If you’ve been on the culinary side of social media lately, you’ve probably seen videos of stylish patrons in a dimly lit restaurant dining on chicken nuggets topped with caviar. The restaurant in question? COQODAQ, a NYC hot spot on the Michelin Guide owned by world renowned restauranteur, Simon Kim.
But food isn’t the only thing being served under COQODAQ’s golden arches. This past New York Fashion Week, designer Andrew Kwon presented his ninth collection, Ephemeral, using COQODAQ as his runway. As if chicken nuggets topped with caviar and a US Open collaboration weren’t enough, a NYFW show put COQODAQ on the radar of nearly every resident of the city. We visited the establishment to see what it serves up when it isn’t acting as a NYFW runway.
A Restaurant Beautiful Enough For New York Fashion Week
In front of an intimate group of editors, buyers, influencers and close friends, Andrew Kwon unveiled his ninth collection, Ephemeral. In the show notes, Kwon speaks to his choice of having his ninth collection in the Flatiron establishment. The designer states, “COQODAQ provided the perfect backdrop for this season’s collection, with its arches complementing the mysterious and ethereal nature of Ephemeral. The venue’s architecture mirrored the collection’s themes of transient beauty and timeless elegance.”
The restaurant proved itself to be the perfect backdrop to showcase and enhance Kwon’s ethereal collection. The soft glow of the dining room complemented the looks beautifully as models cascaded through the golden arches down the runway.
COQODAQ, A Menu Worthy of A Celebration
When stepping into COQODAQ, you’re met with the feeling you’ve just left the hustle of the city and are entering into the best two hours of your week. The ambiance of the restaurant is reminiscent of a downtown lounge in the 90s; sexy dim lighting, a meticulously curated playlist (that included Kaytranada, to our delight) and gorgeous patrons. Everything from the dimly lit dining room to the choices in music (the owner curates each song down to the beats per minute) are meant to evoke the feeling you get when you’re having a really good time with great friends.
The star of the evening, though, is the meal. Cocktails that the owner, and waiters, describe as “crushable” — and most certainly are — flow quickly from bar to table. Our menu favorite? The Bucket List Chicken. The restaurant calls it their signature fried chicken feast, and it features the COQODAQ original classic fried chicken with your choice of either the soy garlic glaze or the gochujang glaze.
While the chicken is some of the best fried chicken we’ve ever had, the banchan — or small Korean side dishes served alongside the main element of the meal — are to die for. A scallion salad that is light and refreshing beautifully balances the fried chicken. The pickled daikon and seasonal vegetables are perfectly crunchy and flavorful. The kimchi is slightly spicy but refreshing, and toes the line between kimchi you’d find in the most authentic Korean BBQ restaurant and one that’s homemade in your best friends moms kitchen.
The $28 Chicken Nugget
COQODAQ’s pièce de résistance is The Golden Nugget, a chicken nugget topped with your choice of caviar, ocean trout roe or seasonal truffles. We went with the 24 Karat, topped with Golden Daurenki caviar. At $28 a nugget, it’s as steep a price a chicken nugget can have — but, in our opinion, is well worth it.
To really up the ante, the restaurant suggests you pair the meal with one of their 400 (yes, 400) champagne options. Although the food menu is a fixed culinary experience with a few options for à la carte add-ons, the champagne list is anything but. COQODAQ boasts the largest champagne menu in North America.
All in all, we can see why COQODAQ is NYC’s newest culinary hot spot. Between the food, the fashion and the feelings you get while dining there, the restaurant has earned all of its well-deserved flowers.
