Restaurants in East Village
See all Restaurants in Manhattan
Kyo-Ya Reviewed
Kyo-Ya *** Stars (Out of Four) Address: 94 East 7th St., nr First Avenue Phone: (212)982-4140 Cuisine: Eclectic Japanese with Kaiseki Tasting Vibe: Serene , Subterranean Oasis Occasion: Intimate date, tranquil escape, or craving Japan Drink: Seasonal Sakes Don’t Miss: Grilled magret duck, chawan mushi, braised daikon in broth, & green tea creme brulee. Don’t Bother: Seasonal Tsukemono (Seasonal Pickles) We spend so much time chasing after new restaurants we often forget about the ones that have managed to stick around long enough to no longer be considered new. And as you know, in New York, that’s no easy feat. For my birthday, a friend was determined to take me for dinner somewhere I’d never been. While I doubted the likelihood, I played along and headed down to 94 East 7th Street in the East Village to discover where...
Read MoreButcher Bay
East Village fish shack Butcher Bay’s no keeper Tuesday, March 10th 2009, 4:00 AM Sunshine/News (Butcher Bay serves up fish in the East Village.) Not quite everything you hope for in a fish shack. 511 E. Fifth St., near Avenue A. (212) 260-1333 Dinner: Mon.-Sun., 6 p.m. until late. CUISINE: Fish shack VIBE: Down and dirty East Village OCCASION: Neighborhood dinner, bar bites DON’T-MISS DISH: Scallop pan roast, steamed mussels with bread AVERAGE PRICE: Appetizers, $6; entrees, $17. No desserts. RESERVATIONS: Not accepted. A hell of a lot has changed at 511 E. Fifth St., near Avenue A. It used to be called Seymour Burton. It wasn’t the prettiest place to look at, but the food was wonderfully hearty. And they had a great burger. Now Seymour Burton is Butcher Bay, a wanna-be Pearl Oyster Bar. Adam Cohn,...
Read MoreDesnuda
Guerilla molecular gastronomy at Desnuda 122 E. Seventh St., (212) 254-3515 Hours: Dinner, Mon.-Thurs., 5 p.m.-midnight; Fri.-Sat., 5 p.m. – 2 a.m.; Sundays: closed CUISINE: Ceviche VIBE: Sexy Ceviche Bar OCCASION: Bar bites, Casual date DON’T MISS DISH: Tea-smoked oysters, mackerel ceviche, apple & fig mixto with pomegranate molasses. AVERAGE PRICE: Appetizers, $4; entrees, $16. RESERVATIONS: No reservations There’s no kitchen at Desnuda, a new cevicheria on Seventh St. in the East Village. There’s a popcorn popper, a microwave, a dinky sushi fridge, and a toaster oven. So how does Christian Zammas, the chef, manages to smoke raw oysters every night? In a gravity bong, of course. Zammas made his bong from scratch, using a Sprite bottle and a glass bowl he bought on St. Marks Place. He packs the glass bowl with Lapsang souchong tea leaves and Sichuan...
Read MoreMr. Jones Yakitori
Mr. Jones: A little swank with your yakitori. 243 E. 14th St., (212) 253-7670. Sun.-Wed., 5:30 p.m.-midnight; Thur.-Sat., 5:30 p.m.-2 a.m.; CUISINE: Traditional Japanese VIBE: Stealthy yakitori den; OCCASION: Night out, casual date; DON’T MISS DISH: Chicken wings, wagyu with wasabi, escolar with citrus sauce; PRICE: Appetizers $6; entrees $15; desserts, none; RESERVATIONS: Recommended Some people like to invent imaginary friends. Lesley Bernard likes to invent imaginary friends who design restaurants. He created Tillman’s, a Harlem soul lounge in Chelsea, named after its fictional proprietor, Mr. Tillman. Mr. Jones is the name of Bernard’s new restaurant on E. 14th St. The question is — who does Mr. Jones think he is? And more importantly, do you really want to eat in the mind of a fictional character? Especially a mind that resembles James Coburn’s in “In Like Flint”? But...
Read MoreDouble Crown
The urban tropics, Malaysia by way of the Bowery. 316 Bowery, at Bleecker St., (212) 254-0350 Mon.-Thur., 6 p.m.-midnight; Fri.-Sat., 6 p.m.-1 a.m.; Sat.-Sun. brunch, 11 a.m.-3:30 p.m. CUISINE: Fusion. VIBE: Hip Bowery eatery. OCCASION: First date, festive group dinner. DON’T-MISS DISH: Duck steam bun, sea bream sashimi, Singapore laksa. AVERAGE PRICE: Appetizers, $14; entrees, $25; dessert, $10. RESERVATIONS: Accepted. In the right kind of restaurant, eating out reminds you that you belong to a social world, something larger than yourself. Maybe it’s the gentle haze of conversation, the buzz at the bar, or the music thumping in the background. There’s a pulse, something electric in the energy darting about the room. How do you create that feeling? In the case of Double Crown, down in the Bowery, it was designed right into the restaurant. It is owned and...
