MoMo & Coco

The Hallyu Dessert Wave: NYC’s Best Fancy Korean Michelin Star Restaurant Desserts

Introduction

If you were to ask us what are the top 3 cuisines that NYC does best, we would not hesitate to say Italian, Japanese and Korean. Of the latter, we have lost count of the raucous group outings we have had over K-BBQ, the buzzy fusion spots in the East Village and home-style spots in Koreatown that we have visited over the years. In terms of desserts though, we have only fleeting memories of brilliance from Jungsik and Hwaban, or the more casual dessert cafes.  But, since the pandemic ended, NYC has seen a literal Hallyu wave of high-end modern Korean restaurants explode across the city.  Unlike the soporific dessert epilogues at soooo many other Michelin-starred restaurants in the city, the desserts from NYC’s latest fine dining Korean Michelin star restaurants are equivalent to, if not surpass, the refined execution of their preceding savoury counterparts.  They particularly stand out in their own right for elegantly infusing traditional Korean flavours with Western dessert-making technique.  In this volume of “NYC’s Best Restaurant Desserts,” we showcase these Korean Michelin-starred fine dining restaurants and their highly memorable desserts.  

Jua

  • ☑ Dessert destination: Jua, Flatiron, Manhattan. 
  • ☑ Budget: $$$$ ($135 prix fixe only, + tip/tax).
  • ☑ Best for: Elevated traditional Korean food.
  • ☑ Short and sweet story:  Being the most traditional of all the Michelin-starred Korean restaurants on this list, yet with the least fancy interior, Jua makes for an easy introduction into NYC’s Korean fine dining restaurant landscape.  The two starting appetizers were the highlights, with the “Caviar Kim” being a bite of incredible flavours and textures, while the “Spot Prawn” made us wonder whether we were crunching on a futuristic spider.  The other savoury courses are less creative, and instead focus on preserving and elevating more traditional Korean dishes, such as jook and galbi.  There are two dessert courses served as part of Jua’s tasting menu. The “Strawberry” palate cleanser featured an orb of strawberry sorbet, and a little pool of olive oil. More memorable was the “Gojuma Juak“, a dense, ultra-sweet doughnut resembling a dried persimmon and made of sweet potato. It was served with a crucible of very subtle brown butter ice cream.

Oiji Mi

  • ☑ Dessert destination: Oiji Mi, Flatiron, Manhattan.
  • ☑ Budget: $$$$ ($145pp + tip/tax; a la carte available in the bar).
  • ☑ Best for: Ambience, semi-traditional Korean desserts.
  • ☑ Short and sweet story:  Similar to Tan and Zaytina, Oiji Mi is a particularly beautifully-designed restaurant enclosed in a luxe setting.  It’s the fancy successor to an old favourite, Oiji. Whereas the savouries here erred on the Lilliputian portion size, the desserts are highly memorable.  Served warm, Oiji Mi’s “Chapssal Doughnuts” were plated as two little orbs filled with raclette and gruyere, sandwiched by alternate quenelles of creme fraiche ice cream. They were the perfect balance of crunchy surface, and squishy texture from the rice flour. An equally wonderful dessert was the “OOOYO Bingsu,” a spoonful of which was akin to eating snow, impossibly incredibly light snow, with a very subtle milk taste. There were little satsuma citrus slices and also chewy injeolmi (a type of Korean rice cake) rolled in soybean powder. You may recall our guide to NYC’s best shaved ice — this is perhaps the finest textured shaved ice in the city. 

Mari

  • ☑ Dessert destination: Mari, Hells’ Kitchen, Manhattan.
  • ☑ Budget: $$$$ ($185pp tasting menu only + tip/tax).
  • ☑ Best for: Food styling, value-for-money, refreshing desserts.
  • ☑ Short and sweet story: Hell’s Kitchen is one area of Manhattan that we haven’t explored all that much.  And nestled in its grungy streets is Mari, a modern Korean restaurant that is deceptively low-key in appearance.  But there is nothing casual or trivial about its food offerings.  At Mari, dinner is by way of a 18-course tasting menu (or 21-courses if you count each separate bite), and it was a true banquet consisting of sophisticated appetizer bites and a seemingly never-ending catwalk of beautifully-styled handrolls.  For dessert, there were two courses.  The first featured a delicate rice puff flower and a tear drop of makgeolli (Korean rice wine) ice cream floating in a pool of rhubarb hibiscus syrup.  The second was an almond mousse tart embellished with honey and apricot.  Both were stunning epilogues to a highly memorable dinner. Service was exceptional.  Overall, Mari is probably our favourite on this list for the overall tasting menu experience.

