This post comes in an untimely fashion, as I tried SEA by Jungsik in March earlier this year, and they closed permanently on May 1st (sobs). The good news is that they closed in preparation for something new spinning up in the same space (opening July 2nd, I believe!), so I'm looking forward to hopefully being able to try it then.

Back to SEA by Jungsik - Jungsik itself is contemporary Korean fine dining, whereas this experimental offshoot lay somewhere in between casual and elevated in terms of vibes and pricing. Focusing on Southeast Asian fusion, the menu exhibited strong influences from Vietnamese, Thai, and other SEA flavors. It's no secret that "fusion" gets a bad rep among serious eaters, but in this case, the culinary expertise of the celebrated chef Yim was no joke. It ended up being a huge roller coaster (you'll see why) of an experience, and I left impressed and full.

My friend and I got the Prix Fixe for two, which ended up being $135 total (pre-tax/tip). There were 6 sections to the menu, and we could choose one shared plate from each.

The first dish we got was the chef's crudo. It looked a bit funny visually - a few slices of scallop swimming in a tangy, creamy, spicy, broth, but the flavors really popped - the sourness and spiciness added a big kick, pairing well with the mellow oceanness of the raw scallop. This was one of my favorite dishes of the night - I wished I could have gotten another one!

Next up were the thai links, which I thought were just okay, like just meatballs on a stick? But the combination with the crunchy peanuts and spices were solid.

The prawn rolls arrived at about the same time, and this dish BLEW my mind. It looked so normal but I had seriously never had anything like it before. The textures and different ingredients came together so perfectly. With the sweet and sour sauce, I couldn't have enough of it.

At this point we were done with the appetizers and now came the mains. The first of the mains was the crab fried rice (I personally would've ordered the Tom Yum noodles but it was my friend's birthday so I let him pick), which was visually exceptionally stunning. Taste-wise, it just tasted like a normal egg fried rice to me, which was fine but nothing special.

Then came the crispy pork belly, which I believe is supposed to be their rendition of Vietnamese thit heo quay. As you might've noticed, the courses seem to flip-flop between being exceptional and just okay. In keeping with the pattern, this pork belly was one of most well-executed, yummy pork dishes I've had. The skin was really crunchy, the crunchiest I've ever eaten. And I especially liked the vermicelli sheets, the rectangles of vermicelli that you could wrap around the pork, dip into the sauce, and stuff in your mouth. They also came with lettuce wraps, but I liked the vermicelli more since it could absorb more of the sauce.

We also ordered an extra dish not included in the prix fixe: the stir-fried morning glory. (Yay for vegetables!) It was a good vegetable dish, the umami flavoring supported the crunchy stems well. I don't know if it was special in any way, but good to have vegetables in your meal!

Finally was dessert - the pineapple sorbet, complete with a birthday candle. It was decently yummy, but I remember thinking that it wasn't real sorbet since it definitely had milk in it (my lactose-intolerant self suffered afterwards).

Overall verdict: It was a pretty impressive meal, and I thought it was quite fairly priced. The crudo, prawn rolls, and pork belly I would've come back for 10 times over, while the other less standout dishes were still fine and inoffensive, and I would've been curious to try the other picks in those sections. Sadly I have no more chances to do so, so instead I will be eagerly awaiting the new replacement.

tags: location/nyc, southeast asian fusion