mokbar

This was a delicious treat. The food was flavorful and plentiful. I had the cold ramen special and the dumplings were some the best I have ever had.

Very solid Korean ramen place in Chelsea Market. Only tough thing is deciding between mokbar and Los Tacos No 1, right next door.
The Miyeok is the hidden gem on the menu. Green tea noodles in the chilled broth stay perfectly chewy.
The Halmoni dumplings are great!

The good is very good. However the overall experience not so much. This place is inside the Chelsea Markey and there’s bears space to sit. It’s a bar style sitting and horrible for big groups. For food try the house cake these are a must and the pork sliders are amazing.

I Had three of my wisdom teeth pulled out and I needed soup, but something filling. I decided to finally try the Mokbar! I got the classic and added a poached egg. No regrets! It was amazing! Although it’s not the best ramen I’ve had, I would definitely rate it second best! I want to try their dumplings next!!! Only con is that it was a little pricey. Approximately $ 17 total I believe. But very filling and satisfying.

Wow I normally don’t like going to ramen restaurants but I don’t know if it’s because it’s by David Chang so the ramen has a bit of a Korean twist to it but it fit my taste! I got the kimchi «kimchijjigae» and it’s exactly what it sounds like. So good. We also got the disco fries. I love all the toppings but I wish the cheese held the others onto the fries. Everything kept falling off it was like eating 3 different things separately. Only complaint, but everything was delicious!

Mokbar was a nice find in Chelsea Market (even saw Aziz Ansari and his family try to look for seats around the area) and something that’s oddly not popular at least in the West Coast — Korean ramen.
Let’s get to the food first. The menu reminded me of my childhood with Korean variations on the ramen formula and I felt pretty much right at home. One thing that some might find irksome is that you have to pay for the kimchi. Sure, anyone that has been to a KBBQ will feel slightly a bit peeved that you have to pay $ 3-​$ 4 for kimchi. At the very least — the kimchi is pretty solid and they have lots of variations. Otherwise they have a few variations on their ramen as well as some interesting side items like disco fries and dumplings. We just went for the mokbar classic and some classic kimchi. The classic ramen was solid and different from a typical Japaense ramen. The noodles are more reminiscent of the Korean packaged ramen although the quality of noodles is obviously much better in this case (just more thin than a Japanese ramen). The broth itself is a bit more spicy too — not overly so. And the braised pork is solid. Added in a quail egg for good measure which tasted fantastic by the way and another piece of pork for good measure. Although it wasn’t the best ramen I’ve had i my life, I loved how it reminded me both of some good ol’ mom’s cooking as well as a nice twist on the typical ramen shops. Cost is about $ 13-​$ 15 for the ramen and is pretty filling.
The staff was very kind even with the hustle/​bustle of the area and I liked the décor. Note that there is a lot going on in the area as the popular Taco No. 1 is right next door. Still, even though the area was super busy, seating didn’t take too long on an early Saturday afternoon. there was seating for seemingly 15 – 20 people.
All-​in-​all, I thought mokbar was really solid (and really hope to see another iteration in the SoCal region)!

The boo and I decided to checkout Mokbar while in CM (Chelsea Market). With only one party ahead of us, we were seated within ten mins of arrival.
We ordered
— kalbi dumplings
— kimchi ramen
— chicken ramen
— trio of kimchi
The dumplings had a nice crispy skin but the filling left me feeling a bit lacklustered. Minced kalbi with what seemed to be vermicelli bits (?) felt under– seasoned. This shared plate did come with a tasty sauce but the dumpling should stand alone especially if you’re using a better quality beef such as kalbi. I also think they need to do a better job of draining off the excess oil since it left a trail of oil on the plate once removed.
The boo preferred the kimchi ramen as the broth had more of an «earthy» taste that she enjoyed like in homemade Asian soups. Although we did ordered a poached egg with it, it seemed to have came out under cook since the yolk itself was colder/​almost luke warm. Disappointing. I enjoy the broth of the chicken ramen. There was an after taste that reminded me of tzatziki which was quite comforting. The noodles were perfect.
The kimchi here is quite good and definitely taste much better than any store bought version. My favorite was the daikon variant.
I’ll give Mokbar another shot before making a final assessment.

