerful! you can definitely taste the South East Asian influence in this dessert with the toasted coconut bits on top with vietnamese coffee sauce eaten together with the coconut ice cream. it might be a small dessert but definitely packs a powerful punch and will leave you with wanting to eat more!

Overall was very impressed my experience at SEA! Props to the entire staff at SEA! The skills to cook and serve so many delicious dishes is shown and I am excited to come back again to try the rest of the...

This restaurant is a Southeast Asian-themed spot opened by the team behind the Michelin-starred Jungsik. Overall, many of the dishes and their presentation reflect the qualities of a fine dining experience, though there are still areas for improvement, particularly in both food and service.

In terms of food, the Sriracha ribs were excellent—well-seasoned and cooked to the right texture. The skirt steak was another standout, both in flavor and presentation, offering a refreshing and memorable experience. However, some dishes could use refinement. For example, the fried chicken was a bit overly salty and came across as somewhat messy in execution.

Service is another area that could be improved. When we walked in, although there were open tables, the staff first asked for our names and phone numbers to register us into their system, which felt a bit odd for walk-in customers. More notably, during the meal, a server accidentally spilled sauce from a used dish onto my pants. While accidents can happen, what bothered me most was the server's initial reaction—not an immediate apology, but rather a surprised "You scared me," which felt dismissive and misplaced given the situation. I had to change my post-dinner plans and return home to change clothes. Fortunately, both the server and manager later offered sincere apologies, and the restaurant comped one appetizer, which made the situation more acceptable in the end.

Still, I hope they provide better training for their staff, especially on how to handle unexpected incidents with care and professionalism. Additionally, when clearing several small plates, two servers working together might be a safer and more efficient approach.

Given the restaurant’s $50–$100 per person price point, both food and service need to be consistently excellent to compete in New York’s high-end dining scene. That said, the restaurant shows a lot of promise, and some dishes are already impressive. I hope they continue to refine their menu and improve their service so they can live up to the high standards...

TLDR: SEA is the latest project from the Jungsik team. Think Southeast Asian through the lens of a fine dining Korean chef. It's a refreshing and modern take on a lot of familiar flavors in dishes you probably wouldn't expect. Prawn roll, Thai links, crispy pork, dry tom yum noodle, razor clam.

In a lot of ways, Jungsik is one of the OG modern Korean chefs. As widespread as modern Korean cooking is now - most of the talent we all know now were at Jungsik at some point, it truly is an incubator for exceptional talent.

SEA is a passion project of Chef Jungsik Yim inspired by his travels through Southeast Asia. The flavors will remind you of staple dishes but presented in a new and creative way.

The prawn roll for example is their take on a spring roll, they use a specific type of rice paper from Vietnam and it's served like a long baton with pork/shrimp/mushroom. The Thai links is inspired by the Thai Esan sausage but served skewered with the accoutrements on the side.

The crispy pork is my personal favorite dish. It's this mishmash of flavors with a thin-sliced crispy pork belly. Think like a Thai mookrob but with the vermicelli nest (banh hoi) but with red leaf lettuce to wrap it Korean a la ssam style.

The dry tom yum noodle is made using Korean kalguksu, a poached egg on top and this tomyum-ish beef ragu with wood ear mushroom. It's rich, it's flavorful, the noodles have a nice bounce to it; a very outside of the box dish. The crab fried rice is kind of like a Thai crab fried rice but it'll remind you of an omurice but that crispy texture from the cast iron pan that invokes memories of a Cantonese clay pot rice.

Both the desserts are lovely but I personally love the pineapple one. They have some solid cocktails as well.

In short though, the food situation around Penn Station has gotten much better. If you're in the area and looking for something new, elevated yet still casual - SEA should be on your list. Probably one of the more exciting restaurants to open in...