Somssi in Greenwich Village Lets Loose—and Wins Over Downtown Diners

On a blustery Tuesday night in early September, Somssi is already humming. The new venture from the team behind Atomix—the city’s Korean fine-dining darling—has landed on West 8th Street with a menu that feels both irreverent and inviting. Gone are the hushed tones and lacquered perfection of their flagship; here, the soundtrack is laughter and clinking glasses, the tables crowded with platters that crisscross Asia and the Americas.

Chef Junghyun Park, usually precise, seems to revel in Somssi’s looser brief. A plate of chili crisp–doused fried chicken wings shares space with a riff on mapo tofu, here studded with smoky mushrooms and a shake of Szechuan pepper. The kimchi is unapologetically funky, and the cocktails lean tart and bright—think yuzu spritz, not brown-liquor neat.

On Monday’s soft launch, a mix of NYU students and neighborhood regulars filled the front room, debating whether the sticky-sweet bulgogi cheesesteak was more Philly or Seoul. Prices hover just below Manhattan’s median—$16 for the scattershot fried rice, $12 per cocktail—making it approachable for a midweek splurge.

Gone is the performative polish of so many new openings. The servers are quick with a recommendation but happy to admit what’s still being tweaked. The space, done in warm woods and playful neon, invites lingering. It’s the sort of place where you might trade bites with the table next to you, or end up chatting with the chef as he checks on his guests.

In a city always chasing the new, Somssi offers something rare this September: a restaurant that doesn’t try too hard. It’s messy, generous, and unmistakably of-the-moment—a Greenwich Village original for early autumn.