Five Senses

Five Senses is a good choice for dinner in Korea Town. The food is tasty and inventive, the service is veeeery quick, and for near Midtown, the prices are not too crazy. For appetizers, go with the Kimchi Pa Jun, a scallion pancake with a crispy breading that never overwhelmed the vegetable ingredients. Next was the entrée, for which I chose their specialty, the Dol Pan Kimchi Bokum Bap, aka kimchi fried rice with the egg and mozzarella cheese mixed in right in front of you on a cast-​iron skillet. (Yes, a gimmick, but one I really enjoyed.) The seasoning gave the beef an extra «pop» that is sometimes lost on fried rice, and the portion was super generous, as I had to take at least a ¼ of it home to save for another time. The open seating may be a turn off for some, but the food quality and service speed give folks more than enough reason to check Five Senses out.

Tasty, but not worth it for the price.
A big group of friends and I went to Five Senses for lunch after we got turned down at BCD tofu house, my usual haunt for Korean in NYC. Five Senses was right next door, and the menu looked nice so we decided to check it out. There wasn’t any wait for us and we were a party of 8!
Here’s the breakdown:
FOOD:
I had the Dol Sot Bibimbap with tofu. They had a very decent selection of vegetarian dishes, which I am very grateful for. Korean restaurants are often meat and seafood heavy, but Five Senses has veggie jap chae, bibimbaps, kimchi fried rice, and a few others. And it was tasty, with a great balance of rice, veggies, and tofu. The egg was cooked perfectly and the stone pot kept everything warm. It was a tad bland though, so I had to slather on a ton of gochujang.
Also, the ban chan:
We had the macaroni salad, kimchi, some vermicelli (possibly jap chae, they never told us the names), a sesame mushroom dish, and some green vegetable, possibly Chinese broccoli or Bok Choy. I didn’t like the radish kimchi but the other ban chan were flavorful and standard. I’m surprised they are all vegetarian as well! My favorite was the jap chae and mushroom dish.
AMBIANCE:
Very hip, reminded me of Hong Kong and the restaurants in China! Was kind of crowded though with the seats all close together, which is good in a way. It had a very clean design and the waiters and hosts were friendly.
SERVICE:
Very smooth. They stir the rice dishes for you and the food came out very fast despite the restaurant being full on a weekend.
PRICE:
Too expensive, hence why I took off a star! The bibimbap was $ 18 while it should’ve been around $ 9 to me. I’ve had Korean food of the same caliber closer to my home for half the price. I guess you pay for location and ambiance… I know it’s NYC so I didn’t subtract 2… but I just don’t think it was worth $ 18 for the portion size. My friend and I shared and it definitely wasn’t enough food for 2.
OVERALL
–decent Korean food with yummy ban chan and lots of veg options
–modern ambiance
–fast service
–high prices

The price is high but at least the taste was ok. A bit spicy but I guess u can’t expect any less spicy from a Korean restaurant.

I am absolutely in love with their kimchi fried rice, mainly because they have a tiny pitcher of mozzarella cheese and cook the egg on a hot skillet right in front of you. The wait staff also know how to accommodate with the trend of snapchat and instagram so they wait for you to take out your phone so you can record them working their magic on the kimchi fried rice. Although this place is certainly on the pricier end of korean food in Ktown, the restaurant within itself is very nice and the waiters know how to make you enjoy your time dining in here (although they may occasionally quickly give you your check early because they have lines). Their cheese ddukboki is also really good since they cook it with BBQ sauce, making the dish the right combination of salty from the cheese and sweet from the BBQ sauce.
One thing to be wary of, however, is that they make their budae jjigae with shin ramen. I saw that box stacked in the kitchen and a chef pulling out one ramen packet from it! Im not sure if this is the norm for Korean restaurants, but I’m not sure if I would be willing to drop 20 for shin ramen and added ingredients.

