Restaurant in New York City, United States
Serious list credentials, mid-range prices.
A Michelin Bib Gourmand Korean vegetarian restaurant in Midtown, HanGawi offers traditional low-table dining, a calm shoes-off interior, and OAD Casual North America recognition — all at the $$ price point. Book for a quiet, plant-based Korean meal that punches well above its price tier. Weekend lunch is the ideal first visit.
Book HanGawi if you want a Korean vegetarian dinner that earns its place on a serious restaurant list without charging serious restaurant prices. This is a $$ venue holding a Michelin Bib Gourmand and consecutive Opinionated About Dining Casual North America rankings — #476 in 2024, climbing to #410 in 2025 — in a category where most places that match its ambition cost three times as much. For first-timers, the main things to know before you arrive: the room requires you to remove your shoes at the door, seating is at traditional low Korean tables, and the kitchen is entirely vegetarian. None of that is a catch , it is the point.
The address on East 32nd Street sits on Korea Town's main corridor, which runs loud and commercial. Step inside and the contrast is immediate. The interior is calm and deliberately quiet: low lighting, traditional Korean artifacts, and meditative music create a room that feels separated from Midtown's pace in a way that takes a few minutes to fully register. Seating is at floor-level tables, which means you are on cushions with your legs folded underneath you or extended forward. If that format is physically uncomfortable for you, it is worth knowing before you book , there is no conventional table-and-chair option. For most diners, the adjustment is fast, and the spatial intimacy of the low seating actually suits the food and the pace of the meal well.
The room holds a moderate number of covers. It is not a cramped space, but it is not a large one either, which means the atmosphere stays consistent across a full service rather than tipping into noise. A Saturday or Sunday afternoon sitting, available from 1 pm, tends to feel more contemplative than a peak Friday evening slot. If it is your first visit and you want the full effect of the space without the added energy of a busy dinner service, the weekend lunch window is worth considering.
Editorial angle here matters: HanGawi does serve wine and beer, but the drink choice that makes the most sense in this room is the royal green tea from Mt. Jilee , a Korean mountain tea served by the pot. That is not a marketing line; it is a practical recommendation. The serene, shoes-off format and the vegetable-forward, textured cooking are built for tea service, not for a heavy wine program. If you come expecting depth of list , the kind of wine program that drives the meal at a place like Le Bernardin , you will not find it here, and that is not a flaw in the venue's design. The drink program at HanGawi is deliberately secondary to the food and the atmosphere. Order the tea.
For those who want wine or beer, options exist, but the list is not the reason to come. If a deep beverage program is a deciding factor for your group, this is worth weighing before you book.
The kitchen is vegetarian-only, and the cooking draws from traditional Korean technique. The OAD write-up highlights the ssam bap , a DIY platter with dark leafy lettuce, sesame leaves, avocado, bean sprouts, pickled daikon, carrot, cucumber, radish, and three rice options (white, brown, and multigrain), served with miso ssam sauce. The format is tactile and personal, which suits the room's pacing. This is not modernist vegetable cookery for its own sake; it is Korean food that happens to be plant-based, and the distinction matters for setting expectations. A first-timer who comes expecting austere fine-dining vegetarianism will find something warmer and more approachable.
HanGawi operates Monday through Friday, 5 pm to 9:30 pm, and extends to weekend lunch from 1 pm Saturday and Sunday. Booking difficulty is low , reservations are direct to secure, and same-week availability is generally realistic. Given the Bib Gourmand status and OAD ranking, that accessibility at the $$ price point is not something to take for granted. The address is 12 East 32nd Street, in the heart of Koreatown, with multiple subway lines nearby. No dress code applies in any formal sense, though the meditative character of the room means very casual dress reads slightly out of place to some diners. Smart casual covers it.
HanGawi has held its Michelin recognition consistently and its OAD ranking has moved upward year on year , from Recommended in 2023 to #476 in 2024 to #410 in 2025. For a vegetarian-only Korean restaurant at the mid-price tier, that trajectory is a meaningful signal.
HanGawi is the right call for a first-time visitor to Korean food who wants something grounded in tradition rather than novelty, for anyone who wants a quiet, structured dinner in Midtown without a high price ceiling, and for groups where plant-based eating is a requirement rather than a preference. It works well for a date or a small group occasion where the room's atmosphere can do some of the work. It is a less obvious fit if your group wants a high-energy evening, a serious wine pairing, or the kind of course-by-course tasting format offered at Atomix. For more on where to eat across the city, see our full New York City restaurants guide, and if you are planning a wider trip, our New York City hotels guide, bars guide, and experiences guide are worth a look.
Remove your shoes at the entrance , that is not optional. Seating is at low traditional Korean tables on cushions, so assess your comfort with that format before you arrive. The menu is entirely vegetarian. Prices are in the $$ range, reservations are easy to get, and the experience is calm and unhurried. Order the royal green tea from Mt. Jilee rather than wine for a first visit.
The entire kitchen is vegetarian-only, so meat-eaters should go in with that confirmed expectation. Because the menu is built around plant-based Korean cooking, it is a strong option for vegetarians and those avoiding meat. For specific allergen or vegan queries, contact the restaurant directly , phone and website details were not available at time of publication.
