Hangawi

Step off East 32nd Street, east of Fifth, and the noise drops away. Hangawi has served plant-based Korean cooking, inspired by the vegetarian traditions of Korea's Buddhist temples, for three decades; it earned two stars from The New York Times in 1995, and it is still on the same block.

The cooking leans on mushrooms, tofu and wild greens: stuffed shiitake, perilla-leaf tofu patties, a platter of Korean pancakes, a spicy kimchi tofu hot pot, and rice bowls with kimchi and vegetables. In autumn, watch for fresh matsutake, offered in limited quantities. It is an unhurried, gentle dinner, and a good one for a date.