Came here on a Friday night to have dinner with a few friends around 7ish pm. Like others have mentioned, there was a long line. They will not seat you until your whole party is here. After some waiting, they directed us to the back where the bathrooms are nearby to wait some more. I was assuming we were next? I thought this was strange, but I guess that’s just how they do it? One of the waiters apologized for the wait.
Finally, we were seated. They use these plant dividers to divide up tables, which I thought was pretty smart. They can make a table to whatever size they want by moving these dividers. It also matches with their interior of being simple and clean looking. The plant dividers actually does add a nice touch to the tables.
Moving on to the food, we ordered the seafood pancake as an appetizer. It was pretty good and I would recommend sharing this appetizer as the portions are pretty big (well, for me at least).
For entrees, I ordered the kimchi fried rice (one of their signature dishes) with chicken to share with a friend and my other two friends ordered the budae jjigae. Both of these are great options are those that want spicy food, in particular the budae jjigae (as if the pool of red didn’t signal it enough).
The kimchi fried rice comes in a dome shape on a sizzling plate and with a small pitcher of cheese and egg mixture. Later, one of the waitress pour the egg mixture on it and the cheese. Then, she mixes it until it’s thoroughly mixed and then you can enjoy! If you leave the rice on sizzling plate for a bit, the bottom of it gets crispy, which some people like. This dish is definitely shareable among two people.
I don’t know what I was thinking ordering the kimchi fried rice when I know that I cannot tolerate spicy food. I didn’t think it would be so spicy. Sorry, weak sauce, here. I should asked them to not make it spicy, so that was my own fault. I drank a lot of water, but I never got a refill. All my other friends got their water refilled. Maybe because mines wasn’t that empty? I’m not sure.
My friends enjoyed the budae jjigae, but they couldn’t even drink the broth because it was too spicy and they eat spicy food all the time.
Guess we’re all weak sauces here!
When they see that you’re almost done, they ask you if you’re done. If you are, prepare for your dishes, cups and utensils to fly away like crazy. I guess it’s because the place is so busy that they need to clean it up fast and prepare for their next customers.
Overall, I did enjoy the experience of this restaurant. Personally, I don’t like spicy food. If you like spicy Korean food, give this a go. Just know that there’s a long wait. However, the staff really do try their best to make sure everything is smooth and want people to go in and out as quickly as possible.

my favorite go to lunch spot. kimchi fried rice is a staple. all of the other dishes are amazing as well. wasnt a big fan of the bulgogi dduk baegi though.
tastes just like moms cooking and my mom can coooook!

This korean spot seems to be a new-​comer along a long street worth of Korean Restaurants, and with that said — it’s good!
It’s been crowded every time i pass by and so i tried it for lunch one day and the food is fast, tasty and fresh — the ingredients seem to be of a high quality and i’ll definitely be back.

Ok this place is interesting. We ordered the fried rice, the shrimp fried dumplings, and the wings. The rice was good, I couldn’t quite figure out the flavors, it was also a bit spicy. The shrimp dumplings were good but nothing special. The wings were so spicy I couldn’t eat more than one. This place gets one star for friendly staff. Another star cause they’re open 24 hours. And one more for the rice.

I met a friend here for lunch on Sunday around noon; there was minimal wait when we arrived, but a line started forming during our meal. I had two large pieces of luggage with me since I was headed to Newark Airport right after, and the employees directed me to store it under the long skinny table/​handrest near the entrance; there was another luggage there too, so it looks like they have a system in place. I felt a little wary leaving my luggage there, but at least it was close to the cash register and could be observed/​monitored.
The interior is very clean and modern. Service was great (refilled drinks, cleared plates quickly, offered to refill banchan, packed leftovers at the table), but not particularly friendly/​smiley.
As for the food, the banchan (six dishes for the two of us at this meal) were decent, and I ordered naengmyeon (cold noodles). The naengmyeon had deliciously chewy noodles, and the broth was ice cold. I enjoyed the naengmyeon a lot, but it was a little pricey. In general, the dishes here were on the more expensive side, but Korean food is rarely cheap to begin with.
Solid restaurant, and really convenient for me since I had so much luggage but it was only two blocks away from Penn Station.
P. S. The person working the cash register was willing to break a $ 20 bill for me (one $ 10, one $ 5, five $ 1), which was awesome!

