Korean food has long been one of my favourites in an already impressive catalogue of Asian cuisines, and I was so happy when a local New Yorkers told me of this place. Was it any good? Time to find out…
Ideal for:
Those that love tapas style dining, so it gives an excuse to try the menu.
When you want to take your date someplace that will be different.
When you want to try authentic Korean food cooked with love.
Ambience & Décor
Mokyo took the dingy look and based the entire restaurant on it, whether that was by design or unintentional, I am not sure. The walls, surfaces, fixtures, and fittings, all looked like they were about 60 years old, paint scaped off the walls, exposed industrial-sized pipes, and the wooden surfaces worn down or splintered. Mokyo was set up to facilitate the quick turnaround of covers needed to keep the place running. Despite this, Mokyo was totally packed, as was packed every night.
Service
The service was as expected – quick, efficient, and always performed with a smile. Given it was my first time, I really appreciated the suggestions.
Food
Due to the tapas-style dining concept, I was able to try a variety of dishes.
Started with the Beet Tostada. This was served with the ever-popular quinoa chips, silky avocado puree and tasty pasilla chile. The chilli gave the kick, the beet gave sweetness and the avocado puree the earthiness. The combination of all ingredients was inspired and one of the rare times I would actively choose vegetarian again.
The Wagyu Oxtail Spring Roll (see left) was next, and this was not greasy, like most spring rolls. The filling was an ineffable combination, one that you cannot eat too much of given it was so rich, so I was glad about the portion inside the roll. The smoky gochjang was just simply delicious and elevated the flavour palate of the dish and the onion puree gave the needed sweetness
The third dish was the Steak; this was a NY strip with Korean mustard sesame as the base, and crispy potato atop, with some salt on the side for additional seasoning and a chili if you wanted to add further kick. The steak was perfectly cooked medium-rare, and all the accompaniments just worked. Once again, the full array of flavour palates and textures were covered.
The penultimate dish was also the penultimate star of this meal. The Lobster Roll (see right) had a nice piece of small, perfectly grilled lobster sandwiched in a buttery brioche roll, with serrano sprinkled on top, followed by light, fluffy, truffle whipped cheese that was doused in gorgeous truffle, and celery relish for garnish. Even though it was 2 bites, it was heavenly.
The final dish was the Corn Dumplings (see left) that was served with a truffle salsa verde, fennel and parmigiana. Words cannot explain how sumptuous and exquisite these dumplings were. I love corn and truffle, so mix the two together was genius, and you got the earthy tones from the parmigiana and slight sweetness from the fennel. I usually hate the liquorice taste of fennel but in this context, it was unreal. This dish would feature on any Michelin menu it was that good.
Usually I do not review drinks, but my cocktail called Blah Blah Blue (see above) was a nice blue colour served in a bag, tasted delicious, and it had a light inside it to illuminate the contents of the drink – it was so novel, it added to the charm.
Mokyo was a cosy nook in the heart of the East Village that may look shabby, but the food and drink was anything but. All the dishes were a minimum 9/10, and I was blown away by the flavour combinations. It is very rare I eat at a place where it all just worked. Be warned – Mokyo was not cheap, and normally I would drop a mark for the price, but the food was worth the price, given the sheer sensation it evoked. As such, Mokyo got an A+ rating.
Photos of Mokyo and more can be found on Instagram here.
Final grade: A+
Final comment: Quite possibly the best restaurant I have visited to date in NYC! A Must Try
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