DDOBAR

Happiness is just a meal away at a creative, affordable, delightful and surprising meal like the ones I've had at DDOBAR. I've eaten here twice now, once for the standard $75 tasting menu and another time for the upgraded $135 one and was wowed by the flavors. They even got me to try duck (a meat I don't include in my diet)-- I did not want to miss out on whatever the skilled chefs had to throw my way, down to the incredible earl grey soft serve at the end.The strange digs might explain the relatively low price point for such an incredible meal. It's one of the stands inside the food hall Olly Olly Market, located waaaay on the west side past 11th avenue, and the chef's table is not at all shielded from the onlookers playing Pop-a-shot or ordering a smoothie from a surrounding stands a few feet away. I've seen omakase hosted in other food halls before so I know it's not unprecedented but I'd imagine a lot of people might find the dichotomy between fancy meal and cacophonous food hall mismatched. The service and flavors do make up for it though, as I've found myself here twice now and would easily say yes to going back.I went from being someone who meticulously researched every course of every meal before deciding to venture to a restaurant, to someone who is now alright with being surprised, so I don't want to tell you too much. Here's a little taste: Cacio e pepe pudding to whet the appetite, the likes of everything salmon, torched squid, lobster foam, and charred scallop, and many of these bites served atop inari-- sweet tofu skin. It really works, and I find myself regularly fantasizing about the ebi bite.I'll keep an eye out for when this Michelin starred chef reopens his other restaurant, Joomak Banjum in a new location soon.

I took my fiance here for his birthday dinner last week and enjoyed our experience! The restaurant is located inside a food court. We had a 7:30 RSVP and were seated at the counter immediately. We both got the Chef Studio Tasting at $135 and ordered a bottle of sake to share. We started with the poached oyster which was good. Then moved on to the Madai which was amazing. They used apple (instead of watermelon which was written on the menu) and had a citrusy foam that I loved. The next dish was cooked scallop with a gochujang crisp. The crisp was so good! On to the Yubu tasting - I personally love inari and always get this at buffets haha. I liked all of the 4 we were given but felt the taste of the inari flavor took away from the pieces. Regardless, all delish bites!For the next course, we were given toro tartare with seaweed crisps. There was no fillet mignon to be seen (also written in the menu) though I heard the party next to us ask about this and the chef said they were out of it. This was still a tasty course. The lobster carpaccio and crabmeat risotto were also good bites. My fiance has a slight crab allergy so they replaced his with a truffle risotto that was delicious. The last two courses were a anago toast and a truffle wagyu taco. Both good. We ended our meal with a refreshing earl grey ice cream and even got extra since it was the end of the night! They also gave us two coconut macaronsOverall a good meal but keep in mind some inconsistencies with the menu. I would've appreciated knowing ahead of time what would be swapped/excluded.

Came to try this restaurant out because it was highly recommended on TikTok and also wanted a place to celebrate my anniversary w my partner. We were the first ones there at 530pm and course was completed by 730pm. We chose the 14 course chefs tasting menu ($135pp). Flavor tasted the same for most of the dishes, nothing too memorable. Seemed like the focus on the food was mainly on the presentation rather than the taste. Total for both of us was around 350 after tax and tip. Would not recommend as there are plenty of other places in the city for cheaper and better.

I read a blog about great places to eat in Chelsea, and DDOBAR specifically piqued my interest. I was looking for a different foodie experience, and what really caught my attention was DDOBAR being a Korean omakase. I also appreciated the affordability. It was $75 for the lunch menu, which I felt was a steal. I've never been to the Olly Olly market, so it was cool exploring the establishment and seeing what other restaurants it had to offer. DDOBAR was very casual and unassuming, but you get a full blown 11-course meal. I made reservations for 12pm on a Saturday. Initially I had made a reservation for 3 then had to update my reservation for 2. We did end up having a 3rd person show up, and we're so grateful that DDOBAR was able to accommodate our friend after all. We unanimously enjoyed the overall experience - from the service to presentation to food. The flavor combinations were indeed unique, and I loved the yubutarts (sweet tofu rice bags) used as the bed of the nigiri fish. Almost every course we tried, one of the 3 of us would say, "I could eat 5 of those." Even the cacio e pepe, which I've read some Yelpers' aversion to, was a hit among the 3 of us. I felt that we had the perfect amount of food; I didn't feel uncomfortably stuffed nor under fed.

I had one of the best, most inspiring meals I've had in a while at Ddobar and I'm shocked that this place isn't fully booked. For $75, the basic tasting menu is such a steal. Highlights included an incredible brown butter dashi with scallops and bacon, a super creative seaweed sabayon, a delightful yuba wrapped around silky egg paired with botan ebi, and a lovely cacio e pepe inspired verrine. Shockingly, we were the only customers of the night; I was able to easily change my reservation from 7pm to 7:30pm because I was running late, and we got complimentary caviar and dessert sake. We had a marvelous experience and we're definitely coming back for both this menu and the premium menu.

