New York City's Kisa -- from the team behind nearby C As In Charlie - is comfort Korean at its finest.

Kisa is modeled after what is called kisa-shikdang, loosely translated as driver-diners in Korea that serve hungry taxi drivers who are looking for affordability and great flavour.

Some of Korea's most popular restaurants got their start as a driver-diner - with many foodies knowing that if a cabbie with wheels would travel to visit the restaurant, they should as well.

We're not taxi drivers, but Kisa gets our seal of approval.

Walk through the door and find a rather modest 32-seat dining room, with cement floors, wood furniture , and brown tiles stopping midway up white walls adorned with Korea-related photos.

The staff is friendly. The crowd is eager. And the food, served to the sounds of early old school K-Pop, is delicious.

Choose one main: spicy pork, spicy squid, bulgogi or vegetarian bimbimbap.

Then wait as you're presented with an array of metal bowls. Most of them are neatly arranged on a large round metal tray, like thali in India.

In the center is your main dish surrounded by banchan, side dishes including kimchi, fried mungbean noodles wrapped in seawood, creamy cucumber salad, hardboiled eggs marinated in a sweet glaze, smoky lotus root, and a small minced pork pancake.

If that's not enough your platter is presented with separate bowls of rice (which is to be mixed into your main dish) and a delicate radish broth.

And once you've eaten everything, three of your sides are replenished (compliments of the house).

Korea is not known for its dessert. But you are given a choice of sweet treat at the end of your meal - either a chilled foil-topped mini-yogurt drink or a quarter for the coffee machine.

We couldn't decide - so we asked for both. And once we downed our yogurt drink, we went over to the coffee machine and punched the buttons for a mocha latte and a black bean latte. Both were incredible and captured the sweet taste of younger days in Korea.

We paid our check - $32 for each of our platters - and left happy, so much so we walked a few minutes to C As In Charlie to compare the two venues.

C As in Charlie has more options and is adorable, with outdoor seating; Kisa is a sweet and smoky trip down memory lane.

Highly recommended. Reservations encouraged.

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