Nōksu
Korean restaurant · Midtown West ·
Korean fine dining in subway station w/ tasting menu
Korean fine dining in subway station w/ tasting menu
"Set in a New York subway station, I noted Nōksu as an example of how MICHELIN Inspectors seek out exceptional dining in unexpected places; its appearance in the first episode underscores that Michelin recognition can come from unconventional, friendly, and fun settings rather than only formal white-tablecloth restaurants." - Michael He
"Yes, this is the subway station tasting menu. To figure out if you’ll like this Korean restaurant, ask yourself this question: How much do I like tweezers? If the answer is a lot, there’s some interesting cooking going on here. Consider the pigeon—a squab head, breast, and leg in a pool of gochujang agrodolce, served with a truffle bao that’s filled with squab gizzard char siu, and puffed duck feet with squab liver parfait." - bryan kim, willa moore, neha talreja, molly fitzpatrick, will hartman
"Owner Bobby Kwak, who runs a 15-seat counter, wakes up checking his phone to see how much money was lost overnight as prepaid reservations made with stolen cards are repeatedly charged back; recent daily hits ranged from about $600 to $2,500 and the cumulative losses over the past year total tens of thousands. Four seats on one service were linked to a stolen card—roughly 25 percent of a day’s sales—forcing the operator to absorb refunded receipts, tips, sales tax, and processor fees while spending hours assembling evidence to dispute claims, only to have banks typically side with the cardholder. With razor-thin fine-dining margins, these repeated losses and the time-consuming disputes have been devastating." - Andrea Strong
"Dining in a New York City subway station might sound unlikely, but Nōksu, an innovative seafood-focused Koreatown restaurant led by Chef Dae Kim, turns it into a thrilling experience. Hidden behind a code-locked door beneath Herald Square, Nōksu features an elegant black marble counter where every seat offers a front-row view of the chefs at work. Don’t miss the signature dry-aged squab, prepared table-side in a dramatic, Peking duck-inspired ritual — accompanied by the nostalgic sound of 1980s music." - The MICHELIN Guide
"We already have speakeasies in subway stations, and now we're getting caviar. Down the stairs at the 32nd street entrance of Herald Square, Nōksu, a 12-seat counter from the owners of Baekjeong Korean BBQ, will offer a 15-course Korean-inspired tasting menu. Locally sourced and seafood-focused, it'll involve things like eel with foie gras and abalone with sea lettuce shell." - bryan kim, neha talreja, willa moore
