Mari

Just went here 2 weeks ago and we're still raving about it. Mari was recommended to me by my local friends and I knew it was a gem when they kept returning. This is the first tasting menu where I loved everything from beginning to end -- that is nearly impossible to master in my opinion.The space is small and intimate, the decor is beautiful and modern. The staff is excellent, they are so friendly and fun. They have great teamwork as well.I highly recommend a reservation here. Their tasting menu changes per season. My favorites were the egg and caviar, which was a delicious strong start, to the mushroom handroll, the spicy tuna and salmon. Honestly, everything was fabulous. It was also nice to have a noodle soup, galkuksu, to end the entrees. In addition, the mandarin yogurt sorbet was "life changing" per my husband. We cannot wait to return in the summer!

Surprised to see people talk about the long wait between courses from two years ago, and it still hasn't changed...Creative Korean-inspired handrolls, some fun small dishes, it sounds great right? Concept is great, execution was not.When you first enter the restaurant for the counter, you instantly realized how tight of a space it is. And not only is it uncomfortable and distracting to have narrow corridors where waiters and servers have to come and go, but it must be annoying for the staff as well! Frequent traffic jams, hard to move chairs, etc.Around a 15 min. wait for the first course (there was a mini skewer to start ai guess...), slow start, but maybe it gets better (it won't). First course honestly was very good. It's one of those classic "egg on egg" sort of dishes with caviar on an egg cake in a sauce. The sauce was very tasty, had lots of fun textures in it. And this was a joy.Second course was a bigeye tuna salad. It was decent, the herbal smells were clean and delightful. I'm not sure how the portioning worked though, while I got 2 pieces of tuna my girlfriend got 4.Onto the main handrolls...this is where the waiting _really_ takes on its toll. While the opening dishes, ok they are very different, maybe you need some time to process them. Ok that's fine. But for the handrolls, where you sort of expect some sort of tempo and procession. Nope, you have to wait 10 long minutes between each handroll. By the middle of the handroll procession, you kinda wonder why things are moving so slowly. You have full view of the prep kitchen at the counter, and everyone is working so diligently. I see them searing the egg cakes, see them prepping the tuna salad...I just don't see my handroll. Credit where credit is due: The fluke handroll was spicy and tasty and acidic and fun. I really enjoyed the mushroom handroll as well, with the deep umami and earthy flavors. The king salmon roll was a bit tasteless and honestly probably better as nigiri. I really wanted to like the uni and king crab handroll but...man the uni was already disintegrating (see pics) and it was definitely past the freshness to be served at a restaurant like this.The noodle soup was ok. Dessert was good, hats off to the pastry chef! Also the dessert actually comes out at a reasonable procession (guess it's already all prepped). The donuts were delicious, the coffee dessert was incredible.Around 2 hrs into my meal, I saw anxious diners at the door, probably the 7:30 crowd. I didn't see them seated until around 7:54 or later. Really disappointed with the execution here. If all the courses came out timely, think this would've been a very enjoyable experience.

We stopped by for brunch and were extremely pleased.First, the space is beautiful with a kind of blend of Scandinavian and Japanese aesthetic? Service was friendly and informative, helping us understand the menu. We started with two rolls: Ssam Mari, a fresh/spring roll style dish with duck confit and nuoc cham, and Hwe Mari, a similarly fresh and bright tasting roll similar to a sushi roll, with a fantastic charred shishito puree. Next was a beautifully presented set of 5 iberico pork gyoza. These were rich but delicate and came with some greens to add balance. We finished with the Chicken Jook and the Gogi Guksu. The jook reminded us more of risotto than congee and had a lot of flavor. If we wanted to nitpick we'd say that the chicken itself could've been seasoned more but it was still a very enjoyable dish. The Gogi Guksu was reminiscent of ramen, with very flavorful slices of Berkshire pork belly in an umami-filled bone broth. The noodles themselves were perhaps a little too soft, but overall still an excellent and tasty dish. At least at brunch, Mari was a fantastic experience, truly a delicious meal!

We visited Mari for an early dinner around 5-5:30, right when they opened, and the staff couldn't have been more attentive! We mentioned we were on a time crunch because we had a show to catch, and they were super mindful of that, which we really appreciated. The ambiance was nice and contemporary. We sat at a table, so we didn't get the full experience of watching all the food being prepared, but I imagine that would've been a fun touch too. Still, the meal itself made up for it. Honestly, I thought I'd leave feeling slightly hungry (you know how some tasting menus are), but wow--I was so full I couldn't even finish some dishes! Definitely more than enough food.The wine pairing was excellent. Not only were the pairings thoughtful, but the pours were very generous, no tiny sips here! They also offered the option to add white truffle to some of the dishes that day, which was such a delightful bonus.Overall, we had a fantastic experience. The food, the service, the attention to detail, it all made for a really memorable meal. Highly recommend checking it out, especially if you're looking for something special in the city!

