Koryodang in the heart of K-town, looks like a small eatery when I peered in from 32nd. However, when I walked in, I was pleasantly surprised at the size of the cafe; it’s HUGE! High ceilings, stone walls, and very modern decor make up this popular Korean dessert cafe. Chris and I stopped by on a cold night for some patbingsoo, the Korean spin on shaved ice.

I spent a couple weeks in Korea when I was a kid and had patbingsoo everyday; scoops of red bean topped with ice cream, mochi, condensed milk, mango and kiwi bits on a soft bed of ice. I blame patbingsoo on my childhood weight problems (jk!) but I also have fond memories of going to the same Korean bakery every afternoon before heading back to the apartment where I lived on dial-up and the June 2000 issue of YM! magazine. The patbingsoo at Koryodang came with different toppings - you had the option to choose from fruit, red bean, or green bean (which is actually mung bean). We chose a fruit topping, which came with strawberry ice cream instead of a vanilla ice cream:

The patbingsoo was a little too sweet for me (especially after living off Pinkberry for the past couple of months). Also, the prices were a little steep; patbingsoo was $9!! If you stop by Koryodang, you should try their honeydew popsicles instead; they’re only $1 and they’re a great treat while you try to navigate your way through Herald Square.

How to get to Koryodang:

Koryodang
31 W 32nd St between 5th and Broadway
New York, NY 10001
212-967-9661

Diagonal from Chris’ house in the west village is a small Scandinavian restaurant, Smorgas Chef. Whenever I walk by the place, I always think it’s a really run-down restaurant because the outside looks unkempt. During the summer, I see couples eating late meals outside (so it can’t be that bad) and we decided to check it out for brunch. Since it was too cold to eat outside, we opted for a nice seat indoors (next to the wall of glass bottles). The exterior of Smorgas Chef:

Well, I think it looks rundown…maybe that’s the look they’re going for.

Smorgas Chef has a prix-fix option for brunch (for $17.95, you can order one main entree, an alcoholic drink, and a coffee) or you can just order the entree by itself (they run from $11 - $20).

Chris ordered the standard eggs benedict:

The standard egg yolk oozing out onto the ham and English muffin make eggs benedict a great artery-clogging breakfast food. Smorgas Chef makes a pretty good hollandaise sauce (although I still prefer Balthazar’s) and the salad on the side was also pretty good.

I ordered cooked eggs with Jarlsberg cheese, spinach, ham, and tomato:

Underneath the cheese, veggies, and ham was a single piece of wheat toast, soaking up the yolk:

The bread was really solid and didn’t fall apart when the yolk flooded the dish. It was a really good; the Jarlsberg cheese was perfectly melted (not too mushy and not too firm), the spinach added a great flavor, and the ham bits were a nice salty compliment to the dish.

My dish and Chris’ dish came with a side of Jansson’s special potatoes:

They’re potatoes au gratin, but they just tasted like plain potatoes to me. Good thing they were free!

Smorgas Chef was a surprisingly good meal for a quick Sunday afternoon brunch. The food was good and the service was friendly….they also take reservations! I’ll definitely be back.

How to get to Smorgas Chef:

Smorgas Chef
283 W. 12th Street
New York, NY, 10014
212-243-7073