Decided to come here for lunch with my sister today. We came around 1pm and the place was pretty packed but we didn’t have to wait in line.
One thing that I disliked upon sitting down was how they arranged the tables… It was so hard trying to reach the booth seat without whacking the person next to it. It was basically a table for four but they divided it with a fake plant in the middle. It felt so awkward cause it was like a communal dining without the talking and sharing food.
We ordered the kimchi fried rice with seafood and a tofu soup with seafood, both from the lunch hour menu. The tofu soup was delicious, they do not skim out on the seafood! The kimchi fried rice was disappointing to say the least. The rice was very mushy and the plate was overly too spicy and bland. I loved their selections of side dishes; I always enjoy eating the fish cake. Don’t be shy to ask for refills! If you want to try out their famous kimchi fried rice, I suggest you come here before 3pm for their lunch hour because it is a lot cheaper! I feel like $ 17 for a fried rice dish is a bit too steep. Overall, I don’t know if I’ll be coming back since it is in ktown and there are a lot of options to choose from.

Their signature dish (the dol pan kimchi bokum bap) is definitely what you have to get. I loved how it came on a hot stone plate, with egg and cheese cooked around it! It was super delicious-​YUM!
We also had their soondooboo jjigae, which was the same olé’. Servers were friendly, and we only waited a few minutes for a table on a Saturday night (and it was packed! Great way to make use of the dividers for smaller tables, haha).

Every time i passed by this block, theres always a long line for this restaurant and a few people had raved about this place so on a cold night in NYC (of course), instead of going to BCD, i suggested we tried this place.
The prices are reasonable for the area and comparable to BCD. We ordered seafood pancake to share and I got the budae jjigae (which is kindal ike spam and meat lil casserole but for one). I asked for it to be extra spicy if possible and she said yes (with a weary eye of course).
The seafood pancake was good, it had a different texture than most pancakes i have, its crunchy but not in a deep fried oil way… similar to like tempura batter… flaky and crunchy (rice krisipies maybe) but not crispy. We had assorted seafood but i felt like it could have been spread better all around.
My budae jjigae kinda disappointed me =(. The noodles werent really cooked thoroughly so i let it sit in the broth longer. There was WAY MORE KIM CHI than anything else so that got a bit annoying (i love kimchi dont get me wrong but you gotta find the balance!) The broth itself was lacking flavor! I think thats why im so bummed! the flavoring was like «hi im here but imma just stand in this corner» i wanted to be like HEYYY WHERE IS THE PARTY, RIGHT HERE IN YOUR MOUTH! And no it was not spicy at all… even my friend who asked for mild said it was nothing at all.
In conclusion, i won’t be coming back sadly… BCD it is for me

My office is walking distance from Koreatown, so I’ve passed by Five Senses numerous times, either on my way for some bubble tea, groceries at H Mart or to eat at another Korean restaurant. I’ve always wondered whether they served good food, but never gave it a chance since I am comfortably used to establishments that have been around for a while and are popularly known to serve great food. That is until last Thursday, when I came to my senses — pun intended, and met up with my girlfriend in K-​town then spontaneously decided to eat at Five Senses.
We were seated right away since it was before 6pm, however, the room filled up immediately! There was a line at the door by the time we left, so arriving earlier is advised! We ordered the mandoo and prime ribs for appetizers, the latter of which came in a really cute bowl that I would like to own and tasted damn savory! The mandoo was passable though … as they tasted like bland, unseasoned pan fried dumplings. We also ordered the mackerel to share, which came with a beef soup that was pretty flavorful and had a nice kick to it. I didn’t get to sample most of the menu items, but I thought that it was overall, a pretty good meal. Service wasn’t exceptional, but acceptable.
My only complaint is that we shared the same table with 2 other customers. I don’t remember what divided us from them, but we were close enough in proximity to hear each others’ conversations without missing any details. I’d still return to try out some other items, only because I am nice like that!

