Madangsui
35 West 35th Street
New York, NY
A few weeks before heading to NYC my friend Devon sent me a link to this review of Madangsui in the NY Times. I’m all for Korean BBQ so quickly put it on our agenda for our NYC “date” night.
Truth be told my experience with Korean BBQ is limited to Korean Grill House in Toronto and their all-you-can eat deals. While this has provided endless entertainment over the years I figured now would be a good time to upgrade.
The space at Madangsui is pretty big but isn’t all that special. It’s essentially rows and rows of tables with a grill in the middle. I didn’t go for decor, I went for lots of meat so it was just fine. We decided to follow the New York Times’ recommendation and started with the Kimchi Juen which are kimchi pancakes. These are served hot and are crunchy on the outside and softer on the inside. I didn’t get a big hit of kimchi flavour which was kind of disappointing but they were delicious nonetheless.
A highlight of the meal is that once you place your order the waiters come back with a whole slew of banchan which are the Korean sides that accompany a restaurant meal. I’m used to getting maybe 6 side dishes but at Mandangsui you get at least 10 or 12! They don’t really tell you what each dish is but sometimes you can figure out. We’re talking everything from kimchi to beansprouts to preserved beans. Totally great stuff for casually snacking on during the meal.
For our entrees we opted to split the Mandangsui Special Combination which was sliced beef and a variety of pork. The experience was interesting. I’m used to Korean BBQ where you cook your own meat which is always fun and makes the meal more interesting. At Mandangsui they do the cooking for you with little communication. I was never quite sure what I was eating or if it was ready to eat! Sometimes they’d move the meat over when it was ready and sometimes they wouldn’t. I’m pretty sure we ate beef short ribs, pork belly, and some other cuts of pork. The portions were generous and the food was good, although I didn’t find it any more impressive than Korean Grill House (which isn’t even that stellar according to folks that know about that sort of thing).
Overall a good meal and surprisingly my first in New York’s KoreaTown. I would love to know how this stacks up to other NYC Korean restaurants.
If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!
