If snagging a reservation at Cote NYC feels like getting a date with a supermodel, Howoo offers a very attractive girl/boy next door who might actually be more your type. Opened in March 2025 by the team behind Nubiani, Soju Haus and Dubu Haus, Howoo is conveniently located a block from K-town with a 7,700‑square‑foot, bi‑level dining room that feels both grand and warm—plush booths, understated chandeliers, and soft jazz weaving through the air.
Taking most of its best cues from Cote, at the heart of Howoo is a multi-course meal of different cuts of beef. Howoo’s curated tasting menus—built around USDA Prime, dry‑aged ribeye, and snow‑marbled short ribs—arrive in successive rounds, each cut seared tableside by an attentive server. The Prime Package for two is a great deal, but the package for four or six is an even better value. No need to order anything else unless you’d like some special appetizers. If you upgrade to the premium Elite Package, the A5 Miyazaki wagyu will melt in your mouth. Banchan is fresh, seasonal and well-portioned, with several types of kimchi and rotating savory morsels like spinach, lotus root in house‑made sauce, and japchae.
The Prime Package includes 4 different cuts of meat cooked for you at your table by your server.
A steamed egg soufflé drifts to the table at some point, and it is perfection—a custardy cloud that acts as palate balm between the meat courses. To finish off the lovely meal, diners choose rice and jjigae (doenjang or kimchi) or my personal favorite: chewy, green buckwheat naengmyeon. The mul naengmyeon is currently my absolute favorite naengmyeon in the city. Its tangy icy cold broth is an elegant punctuation to the rich beef meal. A spicy version is also available for those craving some kick at the end of the meal.
Finish your meal with either mul naengmyeon (front) or spicy bibim naengmyeon (back). Howoo NYC.
Service at Howoo is more brisk efficiency of a barbecue spot than the unhurried attention of fine dining, but the staff glides through both the main floor and mezzanine private rooms, duly checking on every guest, refilling drinks, and guiding diners through each cut.
At roughly $75 and up per person for the tasting menus, Howoo is not inexpensive. But compared with the Michelin‑starred alternative, it offers a more forgiving reservation policy and a setting that encourages conversation over cool vibes. For both the Korean barbecue devotee and the curious newcomer, Howoo delivers an elevated, satisfying feast, proof that in New York’s crowded Korean food scene, good meat in a beautiful setting is not too much to ask.
Howoo NYC
7 East 31st Street, New York, NY
Mon–Wed: 5 pm –11 pm
Thu–Fri: 5 pm –12 am
Sat :12 pm –12 am
Sun:12 pm –11 pm
