The Best Korean Food in Midtown Manhattan

Hunting for the best Korean food in Midtown Manhattan usually means solving a narrow problem. You have somewhere between twenty and forty minutes, you can walk two or three blocks, and you want to sit back down having actually eaten something. Sopo Korean Eats is at 463 7th Ave, New York, NY 10018, near Herald Square, and the menu is built around exactly that window.

Midtown has no shortage of Korean restaurants. Koreatown is a ten minute walk east and it does what it does very well, which is long dinners, shared grills and late nights. That is a different meal from the one most people around 7th Avenue need at half past noon on a Tuesday.

This guide covers how we think about the question, what a Sopo plate actually is, what the sides and sauces do, where the shop sits relative to the rest of Midtown, and how the same food works when you are feeding a room instead of yourself.

How we think about the best Korean food in Midtown Manhattan

The honest answer is that the phrase means different things depending on the hour. At seven in the evening it means a table, a grill and two hours. At lunch it means something else entirely, and the lunch version is the one Sopo is built for. Our guide to the best Korean quick food NYC has at lunch goes further into the twenty-minute version.

Three things decide it. The food has to be made the same day rather than held over. It has to be portioned so that one order is one lunch, without the guesswork of ordering three dishes and hoping. And it has to survive the walk back, because most of Midtown eats at a desk whether it meant to or not.

That last one quietly rules out a lot of otherwise excellent food. A dish that is perfect at the table and sad fifteen minutes later is not a good Midtown lunch, however good it is at the table.

The plate, and how you build it

The thing Sopo makes is a plate, and you build it rather than pick it off a list. Choose a base of white rice, purple rice or the SOPO Greens mix. Add one protein from smoked chicken, spicy pork, beef bulgogi or crispy tofu. Choose three sides from nine. Finish with one of four house sauces. That is the whole menu, and the combinations run into the hundreds.

Plenty of people describe this to a coworker as a Korean rice bowl, which is close enough to the idea. The item itself is a plate, and the distinction matters mainly in how it is packed, with the components sitting next to each other rather than piled into a single heap.

Building it yourself solves the problem a set menu cannot. Two people can order from the same counter and end up with genuinely different lunches, one of them vegetarian, one of them heavy on the steak, without either one making a special request.

The sides are the reason people come back

First-time customers treat the three sides as something secondary and then discover they are most of the meal. The nine include kimchi, sweet soy roasted potatoes, soy-dipped egg, kale namul, garlic broccoli, cucumber kimchi, kimchi salad, gold pumpkin mash and napa cabbage kimchi.

These are the parts that get made fresh through the day. The kimchi is fermented in house. The proteins are marinated and cooked in house. Choosing three from nine means a plate is roughly half vegetables before you have thought about it, and the SOPO Greens base is there for anyone skipping rice altogether.

It also means the menu does not get old the way a fixed menu does. Somebody eating at Sopo twice a week is not eating the same lunch twice a week, which is the practical test of whether a place stays in the rotation.

Four house sauces, and how to choose

The sauce does more work than its size suggests. There are four. Perilla Princess is built on perilla, the Korean herb, and it is the one that surprises people. Fire Sauce is direct heat with nothing hidden behind it. Ssam Aioli is creamy with a savory edge. Sweet Heat is what it says, sweetness first and heat behind it.

If you would rather not decide, the signature plates already come paired. Beef bulgogi comes with Ssam Aioli, which is the combination to start from. For anyone who orders the spicy thing everywhere, Fire Sauce on spicy pork is not subtle and is not trying to be.

Kimbap and the rest of the counter

Kimbap is rolled in house. In Korea it is one of the standard office lunches, the thing you pick up when the clock is against you: rice, vegetables and protein rolled and sliced, eaten with one hand, no reheating and no cutlery. That is exactly why it works in Midtown. It also needs no introduction in New York any more, since kimbap is well established across the city, so nobody on your team has to be talked into it. People still compare it to sushi, and our guide to kimbap and sushi gets into where that comparison holds and where it falls apart.

