Bann Next Door

First. Delivery was speedy.
That said, They have only a honey glaze wing sauce. Their natural is no sauce.
If you want spice not sweet, BOYOB (hot sauce that is).
I had a short rib bento box. OK, but certainly not great.
probably will not order again.

I couldn’t find this place… only saw Bann proper at this address.

Quick and cheap lunch. I got the chicken breast bento box. The chicken was juicy and well-​seasoned. It came with salad, cucumbers, rice with beans and ginger (I think). All for a reasonable price!

I would seriously go here just for the buns. I went for restaurant week. It was pretty good deal for the 25 $ lunch. I ended up going with the pork belly buns, which are such a good choice. The pork belly is extremely tender and it is topped with a nice spicy daikon that gives it a little crunch. For the entrée, I chose to have the seafood stew, which was great. It was MASSIVE. It came with shrimp, mussels, and calamari along with noodles. Then for dessert it was just a choice between sorbets and icecreams, but you got two. It was really nice because it was served with phyllo dough cups, raspberry mousse, and some raspberry gelee. I was glad that this was the start of my summer restaurant week. I will definitely be going back for happy hour to get those buns. However compared to the other restaurants I’ve been to for restaurant week, this one was good, but just okay.

I came here for a few drinks before I was going to see the Illuminate show next door. This review is only on their happy hour. They have a few different martini cocktails for $ 5 each. I had Saketini which is sake and vodka. IT WAS STRONG!!! So if you want a cheap, strong drink come here. We were able to get the last 3 seats at the bar. The bartender was friendly and quick. My friends got the one of the other martinis and it was so good. Good mixture of sweet and strong. They also had $ 5 glasses of wine.

I can honestly say having had much Korean food and travelling to Korea, Bann takes a number of short cuts to its menu that water down the whole notion of authentic Korean cuisine. My galbi bbq request to be prepared in the kitchen resulted in a stir fry in a watery sauce. I asked the waiter if this is how the kitchen does short rib BBQ? It was sent back and despite the unappealing overly gas flame version of the build-​in grills, i proceeded to cook a new order of meat that was quick to burn and stuck to the metal grill. The panchan side dishes were forgettable and limited to kimchi, steamed brocolli and shredded turnip. The shizo leaf was nowhere to be found. It is customary in Korean BBQ for the server aid in the process, often cutting the meat with scissors. Here was solely my work and no help. Im sure there are some dishes worth having on the menu, but I was too tired and frustrated to ask.

you get the same food with Bann in cheaper price over the lunch time. Bibimbop and sesame noodle with beef is my favorite. Authentic, clean taste. The best Korean lunch in the town.

Bann has great lunch deals, and is without a doubt worth you checking out. The service is always very attentive and friendly. The «jung shik» lunch special is where you can expect copious amounts of food for only $ 15 and includes miso soup, salad, kimchi, rice, and your main dish. If you are feeling hungry after this, there is something seriously wrong with you. Consistantly good (as in the last 3 times) is the miso cod in spicy garlic sauce (although I would say despite the name, it’s not overly spicy). The restaurant itself is airy, modern and always well kept. If I am ever to opt off the lunch menu and am impressed with the meal, I would have no problem upping the place another star.

I like the tacos as they always hit the spot, but the other dishes including the Korean sushi are never as food as they should be. And the wings were kind of a joke… i thought I was eating KKGC (Korean Kentucky Grilled Cicken). I know good Korean food as I used to travel to Seoul and I am from Hawaii (many Koreans), and this place is really only good for a quick bite without expecting the best you’ve ever had. And for Hells Kitchen, you can definitely find better food in the area.