One of my good friends from Brooklyn took me here a few weeks back and introduced me to the Dol Pan Kimchi Bokum Bap. While I’m not normally a fan of cheese + [insert Korean dish here], I have to say this changed my opinion of that. The fried rice itself had a really nice flavor to it, but the cheese added a level of savoriness that I was not expecting (but certainly enjoyed). They also flatten the rice out on the hot stone plate, which makes it nice and crispy. If you’re not a fan of that, then you may not enjoy this dish. But my girlfriend is all about that nurungji life, so she was definitely into it.
Banchan itself was pretty standard — nothing too special, but I don’t generally judge a Korean place by its banchan anyway.
As for my personal dish, I got the seafood soondubu. With BCD next door, I was skeptical that this place would be any good. Surprisingly it was. It’s probably the best sdb I’ve had, for 2 reasons. First, the taste was on point — spicy enough, but not so much as to overpower the actual flavor. Second, they did not skimp on the seafood or tofu. Overall, it was a very filling meal.
While the price point is a bit steep, I would still come back. The interior is bright and clean, lending itself well to the hip and relaxed atmosphere. It’s probably one of my favorite places in K-​Town now. Definitely a must go.

With the droves of Korean restaurants in K-​Town, Five Senses sadly do not stand out of the rest.
Their banchan selection looked forced. Like «we’re a Korean restaurant, we need to put out something» kind of feel. The typical kimchi is present and a couple of other things that’s basically just on the table to say you got banchan.
I ordered the typical galbi that came in a sizzling plate. They will cut it for you table side. Pretty good amount. Taste is ok.
Also got their Korean fried chicken supposedly in soy garlic. It had a pretty good spicy kick to it but that sauce they put on it doesn’t quite satisfy the taste I was looking for.
So I came in starving after a full 12.5 hour shift without food, legs aching and I came out full but not satisfied.
Oh well, I guess back to BCD next time.

3.5 stars — rounded up Bc I’m feeling a little generous today.
I’ve seen this place featured a few times on a blogger’s snap chat and I’ve had Koreatown on my «to visit» places for our next NYC trip. Initially I had chosen BCD tofu house for our Korean lunch, but saw Five Senses right next door and decided to try it. The restaurant is modern and the décor is minimal yet inviting. Love their Christmas decorations and their use of succulents as their table dividers. The service is quite fast and definitely friendly. When we arrived, it wasn’t super busy so we were seated right away.
For lunch we ordered:
KIMCHI scallion pancake — DELICIOUS! I gotta say that this was the best Korean pancake I’ve had at any Korean restaurant. It was crispy and the dipping sauce was off the chain. It was the perfect balance of sweet, savory with a hint of tang. Yum
Kimchi fried rice (house specialty) — comes w egg and mozzarella cheese that they cook on a hot stone plate and finish the rice at the table. We were skeptical of the cheese Bc seriously, who puts cheese into fried rice? Ironically, it kinda works. It helps bind the rice together and gives it this creamy taste, not «cheesy» at all. When the rice cools down you can definitely taste the mozzarella. Not bad.
Mackerel — classic. It was perfectly seasoned and perfectly seared. We always order mackerel and it never disappoints.
Grilled/​BBQ whole squid — this came out on a bed of onions on a hot plate. I was not impressed. It was chewy and bland. I don’t think it was cooked long enough either. Some parts of the actual squid were still raw and slimy. Thankfully, the kitchen recooked it for us. Hubby enjoyed it but I did not.
Beef soondubu — I always love a good soondubu soup and this one was good, but not the best I’ve had. I don’t like the egg that’s crack in it Bc it gives the soup a totally different texture.
Kimchi jigae — this came as a choice with the mackerel. It was tangy and definitely spicy! It came with a good amount of kimchi which I enjoyed.
As for the banchan side dishes, I was pretty disappointed. We received: kimchi, shredded Asian squash, cucumber salad, braised fish w daikon, hot dogs in spicy sauce? and some weird brown veggie dish (not sure what it was). The kimchi wasn’t fermented very long so it lacked the tang that I tend to enjoy. I was hoping for the braised soy potato banchan, the cucumber kimchi and the radish kimchi, but sadly none of those were in sight.
Overall, we enjoyed our meal, but will definitely try other Korean restaurants before we decide to try this one again. The one thing that made our dining experience a little sour was one of the workers demanding us to tip at least 15%. We generally do and tend to tip more than the typical 15%, but hubs tends to tip 10% during lunch (dunno why). It’s not a NY law so technically they can’t force us to tip according to their rules, but hubby obliged. I was a little turned off. Bleh, whatevs.

