SEA just rolled into New York City.

Chef and owner Jungsik Yim of two-Michelin-star Jungsik wanted to open a more casual restaurant than his namesake.

Several years in the making, Chef Kim opened Sea, a dressed-down Southeast Asian restaurant that fuses his passion for food of Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, and Singapore mixed with Korean and French influences.

I immediately tried for a reservation the first week Sea opened in order to sample the contemporary Korean cuisine.

I am not a fan of the neighborhood, but we trudged through the Madison Square Garden area while a concert was about to start.

The set up is not that appealing with a bar and some tables in the front and a larger dark dining area in the back.

Our server was quite unhelpful and he had the worst bad breath. He was well intentioned, but dreary.

We found our way through the menu with help from our table mates.

We started with the trademark Prawn Spring Rolls and they were fabulous…crispy and loaded with shrimp accompanied by a delicious dipping sauce.($18).

The Crab Fried Rice was an interesting presentation with an omelette crowning the top of the rice dish with Thai basil. It was unusually tasty ($27).

The Black Cod was amazing with rich red curry sauce and coconut ($32).

The Crispy Pork was as described with perfectly crispy ends served with light and airy lace like vermicelli pancakes mixed with fresh herbs and lettuce to make a wrap supplemented with a spicy dipping sauce ($36).

The Razor Clams were delicate served on the shell with a spicy sauce with excellent sauteed vegetables of morning glory and asparagus ($23)..

The Fried Heritage Chicken som tum, with zabb spices was purportedly marvelous. Our table mates ordered it and I only took the photo ($34).

The Seafood Platter is a highly recommended item and included oyster, sweet shrimp, scallop and yellowtail ($68).

The desserts were surprisingly delicious. The nondairy Pineapple Sorbet was outstanding ($11). The Coconut Sundae was delightfully sweet ($14)