DDOBAR by Joomak NYC
Restaurant · Chelsea ·
Korean-inspired yubu tart tasting menu with unique flavors
Korean-inspired yubu tart tasting menu with unique flavors
"This counter in Olly Olly Market offers a sushi omakase experience of 12 courses for under $75, a reasonable price since it often involves luxury ingredients like wagyu, bluefin, and caviar. The sushi often takes the form of what Ddobar calls yubu tarts — morsels of fish atop rice-stuffed envelopes of tofu skin, much like inari sushi. Especially for sushi lovers, it’s a unique and unusual experience." - Robert Sietsema
"A Korean pastry spot run by Jiho Kim (with Sechul Yang) inside Olly Olly Market is still open and will host Joomak Nights starting in April: a BYO $185 tasting menu with no corkage fee on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, while the regular Ddobar menu will reappear the rest of the week. Kim also runs JM Bakery alongside Ddobar inside Olly Olly Market." - Caroline Shin
"Seated at a 14-seat, horseshoe-shaped counter, I found Ddobar—an offshoot of Joomak Banjum from chefs Jiho Kim and Sechul Yang—specializes in yubu tart (raw fish atop a deep-fried tofu pouch filled with rice) and offers an 11-course lunch and dinner omakase for $75 (Resy lists it as 13 courses), which felt like a spectacular deal. The meal opened with a cacio e pepe riff where a jiggly egg yolk hid in a frothy Parmesan slurry, then unfolded in bold flavors and visual delights: fluke sashimi in a bowl with miniature cucumber slices, green herb oil and edible petals into which cold watermelon juice was poured; a caramelized scallop beneath brown-butter dashi foam with toasted corn and a sauce like liquid sea-salt caramel; amberjack over yuzu-flavored rice crowned with generous osetra caviar; and a ponzu-cured salmon rubbed with everything-bagel spices and grated horseradish with cream-cheese–mixed rice that recreated a bagel profile. Duck breast pastrami tasted exactly like a slice of Katz’s, fat rim and all (and yes, I took the chile oil), while a lobster course glazed under nori foam left behind a lobster butter that tasted like an oceanic elixir. By the time a seared beef short rib arrived—marbled, seared for smoky steakhouse flavor, interleaved with pickled daikon and topped with crunchy fried leeks—it felt like an entrée; ebi shrimp and bluefin tuna tataki (wrapped in a vertical laver cylinder) were good but less dynamic. I sipped an Alsatian Sylvaner ($18) that stood up to the strong flavors and finished with a slightly bitter Earl Grey soft-serve." - Robert Sietsema
"At Chelsea’s new Olly Olly Market I noticed a Korean counter that rolled out a 13-course menu in March featuring dishes like scallop with brown butter and duck pastrami; the spread comes from the chef behind Michelin-starred Joomak Banjum, costs $75, and offers an optional spicy chicken galbi add-on for $20." - Luke Fortney
"Ddobar is a Korean-Chinese spot in Olly Olly Market that sells a selection of yubu tarts, which are essentially Korean inari pockets that you can customize with an assortment of toppings. Egg, pork belly, and ponzu salmon work well with the sticky sweetness of the tofu, but you can skip the mackerel and spicy tuna. This place is from the people behind Korean-Chinese tasting-menu restaurant Joomak Banjum, and they have plans to debut a rotating menu of large plates and a chef’s counter concept in the near future. For now, stop by for a solid snack and one of the surprise hits of the food hall: a creamy earl gray soft serve." - Neha Talreja