Read MoreApiary
60 Third Ave., between 10th and 11th Sts. (212) 254-0888 Mon.-Thurs., 5:30-11 p.m.; Fri-Sat., 5:30 p.m.-midnight; Sun., 5:30-10:30 p.m. CUISINE: New American VIBE: Stylish E. Village eatery OCCASION: First date, group dinner DON’T-MISS DISHES: Roasted peaches and serrano ham; spice-crusted lamb PRICE: Appetizers, $12; entrees, $25; dessert, $8 RESERVATIONS: Recommended CAPSULE: Honey and spice Apiary reminds me how hard it is to get it right. To most of us, dinner is just dinner. But to a restaurant’s chef and its staff, it’s much more complicated. Imagine all the questions that have to be answered before your entrée arrives. What’s fresh today? Can we make a profit on that? Am I going to shoot myself if I have to roast another chicken? Is this dish too much like Bobby Flay’s? Would anybody notice if I just pulled it off the...
Read MoreBacon Hits Happy Hour
This weekend we stumbled upon a truly peculiar cocktail at Double Down Saloon, the New York spin-off of an infamous Las Vegas bar. This artful dive bar serves up a house-infused bacon vodka. Committed to his peculiar vision, the owner has special bacon flown in from Kentucky, which he then fries up and soaks in high-quality vodka to create a “Bacon Martini” or Bloody Mary. And if bacon vodka wasn’t sufficiently audacious, each martini is topped with a juicy stick of Slim Jim to gnaw while sipping. Bartender Joan likens the libation to “a good scotch.” Address:14 Avenue A, just above Houston St.Phone: (212)982-0543doubledownsaloon.com Until we eat again,Restaurant Girl**Don’t forget to subscribe for Restaurant Girl’s weekly...
Read MoreSea Salt
You haven’t truly eaten at Sea Salt until you’ve shopped for your dinner in the fish market tucked into the back corner of this East Village nook. There lies the best of what chef Orhan Yegen has to offer – an icy display of seafaring wares. To Yegen, these aren’t just fish: This is his religion. “I’m the only one who truly understands them,” he declares matter-of-factly over the phone. “I taste and tune the fish. That’s my talent.” He designed much of the restaurant himself, painting the broad, creamy stripes that wrap themselves around the space, accented with butcher block tables and black and white photos – a bit Miami Beach meets Mediterranean seascape. Tables spill onto a span of Second Ave., brimming with students and artsy types. An impossibly outspoken and restless nomad, Yegen has rambled through...
Read MoreGemma
The cuisine is secondary to the parade of fashionable downtowners. 335 Bowery, at Third St. (212) 505-9100 Dinner: Seven days. Breakfast and lunch: Monday through Friday. Brunch: Saturday and Sunday. CUISINE Modern Italian trattoria VIBE Casual bustle OCCASION Group dinner or date DON’T-MISS DISH Four-seasons pizza; cedar-plank-roasted sea bass. DRINK SPECIALTY Acqua di Gemma – sparkling and flat water filtered and bottled in-house, $4 a bottle. PRICE Appetizers, $5-$12; entrées, $14-$39; desserts, $3-$10. RESERVATIONS Available only to Bowery Hotel guests. So go early, and prepare to wait at the bar. As the masses descend upon this decorated spot – dripping with candles, wine bottles and chunky chandeliers – it’s become clear that Gemma has managed to wed the glamour of exclusivity with the democratic accessibility of a no-reservation policy. Owners Sean MacPherson and Eric Goode have seamlessly bridged the...
Read MoreMercat
The latest in a series of tapas joints to grace Manhattan kicked-off Tuesday evening after a number of setbacks and massive speculation (myself included). Of course I had to see this with my own eyes. Opening night and Noho’s newest resident was abuzz, brimming with tapas loyalists, gourmet groupies and trendy types. Every chair was taken in the narrow 90-seat space, industrially-outfitted with unfinished wood tables, brick walls and an eating counter with a view into a white subway-tiled open kitchen: think Casa Mono meets Boqueria on a dimmer. But Mercat’s most inviting accessory was a centerstage ham-and-cheese station, which will no doubt allure potential loiterers (myself included). Owner & native Barcelonian, Jaime Reixach, has enlisted chefs David Seigal (Bouley) & Ryan Lowder (Jean Georges) to employ his Catalan-inspired vision of small plates, which take the form of snails...
Read MoreE.U.
235 East 4th St., btwn. A & B Aves. (212)254-2900 EU Website TYPE: European gastropub VIBE: Rustic farmhouse meets brasserie OCCASION: Neighborhood nibbles or casual date DON’T MISS DISH: Grilled octopus with chickpeas, tomato & preserved lemon DON’T BOTHER DISH: Foie gras-stuffed quail DRINK SPECIALTY: International beer & wine list PRICE: $40 & up INSIDE SCOOP: During daylight hours, E.U. will double as a greenmarket/deli (TBD) HOURS: Dinner, Tue – Thu, 5:30 PM – 11:00 PM, Sat, 5:30 PM – 12 AM, Sun, 5:30 PM – 10 PM; Brunch, Sat. & Sun, 11 AM – 3:30 PM. Closed on Mondays. RESERVATIONS: Reservations accepted, recommended on weekends. RESTAURANT GIRL RATES: N/A (Opening night for Chef Akhtar Nawab) FINAL WORD: With a menu that seems to span the global map, this European gastropub overextends itself. Perhaps E.U. should hone in on...
