02/23/2026Jungsik has long been one of my favorite restaurants. I’ve dined at the New York location—which recently earned its third Michelin star—and on my recent two-week culinary trip to Korea, the Seoul outpost ended up being my top dining experience. So, I was excited to try their new casual sister concept, SEA by Jungsik, located at 151 W 49th Street in Chelsea, not far from Madison Square Garden near 7th Avenue.
Chef and owner Jungsik Yim has created an informal, lively, and buzz-worthy atmosphere that’s the complete opposite of his refined flagship. The 70-seat space, divided into a front and back dining room, features simple wooden tables, exposed brick, upbeat music, and wicker basket light fixtures hanging from the ceiling. It’s an ideal spot for dining with a group so you can sample as many of the shareable dishes as possible.
Here, the menu extends beyond Korean cuisine. Chef Yim and Chef de Cuisine Jun Hee Park draw inspiration from Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, and Singapore, with subtle Korean and French touches throughout. We started with the raw seafood tower, which featured some of the plumpest oysters I’ve ever tasted, along with tuna, scallops, and sweet prawns, all paired with three beautiful sauces. The prawn spring rolls with pork and mam sauce were excellent, and the crab fried rice omelet with Thai basil was outstanding. It had big chunks of crab in it. The fried chicken hit the mark with a perfect crunch outside and tender, juicy meat inside. Other standouts included the Hakkaido scallop and corn crudo, with a Tom kah dressing, the Alaskan black cod in a coconut red curry, and a bowl of Dry Tom Yum Noodles in a beef ragu and herb mix noodles that disappeared quickly. The Chili eggs were not what we were expecting, they were better, soft boiled and coated in a crunchy panko type crumbs, and served on top of a lovely tamarind and chili jam. There were only 2 choices for dessert, but both were great, especially a coconut soft serve sundae layered with hazelnut, Vietnamese coffee and toasted coconut. The pineapple mango sorbet was a more refreshing choice.
Chef Yim’s travels through Southeast Asia clearly inspired the menu—there’s a real sense of vibrancy, diversity, and excitement in the flavors. The restaurant is fun, energetic, and delicious, with a thoughtful beverage program, with creative cocktails, wines from a global list, beers and a full spirit list, and several interesting non-alcoholic options as well. We went with the non-alcoholic Hanoi sunset, prepared with Aplos NA, lemongrass, ginger and mango boba. The food at SEA by Jungsik is highly creative and extremely tasty and satisfying. It may be a no frills restaurant, but it is a fun place to dine with family and friends, offering some delightful dishes.
Recommended.
Happy dining,
Shanea
