"At Orion Bar, the perfect order is on almost every table. It’s a patty melt with kimchi pimento cheese, and the Space Spam cocktail: frozen, with rum, and served in a Spam can. At the long bar towards the back of this roomy Korean-American spot in Bushwick, bartenders also pour soju bombs and mix things like the bourbon-based Coffee & Cig. You could totally swing by just for a quick drink and some shrimp chips. But with all the creative cocktail making—and a fridge that’s well-stocked by the chef and co-owner, who’s a soju connoisseur—you’d do well to stick around for several hours. Choose your own adventure: drink a cocktail or a bottle of makgeolli, get a Somaek shot with a spicy ramyun broth chaser and eat some spam musubi on a bar stool. The long tables would also be great for a soju-fueled birthday party. photo credit: Willa Moore Food Rundown Pickles The best $5 you can spend. The cucumbers are spicy, salty, and sweet, with thin slivers of jalapeno and lemon peel. Fried Dumplings Pork, tofu, and kimchi inside of a crispy bubbly skin, with a big shower of scallions on top. An excellent drinking snack. Patty Melt The kimchi pimento cheese here brightens up an otherwise heavy sandwich, but not too much—at its core it’s still messy, rich, beefy, and perfectly paired with one too many cocktails or Korean beers. It’s $22, but it comes with fries—they’re dusted in a kimchi-flavored seasoning, and served with a side of ssamjang aioli." - Willa Moore
