JeJu Noodle Bar

As is the custom for many chefs in the post-gourmet era, Douglas Kim did time at a variety of high-end kitchens around town (Bouley, Per Se) before opening this small, no-frills establishment that focuses, in a familiar David Chang kind of way, on the seminal, Proustian cooking that he grew up with. The theme at this bright, accomplished West Village establishment is the Korean ramen equivalent, called “ramyun,” and while they’re all delicious, pay attention non-noodle dishes like the spicy, ragùlike chopped-beef gochujang bokum, and the elegant, multilayered toro ssam bap, which turns out to be a kind of gourmet rice-bowl mixture of scrambled eggs, tobiko (flying-fish roe), and luxurious, fatty tuna tartare, all designed to be eaten ssam-wrap style, with little squares of toasted seaweed served on the side.