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 »
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Not sure what took me so long, but I finally made it out to the Brooklyn Brewery last weekend. I’d always wanted to go, but when you live in New York, you take the city for granted. That’s why it’s so great when you have visitors from out-of-town. You get to do all the things you planned to do, but never did. Last weekend when the Kim sisters (Soo and Joo) were back in New York from Seoul, we made a trip to the brewery for the Saturday tours. MORE »
In case you haven’t noticed, Bionic Bites has been very East Village-centric the past few weeks. The reason: I’m sick of living in my cramped run-down LES apartment and have been spending a lot of time in the East Village apartment hunting. (I love the LES, but for the same price, I can get more square footage in the East Village.) Two Saturdays ago, after seeing a gorgeous but way too expensive apartment, David and I wandered into Royale looking for brunch. It was only after we were seated we noticed the place was more of a bar than a restaurant, and the menu was limited to burgers and sandwiches. No biggie, we ordered two burgers, onion rings, housemade chips, and a Bloody Mary for me. As long as a Bloody Mary’s involved, it’s brunch to me. MORE »