New York Times reporter Seth Kugel, in his Thursday (Jan. 24) article "From Bib Bim Bop to a Huge Spa", featured several Korean spots in Manhattan, together with a four-minute video clip.
Introducing West 32nd Street between Fifth Avenue and Broadway as "firmly surprisingly, overwhelmingly Korean", the writer said this is where many New Yorkers and visitors first taste kimchi (spicy fermented cabbage), bulgogi (marinated grilled beef) and bibimbap (spicy vegetable mixed rice). The area is also where Koreans and Korean Americans gather for parties and social events.
Kugel started at "Kunjip", "a standard Koreatown restaurant" offering generous portions of do-it-yourself barbecue and several brands of soju. He later visited "Woorijip", a reasonably priced buffet; "Bon Chon Chicken", which makes Korean-style fried chicken; and "Han Gawi", a vegetarian spot with free mushrooms and tofu.
Plenty of Korean art are also scattered throughout the city, notably at the Metropolitan Museum of Arts, Brooklyn Museum and the Museum for Contemporary Art.
Lee Young Hee Museum of Korean Culture is seemingly hidden away on the third floor of a building on West 32nd, Kugel said. Calling it "one of the worst advertised museums of all time", the author urged locals to witness for themselves traditional Korean costumes comprised of ceremonial robes and antique accessories dating back centuries.
Korean galleries include the Kang Collection of Traditional Korean Art and Koo New York, which sells everything from Korean antiques to contemporary art. An upcoming toy exhibition hosted by the Korea Society will feature Korean toys from the 1970s and 80s.
To buy ingredients for Korean dishes, Kugel went to Han Ah Reum Supermarket, or H-Mart, where a bucket of tofu costs less then $5.
For a relaxing time, he hit Inspa World, which he dubbed "a crazy, flashy 60,000-square-foot monster spa" with saunas and hot pools ready in all shapes and sizes along with massages and drinks. Kugel called the experience "fun, full of surprises and 100-percent Korean".
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