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Originally, we were scheduled to eat with Costanza and Elaine on our first night in NYC, but since they missed their connecting flight, we would have to do it alone. All the while, we made it into NYC and took our sweet Blacklane limo to our hotel. We considered many different choices, but my son insisted we eat Korean. Well, that wasn't a stretch nor was it a suggestion out-of-left-field because our hotel was right next to K-Town. We were a bit nervous about getting a table since it was Friday night, yet heading out at 9:30pm meant it was not as difficult. We decided to hit up The Kunjip due to its relatively reasonable prices and diverse menu.
Not surprisingly, we were presented with the obligatory Banchan consisting of kimchi, spicy daikon, potato starch noodles, pickled cucumbers, seaweed, pickled daikon and sausages. Nothing was particularly memorable and the kimichi was a bit too sour for my tastes. I found the seaweed a bit difficult to eat as it was dry and chewy. Whatever, it did its job and there wasn't anything terrible. Next we had the Bossam with the usual kimchi radish, hot sauce, fermented shrimp condiment and in this case, oysters (David Chang anyone?). I liked how they served it where the fatty pork was kept warm. It was decently flavourful while buttery soft. When wrapped with the condiments in the blanched cabbage, the whole thing ate quite nicely. I wasn't a huge fan of adding the oysters though as it became too briny and took away from the pork.
Probably my favourite item of the meal was the Kam Ja Tang (pork bone soup). It arrived bubbling hot with many large pieces of pork bone. The meat fell off pretty easily and was super tender and well-spiced. In fact, the whole soup was very flavorful with a balanced spiciness which was accented by a certain meatiness and the herbs, specifically the perilla seeds. Also arriving super hot, the Dolset Bibimbap with beef was quite hearty sporting a bevy of ingredients. I found that the veggies and the big slices of beef were well-prepared. However, the rice was a bit wet and did not form a crust, even with my pushing it to the sides. They forgot to provide us with the side of gochujang until I asked for it.
We really never ate much of the Japchae as I over-ordered and the fact there was something similar with the banchan. However, the appetizer portion was prepared well with chewy noodles that was not overseasoned with sugar. It was a tad greasy though. I liked how there was quite a bit of ingredients to be found including beef. Our last item was the BBQ Chicken that was prepared in the kitchen (we didn't have room to BBQ). The predominantly white meat was seared well, but ultimately was dry and not moist. Despite its shortcomings, the meal was reasonably-priced while the portions were generous. It did the trick for our first meal in NYC.
The Good:
- Inexpensive
- Generous portions
- Decent eats
The Bad:
- Not particularly comfortable to sit there
- Hurried service
- Some hit and miss
Having to move around our schedule a bit, we ended up doing one last touristy thing prior to our flight to NYC in the afternoon. We woke up early and took the house limo (it's gonna be hard getting back to reality!) to Casa Loma. Nice mansion/castle, but for me, I'm not really into that stuff. We blew through it quickly and was also able to squeeze in one more meal as well. Originally, we were going to do something fast in Magic Noodles, but what the hey, the kids love Dim Sum so we took the short stroll to Dynasty instead.
When I saw Marinated Duck Tongues on the menu, I knew that we had to have it. The kids didn't want to go near it as they didn't want food that could potentially taste them back... For Viv and I, we enjoyed the buttery rebound of the fatty tongue. Even better, they were deboned (yes there is a small bone in them). They were well-seasoned with a lightly sweetened soy braising liquid. Next up was my son's go to dish being the Shrimp Spring Rolls. These were rather small and hence, contained only a modest amount of salty-ish shrimp. Textures were on point though with a firm crunch on the outside while the snap of the shrimp was appealing.
On that note, the shrimp in the Haw Gow (shrimp dumplings) were similar being moist with a buttery snap, albeit a touch salty as well. The dumpling skin was good being moderately thick while still exhibiting a nice elasticity. We felt the dumplings were on the smaller side though. As for the Sui Mai (pork & shrimp dumplings), there was much more shrimp than pork. Texturally, the whole dumpling was bouncy with a touch of chew from the pieces of pork and pork fat. I found the shrimp sweet while the rest of the seasoning to be well-balanced.
Diagonally cut, the Phoenix Talons (chicken feet) were buttery and soft with melted portions. Due to the way it was cut, the skin was separating as well. Despite all of this, it ate really well with appealingly soft textures with a light resistance from the cartilage. The whole thing was flavourful with a good mix of salty and sweet notes. Of course I couldn't forget about the offal, so we had the Bible Tripe with green onion and ginger. Interestingly, the dominant flavour was garlic. Texturally, it was on point being chewy with a rebound while tender at the same time.
