Woo Lae Oak in Soho

Out with the old, in with the Woo.  As first-generation Korean entrepreneurs retire, traditional Korean restaurants – minimalist, unaccommodating, family-recipe-centric – give way to places like Woo Lae Oak in Soho.  Most second-gen places piss off parents by fusing Korean with other cuisines.  Woo Lae Oak keeps its Korean identity mostly intact.  The twist is that Woo incorporates modern touches – both culinary and aesthetic – that you’d expect to find at a New American restaurant.  Dark marble.  Trendy soy wax candles straight out of a Crate & Barrel catalog.  Open kitchen.  Dining spaces long and narrow like a Victorian sitting room.  Not the hallmarks of your pop’s Korean bbq joint.  The meats thrown on the grill also stray from the script, and deliver: the tongue cooks crisp and sweet, the sashimi grade salmon light and smoky.  Dishes like the garlicky black cod and soy chili pork ribs suggest mainstream potential, but the Korean pepper stuffed with whitefish is so spicy you know the chef is his own man.  And the kitchen resists the temptation to cram kimchi into every dish, opting for subtler Korean influences like sesame and ginger.  On the other hand, some contemporary touches don’t work.  The waiters speak English, but they don’t know much about Korean food or how long to barbecue it.  The four little side dishes, provided only if you get bbq, give banchan a bad name.  The lettuce wraps, or ssam, omit garlic and peppers.  Not all aspects of Woo Lae Oak please the modern man.  Unlike retired Korean restaurateurs, he hopes they get it right.

eel broiled in sweet soy marinade served over sizzling river stones

lightly battered korean green pepper stuffed with whitefish filet served with a spicy kimchi sauce

authentic Korean barbecue - sliced beef tongue

Atlantic salmon

 black cod and daikon simmered in a spicy garlic soy reduction

slowly roasted baby pork ribs basted in a tangy soy and chili glaze