Not Just for the Homesick: Miss Korea

When most people think of K-town, they usually think of cheap or fairly priced eateries, shops, and services. However, K-town also boasts self-indulgent, almost luxury dining and products along its street at a slightly higher price point than K-town’s cafeterias or small beauty stores. One style of cuisine that is becoming increasingly well-known is Korean barbecue, which can be pricier due to the variety of meat you can consume in a single sitting, including short ribs, briskets, pork bellies, and even tongues, but the price is worth the amount and quality of food you receive. The experience of being in a barbecue, where the meat is prepared right in front of you, is also a service worth the amount you are spending. However, this indulgent menu is not the only meal you have to eat at a Korean barbecue; there are also the standard noodles, dumplings, stews, and soups you may find in any Korean restaurant. To explore this type of cooking that has been gaining traction with different consumers everywhere, Madison and I decided to interview miss KOREA BBQ, one of the more well-known places to get barbecue in Koreatown.

What struck us first and foremost was the design of the restaurant. There seemed to be a certain refinement with a degree of comfortability in the space. When you first enter, you are met with walls embedded with large stones as well as many floral decorations. The rest of the first floor walls are a mix of beautiful nature panels and calloused stone. There are also noticeable shiny copper pipes hanging over each table, which we assumed was for the grills on the tables. Overall, there was a sense that you were in a garden as it neared nighttime.

On the first floor is where we met Matt, the manager of miss KOREA, who has been working in the establishment since 2012.

Matt started by giving us a bit of the restaurant’s history and its development. miss KOREA was established in K-town in 2010, although the owner had started with a place in New Jersey in 2002. Online, I learned that there are now four establishments in New York City, as well as the original location in New Jersey. Matt then informed us of the size of the restaurant we were currently in.

“We actually have three different floors. [The] ground floor is the first floor that actually opened, and [the] third floor is the second floor that opened,and the last floor is the second floor.”

When asked why the second floor was not developed after the first, Matt explained that there had been another business on the second floor. He didn’t seem to know what happened to it, but we can assume it went out of business and then miss Korea took over the space as its demand grew.

In fact, I told Matt of how I had noticed Korean barbecue’s growing popularity, and how I was wondering if he could shed light on the recent phenomenon.

“I asked some customers, you know, why are you looking for Korean barbecue? I guess most of them said it’s pretty new to them, new to, I guess [….] American culture.”

“…Korean food, not many people know about it-now people are starting to get to know what Korean food is.”

Many businesses on Korea Way have profited from the increasing fan base for K-pop and K-dramas in the U.S. and miss KOREA is no different.

“Like especially, I guess it’s because of K-pop, and then people know what Korea is, and then after that […] they come for the food, and all that stuff.”

In fact, the demographic of customers in miss KOREA has changed over the last three years.

“Used to be, I guess three years ago, there were more Korean customers, but now people are starting to get to know what Korean food is, so many people [have] start[ed] to like it.”

“I actually don’t have a certain group that comes in more. Yeah many different [people], Chinese people, American people, Europeans, tourists.”

As more people have become exposed to Korean culture through music, television shows, and movies, local businesses on Korea Way have come to serve a more diverse group of customers. These customers want to explore Korean culture in their real lives rather than through a screen to become more immersed. As for tourists and the general public, Korean food is not a cuisine that has been ‘mainstreamed’ yet, as Chinese and Japanese food have been. Therefore, it becomes a novelty to them and something new and different they have not experienced before and want to try.

Korean barbecues offer several types of meat, but Matt told us the favorite is the short rib, “which is called the galbi”. Galbi is usually served to the customer straight from the grill on their table, and is already marinated in a savory sauce. Matt also tells us that “what people are really looking for is the bibimbap” as well, or a bowl of warm white rice topped with vegetables, soy sauce, gochujang, or chili pepper paste, a fried egg, and sliced meat. For the main dishes, you will also receive around eight different side dishes.

As for what type of experience miss KOREA offers, Matt says:

“Well obviously it’s 24 hours for the barbecue places around here, and on the weekends, it’s really like an after-place, like after the club or whatever. We have really popular drinks too. We have different varieties of alcohol. We have a full bar upstairs. That’s why it’s popular compared to different places.”

Many businesses in K-town are actually open 24 hours, and so the street has a notorious nightlife as different people come to bars to drink or come from the bars to eat afterwards. Matt says that is just the Korean work ethic.

“This is really known for Korean people, they’re hard working people, so they [are] always working for 24 hours, you know, [for] money coming in and out.”

As for miss KOREA’s future, Matt thinks more of success closer to home than branching out.

“In my perspective, I’m not looking for more stores to open in different locations. I just want [..] this place to be more popular to Manhattan. Like, Korean food? Oh this place.”

Miss KOREA seems to offer a more whimsical experience than other barbecues in town. Madison and I were taken aback by the second and third floors. On the second floor, we were met by a low table surrounded by traditional Korean pillows, panels, and paintings. To the right were more tables surrounded by panels with images of Korean temples and homes, and the whole interior had its own glow as well as elegance.

The third floor was sleek and black, more set to the nighttime atmosphere with dark wooded tables and walls and nature paintings of dark forests. The weirdest object we found in there was a naked model with a lampshade on its head, out in the front desk with no explanation. We were not brave enough to ask what that was about.

Miss KOREA’s menu also boasts cuisine “inspired by the four seasons”, and so its menu adapts its courses to what ingredients are in their prime in the current season. The restaurant also has different “sets” of barbecue you can order based on one of the five blessings you desire in your life, whether that be love, happiness, wealth, longevity, or health.

Overall, if you are looking for the full Korean barbecue experience, miss KOREA has everything you could ever desire in terms of presentation, atmosphere, and quality.