Ssam Korean Bistro — Restaurant in New York

I was thinking about going to the German beer garden across the street but I accidentally stepped on their happy hour sign outside. "I am sorry". $6 for cocktial and $5 beer and a few other I can't resist but ends at 7pm and it's only 6:55pm.

On a Friday night, the place is not super packed. I can easily get a booth table enough for 4 or more. This spot ended up as a perfect date spot. With the correct ambiance and deal on drinks, we had a great time. Beside not having to yell at each other and overhearing someone else conversation, the waiters are so nice.

Food is delicious. We just got some tapas including their wing, kimchi pancake and some pork belly. Their Seoul mule is strong and huge which is well worth the $11 or $6 happy hour special. It's equal to two drink size tbh. The hot toddy is decent but I would go for something else.

Wing is pretty good. I think they need to be marinated a bit more as the flavor isn't all the way into the meat. The kimchi pancake is a bit sad due to the size and it's not midtown quality. They need some more work or a better recipe. This place has potential but need more work on their food of course. The bar is a good deal and drinks are on point. The noodle we had come in a sizzling hot plate but it ends up burned at the bottom. Good show but not ideal for eating.

Service is 100 %. Everyone...

This is my first bout at a Korean restaurant and this place easily exceeded my expectations by a long shot. I visited on an early Friday afternoon and there was not a ton of people inside, much how I like it since that means immediate seating and less noise overall. The menu, for some reason is on these letter sized papers attached to a clipboard. I personally don't mind this at all, but others who are nitpicky may see this and immediately think poorly of the restaurant's quality, but I can assure you, the quality is top notch. Prices are pretty reasonable for most items on the menu and serving sizes are fairly big. I ended up ordering the Oh-Sam (the only thing on the menu with a fairly high price) and the shrimp fried rice. The Oh-Sam, which is fried calamari and pork belly with vegetables, arrived steaming hot on one of those cast iron-like plates where the food continues to sizzle and cook in front of you. It's mostly for show, but the only drawback is the food is HOT, and stays too hot for a while. The fried rice was served the same way. Both were absolutely delicious and outstanding. We complimented the food with a bottle of Sake, which was also amazing. Overall I can easily recommend this place. It's so delicious and so...

2nd update 5/18/25: it seems the owners have changed hands and the food is no longer what it used to be. Amusingly, they had live Spanish music which was nice but strange given that it’s a Korean restaurant. Unfortunately, we no longer frequent this location anymore due to the change in flavors.

Update: I’ve been here several times - this is my go-to Korean restaurant near downtown Brooklyn. The bulgogi, spicy pork, and bibimbap dishes are fantastic. The ssam dishes come on a sizzling hot plate, while the bibimbap comes in a dolsot (hot stone pot) so you are able to get that crispy rice. The galbi is bone-in, so it’s a bit hard to mix into the bibimbap. The naengmyeon is not as thick and chewy as I am accustomed to at other places but that might just be personal preference. The included bonchon (side dishes) are limited to a small dish of kimchi, pickled radish, and kimchi radish. I was less impressed with the kimchi jiggae which had a strong taste of ground black pepper, and the tteokbokki was okay. Service is always excellent and friendly. We always just walk in without reservations and there’s never a wait. The place is huge and is...