Kisa
Korean restaurant · Lower East Side
205 Allen St, New York, NY 10002
Highlights
Step into Kisa, a cozy Korean diner on the Lower East Side that channels '80s Seoul nostalgia with hearty bibimbap and bulgogi platters for just $32.
Step into Kisa, a cozy Korean diner on the Lower East Side that channels '80s Seoul nostalgia with hearty bibimbap and bulgogi platters for just $32.
"A Lower East Side Korean restaurant offering $32 dinner platters." - Jaya Saxena
"During dinner service at Kisa, the menu is $32 featuring a daily selection of banchan: All there is to do is pick a protein. A minimal menu was a risk that paid off, making it a restaurant that puts affordability and quality above all else. The same can be said of the equally slim two-dish menu at lunchtime, where the options are pork bone soup and donkatsu, both priced under $20. The restaurant was formerly walk-ins only but recently added a reservation option." - Eater Staff
"A casual Korean restaurant by the C as in Charlie team." - Emma Orlow
"David JoonWoo Yun and Steve JaeWoo Choi (the duo behind the playful Noho restaurant C as in Charlie), along with Yong Min Kim, channel taxi driver restaurants of Korea, where affordability and speed are top priorities. As such, there is only one menu choice to make: What protein do you want (spicy pork or squid, etc.)? The rest is a set selection of banchan (refills welcome) like soy-marinated salmon, shredded radish with perilla, traditional Korean egg souffle with chives, and beef and radish soup. A full, and gloriously abundant meal runs $32 — a price, once not particularly noteworthy, but these days, worth celebrating. Finish the meal with a complimentary coffee, hot chocolate, or black bean latte from the machine on the way out." - Eater Staff
"Many restaurants incorrectly think that the best way to grab attention is through flashy ingredients like uni and caviar: Not so. Perhaps the most radical thing a hot new restaurant can do in the year 2024 is have a straightforward menu with a clear point of view. In the case of New York City’s Kisa, simplicity is its superpower. Here, David JoonWoo Yun and Steve JaeWoo Choi (two-thirds of the team behind the playful Noho restaurant C as in Charlie) along with Yong Min Kim intend to evoke the taxi driver restaurants of Korea, where affordability and speed are top priorities. And yet, while it’s possible to finish a meal in under an hour in the homey dining room on a Lower East Side corner, diners won’t feel part of any traffic rush as they dig into some of Manhattan’s most stellar Korean food outside of K-Town. Part of the efficiency is that there is only one menu choice to make: What protein do you want? The rest is a predetermined selection of banchan (refills welcome) like crispy jeon or shrimp cured in soy sauce, a mix of staples, and some lesser-seen Korean sides that rotate seasonally. A full and gloriously abundant meal runs $32 — a price once unnoteworthy, but these days worth celebrating. This is not a restaurant for the picky, but rather for those who have a healthy appreciation for the tyranny of choice. Finish the meal with a complimentary coffee, hot chocolate, or black bean latte from the machine on the way out, a small souvenir to celebrate money well spent. — Emma Orlow, Eater NY reporter" - Eater Staff
