Naro

Solid lunch for the price, but the service left a lot to be desired. We tried the $45 NYC summer restaurant week lunch menu, and overall I think it offers good value. Starters * The marinated salmon was excellent. I would recommend serving the rice at the same time, as the salmon was a little salty on its own. * The fried eggplant was tasty but a bit too oily for my taste. Mains * The beef rice bowl came with a hamburger-style beef patty, which was a bit richer and greasier than I expected. * The black cod was decent. The vegetables were actually the highlight—they were well seasoned—while the cod itself could have used a little more flavor. * The steamed white rice was surprisingly delicious. Desserts Both desserts were beautifully presented, and I especially loved the one with the brownie. We ordered both, but honestly couldn’t remember which was which by the end! Unfortunately, the service was the weakest part of the meal. It was fairly average throughout, and while we were still enjoying our desserts, the check was abruptly dropped on our table without even a check presenter. It felt like we were being rushed out for no apparent reason—especially since there were plenty of empty tables in the restaurant. This really took away from an otherwise enjoyable lunch. Overall, the food was enjoyable and the $45 lunch menu is a good value, but the service definitely needs improvement.

It's an interesting place, situated in a mall that sort of ruins the mood, especially with the skate rink's personalities next door. In addition, the food is hit-or-miss. For example, the octopus was a big hit and so was the fried chicken. But the saucing was off on the fish dishes and the beef was mediocre. I cannot ascribe the rating to execution since if you can cook octopus you can execute. But I can say that it may not be a coincide that comparing the Atoboy portion of the menu to the Naro portion of the menu, I wanted Atoboy for the most part. In the details, the octopus had the tender inside and snappy outside. The fried chicken was so moist with a light crisp shell. I can't find a picture but the squash gangjung was a fun combination of tastes.

I came with high expectations and it did not disappoint, the restaurant week menu was perfect for a meal before the show, the tartare was delicious. The lobster was not perfect, but the combination of flavors with the curry, the mussels and the rice was to die for, and the soy chocolate cake was the star of the night, its flavor was unexpected but it is a perfect way to close out a meal. I want to give a special shoutout to my waiter Mateo, his was one of the best services I have had in NYC in a long time, and made my night super special. He was very attentive all night and his recommendation of the soy chocolate cake was the best dish of the night, he even paired it with an exquisite dessert wine as a treat! -@eduFoodNotes on Instagram

While the atmosphere is not appealing the food and service more than make up for that shortfall. If it weren’t for the restaurant location and atmosphere, my rating would have been a 5. There were four of us and we ordered approximately 10 dishes. They are not large an are shareable. They have hot and cold dishes. Feel free to mix them up. The servers were prompt and ready to answer any questions. The drinks were great. We order two alcoholic and two nonalcoholic…both had great flavors.

I echo the last 2 reviews. I love Naro. I’ve been multiple times, I’ve brought friends and family here. I always recommend it to my friends and called it one of my top 5 restaurants in the city, and I’ve been to a lot. Today’s Valentine’s day dinner service was pretty unacceptable, hands down the worst dinner service I’ve ever experienced. Our reservation was for 7pm, we were seated after 8pm. When we finally were, we were sat in the foyer area—I specifically requested for us to be seated in the main dining room. That was fixed but the food was also unacceptable. I love Naro’s take on Korean fine dining. It’s my 2nd favorite behind 2 michelin Layeon in Seoul. Today’s food was not Naro. The potato bite was starchy, the tuna was salty and cooked differently between 2 servings, the monkfish was fine but the dish lacked a sense of refinement, the pork was bland and plating was a slap in the face. Plating throughout the meal made me feel like I was at an airport lounge buffet, not a fine dining tasting menu. The mushroom rice had so much mayo I felt like I was eating mayo rice. If the mushrooms are good, they shouldn’t be drowned out by heaps of mayo. The first dessert had me scratching my head and the second was something you could get at Grace Street. Service wise, staff need to be trained on hospitality. It seemed like everyone was an amateur, first day on the job vibes. I love Naro and I’ve had amazing food and hospitality with beautiful plating here before, but I’m not sure if I’ll be back. This was historically bad.