Gina Suk

For a delightful snack, I recommend you try Beard Papa, substantially sized Japanese style cream puffs. Cafe Zaiya, 18 E 41st St (between Madison and 5th) sells them for under $2 each. Zaiya also sells other Japanese style sandwiches, lunch boxes, pastries, and snacks for budget prices.

Chilewich Sample Sale @ Clothing Line 261 W. 36th St. (between 7th and 8th Ave) From today until Friday, 9/29, 10AM-6PM Everything is about 80% of retail. Plynyl rugs from $25 (for 2' x 3') to $175 for (6' x 9') Placemats for $4 (square), $5 (rectangle), $6 (round) Shag doormats for $10 Table runners for $10-12 Pencil cases, zip bags for $4-$6 Tote bags for $20-30 4 pack of coaster for $5 (don't think they have any more of these) Just came back with some great stuff.. Check it out!

I finally made a trip out there. I didn't even bother getting anything. The food looked awful and while cheap, not even worth $2. I don't expect this place to last very long. But, for your viewing pleasure, here are a couple of pics I took: Spam Musubi Change Machines Some of the food offering For hell of a lot better cheap eats and drinks, head to Kenka, west two doors down. My friends and I got two omu rice dishes, fried mackeral, soba noodles, gyoza, okonomiyaki (japanese pancake), and a big bottle of unfiltered sake (milky and delicious) for $20 per person, incl tax and tip. Kenka

BTW, I'd recommend only going to Memory in Seoul for nengmyun. I had a very bad experience there last year. The dish we ordered (I think it was a bulgogi dish) tasted strange, perhaps the meat was old. So we got a different dish, the tofu/kimchi combo, but the tofu had gone very bad! It was an overall bad experience. Perhaps they were having a bad night. But, I did go there for nengmyun a few months later and it was a much better experience.

Alice's Tea Cup is such a cute place, went there for a bridal shower last year. A new tea place opened up a few weeks ago- Subtletea, on 30th and Madison. I've been inside but haven't tried the teas yet.

Never!

Absolutely love your detailed photo review, Dan. The mac and cheese looks a little scary. My boy and I will be checking it out tonight. I am excited for the musubi. Yes, spam on rice may sound disgusting, but its a delight to Asians around the world. mmmm Spam

No problem! Thanks for the warm welcome. Personally, in general, I prefer mul nengmyun (the broth) over the bibim nengmyun (the spicy one). Not to say that I don't like a spicy mul nengmyun like they have at Memroy in Seoul. I have been to Memory in Seoul (aka "YooChun"). I'd say it is good, but there is something about that doesn't feel quite right. It could be that there is a bit too much sesame oil in it and its very spicy, which is something I'm not used to in my nengmyun. Don't get me wrong, I love spicy food and sesame oil, but nengmyun is a dish in which I have a very picky palate. But, anyway, I'd say YooChun on 36th St. is an overall decent nengmyun place. The YooChun in Palisades Park, NJ, on Broad Ave, is much, much, much better. I'd recommend taking the bus or driving out to Broad Ave in Pal Park to try some of the Korean restaurants on that block. Another place, I've never been here, but people claim that Hamu Nengmyun (not sure what the english name is) in Closter, NJ is supposedly the best. I will look into that and repost.

being that my mom is originally from north korean (pyongyang), the origin of nengmyun, she is locally famous for her homemade mul nengmyun. i'm still yet to find a restaurant that even comes halfway close to hers. as a self-proclaimed nengmyun expert and lover, i can confidently say that Shilla (on 32nd between 5th and B'way) has a decent mul nengmyun. Too bad the days of warmth are coming to an end in NYC.. mul nengmyun isn't quite the same without the sun beating down on your back.

love pop burger in the late night when under the influence, not sure about during regular hours. had dinner there once and it wasn't quite as good as i remember it to be when inebriated. same goes for kenka on st. marks, delicious when drunk, so-so when sober.

Yes, please do tell. I hear there are many Japanese snack type dishes. It should be quite interesting!

What do you all think of Bamn!, the new automat on St. Marks? http://bamnfood.com/ Has anyone been down there yet? How is it? Is it worth all the hype? It's open 24 hours, everything sold in this under $3, menu developed be Kevin Reilly, exec chef of the Water Club. Plan to check it out this weekend myself.

Pepsi Jazz is just ok. I tried the Black Cherry Vanilla and Strawberries and Cream at an event where they were giving them out in those vintage bottles. I doubt it will last, like Crystal Pepsi did. It's a fun idea, tastes ok, but besides the fact that there are 0 calories, not sure it will catch on.

Shanghai mong is the only decent place that I've seen in NY for jjajangmyun, although its not the best I've had, its pretty good. Try their jjamjamyun if you get a chance, the half jjampong/half jjajangmyun, if you want to mix it up a bit. They have ssam there too (going back to our momofuku discussion), and its not bad! Yeah, don't forget to wear a black shirt.. For a good lunch special, I just discovered Don's Bogam (on the Madison Ave side of 32nd). Really good bbq/stew combos. My favorite is the kalbi/kimchi jjigae combo, i think its only $10. Do you know of any other good lunch specials?

I agree with you in that Korean restaurants in the US are stuck in a time rut, but when you think about it, they're servicing mostly immigrants or 2nd generation Korean Americans, with the occassional non-Korean. Most of these people are used to that style. However, living right by NY's Koreatown (in Herald Sq) and being a Korean myself, I've seen some turnover in the older style restaurants and newer, more "up with the times" restaurants popping up. The former Kumryong is now Shanghai Mong, while the menu changed slightly, the decor is more up to date. Shilla and Don's Bogam, new restaurants in the past year are more current in their menu, style of cooking and decor. However, I haven't been to Korea in 6 years, so I can't say that I can compare to what's current in Korea.