A new fine dining Korean restaurant is opening in a subway station

This Friday, a new Korean fine dining restaurant, Nōksu, will shake up the local culinary scene in midtown Manhattan when opening inside the Herald Square subway station at 49 West 32 Street, on the northeast corner of Broadway.

Helmed by per se alum Dae Kim and co-owned by Bobby Kwak and Joseph Ko, the duo behind nearby Baekjeong and Sundaes Best, the 12-seat eatery will serve a 12-course tasting menu at $225 per patron.

Guests with a reservation will receive a pin code on the day of their visit to enter the unmarked, heavy metal door to the space, which used to be a newsstand and a barbershop. You won't have to move through the turnstile to access the dining room, so don't worry about having a MetroCard in hand upon arrival.

Once inside the sleek space, you'll be greeted by an ambiance that marries tradition and modernity: the black-and-white counters, for example, make for perfect Instagram fodder while paying respect to the Korean ink wash paintings known as sumuk-hwa that they are inspired by.

Food-wise, the menu might appear simple at first, but it's all a deceit: the salmon roe on offer, for example, is served with saffron and Granny Smith apple, ingredients that are sure to add a unique flavor to the dish. The broken rice features surprising matsutake mushrooms alongside okra and other grilled vegetables while the sardines are presented with a side of potatoes.

The dessert orders are just as curiously exciting: a winter melon made with passion fruit, apple and chrysanthemum shares menu space with a dragonfruit cream sorbet with pistachio and black sesame.

The name of the destination is also a nod to its location: according to an official press release, Nōksu “signifies a deep and clear valley in the mountains,” a scene that certainly calls out to its underground address. 

Speaking of: it is obvious that New Yorkers' undying interest for all things secret—from speakeasy-inspired bars to hidden streets—plays a role in the attention that the opening of Nōksu has drawn. Given the plethora of offerings that the city has to offer, there's an exciting allure surrounding cultural and gastronomic pursuits that not everyone may know about or have access to.

That being said, Nōksu will have to actually, put simply, be a good restaurant to survive, and thrive, in our already-rich landscape. Given the success of the owners' past businesses, we're pretty confident that will actually be the case.