ARIARI
Korean restaurant · East Village
119 1st Ave, New York, NY 10003
Highlights
Busan-inspired Korean seafood with creative dishes and cocktails
Busan-inspired Korean seafood with creative dishes and cocktails
"Ariari, from the team behind Atoboy and Moono, is the only place in the city where you can eat bibimbap topped with pastel yellow uni cream. And that isn’t even the best dish here. This restaurant with the brown vinyl seats of a ‘72 Buick serves a menu inspired by the coastal Korean city of Busan. Seafood is the focus, and it’s what you should order. Try the DIY gimbap with luscious raw scallops and the perfectly poached octopus sook-hwe." - will hartman, bryan kim, willa moore, kenny yang, neha talreja
"If you hadn’t noticed by now, the team behind Atoboy cranks out new Korean restaurants like Disney pumps out Marvel flicks. Unlike Quantumania though, Ariari is totally worth your time. The food at this ’70s basement-looking spot in the East Village is inspired by Busan (a South Korean port city), so prioritize things from the sea like the DIY scallops handrolls and bibimbap with sea urchin cream. But there really are no bad choices. Just when you think the next dish can't get any better than the last, you’re proven wrong." - bryan kim, kenny yang, willa moore, will hartman
"Ariari is just one restaurant in the burgeoning empire of prolific Hand Hospitality restaurateurs Kihyun Lee and Jinan Choi. The menu i is inspired by the food of Busan, with dishes like mak hwe, thin-sliced seasonal fish served with lettuce wraps; scallop DIY gimbap, a seafood butter-gui with shrimp and baby scallops, a seafood pancake, and soft-shell crab. The space looks like a stylish diner, with dinette-style metal furniture, framed photos of Korea, and a bustling kitchen and bar at the rear." - Melissa McCart
"Ariari is another Korean spot from the team behind Palpal and LittleMad. Like a lot of their restaurants, this place in the East Village warrants a priority visit—especially if you love seafood. Start with the poached octopus with white kimchi followed by crispy rice that’s sweet and rich from uni cream. You’ll see groups around you sharing big simmering cauldrons of soup, as well as couples out for a casual date night." - team infatuation
"Why get a soup with cuts of pork like tenderloin or sparerib when you can get one filled with jowl, picnic shoulder, and stomach? Ariari, an East Village Korean spot from the Palpal team, tosses a ton of those pig parts into a bowl of slightly spicy, comforting clear broth, which is placed on a flame so it can be kept simmering on your table. A chive salad and rice come on the side, and we suggest mixing in some of the latter so you get congee-like bites. In addition to this soup, you’ll want to order the octopus sook-hwe and lamb-stuffed fried peppers, so bring friends." - neha talreja
