Where to Eat in Brooklyn This Week

By Brooklyn Magazine

Keeping up with the culinary action in Brooklyn is almost futile. Even with our help, there aren’t nearly enough meals or minutes in the day to hit them all, which is why we’ve been trying something new these last few weeks, sending some suggested destinations directly to your inbox, so you always know where to eat, no matter which corner of Kings County you might be exploring. 

This week, we’re honoring the arrival of a rarity with a quick, but not hasty, scan of the current state of Korean cuisine in the borough. This is, of course, inspired by our latest on Andamiro, a nifty new-ish spot in the former Naruto Ramen space in Park Slope, where Chef Suho Lee’s take on the ubiquitous Korean dish is a revelation. Over in Bushwick, Orion Bar is still alive and well and serving up some of the best late-night fare you can find anywhere in the city. And for the grab-and-go crowds, we have two contenders: Sweetie’s, the fast-casual Greenpoint shop (from a mother-and-daughter-in-law duo) with quietly crucial Korean fried chicken; and SYKO, the lunch counter operation in Windsor Terrace with a menu that’s half-Syrian, half-Korean, and entirely awesome.

See where to eat in Brooklyn this week below.

Photo by Scott Lynch

Andamiro Brings a Rare, Soul-Soothing Korean Dish to Park Slope

Easy prediction: the gukbap I had last week at Andamiro, Suho Lee’s nifty little Korean restaurant that opened last fall in Park Slope, will be one of the best dishes I eat all year. Seriously, for its remarkable complexity of flavors, for its deeply comforting vibes, and for its fun presentation that had me grinning as soon as it hit the table, the gukbap here is a total winner.

At its core, gukbap is essentially just a bowl of soup, and, as Lee told Brooklyn Magazine, it’s everywhere in Korea. It’s served from carts in the street, as a staple in homes, and in fine dining restaurants. And, sure, you can get versions of the dish scattered here and there around New York City, but Lee, who grew up in Suwon, near Seoul, and moved to Downtown Brooklyn in 2013, was frustrated by its relative scarcity here.

So when he took the plunge and signed the lease last year for his first solo restaurant, Lee knew he wanted to make the dish central to the experience here on Fifth Avenue. After all, Andamiro “is a pure Korean name, and it means you fill until you overfill,” Lee said, which is exactly what I did—gleefully, gloriously—the other night.

Photo by Scott Lynch

Orion Bar Brings Korean Drinking Culture to Bushwick

Chef Irene Yoo has been publicly hyping her love of Korean drinking culture since at least 2013, when she and her husband and partner Nick Dodge launched a series of popup dinner (and drinking) parties called Yoo Eating. When she moved it all online during the early pandemic (think: YooTube cooking videos), Yoo’s infectious enthusiasm for Korean comfort food — and the booze that goes with it — brought her even more attention. So she and Dodge decided it was time to give this thing a permanent home where we could all gather together and eat and drink and get happy on a regular basis.

Welcome Orion Bar, the couple’s brand new restaurant and bar located in the former Le Garage space on Suydam Street in Bushwick. “In Korean culture, eating and drinking are one and the same,” Yoo tells Brooklyn Magazine. “When you go out drinking, you’re always eating, so we wanted to open a place where you get really nice cocktails and bottles of soju, or you could get down with a beer and a shot, or broth backs, or weird infusions, but also make sure you’re also getting fed alongside the drinks with some great comfort food.”

They nailed it. Orion is a blast.

Photo by Scott Lynch

Sweetie’s, a Killer Korean Fried Chicken Spot, Lands in Greenpoint

Fried chicken is having a moment in Brooklyn, with notable new spots opening from Bay Ridge (the L.A. import Dave’s Hot Chicken) to Park Slope (the superb Pecking House) to Williamsburg (Kuku and K Top). Add to that expanding list the excellent Sweetie’s K Chicken on a bustling stretch of Manhattan Avenue in Greenpoint.

Sweetie’s is co-owned and operated by a mother-and daughter-in-law duo, Young Sook Kim and Jinny Kim, the former of whom has been serving Greenpointers for more than two decades in a variety of businesses, including the Nail Gallery salon two doors down. According to Jinny, however, running a restaurant has been her mother-in-law’s longtime dream.

“She’s always been an entrepreneur, a small business owner in various industries,” Jinny tells Brooklyn Magazine. “She really wanted to do Korean chicken. It’s something she enjoys eating, it’s got a simple menu, and people love it. She introduced the idea to me and since I wasn’t fulfilled doing my corporate job, I took a leap of faith and joined her to open Sweetie’s.”

Photo by Scott Lynch

A Syrian-Korean Counter Opens in Windsor Terrace

For starters, SYKO, a new counter-service restaurant that opened a couple of weeks ago in Windsor Terrace, doesn’t serve mashups of Syrian and Korean food. You won’t find anything called a “falafel bibimbap” here, nor any “kimchi moussaka.”

Instead, SYKO is a collaboration between two friends, Mazen Khoury and James Kim, the former from Syria (he left with his family in 2013 and says he misses it every day), the latter you may have met already if you’re from the neighborhood—Kim’s family operates both J&H Farm and P&E Grocery, both within a block of SYKO. Actually, Khoury and Kim are themselves family now: Kim is married to Khoury’s sister. The portmanteau “SYKO” is, of course, a nod to their combined cuisines, but also, says Kim, what he calls his young son.

Both sides of SYKO’s menu are packed with familiar favorites, from platters of beef bulgogi to chicken shawarma sandwiches, but there are plenty of less-obvious offerings worth exploring as well. Try Khoury’s sujok rolled flatbread sandwich, which comes stuffed with a funky Syrian sausage, lots of pickles and tomatoes for acid, a scattering of French fries for fun, and a garlicky white sauce pulling it all together. It’s delicious, and eats something like a Middle East version of a Southern California-style burrito.