Visited here twice and both times I walked out unimpressed.
1. The banchan served here was a little lacking.
2. The soy garlic wings had a little bit of spice and had some sauce on it I didn’t like. Didn’t taste like soy garlic at all. It was also too pricey at $ 18.
3. The Kim chee fried rice was kinda whack.
4. The gal-​bi didn’t taste as good as its competitors. Although they give you a very generous amount.
5. The ramen was really good though. Soup base was very good and not that spicy. Noodles were on point but at $ 17, it was a little expensive. Cmon guys, you aren’t ippudo. Lower the price tag.
6. Service is however very friendly.

Came here on a Sunday with some friends. The venue is relatively big. They won’t seat you if your whole party is there yet. My friend wanted to come the day before but it was so crowded at 6pm with an hr wait, so I’d suggest going earlier. Sunday wasn’t as busy.
We tried the chicken wings, kimichi fried rice, and the bimbibap. All were really good, but I’d say I loved the chicken wings the best! The meal was on the pricier side, but overall really good with decent service.

We went the night before the Big Bang concert and received a free appetizer by showing out big bang tickets!!! The only thing we couldn’t choose was the galbi and something else, but we got the $ 18 seafood pancake for free. WIN: D
Seafood Pancake — I’m glad we got this for free, otherwise I would have been somewhat disappointed. The pancake was quite thick and soggy.
Budae Jigae — This was a huge portion with lots of content in that bowl. Ramen, rice cake, spam, sausage, tofu, pretty much everything. Budae Jigae is always good if you want something hearty and I especially liked it here. It’s $ 18 and shareable.
Ju Mok Bokum — This was stir-​fried baby octopus with pork on top of udon noodles covered in a delicious spicy sauce. If you come here, this is a dish you must order. The baby octopus were so fat and tender. Worth the $ 25.
Dishes are more expensive, but portions were large so easily shareable among a group. We had leftovers among the four of us, but then again we might just have smaller appetites. We came late at night. There were a decent amount of people. Not too many waiters and waitresses, so service was slow, but they were all very nice.