For the kiddies, they wanted the usual Lo Mei Gai (sticky rice). The rice was a touch on the drier side, but okay nevertheless. It was glutinous and mildly seasoned by the pork filling which was moist and wet enough. There wasn't to much of it though which might've contributed to the drier rice. My son was super happy to see the Donut Rice Noodle Roll on the menu and was further jacked because there was no green onion in it (he hates anything green...). We found the donut to be dense and only slightly crispy. The rice noodle was thin with a nice elasticity.
Continuing with the things that were small, the BBQ Pork Buns were more of a mini-version. The bun itself was a touch dense and sweet on its own. Inside, the meat was lean with just enough sauce that was more savoury than sweet. Since we weren't full due to the small portions, we got the Beef Meatballs as well. These were pretty good with soft processed meat that still had bits of chewy texture. Seasoning was mild while the amount of greens was just right providing a bright finish.
Lately, we've been ordering Xiao Long Bao at Cantonese Dim Sum services and taking our chances. Why? Because the kiddies just love them. These didn't make us forget about the authentic Shanghainese version, but they were decent nonetheless. The skin was not overly thick and there was actually some sweet soup to be found. For dessert, we had the Steamed Sponge Cake which was fluffy and semi-sweet. So we ended up ordering 13 dishes (I forgot to take a picture of the spareribs...) and we finished all of it! Yes, the food was pretty decent, but boy were the portions small. Furthermore, the prices were not exactly cheap either. I guess that's Yorkville... On that note, we went back to the Park Hyatt and then took our Blacklane limo to the airport. I guess we were living large anyways, what's some expensive Dim Sum?
The Good:
- Solid eats
- Decent service
- Nice dining space
The Bad:
- Expensive
- Small portions
Posts
Originally, we were scheduled to eat with Costanza and Elaine on our first night in NYC, but since they missed their connecting flight, we would have to do it alone. All the while, we made it into NYC and took our sweet Blacklane limo to our hotel. We considered many different choices, but my son insisted we eat Korean. Well, that wasn't a stretch nor was it a suggestion out-of-left-field because our hotel was right next to K-Town. We were a bit nervous about getting a table since it was Friday night, yet heading out at 9:30pm meant it was not as difficult. We decided to hit up The Kunjip due to its relatively reasonable prices and diverse menu.
Not surprisingly, we were presented with the obligatory Banchan consisting of kimchi, spicy daikon, potato starch noodles, pickled cucumbers, seaweed, pickled daikon and sausages. Nothing was particularly memorable and the kimichi was a bit too sour for my tastes. I found the seaweed a bit difficult to eat as it was dry and chewy. Whatever, it did its job and there wasn't anything terrible. Next we had the Bossam with the usual kimchi radish, hot sauce, fermented shrimp condiment and in this case, oysters (David Chang anyone?). I liked how they served it where the fatty pork was kept warm. It was decently flavourful while buttery soft. When wrapped with the condiments in the blanched cabbage, the whole thing ate quite nicely. I wasn't a huge fan of adding the oysters though as it became too briny and took away from the pork.
Probably my favourite item of the meal was the Kam Ja Tang (pork bone soup). It arrived bubbling hot with many large pieces of pork bone. The meat fell off pretty easily and was super tender and well-spiced. In fact, the whole soup was very flavorful with a balanced spiciness which was accented by a certain meatiness and the herbs, specifically the perilla seeds. Also arriving super hot, the Dolset Bibimbap with beef was quite hearty sporting a bevy of ingredients. I found that the veggies and the big slices of beef were well-prepared. However, the rice was a bit wet and did not form a crust, even with my pushing it to the sides. They forgot to provide us with the side of gochujang until I asked for it.
We really never ate much of the Japchae as I over-ordered and the fact there was something similar with the banchan. However, the appetizer portion was prepared well with chewy noodles that was not overseasoned with sugar. It was a tad greasy though. I liked how there was quite a bit of ingredients to be found including beef. Our last item was the BBQ Chicken that was prepared in the kitchen (we didn't have room to BBQ). The predominantly white meat was seared well, but ultimately was dry and not moist. Despite its shortcomings, the meal was reasonably-priced while the portions were generous. It did the trick for our first meal in NYC.
