SEA by Jungsik
Southeast Asian restaurant · Chelsea ·
Bold, comfort-forward plates from pan-Asian Chef Jungsik Yim
Bold, comfort-forward plates from pan-Asian Chef Jungsik Yim
"Opened in August at 151 W. 30th Street near Seventh Avenue in a nondescript stretch of north Chelsea edging toward Penn Station, this Jungsik Yim follow-up presents a casual spot with a fine-dining base, steered by the young, energetic Jun Hee Park. The restaurant’s all-caps name references South East Asia and the menu reflects Yim’s passion for the region—he’s hosted pho and other Southeast Asian pop-ups in Seoul—so expect a mashup of elements from disparate cuisines assembled on the same plate rather than a literal fusion. The vibe is no-frills: a dining room with teal tiles, woven lampshades, and travel posters and maps taped to the walls; it fills up late, gets loud (not ideal for visiting relatives), and is a fun place to take friends to share cocktails and plates or to dine solo at the bar. The food includes a beautiful seafood tower with fish “bejeweled” with garnishes, oysters served with a trio of sauces that includes a verdant herb granita, and scallops topped with salmon roe ($75). Among appetizers, do not miss the lacy prawn roll ($18): Park imports the wrappers from Ho Chi Minh City, then fills them with diced carrot, onion, wood ear mushroom, bean sprouts, egg, and pork. Another starter, the nearly round Thai links ($17), are made in-house as two variations of sausages with snappy skin and a super-juicy interior, served with diced chiles, peanuts, and lime—a pairing inspired by Isan sausages’ tangy notes and Chiang Mai sausages’ herbal flavors. Order it with a Singha draft ($11). The pork noodle soup is a signature and a next evolution of Yim’s pho parties: Park combines Vietnamese pho, Malaysian bak kut teh, and Korean gomtang, simmering a broth with ribs, trotters, and other bones along with a blend of cinnamon, clove, and star anise, then adding braised pork belly and rice noodles and serving it with cilantro, bean sprouts, lime, and Thai basil (get the smaller portion, $14, so you can try more dishes). Another standout, influenced by Vietnamese bun cha, is the crispy pork ($38): sliced paper-thin after being seasoned and dried, a thin layer of oil is left on the skin side to help it crisp during roasting; it’s plated with vermicelli and served with lettuce for wrapping plus mint, basil, and nam jim jaew. Drinks are a highlight: a gingery calamansi sour ($19) with frothy egg white; a shots section that includes a banana cream martini shot ($26 for two) and a pink coconut shot featuring ube, clarified milk, and soju ($13); wines (sparkling, rosé, orange, red) from $16 to $25; beers (from Tiger to a Magpie saison) around $11–$14; and nonalcoholic options like a calamansi spritz and single-origin teas (lemongrass-ginger blend to a red oolong) at $10. Desserts, including a creamy coconut sundae, hit the right notes, but the drinks are arguably the more playful element of the experience." - Melissa McCart
"We’ve tried to figure out how SEA’s pork ribs manage to pull completely clean off the bone, yet still retain a biteable—not mushy—texture. We’ve looked at cookbooks, watched recipe videos, and even attempted a few kitchen experiments. But we just can’t crack the code. The confusingly delicious cooking at SEA in Chelsea is less surprising when you consider that it’s from the chef behind Jungsik, one of NYC’s original, upscale Korean tasting menu spots. His second restaurant brings Southeast Asian flavors to Korean-style dishes—like dry tom yum noodles that look and eat a lot like jajangmyeon with warmer spices, and pork belly sliced as thin as pencil shavings, each piece with a strip of skin so crunchy it feels like biting into a tiny bone. photo credit: David A. Lee photo credit: David A. Lee photo credit: David A. Lee Pause Unmute Unless you’re on a very serious date, sit in the front room, or the vibrant, casual bar with blown-up stamps from Thailand, Vietnam and elsewhere brightening up the cement wall. It’s more welcoming than the slightly cold, more austere back room, where spotlights shine onto lacquered tables. Up front, the music is also a little louder, and the light—filtered through wicker basket fixtures—is a little softer. It’s an experience that matches the comfort and subtle sophistication of the food. Food Rundown Sriracha Ribs After finishing these four sticky, shiny ribs, we were humming Alice In Chains’ “Them Bones,” because that’s literally all that was left of them. Rivaling our favorite Southern BBQ spots, these come completely clean off the bone, yet retain an extremely satisfying, biteable texture. photo credit: David A. Lee Black Cod Curry This black cod curry is another piece of cooking wizardry. It’s the texture of sous vide pork, and sits on a nice, robustly spicy red curry with pickled mustard greens underneath. photo credit: David A. Lee Crudo Make this crudo a priority if you like raw fish. Slices of yellowtail are blanketed in coconut nước chấm, which is full of lime juice and fish sauce. Corn ribs and slices of tomato sweeten things up. photo credit: David A. Lee Prawn Rolls Another dish that should be on your table. These prawn rolls are a perfect pairing with SEA’s cocktails. Hot, fried in a lacy rice paper, and juicy, these are a nice start to your meal. photo credit: David A. Lee Crispy Pork We like this dish. The pork is juicy, the skin crunches like chicharron, the sauce is funky with fish sauce and chilis. But unless you really have a pork belly craving, this is skippable. photo credit: David A. Lee Crab Fried Rice Not skippable. Fluffy rice, crunchy on the bottom from a stone pot, big chunks of crab, pickled chilis, all tucked in nicely by a rich, golden omelet. Worth its $28 price tag. photo credit: David A. Lee Dry Tom Yum Noodles These noodles vaguely evoke tom yum of sorts, but aren’t particularly exciting. photo credit: David A. Lee" - Will Hartman
"I swung by for a calamansi sour and moved on to its super-fresh seafood platter ($68), a selection of oysters, yellowtail, tuna, and shrimp; the herb granita atop oysters is especially good. Sea, which stands for Southeast Asian, is from Jungsik Yim (founder of Seoul import and of the two-Michelin-starred Jungsik) and debuted a couple weeks ago not far from Penn Station; if last week's visit is any indication, it fills up toward the later part of the evening." - Robert Sietsema
"Jungsik Yim’s more casual sibling to his two-Michelin-starred Jungsik, fusing his fine-dining background and Korean and French techniques with Southeast Asian food from Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, and Singapore." - Eater Staff
"Opening on Wednesday, August 21 at 151 W. 30th Street near Seventh Avenue, Sea is a tailored casual Southeast Asian restaurant that fuses his fine-dining chops with Korean and French techniques and draws on cuisine from Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, and Singapore. The 70-seat dining room features tufted banquettes and simple wooden tables, and the menu plays with texture and cross-cultural riffs: a prawn roll made with lace-like spring roll wrappers imported from Ho Chi Minh City for shatteringly crisp bites; lemongrass-scented St. Louis ribs with a French-style handle; a dry tom yum that uses kalguksu noodles as its base; and a pork noodle soup that blends Vietnamese pho, Malaysian bak kut teh, and Korean gomtang — its broth simmers at least six hours in a 40-gallon pot with a pig’s head, ribs, trotters, shoulder bones, and spices like cinnamon, clove, and star anise, then is combined with braised pork belly, rice noodles, cilantro, bean sprouts, lime, and Thai basil. Reservations for the main dining room are on Resy, some front-dining-room seating and the entire bar are available for walk-in, and hours are Tuesday–Saturday from 5 to 11 p.m." - Caroline Shin