Read MoreAriyoshi
810 Broadway, nr. 12th St. (212)388-1884 TYPE: Japanese izakaya VIBE: Lackluster neighborhood spot OCCASION: A “something for everyone” Japanese outing DON’T MISS DISH: Cooked taro with baby shrimp & special sauce DON’T BOTHER DISH: Toro tartar with quail egg DRINK SPECIALTY: Sake and Japanese beers PRICE: $35 & up HOURS: Dinner, 7 days a week, 6 PM – 4 AM; Lunch, Mon – Fri, 12 – 2 PM. RESERVATIONS: Reservations accepted, but not necessary. RESTAURANT GIRL RATES: 5.5 FINAL WORD: With a menu that reads like a culinary encyclopedia of all things Japanese, Ariyoshi overextends itself, resulting in a flurry of well-priced, but unmemorable dishes. Seeing at it was the night after Christmas, I was in the mood for something other than peking duck and moo shu shrimp. First, I squired a reservation at Dennis Foy’s new Tribeca haunt...
Read MoreBAMN Automat
BAMN 37 St. Mark’s Place (btwn. 2nd & 3rd Aves.) (212)358-7685 TYPE: Asian-style fast food VIBE: Bright lights, big city, fast food OCCASION: Late night pit stop DON’T MISS DISH: Roasted pork buns DON’T BOTHER DISH: Grilled cheese PRICE: $1-$2.50 per dish, $6 for two orders & a drink. HOURS: 25 hours (whatever that means), seven days a week. RESERVATIONS: No reservations INSIDE SCOOP: It’s standing room only. RESTAURANT GIRL RATES (1-10): 6 (for fast food) FINAL WORD: Eat & run at America’s only automat – the food’s not half bad. BAMN reinvents the concept of the Automat with self-serve fast food, amidst the nocturnal bustle of St. Mark’s Place. Owners David Leong, Nobu X and Robert Kwak, enlisted Chef Kevin Reilly (The Water Club) to consult on the on the menu after he answered a Craig’s List ad...
Read MoreEnoteca Barbone
Enoteca Barbone 186 Ave B, between 11th & 12th Sts. 212.254.6047 CODE.TV Video (With Restaurant Girl) TYPE: Modern Italian VIBE: Backyard garden party OCCASION: Summer in the city GO WITH: A dine-by-moonlight date or group (the patio’s big enough for everyone!) DON’T MISS DISH: Short Rib pappardelle DON’T BOTHER DISH: Porcini-crusted halibut PRICE: $30 & up HOURS: Tuesday-Saturday, dinner 6-11:30, Sunday, 5:30-10:30. Closed Mondays. INSIDE SCOOP: Get Alberto to rattle off his impressive & lengthy resume (he’s worked everywhere from Italy’s Le Gavroche to midtown’s Cellini) RESTAURANT GIRL RATES (1-10): 7 FINAL WORD: Take me down to the Alphabet City. QUICK CHEAT SHEET: Drink – A bottle of white Verdicchio Marche ($26) with summer starters; red Nero B’avika Donnata ($32) with pasta & meat ; cap the night off with a glass of Richoto D’Amarone ($14 a glass) dessert...
Read MoreChinatown Brasserie
380 Lafayette (at Great Jones St.) New York, NY 10003 (212)533-7000 Chinatown Brasserie TYPE: Cantonese-style Chinese VIBE: China chic OCCASION: Any – Besides, dim sum’s the new brunch GO WITH: A date or a group (Chinese is Chinese for sharing) DON’T MISS DISH: Mushroom dumplings with sweet corn DON’T BOTHER DISH: Ginger Dragon cocktail PRICE: $35 & up (Dim sum is less expensive) HOURS: Monday-Friday, lunch 11 AM-5 PM, Dinner 5 PM-1 AM Saturday & Sunday, dim sum, 10 AM-5 PM, dinner 5 PM-1 AM INSIDE SCOOP: Dining lounge open until 2 AM every night RESTAURANT GIRL RATES (1-10): 7 FINAL WORD: Chinese that’s too damn good for a take-out box Nothing like Chinatown, this dramatically vibrant space possesses more opulence than all of the gritty Canal Street haunts stacked together. Set in a generous space (formerly Time Cafe),...
Read MoreBest Of’s
City Guide: Best of Paris
Oct 16, 2014
Best of San Francisco
Jan 31, 2014
Gourmet Halloween Treats
Oct 22, 2013City Guide: Best of Bar Harbour
Aug 17, 2013
Best Of Venice
Jul 12, 2013- View More Best Of's