Making waves

SEA, Midtown South

RESTAURANTS • Field Report

The Skinny: Opened late August two blocks south of Penn Plaza, SEA is chef Jungsik Yim’s buttoned-down follow-up to his heralded Tribeca tasting menu spot Jungsik. 

The Vibe: Sleek, sharp, and cavernous, but with a few touches that bring warmth and intimacy to what could otherwise code as quasi-clubstaurant. The 70-seat space opens with a 10-stool bar for walk-ins at the door, mirrored with a corridor of tables that opens to more seating in the rear, including a few half-moon booths for larger parties.

Vintage maps and illustrated prints from (and of) southeast Asia line the walls, as a mixture of textures (wicker seatbacks, tiled walls, straw and brass lampshades) give some depth to the room, but well-spaced tables lit with dramatic overhead spots and pendant lamps trade some of that much needed warmth for intimacy and drama. A sign pointing downstairs ominously reads SEA LAB — that’ll open sometime in 2025, hosting tasting menu pop-ups with rotating chefs. Service on our visit was stiff and overly scripted — this is a restaurant still settling into its groove.

The Food: High-low pan-Asian with occasional Euro-American twists. Asian fusion cuisine: Feels like we’ve seen it all, and it’s a fine line separating the excellent from the suburban strip mall. Yim’s take on Southeast Asian is a precise, fun hybrid of Thai, Vietnamese, Singaporean, and then some, but occasionally invokes other cuisines in form and function. For example, from France: Crudites come with a tom yum cashew dip, while a raw bar platter comes with whole sweet shrimp and oysters accompanied by herb granita and nam jim. Sriracha pork ribs with a soy glaze are frenched, leaving fall-off-the-bone meat a la St. Louis. 

Other highlights include fried rice generously chunked with crab meat and topped with a thin crab omelet, dry tom yum noodles (a twist on Korean spicy mixed noodles, engineered with the hallmark Thai flavor), and a zabb-spiced fried heritage chicken served with som tum and white rice. For dessert, a pineapple sorbet with lime and thai basil won over an otherwise sweets-agnostic table. 

The Drinks: A funky, punchy cocktail menu features a sparkling paloma flavored with tea and a banana cream martini (with espresso, amaro, and vodka), while the mostly European wine list assembled by Jungsik sommelier Jamie Schlict has surprising depth and range across vintners and price points. 

The Verdict: An excellent option for upscale a la carte southeast Asian from a renowned, phenomenally talented chef in a relatively casual setting — if you (or it) can clear a few vibe hurdles. –Foster Kamer

→ SEA (Midtown South) • 151 W 30th St • Tues-Sat 5-11p • Reserve.