This is another awesome Tasting Collective dining club event we attended in July 2024. (You can read about the previous posts about Tasting Collective events here: Jaz Indian Cuisine, Fish Cheeks, Win Son, FOB, Xixa, Huertas, Bessou, Maharlika, Traif, Lalito, Noreetuh, Traif #2, Txikito, Oka, Xixa2, TabeTomo, Houseman, Nowon, GAUDIr, Contento, NAR, and Cecily). Tasting Collective is a dining club for food lovers, and they offer brunch and dinner at great NYC restaurants. They close off the restaurants for the club, so we get to have the entire restaurant and Chef(s) all to ourselves. So, this is more than just eating food at a restaurant, but you get to have the background story and its passion from the Chef(s), eating 5- to 12- or more course brunch/dinner created specifically for Tasting Collectives. There is a discount code at the end of this blog for those of you who are interested in joining.
This event was held at 8282, 5-course Inventive Korean Tasting Event. 8282 opened in 2022, and has been on several “Best of Lower East Side” lists since they opened. They offer a modern, fresh take on Korean cuisine, with inventive dishes. We were super excited to try their food!
The inside is not too small, not too large. Typical NYC restaurant size in my opinion. They had a big bar, fully stacked. The tables were set up for our event, so it doesn’t usually look like this. I liked the simple decor with tiger artworks here and there.
We started off with a couple of their special cocktails. We got Gochujang Margarita ($18) and Yuzu Matcha Magic ($17). My hubby likes a cocktail with a little heat, so a cocktail made with Gochujang (which is such an innovative concept!) was right up his alley. Also, it is one of their most popular drinks. Gochujang Margarita is made with Spicy Margarita, Tequila, Gochujang Syrup, Yuzu Triple Sec, topped with Dried Orange. It was not as spicy as I thought it would be. Just a little pleasant kick, without a big punch. Quite tasty! The Matcha one had such distinctive green color, which to some people might not be appetizing, but I was happy! Yuzu Matcha Magic is made with Slightly Sweetened Matcha, Soju, Lemon, Yuzu, topped with Salt. It had a nice sweetness to it, but not too much. The flavor of matcha and yuzu went greatly together, it sure was magical. I really enjoyed this drink.
Executive Chef/Co-Owner Bong Le Jo and his business partner came out to greet us and tell us a little about the restaurant and about themselves. Chef Jo, born in South Korea, raised in Queens, previously ran Pado in the East Village and, before that, Perry St, Dovetail, and Kissaki. Impressive! The restaurant name 8282 refers to Korea’s country code, +82, and from their website, it has “an additional meaning: The numbers, when read together, translate to a phrase that means “quickly” or “faster.” The phrase signifies a get-it-done attitude.”
The first course was Tomato with Crab, made with ponzu sauce, umami sweet citrus soy broth, bonito flake. It had a great dashi flavor, reminded me of a Japanese dish. The bonito flakes and rich earthy flavor was so amazing and refreshing. A great starter dish.
We got a little side dish of canape with seaweed butter. It was like a steamed bun that I am used to having in Japan. The seaweed butter didn’t taste much like seaweed, but had a nice bit of salty flavor to it. It was light and airy, fluffy, and bouncy. A nice little bite, acting as a pallet cleanser.
The second course was Mushroom Party, made with Grilled Assorted Mushrooms, Rosemary Panko, Cashew, Yogurt, and Mushroom Purée. I like mushroom a lot, but I don’t know if I could consider myself to be a mushroom lover. However, this dish, oh my! It was sooooo good!
This dish blew my mind with amazing flavor! It had all sorts of different mushrooms, slightly different texture and flavor from one another. I really liked how they fried one of the mushroom, giving that crunchy texture against all others, and distinctive flavor from the panko. Sauce was also tasty and complimented the earthy mushroom flavors. It was an excellent dish!
At this point, we put in one more cocktail order. It was Yuja Peach Tequila Perilla ($18). It is made with Citrus Splash of Yuja & Peach, Tequila, Lime, topped with Perilla & Perilla Oil. If you are wondering what perilla is, it is like the Japanese Shiso leaves, the one you get with sushi/sashimi dish. I love the flavor of shiso, and yuzu, so I was curious. This one was tasty too, a bit more fruity but without being too sweet. They have nice, interesting cocktails here at 8282.
The third course was Grilled Chilean Sea Bass, with Yuzu Soy Marinade, Bell Pepper Sauce, and Kimchi Piperade. Fish was cooked to perfection, flakey and moist. Almost melt in your mouth! The marinade was amazing, it was out of this world good. Sauce had a nice kick to it, and kimchi was great too, adding extra texture and flavor. But, I gotta say, sea bass was great on its own without any sauce too. Loved every bite!
The fourth and the last savory course was Spicy Pork Collar with Gochujang Sauce, Kimchi Chimichurri. After having three great dishes, I thought “how could this continue?” but yet, it was another great dish! The pork collar is less fatty and a bit more tough, but it was cooked just right so that it is not chewy, nor too tough. Packed with flavorful and loved the crunch from the chimichuri. Delicious!
The fifth and the last course, the dessert! It was Milk Pie with Vanilla Ice Cream, and Raspberry Sauce. It was sweet with a nice not crunch on the exterior. Ice cream had vanilla bean which I love. The custard inside was thick rather than velvety. It was a nice dessert, but since all the savory dishes were so great, I felt like this dessert was not at the same level. Other dishes outshined it. Still, it was a nice dessert.
We had another very successful Tasting Collective event here at 8282. We enjoyed all the drinks and the food. I say the fish was my favorite, I could have that every day! Can’t wait for the next event!
For those of you who are interested in joining this great dining club, Tasting Collective, you can use this link to get a discounted annual rate of $125 (over 25% off the normal $165/year) for the first year: https://tastingcollective.com/?invite_code=JUN4346
8282 – 84 Stanton St, New York, NY 10002