Food Gallery 32: Art For Your Stomach
One of the best things about New York is despite its size, it doesn’t take much geographic area to be declared a separate district. Example: Koreatown. It’s only a block long, but it gets a special title and has its own Korean bank. And there’s a lot of karaoke bars and restaurants jammed into that space. The most recent addition to the block crams even more restaurants into an even smaller space, and you will want to stuff your face with everything inside Food Gallery 32.
Food Gallery 32 is kind of like a mall food court, but everyone’s just there to eat and you don’t have to dodge psuedo-skater punks who bought ironic t shirts at Hot Topic. You do get to pretend like you’re a teenager by watching videos of the Korean Justin Bieber and Rhianna while you eat. (Oddly enough, they mute the videos and play American music over the soundsystem).
The downstairs level is eight to ten different food stands, all serving Korean dishes like bi bim bop, galibi, kimchi, ramen, pork chops, etc. If you’re not familiar with Korean food, it’s mainly variations of slabs of meat, seafood or tofu mixed in with fresh vegetables, noodles with some kind of sauce or broth. The number of choices in Food Gallery 32 is a little intimidating at first, but there are no wrong decisions; everything is delicious, fresh and flavorful. And for dessert, you just have to stumble to Crepe Monster in the upstairs seating area for crepes so good you’ll suck it down like, well, a monster.
Food Gallery 32
11 West 32nd Street
Between 5th Ave and Broadway [Koreatown]
