ARIARI

"Ariari is just one restaurant in the burgeoning empire of prolific Hand Hospitality restaurateurs Kihyun Lee and Jinan Choi. The menu of Ariari is inspired by the food of Busan, with dishes like mak hwe, thin-sliced seasonal fish served with lettuce wraps; scallop DIY gimbap, a seafood butter-gui with shrimp and baby scallops, a seafood pancake, and soft-shell crab. The space looks like a stylish diner, with dinette-style metal furniture, framed photos of Korea, and a bustling kitchen and bar at the rear." - Eater Staff

"The tidbits of chicken glisten in their thick and crunchy curry powder wrapper, accompanied by a bright orange dipping sauce of aioli laced with chile paste. This is not your mother’s Korean fried chicken, and is well worth experiencing as an entity unto itself, neither too spicy nor too sweet. This East Village spot looks like a Formica-clad diner from the past." - Robert Sietsema

"Ariari, from the team behind Atoboy and Moono, is the only place in the city where you can eat bibimbap topped with pastel yellow uni cream. And that isn’t even the best dish here. This restaurant with the brown vinyl seats of a ‘72 Buick serves a menu inspired by the coastal Korean city of Busan. Seafood is the focus, and it’s what you should order. Try the DIY gimbap with luscious raw scallops and the perfectly poached octopus sook-hwe." - will hartman, bryan kim, kenny yang, neha talreja, hannah albertine

"At Ariari, you can sit on a leather chair that looks like it was salvaged from a ’70s sedan and eat bibimbap topped with pastel yellow uni cream. The Busan-inspired spot—from the team behind Atoboy and Moono—used to be an impossible reservation, but as long as you book a few days in advance, you should be alright. Expect lots of fantastic Korean seafood, like DIY scallop gimbap and crackly fried soft shell crab with gochugaru aioli on the side." - bryan kim, neha talreja, kenny yang, willa moore, will hartman

"Oiji is a great Korean restaurant that’s good to keep in mind if you have a last-minute date in the East Village. It’s in a dark room with brick walls and a bar in the corner, and we’ve usually had luck walking in without a reservation and getting a table. Get the fried chicken, the ssam platter, and their only dessert - vanilla ice cream with honey butter potato chips. It’s a huge portion, but if you say please, they might halve it for you. In other words, you have no excuse not to try this." - nikko duren