The Archives

Chelsea, Small Shops
My Donut Pub Addiction – NYC
09.29.11 | Permalink | 9 Comments

There are many fancy doughnut shops in New York, but sometimes you just want a doughnut, no fuss, nothing complicated, just simple and sweet. Those are the kind of doughnuts you’ll find at The Donut Pub, a 24/7 doughnut shop operating on 14th Street since 1964. It’s the kind of doughnuts you imagine cops to eat, and in reality, they do. Two weeks ago, I saw two of New York’s Finest at The Donut Pub on a pick-up. I’m not sure which doughnuts they got, but here’s my top five. MORE »
Chinatown, Restaurants
Duck Noodle Soup at Red Square Cafe – NYC
09.26.11 | Permalink | 4 Comments

Some time earlier this year, Wah Kee Fast Food & Cafe, your typical Chinese restaurant in Chinatown with bubble tea and roasted meats hanging from the window, closed. Despite a really bad ventilation problem which made it quite apparent you ate a Chinese restaurant even hours later, the roast duck and roast pig was very good. Also, very cheap. This summer, Red Square Cafe opened in the former Wah Kee space. The ventilation has somewhat improved, and the bubble tea is still blending away, but the roasted meats are now gone from the window. Usually, if I don’t see any meats on display, I order something else, but last week I was hopeful. Did my optimism pan out? MORE »
Brighton Beach, Restaurants
Korean-Uzbek Cuisine at Elza Fancy Food – NYC
09.22.11 | Permalink | 7 Comments

What? Korean-Uzbek food? Yes, it does exist. How? Well, it turns out like most dictators, Stalin was an a**hole and forcibly relocated around 174,000 Korean people from Russia to Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan in the 1930s. One result of this devastating displacement was the creation of Korean-Uzbek cuisine, and since this is New York, you don’t have to go to Uzbekistan to try it. Elza Fancy Food, a.k.a. Cafe “At Your Mother-in-Law,” is a Korean-Uzbek restaurant in Brighton Beach, right off the boardwalk. MORE »
Chinatown, Small Shops
Spicy Noodles and Pancakes at Henan Flavor – NYC
09.14.11 | Permalink | 4 Comments

I’ve been going to Henan Flavor, the Manhattan outpost to Henan Feng Wei in Flushing, since they opened earlier this year. Why haven’t I written about it? Well, I like the place so much I’ve been doing lots of “research.” Months and months of research. So far (because more research is inevitable), these are my favorites… MORE »
Bar Hopping, Midtown, Restaurants
Buta Kakuni at Sakagura – NYC
09.09.11 | Permalink | 2 Comments

Sakagura isn’t by any means cheap, but the Buta Kakuni definitely is. At five dollars a portion, you get a substantial (very substantial for a Japanese restaurant) hunk of sweet and salty braised pork belly in all its quivering glory. A little spicy mustard on the side helps cut the fattiness, and yes, there’s a lot of it. I’ve had more melt-in-your-mouth kakuni elsewhere, but not at this size or price. MORE »