This is my third time coming here and before I had pretty good experiences with the food, the drinks can be a hit or miss, this time though to say this: Warning: be very careful about eating at this place bc I found a small metal piece in my good vegan ramen soup, I didn’t have to pay for it but they could have done more bc I could have gotten really hurt with that metal piece…
That is pretty dangerous and I could have been really nasty but I didn’t feel I needed to be that way but please be really careful and think I’ll stick away from here for a while. Momosan by Morimoto is now my fav n safe for sure!

Struggling between a 3 star and 4 star. I would give a 3.5 to mokbar. The ingredients are rich and really well-​prepared. I got the classic ramen with extra kimchi topping. Pulled pork is tender and flavorful. However, I felt the noodle was soggy and there is something missing in the flavor. (Spent 8months in Korea before, I was looking for some essential Korean elements in this dish yet it couldn’t exactly do it for me)…
All in all, though, the ingredients are good enough for me to come back and try other dishes.

Chelsea market always has something that I crave, this time, it was ramen.
Unlike other Japanese ramen bars in the city, Mokbar serves Korean noodles (given this fact, you might want to add kimchi as topping, as my friend wisely did). Prefer something lighter, I opted for the chicken ramen topped with poached egg; my friend went with the classic ramen with kimchi. While I enjoyed my broth with pulled chicken, I thought the ramen noodle was a bit of soggy and lacked of the chewy texture. A bit disappointed here.

Went on Saturday for an early dinner. My friend and I found seating at the bar very easily. No wait at all, but then again we went at around 5:30pm.
Service was good. Waiter brought over menus and a pitcher of water. They checked on us during the meal.
We both ordered the Ginger Apple Plum Tea $ 3.50. You could definitely taste the ginger and plum flavors. It was a bit sweet and concentrated, which was fine since I was able to dilute it with water.
Kimchi Ramen $ 13– the texture of the noodles were perfectly al dente and slightly chewy. The broth was good but I didn’t taste any kimchi flavor. It tasted like creamy pork broth to me. It wasn’t salty, which was a plus. I was slightly disappointed that it wasn’t spicy at all. I guess you do have to add the hot sauce yourself. There were pieces of shredded pork in the broth. The description states bacon (flavor). I wasn’t sure what to expect, but there wasn’t any bacon in the ramen.
My friend ordered the chicken ramen. I had a taste of her broth, and it was delicious. I think I would order that next time.

This place has been bookmarked for a few weeks now and (finally) I got to visit. First fiancé and I waited to get sat. We finally did, and it took the server so long to get to us. I give it to her, she must have been by herself. She greeted us and took our drink and food orders.
Then I barely see her again.
We ordered a couple of snacks, such as the Kimchi tasting (Daikon, Cucumber, and Stewed Bacon), Wings, Bulgogi Sliders, and Kimchi Disco Fries.
First, we got the Kimchi tasting, and the runner said, «Cucumber, Daikon, Napa.» I thought they made a quick mistake and I put the Regular Kimchi to the side just in case. The server came and asked how was everything. I told her that the runner said this was the regular kimchi and asked her if we could switch it to the Stewed Bacon one and she said, «That is the Stewed Bacon one, you can see the bacon.» I’m sorry, I never had Stewed bacon Kimchi. The food runner said it was Napa, so I believed it was Napa, and set it aside just in case.
Then we get our drinks. Fiancé got the Ginger Plum Tea and I ordered the Soju Cocktail (infused with their tea). They both tasted good and sweet, but where was the Soju in mine? So
I asked the runner if mine had alcohol and he said no. But he said he will check with the server. He came back and said «Oh there is alcohol in that one.» So where was the server to tell me herself? That was weird.
This is where communication between server, runner, and guest become a problem. The runner told me one thing, the server told me another, now I look dumb not knowing what I actually got. It got me a little annoyed.
The rest of the food come and we enjoyed it the most part. The Bulgogi Sliders were good, but wasn’t quite a fan of the bun used. The Kimchi Disco Fries were fairly good, but like what others have mentioned, it lacked cheese. The Wings weren’t my favorite. The flavor was okay, but I didn’t enjoy the batter and coat of the wings itself.
While we were eating, a runner brought us Ho Cakes. Whoops wrong table, we didn’t order them.
We ask for the check from another server, as the server prior was nowhere to be found. And of course, the Ho Cakes was on our bill. We asked it to be adjusted because we never ordered them, and the server gladly took it off. Out of curiosity, my fiancé asked where the other server was. He mentioned that she left (I am
assuming it was shift change). He asked if everything was alright and of course, hubby tells him everything. We apologize to the guy (whom we later realize was the supervisor/​manager for that shift) because we were ranting to him, though it wasn’t his fault and he assured us he would talk to that server about everything.
It is what it is. There were good things about this place, but not-​so-​good things as well. The food was more Instagram-​worthy than actual deliciousness in my tummy. Then again I haven’t tried the Ramen bowls.
This was just my experience and hopefully service gets better. Shout out to the manager/​supervisor that listened to what we had to say.