I’m not sure if it was because I came here on a Thursday but Bann Next Door is like the step-​child of Bann, décor in wealth but neglected in attention.
Theres not even any signs for this place — I had to walk into Bann and ask to find out that Bann next door was this room behind the restaurant that they only open up when people come in.
I ordered the spicy honey glazed fried chicken, krn tacos with beef bulgogi and the lychee martini.
Both dishes came bento style.
The Spicy Honey Glazed Fried Chicken — came with 4 pieces. The flavors sweet with a small kick was done just right but I wouldnt mistake it for fried chicken. Its more like kyo-​chon asian style fried chicken. (They should just call it chicken wings. LOL!) The chicken was paired with pickled daikon, rice, salad and some type of white sauce.
The krn tacos with beef bulgogi was pretty forgettable. It was just bbq bulgogi. You also get nachos and tortilla on the side with a corn salsa to make your own tacos. Don’t get me wrong — the ingredients were there. The sauces were amazing! But having Kogi before — you just expect a more decadent krn taco than just corn salsa and bbq bulgogi.
Lychee martini was yum but I could hardly taste the liquor. It was like tasting juice.

Came in one evening to grab a bite and a drink. The specials are cheap ($ 5), and the food is enough for a light dinner. I had the Bento box, which came with chicken, romaine salad, pickled vegetables, five grain, and cucumbers. A good balance of heat from the chicken, sour from the kimchi, and sweet from the salad. Plus it was outdoors! All served on plastic, so greens may be disappointed.

Readers, please note that is a review for Bann and not for Bann at the same time. It is not a review for the Bann restaurant but the Bann lounge next door. And finally this is not a review for the dinning experience but rather a clubbing experience.
Our experience with Bann began with a complicated invitation. Both my girlfriend and I were invited to this place by my girlfriend’s best friend’s boyfriend. Have I confused you yet? The reason why the boyfriend wanted to go was because one of his friend wanted him to be his wing-​man. But why on earth would you need a wing-​man? Well, it turns out that this is an Asian gay bar/​lounge. Since all of us had never set foot in a place like this, we decided to give a try and see what the differences are.
To start, Bann the lounge was such a nice little place in the back of it’s main dinning restaurant. When we reached the place it was about 11pm on a Saturday night. What came to our view first was the closed Bann restaurant on the main street, which confused all of us. But with a sharp 90 degree turn, we found the lounge nested right behind. The place was small, with the usual dimmed down lights like every other club you go to. Yet Bann the lounge was super friendly and you can feel the excitement from the first instance you step in. The bartenders were young and good looking Koreans, very attentive to your orders, and the drinks were fair in price. Even thought to the straights, everyone kept at a good distance, yet they were very approachable and willing to start a conversation with you. My girlfriend and her best friend had a very nice time at the lounge especially when they were surrounded on four sides with good looking Asian guys (note to self, no more Asian gay clubs, might end up with too much competition… lol). And the funny thing was, while chilling at the lounge with my girlfriend, a guy actually came up to me, probably thinking it was my first time coming to this place and my girlfriend was like a wing-​woman to spot me or something. Fortunetaly after a few exchange of words he noticed that I’m straight and left, otherwise who knows what could have happen.
Anyway, Bann the lounge gave some interesting clubbing experience for me, an opportunity to see the differnt side of the world and it wasn’t a bad one at all. So if you wish for something different, then why not give this place a try?

