When it came time to decide on a restaurant to have our annual pre-NYE dinner for my sister’s birthday (because who wants to have to deal with prix fixes on the day of!), she decided she wanted to try out Atoboy, a Korean-inspired small plates restaurant in the Flatiron area. Opened by the former chef de cuisine of Jungsik, the menu at Atoboy features your choice of 3 plates for $36. The tasting menu comes with a bowl of white rice or you can add on their seasonal rice for an extra $2.

I arrived earlier with my mom but they seated us while we waited for the rest of our party. Both the hostess and our waiter confirmed with us that we were celebrating a birthday, a note I had put in our Resy reservation. I love this small attention to detail – something that might be or has been overlooked at other restaurants. Our waiter waited until our entire party had arrived before reviewing the menu with us, as we were new visitors.

 

We all wanted to try something different from the menu, so we tried to diversify our tasting menu choices as much as possible. For our first course, we picked:

• Tofu with Soybean, King oyster mushroom, and Mustard
• Littleneck Clams with Avocado, Rice cracker, and Gochugaru
• Fluke with Moo radish, Pomelo, and Sesame seed
• Beef Tartare with Oyster and Potato

 

The tofu was the biggest dish of the bunch, but I think my favorite was the Littleneck Clams. The avocado puree-like sauce that it came with was really complimentary to the spicy sauce they used for the clams. The Beef Tartare was also really enjoyable – good quality beef with a great marinade. My least favorite was definitely the Fluke – I’m not a big grapefruit fan so the pomelo was a turnoff.

For our second course, we picked:

• Asparagus with Spicy cod roe, Shallot, and Egg yolk
• Egg with Sea urchin, Watercress, and Quinoa
• Corn with Taleggio, Bacon, and Doenjang
• Squid stuffed with Pork and Shrimp, topped with Salsa verde

My favorite dish is a toss up between the Egg and the Squid. I opted to pay an extra $10 for fresh Californian Sea Urchin instead of a puree and it was well worth it. The crispness of the cucumber in the egg really contrasted with the smooth texture of the egg and sea urchin. I really liked the taste contrast as well – the egg had a light and fresh taste while the sea urchin was salty and a little sweet. The squid stuffed with pork was very fragrant and flavorful. It was possibly the most flavorful dish of the night. In fact, all dishes in our second course was spectacular and I think it was my favorite section of the night.

For our last course, we picked:

• Octopus with Kimchi, Chorizo, and Parsley
• NY Strip Steak with Arugula, Poblano, and Wild sesame oil
• Brisket with Foie gras, Ginger, and Garlic

We ended up with two orders of the Brisket because we were very attracted to the concept of foie gras brisket! Again, all the dishes in this course were spectacular and really delicious. I had a brisket dish to myself and boy, oh boy, was it good! The brisket came apart the moment you bit into it and was not stringy at all. The foie gras made it a very, very rich dish. I actually ended up dumping my entire bowl of rice into the leftover sauce (Side note: The seaweed rice was phenomenal and I highly recommend selling out the extra $2 for it!).

For dessert, they have three options (not included in the Tasting Menu). We opted to go with the:

• Honey Panna Cotta with black rice vinegar and pomegranate
• Pumpkin Cheesecake with yogurt and pumpkin seeds.

Our waiter brought out the Pumpkin Cheesecake with a candle in it for my sister and comp-ed us their third desert, Sujeonggwa Granita with burrata and walnuts. I honestly do not have a single bad thing to say about any of the desserts! However, if I had to pick a clear favorite it would probably be the Pumpkin Cheesecake, which was silky and smooth. The Sujeonggwa Granita was also a brand new experience and I’m so happy I got to try it. Sujeonggwa is a traditional Korean cinnamon punch, which they made into fine granita to top the burrata. The result was a sweet and cinnamon-y topping for the otherwise flavorless burrata. The inclusion of tiny fruit cubes and walnuts added texture to the gooey burrata.

Service was attentive, personable, and on point. We really felt like we were taken care of and as I mentioned earlier, I really appreciate that they made my sister’s birthday dinner special. I’m not one to expect comp-ed desserts or what not for birthday celebrations, but I really do appreciate it when I don’t have to pretend to use the bathroom in order to find my waiter/waitress to ask them if we can add a candle to a dessert.

Another HUGE selling point for me: the music was low and tasteful. We were able to talk and hear each other perfectly find without having to shout at each other. And finally, extra points for being so well-lit. Sometimes, candlelight is romantic. But there’s a difference between being romantic and having to use my iPhone flashlight to read the menu!

All in all, 5 out 5 for Atoboy. In fact, I’d say they’re a 10/5!