I came here last weekend (Sunday) when Fresh Noodles ran out of beef. and noodles. It was about a 15 minute wait, and we were seated in the «private room» in the back. My friends and I ordered several things…
I, myself, ordered the classic ramen, with a poached egg. It was okay. I wasn’t blown away by it, but it definitely filled me up. With regards to a poached egg? Meh. I think I would’ve preferred to have soft boiled egg instead. It was interesting, because my friend was asking for substitutes — she isn’t a big fan of raw food, nor does she really like anything TOO spicy — and they kept on saying that we weren’t allowed for substitutes of food… So I found that to be kind of disappointing.
We also ordered ourselves some tteokboki — mildly spicy. My friend said it was still too spicy for her (but it might be her spicy tolerance). I actually really liked this dish. The tteokboki had a bit of a crunchiness to them because of the stone bowl, which I loved. I would definitely recommend this.
Service was okay. At the end of the evening, they forgot to put our second order of food/​drinks onto the same bill that we previously had… As good citizens, we told them about it.
Would I come back here? Maybe. I’m curious of the other dishes that they have here. However, not the first place I would go to if I was in Chelsea Market.

Mokbar’s ramen is Asian fusion I can agree with, because it combines ingredients I already enjoy eating together. It’s tucked away in the back of Chelsea Market. There are very few seats, but there was no wait when we visited for dinner. I like their open kitchen, as I enjoy chefs preparing food. Their ramen is separated into 2 distinct types — brothy & saucy, pretty self-​explanatory.
Mokbar Classic «Bibimbap» ($ 13) — gochujang pork broth, braised pork, spinach, bean sprouts, pickled shiitake, scallions, nori:
I enjoy the flavor gochujang and often use it in my rice. I think it went great in this broth too. The mild vegetables and pork soak up the flavor of the broth pretty well. The noodles are nice and chewy.
Black Ramen in black bean sauce with braised pork, pickled daikon, carrots & cucumbers:
It looks like this item isn’t on their menu anymore, but I really enjoyed it. I’ve always liked black bean sauce noodles at Chinese restaurants. I didn’t know that it was a traditional Korean dish.
The black bean sauce was thick, creamy, savory, and slightly sweet. The vegetables were nicely julienned (or spiralized) and placed on top. I mixed it together to coat everything in the black bean sauce. The pork belly was delicious and not too fatty. Now I need to find some other place where I can enjoy black bean sauce noodles.
Our waiter was a nice guy who briefly explained the type of food they serve. The food came pretty quickly. I’d happily come back to try some of their other options and their shared plates.

This review is based solely on the Tteokbokki:
Two kinds of places I detest the most are the ones that are: 1. overhyped and 2. unnecessarily expensive
Mokbar has been in my bookmarks for awhile now, so I was really excited to have seen it in the midst of all the other shops at the Chelsea Market. My anticipation was further fueled by a ZAGAT rating, which hung proudly near the menu at the side of the stall.
The menu descriptions for the food items were beautifully described and powerful enough to get you drooling, but the resulting product was a disappointment. I understand that this is a fusion eatery, but I literally had the shittiest Tteokbokki ($ 8.71; to-go)EVER. Tteokbokki is a chewy glutinous rice cake that is sort of shaped like a sausage and is usually served with some sauce. The Tteokbokki here was as thin as a French fry, and looked as if it life had been sucked out from it. It was also oversaturated with sauce and stingy pieces of bacon. I could barely taste anything and the meager portion of kimchi and seaweed on top did not make it any better. I was so enticed by the description in the menu: «Brown butter ricecakes, minced pork, crispy bacon, white kimchi, poached egg.» yet so confused by what I had just consumed that «WTF!!!» kept resounding throughout my mind. How can a restaurant with an emphasis in its Korean roots dare to mess up such a precious, old-​school traditional Korean snack! It doesn’t even take rocket science to prepare/​make it! The audacity!!! I should have gone to Koreatown.

