Let’s not mince words or be cute. Kristalbelli is the most outstanding Korean restaurant I’ve ever been to, and one of the very best Asian eating places I’ve sampled.
Kristalbelli’s chef, Kay Hyun, is a graduate of the prestigious French Culinary Institute. She cooks a sophisticated blend of traditional and modern Korean dishes. Everything about the sleek dining room says “class,” including its brick- and wood-paneled walls, extensive glass-enclosed wine display, marble-top tables, drop lighting, candles, and massive mirrors.
Barbecue Korean-style is the star of that dining room. The meat is a crossbreed of American Black Angus and Japanese Black Wagyu that’s free of antibiotics, hormones, and animal byproducts. (The cattle even enjoy a diet that includes beer.) The result of this gentle loving care is buttery, tender, very juicy, soft, flavor-packed beef with a minimum of saturated fat.
It’s then barbecued on crystal, belly-shaped grills at the center of each table. In the middle of the marble-topped table is an artful rendition of Buddha. His belly is the grill, with a vacuum-like downdraft system that absorbs all the smoke and cooks the meat with infrared rays so that its surface and interior get done simultaneously retaining most of its juice. The process is two to three times faster than traditional grills.
The meat is not just clean, fast, and smoke-free, it easily ranks with that served at Peter Luger, Old Homestead, Keens, Gallagher’s, or any of the city’s other leading red-meat emporiums. Best by far is the dry aged USDA-certified prime rib eye, a sizzling, succulent steak-lover’s dream cut into strips, then bite-size pieces. Also recommended is the marinated Wagyu short ribs served on a sizzling plate (though not barbecued). For non-beef eaters, there’s also a respectable chicken gui, or grilled chicken and homemade sauce dish on a sizzling plate.
All entrées come with a diverse array of often-exotic dishes. Meals begin with chips and a smooth, subtle amuse of lime and cottage cheese. That’s followed by housemade mustard, five-year-old Korean salt, soybean paste, scorching Kimchi, and more.
Among the noteworthy starters was Japchae, thin stir-fried sweet potato noodles (think skinny lo mein) with assorted vegetables, wood ear, jalapeno and Gu Jeol Pan (roughly translated, means “nine different foods”). At the center are six tiny crepes (think moo shu pork). The side dishes that accompany the entrees for our visit were spiced radish, black beans and seaweed salad. However, they change the side dishes daily.
Choose a bottle of good Californian Sofia Coppola Riesling which is an ideal wine with Asian food and order desserts like creative popcorn ice cream (caramelized popcorn, vanilla ice cream and baked nagui salt) and even better banana–chocolate bread pudding with Bourbon sauce and a candied ginger strip. Talk about exotica.
8 W. 36th St., 212-290-2211; kristalbelli.com