Have eaten here a number of times and don’t understand why it is only getting 3 stars! I read some of the other more negative reviews and totally disagree… especially with the person giving 1 star for a dispute about a Living Social voucher and not even mention the food. I used the same Living Social voucher here without any problems whatsoever.
If you don’t know, this place is next door to Bann (an upscale off-​32^nd Korean restaurant) inside of Worldwide Plaza so you can’t really see it from the street when you walk by… which is a shame because this place would probably be more hoppin if it were curbside. That being said, it does sit on a nice concrete plaza surrounded by hoardes of low budget revellers hanging out at Mother Burger and Blockheads (which both specialize in less-​than-​mediocre food counterbalanced with cheap beer). Bann Next Door is totally different from these places in that they are serving affordable Korean fusion in a nice upscale outdoor café type atmosphere (They also have indoor seating). The spicy pork tacos are awesome, as are the bulgogi tacos and the fried rice. Be aware that the fried chicken is good but SPICY!
The other more negative reviews are not doing this place justice because they aren’t comparing apples to apples. If you want high-​end restaurant Korean then go to Bann or head over to Ktown. This is somewhere to kick it with your buddies (or wife for me) and get pretty good Korean food for UNDER $ 10. Where can you get a full helping of decent Bulgogi in this city for under $ 20, let alone 10? Not to mention that the tacos come with real guac and homemade Korean-​ified pico de gallo, corn tortillas, and purple rice… pretty much awesome food to sit outside and drink $ 5 beers with on a nice day.
Also, their homemade jalapeño biscuits rock!
Thumbs up for the service and the management is always super friendly, which is always refreshing.
Bottomline: This is the go-​to place in Hell’s Kitchen when you want some good Korean-​inspired grub for cheap and outdoors.

Wow was this place slow. The food is so-​so and they really take their time to bring water. On a hot day, slow service sucks. Plus they don’t have ac since their main door is open. The décor is okay. This place isn’t worth the quality of the food. Just go somewhere else, if you want take out American Korean fusion. Also if u do want to go here and u have a show to catch, Don’t You Will Need At Least An Hour for take out…

We were looking for a place to eat around the area, and one friend suggested Bann, but then we thought Bann was too expensive so we went to Bann Next Door. We were pleasantly surprised.
I think this place is usually for take out, but there’s a little area to sit and we were the only ones there for a while, which I like. We each got a drink and a dish, and we shared a medium order of the fried chicken and it came out to be just a little over $ 20 each (after tax and tip). We were all quite satisfied.
I thought the chicken was pretty good, the skin is thicker than other places, but the taste was delicious. I liked getting the sauce on the side so you could choose how much to put on. For drinks we tried the Asian Glow and the Lychee Martini, and both were scrumptious.
I got the beef taco and I had a taste of the pork belly from the grill. For the dishes you get these bento boxes that has rice (white or five grain), salad or chips, the meat, and a little pickled side dish (diced kimchi, for example). I really liked the five grain rice. Putting everything together into a taco tasted great, especially with the spicy brown sauce. The only «eh» thing was the tortilla tasted kind of flaky. I also very much enjoyed the pork belly. I’d definitely come back for the happy hour cocktails and the food too if I was hungry.
Edit: I did come back, and I really do quite enjoy the lychee martini. This time we also ordered dessert — warm chocolate cake and this other strawberry dish. Both desserts were scrumptious.

I purchased a voucher from
for $ 30 of food for $ 15. Talk about a catch 22. I found out, afterward, that this place is a take out joint but the voucher says I must make a reservation and the voucher is not valid for take out.
So, if I want to use this voucher, I must first make a resevation at a take out joint and I have to stand in a corner and eat the food since the voucher cannot be used for takeout.
Just the fact that this place offers a completely worthless LivingSocial voucher turns me off completely. I mean, WTF, reservations to eat in at a take out joint? Give me a break. Hey Bann, you got some ’splainin to do.

Came here to grab a bite before heading to a show nearby. I found Bann at first then saw Bann Next Door. It’s such a witty name for the take out part of the restaurant, which there were a couple of tables in this dining area. The décor was simple, yet interesting. Also, there’s no restroom in this part of the restaurant, but rather it is located on the other side where the main dining area was located. Don’t be foolish like me because I thought there was a restroom in the take out area, but ended up walking into a closet instead.
I ordered three Korean tacos — chicken, yellow pickles, 5 grain rice, spicy guacamole and homemade chips. The chicken tacos was really good and it was slightly spicy, which was actually pretty good. The chicken was not dried. It paired really well with the pickles and the rice. The spicy guacamole was no lie, it indeed was spicy. Luckily, my spice tolerance has built up overtime, so it wasn’t something I cannot handle. However, the more I ate, everything seemed to be spicy, nothing seems to be neutral, not even my Sprite. But I did very much enjoyed every bit of it!

