Seoul Garden
34 W. 32nd Street, 2nd Floor, between 5th Ave/Broadway (Garment District/Koreatown)
New York, NY 10001
(212) 564-8200
Subway: B/D/F/N/Q/R/V/W to 34th Street
Bus: M2/3/4/5/6/7 to 34th Street; Q32 to 6th Avenue/Broadway
Although I have a favorite restaurant in Koreatown (Kunjip), I am open-minded when it comes to food, so when a good friend recommended that we try Seoul Garden, I was game. Also known as Natural Tofu, this second floor establishment has a great location amongst the Korean restaurant biggies (Kum Gang San and Kang Suh). To be honest, I’m not quite sure how she found Seoul Garden; walking down 32nd Street between Broadway and Fifth Avenue, you’d be surprised to see how many Korean restaurants can be crammed into one small block. To try each of them (and to be disappointed, mostly) is an endeavor.
As I climbed the stairs with a rickety railing to enter the restaurant, there were a number of people climbing up or down, crowding the staircase. The stairway had a damp moldy smell and was dimly lit, but this did not deter me.
A table for two was hard to come by, and similar to Chinese restaurants in Chinatown, we were asked if we would mind sharing a table. The restaurant décor was definitely lacking; tables almost looked as though they had been set up cafeteria-style, which would benefit large groups or families. We were seated at a table for six, directly across from a waiter station, and a bit too close to the bathrooms (guarded and blocked by a screen).
We were asked twice within minutes of sitting down if we knew what we’d like to order. I wasn’t expecting stellar service, but this was ridiculous… we hadn’t even received menus yet! Since this restaurant’s other identity was Natural Tofu, I thought it wise to at least try one tofu dish on the menu. My friend ordered a combination plate of soon dubu (spicy soft tofu soup) and kalbi (beef short ribs). I had a very homestyle dish of kong biji chigae (ground bean stew with pork). The menu was relatively expansive, covering a fair number of Korean dishes. After we ordered, another twosome was seated at the other end of our table.
The kalbi was unfortunate: overcooked and sliced too thin, this was obviously budget kalbi (perhaps because it came with the well-priced combination dish?). The meat also had not been trimmed well, so bites consisted of chewy fat and gristle. It also tasted as if it had been cooked earlier, reheated and then served… perhaps, their method of getting people in and out quickly.
The soon dubu soup was unnoteworthy. My friend commented that the soup tasted like instant soup with MSG. And that was exactly how my kong biji chigae tasted, very MSG-laden. It also had a very murky color, which isn’t the way it’s supposed to look. When I had kong biji in Seoul (the best I’ve ever had… in Seoul they have places dedicated to one specific dish, like kong biji), the color was bright, and the finely ground beans still maintained an even color.
The best perk of Korean food is the banchan, the small plates that are served with your meal. Almost like a meal in and of itself, banchan accompanies all Korean meals, and they’re always free (unless you go to some of these new trendy Korean spots that will charge you for them). Unfortunately, this banchan was no perk. One of ours was a leftover cold chicken cutlet sliced. It tasted old. Nothing was exciting, nothing tasted good.
Overall, this was probably the worst Korean restaurant I’ve been to in America. Although our food was brought out quickly, we didn’t receive menus upon sitting, yet were asked to order. None of our banchan was replenished. And after we finished, we immediately received our check. We let it sit, in order to continue our conversation, but the waiters hovered over us, ready to clear us out and let the next twosome in.
The only compliment I can give Seoul Garden is that their busboys are well-trained. Our dishes were cleared immediately after we finished, and they continually refilled our water throughout our meal, a less common trait amongst Asian restaurants in general. And if that was the best part of the meal, I cannot imagine why anyone would want to try Seoul Garden.
34 W. 32nd Street, 2nd Floor, between 5th Ave/Broadway (Garment District/Koreatown)
New York, NY 10001
(212) 564-8200
Subway: B/D/F/N/Q/R/V/W to 34th Street
Bus: M2/3/4/5/6/7 to 34th Street; Q32 to 6th Avenue/Broadway
Although I have a favorite restaurant in Koreatown (Kunjip), I am open-minded when it comes to food, so when a good friend recommended that we try Seoul Garden, I was game. Also known as Natural Tofu, this second floor establishment has a great location amongst the Korean restaurant biggies (Kum Gang San and Kang Suh). To be honest, I’m not quite sure how she found Seoul Garden; walking down 32nd Street between Broadway and Fifth Avenue, you’d be surprised to see how many Korean restaurants can be crammed into one small block. To try each of them (and to be disappointed, mostly) is an endeavor.
As I climbed the stairs with a rickety railing to enter the restaurant, there were a number of people climbing up or down, crowding the staircase. The stairway had a damp moldy smell and was dimly lit, but this did not deter me.
A table for two was hard to come by, and similar to Chinese restaurants in Chinatown, we were asked if we would mind sharing a table. The restaurant décor was definitely lacking; tables almost looked as though they had been set up cafeteria-style, which would benefit large groups or families. We were seated at a table for six, directly across from a waiter station, and a bit too close to the bathrooms (guarded and blocked by a screen).
We were asked twice within minutes of sitting down if we knew what we’d like to order. I wasn’t expecting stellar service, but this was ridiculous… we hadn’t even received menus yet! Since this restaurant’s other identity was Natural Tofu, I thought it wise to at least try one tofu dish on the menu. My friend ordered a combination plate of soon dubu (spicy soft tofu soup) and kalbi (beef short ribs). I had a very homestyle dish of kong biji chigae (ground bean stew with pork). The menu was relatively expansive, covering a fair number of Korean dishes. After we ordered, another twosome was seated at the other end of our table.
The kalbi was unfortunate: overcooked and sliced too thin, this was obviously budget kalbi (perhaps because it came with the well-priced combination dish?). The meat also had not been trimmed well, so bites consisted of chewy fat and gristle. It also tasted as if it had been cooked earlier, reheated and then served… perhaps, their method of getting people in and out quickly.
The soon dubu soup was unnoteworthy. My friend commented that the soup tasted like instant soup with MSG. And that was exactly how my kong biji chigae tasted, very MSG-laden. It also had a very murky color, which isn’t the way it’s supposed to look. When I had kong biji in Seoul (the best I’ve ever had… in Seoul they have places dedicated to one specific dish, like kong biji), the color was bright, and the finely ground beans still maintained an even color.
The best perk of Korean food is the banchan, the small plates that are served with your meal. Almost like a meal in and of itself, banchan accompanies all Korean meals, and they’re always free (unless you go to some of these new trendy Korean spots that will charge you for them). Unfortunately, this banchan was no perk. One of ours was a leftover cold chicken cutlet sliced. It tasted old. Nothing was exciting, nothing tasted good.
Overall, this was probably the worst Korean restaurant I’ve been to in America. Although our food was brought out quickly, we didn’t receive menus upon sitting, yet were asked to order. None of our banchan was replenished. And after we finished, we immediately received our check. We let it sit, in order to continue our conversation, but the waiters hovered over us, ready to clear us out and let the next twosome in.
The only compliment I can give Seoul Garden is that their busboys are well-trained. Our dishes were cleared immediately after we finished, and they continually refilled our water throughout our meal, a less common trait amongst Asian restaurants in general. And if that was the best part of the meal, I cannot imagine why anyone would want to try Seoul Garden.
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