Seoul Steak is worth knowing about as well. It is a seared flat iron that shows up as a signature plate, as a kimbap and as a catering tray, and it is the upgrade order when the day warrants one.

What is actually on the plate

Every catering item carries its allergen list, and the per-item figures come from our own menu sheet rather than an estimate. How much protein a plate carries depends on which protein you choose, and the figures on that sheet exclude the base and the sauce.

Dietary needs are handled on the main menu instead of off to one side. Crispy tofu is a standard protein. The Vegan Plate and the Gluten Free Plate are named items on the menu, so a vegan colleague orders from the same counter as everyone else. The Gluten Free Plate is built from gluten-free components, and it is made in a kitchen that also handles wheat, so if you are ordering for someone with celiac disease, ask us first. Our full guide to popular Korean foods is a good starting point if the menu is unfamiliar.

Where Sopo sits in Midtown

463 7th Ave is near Herald Square, which puts a lot of Midtown inside a walk. Penn Station is a few minutes west. Bryant Park is a few minutes northeast. Times Square is a walk north, and the Garment District offices are directly around it. For anyone whose building is further out, Korean lunch delivery in Midtown covers how the delivery radius works.

Pickup, delivery and catering all run from the same kitchen and the same menu. The full menu is online, and ordering ahead is the difference between a ten minute lunch and a twenty-five minute one during the rush.

The same food, for a room full of people

The build-your-own structure turns out to matter even more for groups, because a room of fifteen contains at least one vegetarian, one person avoiding gluten and one person who will eat anything. Individually packed plates are the usual choice, and the SOPO Party Platter is built to serve ten. Bases, proteins and sides also come as trays, so a team can build plates at the table buffet style. Current pricing sits on the catering menu, since it moves.

Plan on 36 to 48 hours of lead time for catering. The online catering menu will sometimes show sooner windows, so ask if you need something faster. Our Korean catering guide walks through costs and ordering in more detail, and the catering page takes orders directly.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best Korean food in Midtown Manhattan for a quick lunch?

A build-your-own plate is the format built for it. You choose a base, a protein, three sides from nine and one of four house sauces, and it is packed to travel, so it holds up on the walk back to a desk. Sopo Korean Eats is at 463 7th Ave near Herald Square.

What is the best korean food catering midtown manhattan offices order?

Individually packed plates are the most common choice, because each person gets their own base, protein, sides and sauce. Platters and trays are available too when a team would rather build plates at the table. Current pricing is on the catering menu.

How to order korean food for office catering near times square?

Order through the catering page with 36 to 48 hours of notice. Sopo is at 463 7th Ave near Herald Square, which is a short walk south of Times Square, and delivery covers the surrounding Midtown blocks. The online menu occasionally shows sooner delivery windows, so ask if you need one.

Is there office lunch catering near 7th avenue that does build your own bowls?

Yes. Sopo is on 7th Avenue at 463, and the entire menu is build-your-own. Many people call the result a Korean rice bowl, though the menu item is a plate. Each person picks their own base, protein, three sides and sauce.

Does Sopo have vegan and gluten-free options?

Yes. Crispy tofu is a standard protein on the main menu, and the Vegan Plate and the Gluten Free Plate are both named menu items. Every catering item carries its allergen list. The same kitchen also handles wheat, so if you are ordering for someone with celiac disease, ask us first.

Does Sopo serve bibimbap?

No. The signature item is a build-your-own plate with a base, a protein, three sides and a house sauce. It arrives with everything set out separately rather than pre-mixed, and plenty of people stir it together at the table, which gets you close to bibimbap if that is what you were after.

Where is Sopo Korean Eats in Midtown Manhattan?

463 7th Ave, New York, NY 10018, near Herald Square. It is walkable from Penn Station, Bryant Park, Times Square and the Garment District, and it handles pickup, delivery and catering from the same kitchen.

Stay Connected with Sopo Korean Eats

Our Midtown location: 463 7th Ave, New York, NY 10018 (near Herald Square)

Catering: See corporate catering options

Instagram: @eatsopo (follow us for seasonal menus and events)

Order from Sopo and build your own Korean plate.