We had an early dinner at 5:30 at Eataly. That plus a couple of hours of shopping and our stomachs were grumbling already. So with the help of Yelp we found Han Bat Restaurant.
There were several Korean restaurants near our hotel since Koreatown was at 32nd Street between Fifth Avenue and Broadway. Han Bat had very good reviews and was nearer to us at 35th street.
The restaurant is open 24 hours a day. We arrived at 10:30 pm and it was still full.
The side dishes were different from the ones I’m used to except for the usual kimchi. There was fish cake, bean sprouts, peanuts with dried anchovies and my favorite the squash salad. I’ve had potato salad as a Korean side dish but this was the first time I’ve encountered squash.
The squash was quite firm like it was blanched for only a few minutes and it was simply dressed with mayonnaise. It was so sweet I couldn’t stop asking for more. I must have eaten 3 small plates of it.
banchan or side dishes
peanuts and dried anchovies
I wondered why there was a huge bowl of salt on the table.
bowl of salt
Erin ordered this bowl of beef broth with noodles and rice. It was totally bland and tasteless. We must have added as whole spoonful of salt to it. Ahhhh….
seolleongtang
The stew made with lots of tofu and seafood was hot and spicy, just perfect for the chilly New York weather.
sundubu jjigae
I just tried some of the previous dishes. It was the delectable marinated short ribs that I concentrated on. I really like eating Korean food in the United States because their beef tastes better and servings are bigger. The ribs were very tender and juicy and just perfect with the cold squash salad. No rice for me!
la galbi
Han Bat Restaurant menu
(click to enlarge)
New York is indeed the city that doesn’t sleep. Any time you’re hungry there’s great food from a halal cart to delicious Korean food.
Han Bat Restaurant
53 West 35th Street New York, NY 10016
telephone: (212) 629-5588
Shoot First Eat Later 
That was a great meal you had. Been to lot Korean restaurants and they never serve gamja jeon (potato pancake). There was one that now closed in San Francisco did had it. As for your past entry on Fried Chicken and Waffle it started in Harlen diner when some customers came after hour and cook about to closed up put together what ever he had for customers which fried chicken and waffle and it became a hit which all over America now serve it.
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Hi Leslie! I have been following your blog for two years now, and i live in New York. My husband is korean, and of course we frequent korea town (by default, i guess ;p). On our first date, my husband took me here to have the seolleongtang. Didn’t like it the first time because it was so bland! And that’s were the bowl of salt is for. There should be a small bowl of scallions somewhere there. The soup is made of beef bones that was boiled for a very long time. I guess it’s an acquired taste, because I crave for it now once in awhile. I,m just wondering if you get to try Peter Luger?
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Thanks for explaining it to me!! It’s strange that it was cooked for a long time yet it didn’t have any taste. My next post is Peter Luger!! 😀
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Thanks for the info Betty!!
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I readed it was 1930 when it was created. I was in Hawaii not long ago and they had chicken and waffles in many restaurants. People like the sweet and savory taste which at first I was not sure. Now I love it very much.
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Love your blog! Just an FYI the Korean seolleongtang isnt meant to be seasoned by the cook but the eater is supposed to add in salt and scallions (balck pepper for me as well) and its meant to be eaten with really good kimchi. the place you went to doesnt really have good kimchi, but if you go to a seolleongtang restaurant they have amazing kimchi. keep up the good work!
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Hi! I’m a college student from the Entrepreneurs School of Asia and am currently doing a survey about Korean restaurants (in the Philippines) for my thesis. I’d very much appreciate if you answer my survey– and maybe distribute it to friends also.Survey Link: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/GZJVQGDThank you!
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