Kisa

“Overall rating: 4.7 I was a little concerned that it’s on a first come basis, but I was lucky that there was an open spot before the line starts. The food was very good but oof the lighting. It was too bright! They bring out soup first which was delicious. Chose the Spicy pork and I was able to eat only half. Took the rest home for the next day and it was delicious.”

“We had such a special dinner at Kisa. From the moment we walked in, the team was incredibly kind, welcoming, and thoughtful. They went out of their way to make us feel comfortable, and they were especially sweet and accommodating with my friend’s child, which meant a lot to all of us. The food was excellent too. The bulgogi beef was great, and the banchan were all really tasty. Great food is one thing, but the hospitality here is what really made the experience stand out. The whole night felt easy, fun, and genuinely memorable. We left so happy we chose to spend the evening there.”

“Kisa is a temple to banchan. I think it is a perfect restaurant. For $38, you get rice with nine dishes, all superbly delicious and with different flavor profiles that contrast and complement each other. You pick the main protein and it comes with all the side dishes. I’d take this over many of the uninspired tasting menus that cost 4-5x as much. All the flavor and variety, none of the pretension. They can also accommodate vegetarians without sacrificing any flavor. That spicy squid was perfect, geez. Such balanced sweet-spicy sauce, so many aromatics, tender supple meat, and some smoky char. For that matter, everything was perfect (except maybe the perilla soup could use a dash of Yondu). The crispy fried tofu with seaweed put the soy sauce aroma at the forefront. The cabbage namul had a fermented flavor that has to be something more than doenjang… perhaps nuruk? The shrimp cabbage salad seemed underwhelming at first but it’s really important to mix up the heat from gochugaru with heat from hot mustard. The yukhoe was so balanced in sweetness and sesame oil aroma. The tender braised pork ribs tasted intensely of gochujang. The fish cakes were sweet and full of seafood umami. And the kimchi was so soft with plenty of depth. The venue is modeled after Korean old-timey diners, complete with a vintage TV, a vintage fan, and a vintage drinks machine, among all the other decorations on the wall. It never felt kitschy. Very charming. They opened the restaurant with a clear concept in mind and delivered on all fronts. Huge recommend. Just make sure to come with an empty stomach as this was a lot of food.”

“Kisa was one of the highlights of my recent trip to New York. My friend James recommended Kisa very highly because he’s friends with the owner, David, and mentioned multiple times how passionate the team is about delivering genuine Korean flavors to a wide range of people without cutting corners anywhere. After eating there myself, I completely understood what he meant. You can tell when a team truly cares about what they’re creating, and Kisa has that feeling the second you walk in. The staff treated us incredibly well from beginning to end. Every single person we interacted with was warm, friendly, professional, and so genuinely personable that by the end of the night it felt like we had known them for years. This restaurant really embodies what Korean people mean when they say “사람 냄새 난다.” The ambiance immediately pulled at my heartstrings. The vintage fan on the wall, the seat cushions, and even the small CRT TV in the corner brought back memories of growing up in Korea and visiting my grandparents. It captured that nostalgic Korean comfort perfectly without ever feeling forced or gimmicky. The food was fantastic. The portions were generous, every banchan was thoughtfully prepared, and every main dish was seasoned perfectly. It genuinely felt like they brought the flavors of Korea straight to New York without compromising anything along the way, which is such an incredible accomplishment. The alcohol selection was amazing too. The Korean beer they recommended was crisp and refreshing, and the Mannam soju was one of the best sojus I’ve ever had. It wasn’t overly sweet like most flavored sojus and had a subtle lemon note that made it amazing both as a shot and something that would make an incredible highball base. Their makgeolli selections paired perfectly with the food as well. I’ll 100% be back the next time I’m in New York and would highly recommend anyone visiting the city make a reservation and experience it for themselves. Thank you once again to the entire staff at Kisa and to David for making our meal and overall experience such an incredible one. I hope to see everyone again the next time I’m in New York, and hopefully meet David in person as well so I can personally thank and congratulate him on creating such a special and successful restaurant like Kisa. (And thank you again for the grape and pear drinks at the end of the meal. Those definitely came in handy later that night after we somehow ended up drinking even more afterward haha)”

“Got a reservation for 11 on a weekday it wasnt too busy. I ordered the squid set and the katsu. The katsu was crispy with a delicious mushroom sauce and came with a yummy macaroni salad and cabbage salad I definitely recommend. I squid set was spicy and the perfect chewy texture comes with rice soup and sides, the soup was just the right amount of spicy it had pieces of fish and some veggies probably one of my favorite parts of the meal. The banchan were well flavored and had enough to be a complete meal. If you can I recommend going early so you dont have to wait. They also have the self serve drink machine which has soy bean latte,coffee and hot chocolate. The service is great very attentive made sure water was filled and everything was amazing. Decorations and music were fun.”