I went to Mari for their 3rd ever Sunday Brunch, and it didn't disappoint! The interior was welcoming, clean, and quiet. Great for catching up with a friend or recovering from a night out. To start, they served a red bean soup, and traditional banchan. We ordered the Chadol Mari, and a single bite was packed with a ton of flavor. As an entree I got the wild mushroom kalguksu and I loved the texture of the noodles, but the broth was a bit too salty for my taste. For dessert I especially loved the stroopwafel.

I was in NY for work and my plans changed for that night so I decided to take achance and walk to Mari for dinner. Unfortunately I did not have a reservation and was hoping to get seated at the bar since I was eating solo. They were full and it seemed that I wasn't going to be able to eat there and they recommended trying the sister restaurant. Luckily while I was waiting they must have been able to figure out a seat because I was able to get seated. Of course I immediately opted for the tasting menu and wine pairing. Each serving was freshly hand made and I was able to see the chef preparing my food with intricate details. Every bite was unique and beautifully paired. The sommelier is knowledgeable and professional. This restaurant is highly recommended!

I avoided Mari for ages because the idea of paying sky-high prices for kimbap made me want to wither and die. Then I was surprised with a special dinner here and discovered--among other things--that they've since changed the menu and expanded their repertoire, while still staying true to the spirit of kimbap. Plus, we had VIP status with Chef Jiwon, so I kind of couldn't leave. Anywho.- Egg and Caviar: Probably my favorite dish of the menu, as it perfectly represented upscale Korean fusion done well, IMO. Also, steamed egg and caviar are just aces.- Hwe: Refreshing and crunchy, and a nice way to ensure you eat your veggies, kids. - Squid Soondae: Nice concept, a bit marred in execution on account of too-salty jus and lacklustre soondae. Also, I kept thinking of the Simpsons quote, "Lobsters stuffed with tacos" while I was eating it, but that probably says more about me than anything.- Mari: It's Mari time (cue MC Hammer dance). All were pretty and ambitious, but the best of the bunch were the delicious Mushroom, Fluke and Galbi. The Oyster was soing too much and the Spicy Tuna was too cold for me. I think we got a few off-menu ones too, courtesy of Chef, but I can't remember which were which. - Lobster Kalguksu: Ambitious as all get-out, complete with gochujang-infused bouillabaise (mmmm, briny!) and a ton of banchan. Ours came with some bonus A5 wagyu and black truffle, which was the perfect finisher.- Pear Yogurt Sorbet: The essence of Korea distilled in a frozen dessert. - Coffee & Donuts / Raspberry Sorbet: Dunkin should be required to carry fried mochi balls because they're truly the perfect kind of donut. Mmmm....- Passionfruit Mousse with White Chocolate: I kind of blacked out by this point and devoured my bowl. I know I liked it, but I couldn't tell you anything in particular.- Petit Fours: These should just be sold in boxes. Crystallized orange rounds, chocolate and white sesame cookie sandwiches--sigh. Out of all the complimentary petit fours I've received at Michelin-starred restaurants, these have to be my favorite. Thanks again, Chef Jiwon and team, for helping us to celebrate in style! I'm sorry I totally judged you by your book cover, but I've never been happier to be proven wrong!

My partner surprised me with dinner at Mari to celebrate my birthday, and it was such an incredible experience! Everything from the food, to the presentation, to the service, to the ambiance was perfect to set the mood for a special occasion. We ended up sitting at the square chefs counter - so we got to witness ALL the action and magic happening. We opted in to do the tasting menu and split a wine pairing with it - which was so worth it, as there were 8-9 different wines to try that were paired perfectly with each course - really elevated the other experience. I don't want to spoil the tasting menu too much (e.g; favorites), but as many other reviews call out, I can confirm that the Egg and Caviar was life changing. We were also pleasantly surprised by the dessert course... They even had a nice surprise as it was my birthday. Overall, we left full and satisfied - not hungry, but not too stuffed. I am excited to find another occasion to go back and try their menu in a different season!

Everything was very very salty in my honest opinion and Im the type that tops every off with salt at home. The non salty top hits were egg and caviar app and mushroom Mari. The main was a Guksu which is a knife cut noodle, ours was paired with lobster broth it was still a little salty but paired with the mustard side sauces it helps to balance things out. Outside of the salt, the broth had so much umami and depth of flavor. With one drink and the standard tasting menu it was about $180 including tax and tip per person. For that price without the extreme salt factor I would have thought it was worth it, but this is not a fave based on my visit.

We're excited to try this place out during our visit to New York City. We had a reservation at 2 pm and didn't realize that the tasting menu was only for dinner. The staff was accommodating in rescheduling our reservation for a later time.Once seated at the bar, our server was extremely attentive throughout the course. The tasting menu was great - I could tell that they tried to incorporate Korean flavors in their items and I got to try new flavor palates during this meal. My fav was the egg/caviar and spicy tuna handroll. There were some that I wasn't a fan of either though. The Lobster Kalguksu broth was a little salty to my liking but it was enjoyable. It came out to be ~190 total person without any drinks. It was on the pricier side - 3.7/5 overall experience.