Mokbar is located inside the Chelsea market. Location wise, it is very easy to find! (Behind the nut-​store and a spice store)
Ordered fusion tukboki, and chicken wings. The food wasn’t appetizing as it sounds.
Tukboki was way tooooo greasy. I understand that fusion tukboki is different from normal tukboki, but tukboki in Mokbar was even more greasy than the school dinning hall’s chicken fingers. Also, it took forever for tukboki to be served. Overall, tukboki was very disappointing.
With regard to the chicken wings, two different flavors were offered — soysauce flavor, and spicy flavor. Just like tukboki, wings were very greasy. I was able to squeeze the oil out of the chicken. The only upside was that the sauce was very appetizing– really liked the flavor of the sauce. Its sauce was very unique yet delicious.
Unfortunately, there wasn’t anything to recall about the service.

Overall 3.5 stars. Came here for a late lunch/​mid afternoon snack around 3pm on Saturday. We got the bibimbap with rice and chicken. Pros: service was super quick and our order was ready in 5 minutes, came with a generous portion of gujuchang, large portion. Cons: the chicken was only ok, not anything special, and the noise from Los Tacos (right next to Mokbar in Chelsea Market) is a bit much.
Overall a tasty experience and would come again!

I love Korean food and I love Japanese food but fusion food usually makes me go eh. This place was no exception.
I tried the classic ramen where the broth was made from gojuchang sauce. I normally love the sauce in spicy pork but in ramen it was not as impressive. The broth was savory but a bit too thick for my liking. I thought the kimchi broth’s consistency was better but then it just tastes like kimchi chigae or shin ramen soup.
The noodles were an okay consistency though.
I don’t think I’ll be flocking back anytime soon but it was okay.

Super curious to see how this Korean and Japanese fusion would turn out and it tasted exactly how I imagined! I got the classic ramen, which was filled with the usual goodies: bean sprouts, seaweed, pork, etc. The Korean influence added an entire new but yet familiar (since I eat lots of Korean food) layer of flavor to the broth, which was unique and rich. It was a generous bowl of ramen and the noodles were thicker and wavier than your usual straight, thin fare. I liked the texture-​springy but not too hard.
Also tried the dumplings, which were great (though I feel like it’s pretty hard to mess up dumplings) and a soju cocktail with ginger apple plum tea. The latter is something I’ve never tried but I’m super glad I did: the ginger was very refreshing and you couldn’t taste the soju at all.
This is a great lunch spot in Chelsea Market-​definitely try it!

I Wasn’t a fan of this place, it’s tucked away in Chelsea Market with very minimal seating. We were sat fairly quickly on a Saturday night, with an unenjoyable view. I starred out a window and watched construction being built, not my ideal dinner view.
I opted for the Japchae dumpling appetizer, in which 6 arrived and stuffed with glass noodles, pickled shiitake and garlic chive. It had a nice crispy texture, but overall it didn’t impress me one bit, It was boring and bland. The place is known for ramen dishes so I chose the vegan since I wasn’t in a mood for meat that day. Ramen itself was al dente which I didn’t enjoy, the mushrooms were invisible and when you did find any, it was very sweet, overly sweet which was strange tasting. The fried tofu was crispy and delicious, wish I had more and the broth itself was decent as well. I know its NY but it wasn’t worth the price, when ramen noodles cost merely a few pennies to make, I was better off buying the $.25 packs.
Service was nothing to recall, it was more taking the order and disappearing like a magic trick, but magically re-​appeared with the check on hand when our meals were finished. Not only did I get charged twice, but when they did fix it, my friend was under charged.
I’m sure vegetarians and vegans love this place, but for me, it was a disappointment more ways then one.