Um, wow. Five Senses delivered some of the best Korean food I’ve eaten to date and certainly the best Korean fried chicken I’ve ever had. Longtime, internationally well known chains like BonChon Chicken and KyoChon Chicken double-​fry their chicken. Five Senses takes it a step further and triple-​fries their chicken. Honestly, I couldn’t care less how many times a chicken is fried as long as it tastes good. The fried chicken I had here was damn good.
Five Senses opened in NYC Koreatown in June 2015. At the time of writing this review, it’s one of the newest restaurants in the neighborhood. It opened in the former Woorijip space next to Miss Korea BBQ and across the street from Paris Baguette and Food Gallery 32 (food court).
The restaurant looks great with it’s glass storefront and bright, clean, and modern interior. The open dining room consists of table and banquette seating for approximately 70 – 80 customers. Due to a somewhat compact seating arrangement, you may be sitting close to the folks at the table next to you with only a small partition in between. It’s not a big deal though because this place is loud due to both the bouncy acoustics of the dining room and the trendy music that blares over the speakers. The atmosphere is casual.
During our Sunday night visit at 8:30pm, the place was packed and felt energetic. There was a short 5 – 10 minute wait.
The menu covers a wide assortment of Korean cuisine including typical appetizers like Pa Jun (scallion pancake) and Mandoo (dumplings) and more interesting ones like Busan-​style Street Jap Chae (seafood, egg, chili paste, mozzarella cheese); BBQ plates such as Jaeyook Bokum (spicy pork made from Berkshire pork loin) and Deungshim Steak (grilled ribeye); rice plates and rice bowls (including stone plates/​bowls); fish; about 20 different kinds of soups and stews like Galbi Dduk Mandoo Gook (short rib soup with dumplings and rice cake) and Ah Goo Maewoon Tang (spicy monkfish stew); noodles; braised, fried, and stir-​fried dishes; casseroles; and multiple vegetarian options. Expect to spend about $ 12 – 20 each for most apps, $ 22 – 38 for BBQ, $ 18 – 20 for rice (yes, even including bibimbap), $ 14 – 18 for soups/​stews and noodles, and $ 18+ for other entrees.
Lunch specials are available Monday-​Friday, 11am-​3pm. Most run about $ 11 – 15 each. Another special, which we took advantage of, is the «Crazy Night Promotion.» On Tuesday, Wednesday, and Sunday night, 9pm-​2am, and Thursday-​Saturday, 10pm-​4am, you can get $ 3 beers, $ 5 soju, and $ 10 sake and Korean wine with the purchase of at least one entrée. And if you couldn’t tell from the drink specials, this place is open late.
We ordered three dishes and a bottle of soju:
* Ogam Extra Crispy Chicken Wings ($ 17.99) — tripled-​fried chicken wings in a garlic soy reduction with spicy peppers
* Bulgogi ($ 27.99) — thinly sliced prime marinated beef ribeye
* Dol Pan Kimchi Bokum Bap ($ 17.99) — kimchi fried rice with beef, served on sizzling stone pan with an egg and mozzarella cheese
* Chum Churum ($ 5 special) — Korean soju, Original version
Banchan (side dishes) consisted of kimchi, lightly pickled cucumber slices, a mayo-​based cabbage and radish salad, spicy squid strips, and marinated green beans and purple eggplant. Everything was fresh and great, from the kimchi to the squid. My favorite was the eggplant, something I don’t see in banchan often.
The Ogam Extra Crispy Chicken Wings were phenomenal. As I said at the beginning of my review, it’s the best Korean fried chicken I’ve had to date. Nine large wings came on the plate sprinkled with a bit of sesame seed. The texture of the batter was perfect. It was consistently crispy and crunchy throughout. How do they get it like that?! Not a wing was over nor undercooked and the sweet sauce and flavors were addictive. The wings weren’t greasy either. I highly recommend them!
The quality of the Bulgogi was very good. The shreds of beef were served on a hot iron skillet, still sizzling and steaming. Accompaniments included rice, lettuce, marinated onions (white, red, and spring), and a sauce (ssamjang, I think). The meat came with asparagus, carrot, onion, pear, and sesame seed. The meat wasn’t as marinated as most other restaurant bulgogi I’ve had, but that’s what the sauce was for. We made yummy lettuce wraps (ssam) with the bulgogi.
I was pleasantly surprised with the Dol Pan Kimchi Bokum Bap. It’s a terrific rice dish! The kimchi fried rice came out in a mound in the center of a hot stone pan. The dish was finished at the table by our server. First, she topped the rice with shredded mozzarella. Then, she poured raw egg around the rice, allowing it to fry and cook along the edges. Finally, she mixed everything together. The result was an unsuspectingly scrumptious and savory plate of rice that, like the wings, became the best Korean dish of its type I’ve had so far. The burnt, crispy bits are the best. You must order this.
Service was excellent. Our server Yerin S was amazing.