By Adam Nichols
DNAinfo News Editor
MANHATTAN — A restaurant credited with introducing Korean food to legions of SoHo diners will close this month after failing to agree a new lease, Eater reported.
Woo Lae Oak has been on Mercer Street for 12 years.
“We have had the great pleasure of introducing New Yorkers to “Creative Korean Cuisine,” read a letter to its patrons, according to Eater.
"Since opening in 1999, Woo Lae Oak has become the premier Korean restaurant in New York," the letter continued. "It has been the flagship for a group of restaurants developed by owner Young Sook Hoi, highly regarded as the pioneer in introducing Korean cuisine to westerners.”
Its sister restaurant, West 50th Street’s Bann, will remain open, the letter said.