Mr Mistah Oh

On this very humid Friday afternoon, I had to make my way into the Flatiron area to run some errands. This Korean restaurant was something that seemed appealing since we haven’t had Korean food in a while. Normally for decent Korean, you’d have to venture into midtown, but the menu looked pretty decent online. We were fortunate that that they still had the NY restaurant week menu which was quite alluring. It’s $39 for an “entree” choice (dolsot bibimbap, kimchi fried rice, or teriyaki chicken), appetizer (japchae or steamed/fried pork dumplings), and soup (pork kimchi or vegetarian doenjang). We thought it was going to be personal portions, but you can actually just order 1 set and share it. The portion size was surprisingly large.

Ambiance

The restaurant atmosphere felt very LA Korean cafe style. They were playing some modern hip hop over the radio, and the decor had a very mom & pops vibe. The service was pretty fast and attentive, and the price was decent for Manhattan.

Food

The banchan included lightly seasoned broccoli with sesame/oil, fish cake, potato salad, and kimchi. It was pretty typical but was all good.

The japchae was ordered without mushrooms, and it tasted legit. Japchae is typically glass noodles made from sweet potato starch and stir fried lightly with vegetables and sesame oil.

The steamed pork dumplings came with 4 pieces with this NYC restaurant week set. This is also known as “mandoo”. This tasted pretty good and also legit. It reminded me of eating Korean homemade dumplings. The dumpling wrapper was fairly soft but brittle. It’s not as good as some of the LA Korean mandoo places or the ones I had in Suwon, but still pretty rustic and good.

The kimchi stew came with pork. This was legitimately delicious. The kimchi was sour and pungent, so it gave the soup a lot of flavor. It reminded me of Dotory (unfortunately perma closed) in Williamsburg which had a similar flavor profile in its kimchi stew. The pork belly portions were surprisingly plentiful. My partner preferred this over the doenjang.

The doenjang stew came vegetarian with zucchini. Doenjang is basically a soybean fermented bean paste. The broth was watery and light, but for those that have delicate tastebuds, this was quite delicious. The broth was not as rich or salty as the kimchi stew, but it felt “healthy”. The soup had a light miso aftertaste to it.

The dolsot bibimbap came with rice, mixed vegetables, and beef in a sizzling stone bowl. My partner ordered this, and they literally had a few bites because the pot was too hot for them for most of the meal. However, they ate it the day after as leftover, and commented that it’s really good. When I tried it at the restaurant, it was pretty good.

The kimchi fried rice came with some pork in it. Normally I find kimchi fried rice pretty gimmicky, but this one was quite delicious. The rice was thoroughly mixed with the kimchi, and the fermented pickled flavors really flourished in every bite.

Final Verdict

Mr Mistah Oh reminds me a lot of really good home cooked family style Korean foods. Everything was really good. If you’re around the area and wanted some Korean, this would be a great choice! I think the portion sizes can feed more than 1 person, so don’t get too overzealous.

Yelp Jabs

The bibimbap was not bad, although I feel like it was lacking a raw egg (I think this is common at most Korean places I’ve been).

I’ve had bibimbap in Los Angeles and South Korea (Seoul and Suwon), and I didn’t find it common for the rice to have a raw egg in it.

As for banchan, this included kimchi, potato salad, spicy fish cake, and broccoli. I wish there were more options like other Korean restaurants. But then again, this doesn’t seem like a typical Korean restaurant. It seems like it’s trying to be more trendy.

This elitist from New Jersey clearly has no idea what they are talking about. They are confusing Korean BBQ banchan with a regular Korean restaurant banchan. In many Korean comfort food restaurants, they don’t actually serve you a lot of side dishes. I definitely don’t get a “trendy” vibe. There isn’t much on the menu that is “trendy” except for the bulgogi kimchi fries which ironically they loved more than the rest.