Despite the fact that Korean food requires a lot of delicate preperation in every detail, it is often considered to be not as fancy as Japanese or French because of its tendency to offer a meal in more casual presentation at more affordable price.
In the past few years, there have been a movement of the contemporary Korean fusion. Rather than traditional Korean food, young chefs who have been studying abroad came to combine the essence of Korean food with that of others, often with French cooking styles and reinterprets Hansik. Jungsik at Tribeca NYC has been the leading example of this young movement. Jungsik, as a contemporary Korean fine dining, got the first 2 Michelin stars in New York.
Recently, Chef Junghyun Park, the former Chef de Cuisine of Jungsik, has opened a casual fine dining restaurant in midtown with his wife, Ella Park. ATOBOY has been getting a lot of attention on SNS and media, so I went to have dinner with my friend.
ATOBOY offers Korean-inspired tapas style dishes (banchan in Korea) at $36 for selection of 3 dishes with bowl of white rice or seasonal rice for $2. For more details, Click the menu.
here comes my first tapas !
TARTARE
Beef, Oyster, Potato
SALMON
Cucumber, Gochujang, Basil
ATOBOY has collaborated with the modern Korean ceramic brand, Soil Baker for its dinnerware lines
the soju cocktail recommended by the manager
SQUID
Pork, Shrimp, Salsa verde
ASPARAGUS
Spicy cod roe, Shallot, Egg yolk
Seasonal rice : seaweed with sesame oil (extra $2)
CHICKEN
Spicy peanut butter, Garlic
NY STRIP
Arugula, Poblano, Wild sesame oil
HONEY PANNA COTTA ($7)
Black rice vinegar, Pomegranate
I usually don’t like panna cotta since I am not a pudding person, but this panna cotta with pomegranate on top was so refreshing! If you are looking for the traditional creamy panna cotta, you might not like it. This is lighter and more refreshing version!
Typical Korean food is usually served with a bowl of rice, hot soup and many small dishes (banchan). ATOBOY has successfully reinterpreted traditional banchan dishes to Asian inspired tapas. I could see that the chef has put a lot of thoughts into every single menu, mixing Korean traditional sauces with other westeren ingredients. I had fun to taste each dish in its unique style. I cannot wait for its lunch menu that is coming soon!
ATOBOY
- Location : 43 E 28TH STREET NEW YORK, NY 10016
- Phone : +1 646 . 476 . 7217
- Price : Dinner 3 tapas with rice (36$), lunch is coming soon
- Hours: MON - SAT 5:30PM - 10PM