Hot Spot: Pocha 32

POCHA 32 

15 W. 32nd St

2nd Fl - Koreatown 

Pocha 32, which one can assume is the short version of pojangmacha, Korean street food tents, is the PERFECT spot for a cold winter night with a group of friends or early/late-night party-goers. 

Located on the 2nd floor, you can easily pass it if you're not looking for it. For me, it's usually the last stop of the night, after numerous other stops of a drunken adventure.  

Mostly decorated with green fishing nets, bottle caps, and "happy" messages scribbled on chopstick wrappers, the interesting decorations are suppose to capture the "street food" feeling in Korea (or so my friend tells me).  

Speaking of food, there is just something about alcohol and stew that goes so well together, I suppose it's the comfort food that warms you up on those cold winters. Pocha does such a great job with their stews it would be a waste to pass it up for any of the other items they offer. Which brings me to our dish of the evening, a soft tofu pot with seafood - which was a seafood stew with lots of vegetables, shrimp, and squid simmering in deep red bath of spicy goodness. In addition, you can also order the various dishes with ramyun (korean instant noodles) added. Most dishes are close to $20 and the portions are huge and made for sharing.

Beware of the soju. Soju doesn't seem to hit like beer or other alcohol. It sneaks up on you, striking only when you try to stand 

                                 

You will LOVE it. You will drink soju from a carved watermelon and do yogurt soju shots in rapid succession. You will want to go back, and you will miss the stew by the following morning! 

Great late night spot or just pre-game. If you like korean pub fare and drinking in a very casual environment, this place is for you. Warning... There has been many hazy nights where I look at my receipts and find that Pocha was in the mix.