SEOUL SALON NYC — Restaurant in New York

Seoul Salon really didnt disappoint. I saw some mixed reviews on the food, so i already have the idea what to order. so my experience was excellent with a little minor issue that they deliver one drink really late when most of the food are already served.

the restaurant opens at 5:30pm on the dot. there's a long line outside mixed with reservation and walk-ins. you will prioritize to get in if you have a reservation. we got seated really quick with reservation. The space is very cute with a bit futuristic decor, high ceiling, tables are well spaced out. The service was good, i was disappointed that they do not offer lager platter of the yellowtail, we can definitely finish large, I feel like the small is not enough , order one more will be too much . such a shame that they have large on the menu but do not offer even we are the first ones to sit down.

We came for the winter special: yellowtail platter is amazing. fish taste very fresh and buttery, comes with salad, dipping she seaweed. the salad itself is already very tasty. the yellowtail is a good portion , i feel like the small portion is good for two person, if you are more than 2 i would think will need more. for unfortunately they do not offer large platter, they said you can reorder if you still want more.

Beef Tartare : the beef taste very fresh and with a little korean twist. some crunchy toppings at the beginning i thought i bite into sand, not sure i enjoy that texture. theres'a layer of egg yolk in the bottom , overall very good flavor with a little spicy but not overpower.

Fried Chicken: its's very crispy on the outside and stil tender and juicy inside. the batter itself has flavor already with some korean hot sauce drizzled on top to add extra heat and sweetness. highly recommend

Mala Pork Slider: i think it's good but a bit overrated, the buns are fluffy but the pork can cook a bit longer, it didnt melt in the mouth. also the pork is very mild, didnt give me mala flavor .

Otopus Jeotgal Bimbap: good flavor but portion is pretty small like the size of eggrolls. it's more like a appertizer.

Soy Scallop with Gim Rice: very flavorful and scallops are buttery. highly recommend, portion is not big, good for couple bites if you are sharing .

our service is good. very friendly and attentive, as mentioned, only one hiccup is that either him or someone forgot our drink order, it was delivered really late half way...

I liked my experience at this authentic Korean joint!

I visited this place a Friday night after watching MJ The Musical (Tooootally recommended by the way) on May 10th 2024. Upon arrival my first impression was that it is an authentic Korean restaurant. It had more like a bar vibe probably because that is the first thing you notice while you are checking in. Despite of this, music was not too loud so you can chat while having dinner which is really nice. Another good thing to mention is that the place was crowded but still the service from the staff was fairly quick and very polite.

Our waitress was overwhelming nice. I explained that it was my first time and I barely knew about Korean food so she described the menu and recommended a few options. As I mentioned, despite having a lot of tables, she was always on top of us taking our order and asking if everything was good.

Moving to the menu, it was 100% Korean, from appetizers to desserts. They offer some interesting cocktails. I have a sweet tooth, and I was hoping to see a few options for dessert but they have a limited offer. About the dishes:

-Soy Scallop with Gim Rice (3 stars) - I am not sure if the reason I am giving 3 stars is because it was the last dish. By then we already so much rice on us, so we were not craving it anymore. Other than that it was OK. -Stir Fried Octopus Rice (4 stars) - This was the best dish in matter of flavor. Perfect combination of spices, fried egg on top, some greens. The only thing missing is a little bit more of octopus. -Grilled Tteokgalbi (4 stars) - It was somehow unexpected. Presentation wise is amazing. In terms of flavor it was perfectly cooked and seasoned and it had some rice cakes within that make it interesting. -Banana Milk Shaved Ice (4 stars) - The portion size was really huge. The only thing is that during the first scoops, it is really sweet and by the end you are just tasting ice.

The prices are affordable considering is NY. I spent ~$120 including tip (and one drink I didn't mentioned above). Considering the portion size and the quality you are getting, I think is fair.

Definitely I would come back if I have the opportunity. Probably just not so much rice to twist things...

My friend and I came by for a recent weekend dinner. Our reservation was for 6pm, and when we got there the place was still pretty empty, but definitely filled up over the next hour or so. The decor and ambience, a bit of a futuristic/metallic take on a diner (?), was interesting, but I didn't quite get the relationship with the cuisine/food or the concept they were going for haha

We ordered two dishes to share - the soy scallop over rice and the rose tteokbokki.

Soy scallops over rice - the scallops were soo delicious. Every one of them had a wonderfully light and fresh flavour that paired really nicely with the mixed-in egg yolk and the rice cooked with (seaweed?).

Rose tteokbokki - first impression was that the sauce smelled really yummy. Other than that, the tteokbokki and the fish cakes were good, but nothing too special. I did like the gimmari, which is like fried seaweed wrapped around glass noodles. I've never had this before, so it was a very pleasantly surprising experience to try this for the first time.

For dessert we ordered their only option, which is the banana milk shaved ice. The bowl is deceptively large, and we were lowkey struggling to finish. The ice had a very nice flavour, but remember that it's banana milk (i.e. the sweeter, partially artificial taste lol) than actual bananas lol. There was also a bit of ice cream buried underneath, and between those two and the hazelnuts sprinkled on top, I was a fan of the variety in texture and flavour throughout. For $13 this was actually quite inexpensive, and I'd definitely order this again next time.

Portion sizes for our main dishes were certainly not very big, but for the two of us this time, these two dishes were enough, since we weren't very hungry. But ordinarily, I'd expect 2 people to need to order 3 dishes to share. Price point was nonetheless quite reasonable, but perhaps the $$$ rating for it comes from ordering some of their drinks, too? Their cocktails did seem pretty good, and I'd love to try one...