NYC: Hwaro and Pye Open
New York’s spring dining rollouts include Hwaro, a Midtown Korean restaurant from chef Sungchul Shim offering a 12-course tasting menu, and Pye Boat Noodle in Astoria, which is getting praise for its authentic Thai spicy beef tartare. Both spots are already generating local buzz. ( )
Hwaro sits inside Gui at 776 Eighth Avenue, Suite 2 in Manhattan’s Theater District and is built around a circular, 22-seat marble chef’s counter. (hwaronyc.com) The restaurant’s market-driven tasting menu runs roughly three hours, is reported by multiple outlets as a 13-course program, and is priced at about $295 per person. (timeout.com) (robbreport.com) Chef Sungchul Shim—who earned a Michelin star for his earlier work and has cooked at Le Bernardin and Per Se—leads Hwaro and the space includes a custom Molteni grill, handcrafted ceramics, and Korean mother-of-pearl inlay detailing. (robbreport.com) Pye Boat Noodle is listed at 35‑13 Broadway in Astoria and plates a range of Thai hawker-style dishes—boat noodles, pad thai and snacks—while many entrees on public menus are priced in the single digits to mid‑teens and the site estimates an overall check around $20–$30 per person. (allmenus.com) (menuthaifood.com) The Takeout reports that New York mayor Zohran Mamdani regularly orders the restaurant’s koi nur (a spicy raw‑beef tartare), noting the dish isn’t always printed on the menu but is a local favorite. (thetakeout.com) Customer platforms list strong ratings for Pye Boat Noodle—Uber Eats shows a 4.9 score across more than 2,000 ratings and TripAdvisor lists a 4.5 average—while reviews and photos note a narrow dining room with a small back garden used for seating. (ubereats.com) (tripadvisor.com)
