MUSAEK

Very pretty bar, you can tell they spent a lot of money doing the renovations. Food was good, but they didn’t have anything substantial. Not sure why there is a dining menu and a bar menu. Weird things on it like soup, which we didn’t get. We wanted to have dinner there but there’s nothing filling on the menu. Drinks sound creative but the ones we had tasted not as creative as it sounds. Good place to bring a date.

Impeccable cocktail and seafood bar! The drinks are amazing and smooth. If you like clean and surprising tastes then you’ll love the drinks here. Love the concept and the food is fresh and top notch. The interior design is chic and sets the mood for a great date night or with a group of friends. Try everything on the menu!

Downstairs from Dubu House, this a dimly lit bar specializing in seafood. They appear to concentrate pretty heavily on their cocktails and they have a nice happy hour/HH selection with reasonable prices. I went with the Cantaloupe & Boricha for $12 with tequila, Korean barley tea, pandan, lime, soy milk, and yakju which was tasty. It had a nice light sweetness from the tea, a tiny bit of citrus, and a good hint of the nutty tea at the end. The drink was small but it's hard to complain about as it was only $12 as even for happy hour, this is quite cheap. Two other people from the same menu enjoyed the Korean Pear & Gochujang with tequila, Grand Marnier, bergamot, and guava. Both are normally $19 on the main menu and if it's the same size, I wouldn't recommend it as much. To start out with, someone else got the Hwe Muchim for $14 with squid, Jeju fluke, granny smith apple, perilla, sesame, gochujang vinaigrette, and jalapeno-cucumber granita. The portion was good with three oversized pieces topped with large pieces of squid and fluke which she said was pretty tender even for squid with only a bit of chew. They enjoyed it a lot and recommend it though they found it difficult to pick up and it was easier to eat partially with chopsticks at least to begin with before eating the rest. As extra, I got the Mussels from the HH menu for $13 or $14 with steamed B.I. mussel, pickled shallots, and yuzu-seaweed sauce. This came with five high quality mussels where the shells were all on salt which was an interesting but not so good idea as it made picking them up a little bit messy. The mussels were high quality and meaty with a bit of sourness and sweetness from the shallots and sauce. These were good. The rest of us outside of the person ordering the muchim started with the Jeju Fluke Hwe simply listed as the fresh chef's selection of fluke. There are two versions of this dish with one being on the HH menu for I believe $10 less or so with the waiter saying that it was a bit smaller by comparison which makes sense and we got the HH version which I think was in the mid or low $20s while the full size version was I think in the mid $30s or so. The hwe was presented very nicely in a few different styles with two being in a ssam topped with a some spicy crunchy vegetable (I am pretty positive it was finely chopped radish kimchi,) two being wrapped around some crunchy leafy micro greens, and three pieces each of two types of slices with one being slightly thicker with there being 10 pieces overall. The dish also came with two dips including some soy sauce with some peppers in it as well as a perilla oil sauce with some yuzu kosho which was a fun spin. As a texture person, my favorite version by a little bit was the mini ssam as the crunch went nicely with the bit of spice along with the micro green variant. The slices were excellent quality as well though and went nicely with the perilla in particular. This was excellent and I would recommend it heavily. There was also the "Masan" Monkfish Soup for around $20 with 48-hour fortified monkfish bone broth, radish, and red pepper which was light but hearty. The broth was simply flavored with many pieces of thick monkfish. They gave a dipping sauce which had some mustard in it to put the fish in to add some extra flavor which was nice. I think the dish should also come with some rice or something to eat with said soup and wouldn't mind paying a few bucks more if it came with multigrain rice or something similar. It's also perhaps a little bit too plain so maybe kimchi on the side or some other type of banchan would help otherwise. Outside of the more plain flavor, it was good and will be nice when it gets cold in winter. We had a good time here. The food was good quality and reasonable enough for the price point especially for the happy hour stuff. They might concentrate on cocktails but I would stop here again and get some more hwe and possibly try some other dishes. Mid 4 for the spot during HH while a low 4 otherwise

What a nice addition to K town! Artfully prepared seafood dishes and creative fun cocktails. Their mussels are so plump and cooked just right, sashimi was all cured well, and hand rolls are rich in flavor yet clean. The quality of the ingredients really shines. A bit dark for dinning, but this place is also a bar. Beautiful setting with sophisticated lightings, yet still comfortably casual. Will visit again definitely.

Having tried Dubuhaus and being surprised by their aesthetic execution, I was compelled to give Musaek a try, which is the speakeasy located within Dubuhaus. It seemed to be a similar concept as Undercote of Cote and Barbam of Rib No. 7. You enter Dubuhaus and make a left, where you see the sign for Musaek. Then you walk down a couple flights of stairs and see this very spacious open area, which was surprisingly louder than I had expected, but not in a displeasing way. It felt like a speakeasy but a very big version of it. We sat down at the bar and ordered four drinks total. I usually like to specify the names of the items I ordered but forgot to take a photo of them, and the cocktail menu is not available online, which I think they should have. I remember we ordered all of the signature cocktails except for the ones that were available for happy hour. Most of them were good. The drink that stood out to me was the Yuzu and seaweed one. I thought it was intriguing, but it leaned more Yuzu than seaweed. It tasted like a cocktail that everyone would like: citrusy and a bit savory, what's not to like? The other drink that stood out to me, in a bad way, was the one with dongchimi in it. It was really interesting at first because it smelled like dongchimi, and the first sip was pretty good; I was surprised that they were able to make it pleasant. But as time passed, the warm temperature made the cocktail taste disgusting, and we did not like it. The cocktails were a bit on the pricier side, but nothing crazy, just standard New York pricing. The host and bartenders were all nice, patient, and personable, which I appreciated. There were six bathrooms that were beautiful, private, and clean, just like Dubuhaus. The good ambience and service from the workers made me want to return to try the happy hour cocktail menus, since they all sound interesting and are provided at affordable pricing.

Came here for the soft opening. Loved the drinks and the seafood was really fresh, I really recommend for people looking for a chill and sophisticated atmosphere.

Absolutely loved this place! The signature cocktails were incredibly refreshing and creative — the Yuzu seaweed and Pear gochujang were standout favorites. The seafood dishes were next-level — fresh, inventive, and full of flavor. I especially loved the shrimp cracker, Yeosu shrimp, and Jeju fluke — each one was beautifully prepared and paired perfectly with a glass of prosecco. The ambiance was chic yet relaxed, and the happy hour deals offered great value for such high-quality drinks. A must-visit for seafood and cocktail lovers. Highly recommended!

Lovely atmosphere whether for a first date spot, pre gaming for Howoo, or closing out the night with something cozy and chic.

Beautiful space with Korean shareable plates, tapas style and reasonable prices for ktown. The design and space is intimate and great for a small group catch up / perfect for a date. The cocktails were inspired by Korean ingredients and they have happy hour for 5-7pm. I would definitely check this place out before it gets popular. The team and service provide was also great, very attentive, it felt like a fine dining experience but in my more casual setting. Can't wait to go back to try more of their creative cocktails!