I’m being generous with three stars. Cute spot, clever idea and bound to succeed with the crowds that hang out in the plaza behind Worldwide Plaza but their food doesn’t merit a visit.
I’ve had better from any korean deli’s buffet. I got the «sesame» noodles which was tasteless; even the small bits of beef hidden in the pile of noodles were tasteless. The salad was romaine with red pepper on it and there was some pickled daikon with some red stuff on it too… also tasteless. For some reason they give you a huge pile of 5 grain rice with the noodles. When I asked if they could substitute it for more noodles I was told they don’t do that so I asked them to leave out the rice since I wouldn’t be eating it. They couldn’t do that either. I think their kitchen must be a factory in the slums of Beijing and they can’t handle «special» orders.
Tasteless is really inexcusable for Korean food even bad Korean food. The cuisine of Korea is slowly making it’s way out of K-​town giving us all more access. I’m happy to see that happen but I’m really disappointed that Bann is giving one of my favorite cuisines a bad name.

(2.5 stars)
Midtown lunch is an oxymoron.
After sampling various menu items over the past week, I have to conclude that Bann/​Next Door is a welcome diversion from the dullness of Midtown eateries at an attractive price point, but the food fails to elevate itself from the general banality of pan-​Asian cuisine in NYC.
I was pretty excited about having an Asian lunch option near my office, but unfortunately I set my expectations too high. The fried chicken drummettes had a sweet, honey tang, but like most Asian food, the yang of the chicken’s spiciness failed to offset the yin of its sweetness. The Korean Tacos with the spicy pork were interesting for novelty’s sake, but the highlight of the platter were the blue and gold tortilla chips with the guacamole and thoroughly addictive spicy Korean chipotle sauce. Other entrees were more miss than hit: the forest of romaine leaves in the beef chef salad was drowned in a too sweet red chile dressing; the grilled pork with spicy marinade left a metallic aftertaste.
Regardless, given how busy their lunch traffic has been, I think they’ll do well; there really isn’t much competition for the dining dollar in this area.

It’s difficult to find a weekday lunch of substantial quality and quantity for a modest price in Midtown. However at Bann Next Door, for 9 bucks and change, one can obtain Korean style tacos.
These tacos come in various varietals — garlic chicken, beef bulgogi and spicy pork daeji bulgogi, which include an assortment of condiments and sides, as well as 3 corn tortillas. The quantity of meat that I received in my order was restrained, but an appropriate portion for the price paid. The garlic chicken was a bit too dry and the flavor was tamed to a degree just north of monotony; the accompanying sides provided necessary intrigue and texture. On the other hand, I could find no flaws in the daeji bulgogi, which was as good as any version that one would find in K-​town or beyond.
Three steaming hot corn tortillas are included in a separate foil pouch, which provide the just the necessary amount packaging for diners to construct their tacos. Each taco kit arrives with a side of avocado crema, which is boldly spiced and zesty, and an ‘Asian’ pico de gallo, a refreshing brunois of spicy and crunchy onions, tomatoes and pickled radishes.
A side of fresh and crispy tortilla chips is accompanied by yet another sauce — this time a spicy, smoky, and slightly sweet concoction with flavors redolent of Korean gochujang paste. After the onslaught of spice and heat from the various sauces, a side of cooling rice is welcome respite — fluffy white rice, or a competently cooked version of oh gok bap (5 grain rice). My Mother would be happy to see the latter on my plate, as oh gok bap packs more of a nutritional punch.
Bann Next Door’s product is evocative of the ideal Korean Taco, with definitive Korean flavors in a Latin American package. Each constructed taco spans a multi-​cultural spectrum of flavors, textures and colors. At $ 9 for a tasty, filling and unique lunch, I can safely say that I am a new fan of Bann Next Door.
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