Mari

Chef Sungchul Shim opened Mari in late 2021 as the second Hell’s Kitchen restaurant from the team behind Kochi. Mari means roll in Korean, and the name explains the format: Korean flavors and street-food memories presented through a tasting built around seaweed-wrapped rice and seafood. The cooks work inside a counter visible from all sides, setting salmon, cured mackerel, mushrooms, scallop, spicy tuna, and other seasonal fillings over sesame-seasoned rice and crisp gim. Michelin awards one star.

The seasonal menu currently runs about $145 before drinks and supplements. It begins with hansang, a tray or sequence of small bites, moves through a run of hand rolls, then opens into a noodle or composed savory course and two desserts. A wine pairing has recently run around $110. OpenTable lists chef’s-counter and quieter dining-room reservations, released thirty days ahead at midnight; the house site has also pointed diners to Resy, so use the live booking link rather than relying on an old platform note. Dietary restrictions are unusually broad: Mari says it cannot accommodate vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, rice-free, egg-free, fish-free, allium-free, soy-free, sesame-free, or raw-seafood-free menus. Compared with Kochi, Mari narrows the idea to rolls and counter rhythm. Compared with Japanese temaki bars, the flavors and course structure remain deliberately Korean.

Public reviews praise the interactive counter, crisp seaweed, imaginative fillings, friendly explanations, and a progression that feels lighter and more playful than many tasting menus. The hand rolls and opening bites receive the strongest repeat praise, with desserts often finishing the night on a high note.

The same threads warn that the booking window moves quickly, dinner takes around two hours, and the fixed menu excludes a long list of diets and allergies. Some diners find the larger savory course less precise than the rolls, while others question the spend for a format associated with casual counters. Mari is best for diners who want hand rolls to carry a full tasting, not for anyone seeking à la carte temaki.