Hiya @bcc
Korean – at the “fancy” end I love Cote, which is not more expensive especially for their prix fixe, but is a different setup. For regular ktown Miss Korea is always solid (they have a great lunch bbq deal btw), as is Jongro but that’s more of a pain to get seated at. For ambience (and good food too) there’s the penthouse Gaonnuri with a lovely view. And for takeout or a quick bite Woorijip. (I see Don’s Bogam mentioned – one of my previous favorites, but I haven’t been in several years.) Then there are several modern Korean places that are excellent - Atoboy & their more formal second place, also Hanjan, and a couple of others. There’s also My Name is Han — pretty different meal experience by day and night. And there a couple of new smokeless bbq places (the one I’m thinking of is on Madison but it should pop up in a search).
Indian - Again the high/low factor. I’ll start by saying I’m not a fan of the Chintan Pandya places that the critics and many other folks have adored for a few years (Adda, etc). I much prefer Baar Baar, though I haven’t been since the pandemic. The new entrant in that category is Sona – more shiny than good, imo. For solid food that always hits the spot, Hemant Mathur’s place is great – Saar. His (ex?)wife recently opened Tagmo in the seaport, which I’ve heard good things about haven’t tried yet (she’s also a pastry chef and has a modern mithai store there). For fast casual I love The Kati Roll Company (and specifically the chicken egg roll, though they are all good) – many locations and a good quick meal or anytime snack (all my visiting friends get hooked on this one). And in the dive category, stop by Little India / Lex between 27-29 st – Haandi was always a stop (they had a blip when they lost a bunch of staff but I think they’ve since recovered), and I can’t remember the name of the place across the street from Kalustyans but it’s on the first floor in the middle of the block. (Speaking of Kalustyans – for Indian snack & grocery shopping skip it and go over to New India Store on 3rd ave & 28th). Also around that Lex stretch are also a few good South Indian places – I like Pippali (off Lex) and Anjappar (which has excellent - but spicy! - Chettinad food), and a few more that are are consistently good though they’ll never make any lists — Bhatti for eg. One unusual place you may want to try is Vatan - it’s a gujarati vegetarian thali (prix fixe) that’s excellent and authentic. AYCE and in courses (my favorite is the first course, which is a plethora of snacky things— I eat my fill of those and then lightly snack on the mains…)
Chinese - So many good options. For dim sum I used to love DSGG but I haven’t been back post pandemic (yet) because the UWS Jing Fong is excellent and closer (their chinatown location finally reopened too). Cafe China for Sichuan, and a newer place in midtown that’s very good too - Blue Willow. Red Farm for modernized / expensive but excellent food. I recall you said you stay in chinatown — have you had big tray chicken yet? It is crowded, which may still be consideration, unless you get takeout. For XLB I’m back to believing Joe’s is the gold standard, though I do most often get my fix in midtown at Kung Fu.
I’m sure I’m forgetting things having been away for a few months again, so I’ll add as my memory is jogged .
