SEOUL TOFU

The Best New Restaurants in Queens, March 2025

"The owner of the original Witch Topokki in Flushing has flipped the restaurant into a soondooboo house called Seoul Tofu. It spotlights 13 versions of the hot, bubbling stew — like kimchi with pork, crab on the shell, and ground perilla seeds. And they all come with a spread of banchan that includes a delectable fried croaker. The main draw is a beautiful sotbap — a rare blend of premium rice grains featuring black rice — for a nurungji (scorched rice) experience that brings on Korean childhood nostalgia. Scoop out the rice to eat with your soondooboo, making sure to leave the cherished layer of scorched grains on the bottom. Then let the servers pour the hot barley tea inside to max out the nutty, umami flavors." - Caroline Shin