Hanjan's Late-Night Ramyun

"Ramen is listed on the menu as ramyun," Wells wrote in his review of Hanjan, referring to the noodle dish that's only available after 10 p.m., "one of the large plates, which implies sharing," he continued. "I recommend eating it alone at the bar, where you can have all four slices of sweet pork to yourself and make as much noise as you want slurping the bouncy, squiggly noodles out of the steaming and chile-hot soup."

On a recent night, we did just that. It was close to midnight. There was no one at the bar and only two tables had people at them, one of which was Jean-Georges. We were only there for the ramen, because Hooni Kim starts simmering pork, chicken, fish bones, and chilies in water around noon everyday. Almost twelve hours later, the deep, spicy, rich broth is used to bathe tender, perfectly cooked noodles from Totto Ramen, a six-minute egg, scallions, and pork belly.

Makgoelli was the drink of choice. It's a wheat and rice fermented beverage - sort of a sake/saison hybrid. It's only slightly effervescent and it has a subtle sweetness that's perfect with the spicy noodles.

There was no shortage of flavor in the ramyun ($16), and the effort to source makgoelli ($9) does not go unnoticed. But neither does the price of late-night dining in Flatiron, where bigger spaces and higher rents affect the menu prices. When you compound these factors with the well-deserved attention Hooni Kim has received of late for his stellar cooking at Danji and Hanjan, the experience is likely to ring in a bit higher, which is why three bowls of ramen and three beers on 26th Street is $81 before tip.

My Hooni Said Shine Two Stars on the World

[sasah maslov for the nytimes]Sam Sifton gave Hooni Kim's "wee little restaurant on 52nd Street" one star in August 2011. That restaurant was Danji, Kim's first in New York. About a year and a half later, Kim opened Hanjan in Flatiron on the same stretch of West 26th Street that's home to Hill Country and Maysville. At Hanjan, Kim turns out Korean fare using the casual, whimsical, and small-plate template borrowed from the izakayas of Japan, where eating and drinking are regarded with the same ferver. Today, Pete Wells awards the newcomer two stars.

"Like Mr. Kim’s slightly older restaurant, Danji," Wells writes, "Hanjan has a menu divided between traditional Korean dishes (the pajeon) and new ideas (slices of raw wild salmon that you wrap around salad greens in a spicy sesame dressing). And once again, the cover versions and the original compositions are so much in touch with the spirit of Korean cooking that it can be hard to tell which is which."

"Mr. Kim may be more confident in his cooking this time around," Wells notes, "or more certain that New Yorkers will get it." He finds ingredients and menu items that suggest "Mr. Kim trusts his audience, and vice versa." Hooni Kim has built a relationhip with New Yorkers via the Korean pantry, and the two-star review reinforces the claim others have already made about Kim: he's the city's king of Korean. [NYTmes]