Danbi

Located in the old Tokki space in Koreatown is Danbi, a modern Korean spot that doesn’t look all that different from what it took over. This small plates restaurant from the Liu’s Cafe people has a short menu with upscale options, like a flower-studded uni bibimbap and wagyu steaks, but the ambiance is still casual. Show up here with a few friends to split creative spins on classic Korean dishes and drink good soju cocktails before a night out in the neighborhood. And apart from a singular crudo and the bar’s chilled cocktails, most things at Danbi are on the heavier side (but delicious, nonetheless): paper-thin pork jowl that you eat as little wraps with slivers of Korean pear, a rich beef tartare that’s even richer once you mix in bone marrow and yolk, and—the best thing we tried —a savory bay scallop pancake dipped in tangy mentaiko aioli. Just make sure to ask the staff to course out your meal. Our small plates arrived all at once, which meant rushing to tackle the pork jowl before it turned into jelly and our pancake got cold.