I came here to celebrate my girlfriends birthday and everything about this spot was amazing! Each course was beautifully plated, well thought out, to an extent experimental, and very delicious. Some of the more unique ones were Fluke with foamed wasabi and Duck Pastrami! They also prepared a little cake that was complimentary which had one million sprinkles and a jammy filling. The earl grey ice cream is actually something I will be thinking about for a long time! One thing of note is that they have 2 different menus and we wanted to try one of each but were not allowed to do as it would interrupt their flow - makes sense. I guess we would have to come back very soon. Their $75 Yubu Tart Tasting is honestly a huge steal in comparison to most omakase spots in NYC.

I should have known they wouldn't have the full tasting menu during lunch time, but I was hopeful. But the staff was very kind and asked what I would like from the dinner tasting menu and they would ask the chef if he'd accommodate making them a la carte. The meal in itself was delicious and surprising. If you read the menu; it doesn't sound too different from typical omakases...but it is. Let's talk Yubu tart. I am not a fan of inari. The fried sweetened tofu skin stuffed with rice, is not something I enjoy because it's typically too sweet for me. But the pairings here worked well. It definitely has a sweet note, but is paired with complementary ingredients to provide the right flavor profile. However, there was one dish where I didn't think it worked well; the botan ebi. It wasn't bad, but it ended up tasting too sweet and the ebi getting lost in the yubu tart. The other dish that wasn't bad, but was probably a bit more lackluster, was the cacio e pepe dish. I love egg yolks so it didn't both me, but in comparison with all of the delicious items in the meal; this didn't have the same impression. Now the standouts- the wagyu... this was a refreshing take on the wagyu part of the omakase. It wasn't your typical seared piece on top on rice and uni. This was special. The sliced wagyu was melt in your mouth and the flavors/textures were delightful. - crab risotto; textural wonderful, full of cheesy crabby flavor that plays up the natural sweetness of the crab- scallop; seared perfectly and doused with brown butter dashi I completely demolished- fluke with whatever addicting broth that was. There was vinegar a touch of spice and it was a perfect digestif Everything else was on point, but these were the lacklusters and the stars. Service was very kind and I appreciated the willingness to check on extending the C lunch tasting menu!The seating isn't ideal as the noise is dependent on who is sitting around in the food hall, but for the price and quality of this tasting menu; I'd happily return (and probably will next month).

Solid 4/4.5 for a food court tasting menu! At 8PM, it wasn't super loud or crowded. Staff was absolutely fantastic all night. As for the food, I did not know what to expect from the Yubutarts as I'm not huge on tofu, but it worked! The seafood was fresh and flavor of everything was pretty good. Some pieces were definitely on the sweeter side. For dessert, we got the Earl Grey ice cream with salt. This was delicious!! I was super excited when the chef asked if we wanted another serving of ice cream. Don't mind if I do! Overall, fun experience and would come back to try the $135 option

Located inside Olly Olly Market, it's on the back, you need to walk towards the end to be able to see their counter/. There are some higher counter seats and some lower ones. Either seems fine, but when the chef introduced each dish the voice is so soft that we could barely hear him. In the end we just mostly looked at the menu what we are eating We all got the $75 option with add on Uni. Chef advised that everyone order the same package. The first course came out none of us like it. A weird combination of egg yolk and cheese. The food gets better. The highlights are the scallops and the shrimp piece. The nigiri piece they use tofu wrapped rice which gives a sweet and savory flavor. And it really works well with some dishes. The uni $15 add on was very tiny, I wouldn't. Recommend it. The duck has no flavor even with chili oil on top. I would say it's an interesting experience. Overall very enjoyable, but I will probably not gonna come back again

My friend and I went for the Chef's Tasting Studio menu to get more variety. Part of this menu included the yubu tart tasting as well, so I'm glad we chose this option! The seating counter is in the middle of a food hall -- during the night, it's quiet and intimate enough to talk to who you come with, otherwise I didn't 100% love the vibe. But it was easy to forget the rest of the space when you're eating. I'd rate this place a 4.5/5. All the dishes on the chef's studio menu was amazing. I would say that the pieces I didn't like were actually from the yubu tart tasting. I just wasn't a fan of the flavor combinations. Otherwise, the rest of the tasting was soooo good. I tried Joomak Banjum first and was expecting a similar style of pastry-like dishes, but this was so different. I feel like Ddobar focuses on more Korean flavors. My friend and I finished completely stuffed to the brim. At the end, we had a wonderful earl grey softserve that really tied up the meal. If I could bring home a tub of the ice cream, I would. The service was excellent. The chefs were kind and explained the menu well. They were inviting and you could tell they loved what they do. Would definitely want to come back here to show another friend.