"From the minimal signage at Samwoojung, you wouldn’t likely guess that pounds and pounds of marinated meat are getting a makeover right inside. But step into this Korean restaurant in Chelsea, and you’ll find every table equipped with a burner, and every burner piled with thinly sliced beef. Samwoojung has been a bulgogi specialist in Seoul since 1963, and when you go their outpost near Penn Station, that’s what you should focus your attention on too. Brought to the US by Hand Hospitality (the group behind hits like and ), Samwoojung makes a slightly different style of bulgogi than what you might find at spots around the city. Instead of being grilled hot and fast, the meat is piled on a copper vessel, topped with cabbage, mushrooms, noodles, and scallions, and then cooked in a sweet and peppery soy broth at your table. The result is as perfect for a casual weeknight meal as it is for a get-together that might result in a slew of empty bottles and a spur-of-the-moment ticket purchase to Madison Square Garden. The warmly lit, split-level space is alive with small groups of soju drinkers, who laugh louder and louder as the evening progresses, and servers constantly trying to figure out how fast you will eat your bulgogi, and how much they should tend to it accordingly. This is not a foolproof experience. Sometimes a server visits every other minute, to the point where you begin thinking your beef might just need a moment alone. Other times it feels like they've forgotten all about you, and your meats must fend for themselves. If the menu at Samwoojung were the cast of a third grade talent show, the bulgogi would be the teacher’s pet. Other dishes are good—some are even excellent—but the paper-thin beef steals the show from the moment your server turns the grill on. Even if things like red shrimp pancake or galbi catch your eye, we’d recommend committing to copious amounts of marinated meat above all else. The only non-beef thing you shouldn’t skip? The creamy, just-sweet-enough, frozen persimmon for dessert. Turns out these bulgogi specialists have some hidden expertise with the gooey orange fruit too. " - Willa Moore