Kochi

  • ☑ Dessert destination: Kochi, Hell’s Kitchen, Manhattan.
  • ☑ Budget: $$$$ ($145pp tasting menu only + tip/tax).
  • ☑ Best for: Modern American, with an inflection of Korean flavours.
  • ☑ Short and sweet story:  If you are new to Korean cuisine, or a fan of fusion food similar to Momofuku, Kochi — the sister restaurant to Mari — is probably the Korean Michelin-starred restaurant that is most up your alley.  For us, Kochi caught us by surprise,… and left us a little degree confused.  It is more modern American, rather than Korean in sensibility or style.  The tasting menu consisted of a parade of skewered courses, all of which were fine, though not particularly memorable for us. Likewise when it came to desserts. There were two dessert courses, the first of which was a “Froyo” featuring a globe of omija berry-latticed yogurt floating on a base of sesame sable crumble and rhubarb compote.  The second dessert was a chocolate-covered miniature “Ice Cream,” again with berry tones. 

Joomak  

  • ☑ Dessert destination: Joomak, Koreatown, Manhattan. 
  • ☑ Budget: $$$$ ($95 4-course, $185 tasting menu, $20 dessert a la carte at the bar, + tip/tax).
  • ☑ Best for: Quiet ambience, dessert brilliance with moderate Korean elements, secret dessert bar counter experience.
  • ☑ Short and sweet story:  Located just around the corner from Koreatown, Joomak seems a world away.  The restaurant is furnished in a calming minimalist palette of grey upholstery, bamboo and marble, and dining booths are especially well-spaced in a city more known from cramped sardine-style dining.  Joomak is the only Korean Michelin restaurant on this list that we have returned to more than thrice now, and that’s because it is essentially NYC’s most secret dessert bar. 😛  The “Ille Flottante” featured a flower-shaped meringue floating in a bowl of ginseng anglaise, and accompanied with a rather punchy makgeolli (Korean rice wine) sorbet.  By contrast, the “Green Pea” was a little more balanced in flavour — orbs of genmaicha cream mousse were housed in a trompe l’oeil sugar snap pea, and enlivened with a ball of citrus-y sorrel ice cream.  The “Jeju” was a study of elegance, with elderflower mousse delicately countered with black garlic ice cream and buckwheat tones. Joomak’s dessert offerings change seasonally, so you will be sure to find us here every quarter 🙂

Naro

  • ☑ Dessert destination: Naro, Midtown, Manhattan. 
  • ☑ Budget: $$$$ ($50-70 prix fixe; $165 dinner tasting menu; and a la carte, + tip/tax).
  • ☑ Best for: Elevated savouries, dessert brilliance with a more pronounced Korean sensibility.
  • ☑ Short and sweet story:  Located at the ice skating rink level of the Rockefeller Centre, we are not great fans of Naro’s basement setting. However, meh decor aside, it’s probably our second favourite fine dining Korean Michelin restaurant on this list.  Whereas the tasting menu features a carrot cake, the a la carte menu lists four desserts, each of which proved to be absolutely stunning. Perhaps our favourite would be the “Yubu,” a tower constructed from an almond cake base, encircled by a swirl of white chocolate cream and enlivened with the crunch of tofu. A close second or equivalent favourite would be the “Makgeolli,” a crucible bowl of horchata ice cream hiding makgeolli custard and persimmon jam. The “Solomon’s Seal” was the Naro dessert that was most European in style, with the hazelnut mousse slightly overpowering the more subtle Solomon Seal tea and barley cream tones. It was topped with a beautiful flower-shaped chocolate lattice. And the last dessert, the “Kkwabaegi,” reminded us of street food vendors in Seoul — it was a doughnut twist frosted in sugar, and accompanied with a yogurt ice cream. 

Genesis House

  • ☑ Dessert destination: Genesis House, Chelsea, Manhattan.
  • ☑ Budget: $$$$.
  • ☑ Best for: Incredibly extensive Korean tea menu and serene ambience.
  • ☑ Short and sweet story:  Genesis House hasn’t yet been awarded a Michelin star in NYC, but it’s the progeny of a Michelin star restaurant in Seoul, so we are sneaking it into this list of NYC’s best fancy fine dining Korean restaurants. 🙂 Located across from the Little Island and overlooking the river, Genesis House is a beautiful space divided into a number of distinctive dining areas, including a serene tea room lined with books. We only visited for desserts.  Featuring a wreath of peach slices on top of a jelly base, the “Boksunga Suyanggaeng” ($17) floated like a flower on a pink pool. It was probably our favourite dessert at Genesis House. Far more subtle in flavour profile, the “Kkae Icecream” ($16) was comprised of three egg-shaped quennelles of ice cream inflected with a slight honey tone, and embellished with a sesame crisp twirl. With makgeolli cremeux, condensed milk custard and butterscotch mousse swirled together, the “Mango Bingsu” ($17) was more cream, and less icy in texture than expected. We also ordered the “Yakgwa” ($11), which arrived as a sampler plate of five molassy mini bites that tasted quite unlike yakgwa that we have had before.  Although the desserts were somewhat hit-and-miss, there is much potential to Genesis House, including especially its tea room concept with a very thoughtfully curated tea menu, its showcase of elegant Korean pottery and ceramic ware, and its team of incredibly courteous service staff.

Leave a comment