No formal dress code applies, but smart casual is the practical answer. You will remove your shoes at the door, so wear footwear that comes off easily. The room's atmosphere , quiet, traditional, considered , means very casual dress (gym wear, heavy streetwear) reads as a mild mismatch, though no one will turn you away for it.
Yes, with the right expectations. The room is intimate and calm, the food is carefully made, and the Michelin Bib Gourmand adds some weight to the occasion. At $$ pricing it is not a splurge dinner in the way that Eleven Madison Park is, but it works well for a birthday or anniversary where the atmosphere matters more than extravagance. If the occasion calls for a full tasting menu and deep wine service, Atomix is the better Korean option at higher spend.
Weekend lunch (Saturday and Sunday from 1 pm) is the better first visit. The room is quieter, the pace is more relaxed, and you avoid the higher-energy Friday and Saturday evening services. Dinner is fine and the kitchen runs the same menu, but if the calm, meditative atmosphere is what draws you, a weekend afternoon sitting delivers it more reliably.
For Korean food at a much higher spend with a full tasting menu format, Atomix is the comparison. For plant-based fine dining at the leading of the market, Eleven Madison Park operates in a completely different price bracket but is the closest peer in terms of vegetable-forward seriousness. For seafood at the high end, Le Bernardin is unrelated in cuisine but often comes up in the same booking conversation for special-occasion meals. HanGawi is the strongest option in New York if your specific combination of requirements is: Korean, vegetarian, low-to-mid price, and a quiet room.
| Venue | Cuisine | Price | Awards | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HanGawi | Korean Vegetarian, Korean | $$ | Opinionated About Dining Casual in North America Ranked #410 (2025); Beyond an ordinary façade lies this serene, shoes-off retreat with traditional low tables, Korean artifacts and meditative music. While wine and beer are available, a pot of royal green tea from Mt. Jilee is a more apt pairing considering the soothing setting. HanGawi is a soft-spoken, vegetarian-only restaurant that cares about what you eat and how you feel. The ssam bap offers a fun DIY experience with a long platter of fillings. Dark leafy lettuce and thin, herbaceous sesame leaves are topped with creamy slices of avocado, crunchy bean sprouts, pickled daikon, carrot, cucumber, radish and three rice options—white, brown and a nutty, purple-tinged multigrain. Topped with miso ssam sauce, each bite is a fresh burst of uplifting textures.; Opinionated About Dining Casual in North America Ranked #476 (2024); Michelin Bib Gourmand (2024); Opinionated About Dining Casual in North America Recommended (2023) | Easy | — |
| Le Bernardin | French, Seafood | $$$$ | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Atomix | Modern Korean, Korean | $$$$ | Michelin 2 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Eleven Madison Park | French, Vegan | $$$$ | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Masa | Sushi, Japanese | $$$$ | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Per Se | French, Contemporary | $$$$ | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
Side-by-side comparison to help you decide where to book.
You remove your shoes at the entrance and sit at traditional low tables — this is not incidental to the experience, it defines it. The kitchen is vegetarian-only, drawing on traditional Korean technique, so do not arrive expecting meat substitutes or fusion riffs. At $$ pricing with a Michelin Bib Gourmand and an OAD Casual North America ranking, HanGawi delivers more than its address on the commercial Korea Town strip would suggest.
The entire menu is vegetarian, which resolves the most common restriction before you even ask. Vegan and gluten-related needs are worth flagging when you book, as traditional Korean cooking uses fermented pastes and sauces that may contain soy or wheat. The kitchen's focus on a single dietary framework means staff are practiced at fielding these questions.
Because you remove your shoes at the door, footwear matters more than your outfit — wear socks you are comfortable in. The room has a meditative, unhurried atmosphere supported by Korean artifacts and low lighting, so smart-casual clothing fits without being required. Avoid anything that makes floor seating difficult; the low tables mean you will be sitting cross-legged or on cushions for the duration.
Yes, with a specific caveat: the occasion should suit a quiet, reflective mood rather than a celebratory one. The serene setting, meditative music, and deliberate service make it a strong choice for a meaningful dinner rather than a lively milestone. At $$ per head with Michelin and OAD recognition behind it, the value-to-occasion ratio is strong compared to similarly credentialed Manhattan restaurants.
Weekend lunch runs from 1 pm and is a lower-pressure entry point with the same menu access and easier reservations. Dinner, available nightly from 5 pm, suits the room better — the low lighting and meditative atmosphere land more naturally after dark. If your schedule allows, dinner on a weeknight is the call; weekend lunch is the practical fallback.
Eleven Madison Park is the other high-profile vegetarian-only option in NYC, but at a vastly higher price point with a much harder reservation. For Korean food without the vegetarian constraint, Atomix operates at the top of the category with a tasting menu format at premium pricing. HanGawi sits in a gap those two do not fill: OAD-ranked, Michelin-recognized Korean vegetarian at $$ — there is no direct equivalent in Midtown at that price.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
