Mr C's (102 Avenue C)

I finally had a chance to visit Alphabet City's newest Italian Trattoria, Mr C's, located at 7th Street & Ave. C. I braved the rain with my Mom around 8pm last night & we found the place pretty empty. After standing around the door for a bit, we decided to seat ourselves. It didn't take that long for our waiter to bring over our menus & explain that they were BYOB. I had already known that & gave some thought to going to Alphabet City Wine Co. next door & picking up a red, but I wasn't in the mood for drinking.

The service continued downhill from there, we sat around twiddling our thumbs till our water came by, so we ordered an appetizer while deciding that to get for our mains. After a further wait, we ordered our main dishes & asked to ensure if our appetizer had been fired (it had). We started with the fried calamari which were cooked very well, the marinara sauce that accompanied it was somewhat bland. Not a bad start to the meal at all though.

I ended up getting the rigatoni with tomato sauce & prosciutto. It was really light & tasty particularly with the flavor of the cured meat. My only real gripe with this dish is that whoever had prepped the prosciutto had been lazy. He had obviously stacked several slices to be cut into lengths, but they were just dropped into the dish/sauce as a whole & not separated, so eating the prosciutto was like biting into a big chunk of meat, I had to separate the individual pieces myself.

My Mom ordered the lasagna which was absolutely massive! I think everyone has their own view on how lasagna should be served; mine would be a small square with layers of meat, tomato sauce, cheese & pasta stacked vertically. Mr C's dish was nothing like this, it was a served on it's side, with thick layers of pasta (3-4 deep, all stuck together), meat & cheese, the tomato sauce seemed almost an afterthought & was spooned on top of the dish. Needless to say it did not look very appealing & the cheese overpowered the entire dish.

The food was passable (particularly considering the price; $8-9 for pasta), the BYOB policy was a plus, but the service was pretty atrocious. Our waiter was more interested in sitting down & talking to his friends that were dining there than attending to his customers. We had to scream to get salt & pepper and there was a lengthy wait for him to pick up my credit card after we had asked for our check.

Not sure if these are teething issues as this is a fairly new place, but I doubt I'll be going back there any time soon.

Paradiso (105 Avenue B btwn 6th & 7th)

You can imagine my excitement when I found out that a new daytime eatery/coffee shop/bakery was opening up in the spot that used to be Bang-On (seriously, sunglasses & overpriced t-shirts? No thanks!) Since opening, Paradiso has become the new go to spot to get myself out of the house.

There are about ten different sandwiches there, either served on an Italian bread, or pressed in a ciabatta from Balthazar Bakery. I've only tried the asiago & prosciutto one, but I've heard great things about the rest of the offerings.

They also have different flavored shakes of which I've had the strawberry & the chocolate. Both good. The coffee is nice & strong & I think is a much better value for money here than at 9th St. Espresso or other coffee shops in the area.




There's free Wi-Fi (although not that many seats, but I've never seen the place fully packed) & the owner is super nice. So if you want some baked goods (cookies, muffins, croissants, etc), good coffee & excellent sandwiches, check out Paradiso!

Other goodies:

A close-up of my prosciutto & asiago sandwich:

Casa Adela (66 Avenue C)

There are fewer places in my neighborhood that I enjoy eating at more than Casa Adela. It's open for lunch, has a laid back attitude & consistently serves up excellent Puerto Rican food. Entering the place there are 3 things that you will immediately notice; Delicious chicken dancing in a rotisserie, Latino TV on a small set in the back & owner Adela Fargas with her army of family members & employees working away endlessly among the diners.

I normally order the half a chicken with yellow rice & black beans, but as of late I've been trying other dishes. I recently had the bacalou (dried cod cooked with veggies in a tomato sauce), the roast pork & the chicken stew. All good dishes, but the chicken is still my favorite. It has a deep red, flavorful skin (I'd really like to know how they spice this dish) & succulent, moist flesh. I've tried to replicate it at home & just cannot get anywhere as close.

The cafe con leche there is also really good, as well as the flan which is made using cream cheese & has a very unique flavor. The average meal will run you about 10 bucks or so, but trust me when I say that you'll leave more than satisfied!

Butcher Bay (511 E. 5th St.)

I've been doing a lot of substandard home cooking & eating out at my usual haunts recently, so I was very excited to check out Butcher Bay on 5th Street between Avenues A & B with my Dad & buddy Dan. Located in the space that used to be Seymour Burton, they aim to be a local Fish Shack.

We arrived shortly after opening & got decent seats. They are cash only (as per the huge sign in the door) & have no draft beers (seriously!?!). The decor is pretty nice though, I'll give them that. We ordered some bottled (bleh) beer & decided to start with the oyster platter while we looked through the menu.

I was somewhat disappointed in the fact that they only had East Coast Oysters, but in the grand scheme of things, I guess that is the 'look' they're going for. I'm much more of a West Coast guy myself, so I found these to be really without merit. Plus the shells were very flaky (bad shucking?) & I kept on getting bits in my mouth.

We moved on to 2 apps we ordered to share; the absolutely delicious Fried Clam Strips & Remoulade and then the hideously greasy Shrimp Hush Puppies that tasted like cardboard.

As you can imagine, this was not the start that I wanted for this meal.






The main courses were as follows:

Dan got the Scallop Pan Roast which he enjoyed. I tried some as well & I'll admit that I actually enjoyed this dish, pretty darn good.

Fish & Chips were ordered by my Dad. All 3 of us have spent a lot of time in England during our lives & we can tell bad F&C from good. I thought this was a decent attempt. Not quite what I'd expect from the UK, but good nonetheless.


I got the Maryland Fried Chicken w/Cornbread. I know what you're thinking... At a seafood joint? I only did this because the choices of mains were so damn limited & this was the only one that caught my eye. The chicken was seasoned well, but slightly greasy. The cornbread with honey, however was great.

There were no desserts on the menu, so we trudged off, dejected. I'm really disappointed by Butcher's Bay & if I ever go back, it'll only be for the scallops - In & Out quick-style.

Kion Lounge (509 E. 6th St. btwn. A & B)

I generally consider 6th street between A & B the East Village's version of Club Row. All of the bars & restaurants seem out of place (except Buenos Aires & Joe's). I was a bit skeptical when a friend suggested that we go to Kion Lounge which serves Peruvian & Japanese Cuisine. I was actually pleasantly surprised that the food was good & that it wasn't full of douchebags.

We decided to eat at the bar & started with soups. Jhonny & I got the Miso soup & my other buddy opted for Pork Ramen. The Miso was pretty much standard fare, but the Ramen was very well received. I guess I'll have to try that if I go back there.

I was really in the mood for Sushi, so I ordered from the Japanese portion of the Menu.

Eel, Cucumber & Avocado Roll. Tempura Shrimp & Avocado Roll w/Tobiko. Both were very good & suprisingly fresh.



California Roll. Rainbow Roll. Jhonny ordered this, so I can't comment on it's taste. I'm not such a big fan of California Rolls though...




Deep ordered the Lamb Shank which I tasted & thought it was very good. Served simply with veggies, a salad & mash.

I enjoyed the food, but Kion is really not my first choice for sushi in the East Village. It's more of a club/lounge than a restaurant & I can imagine it being packed to the gills on Fridays & Saturdays. If you're in the 'hood, give it a try though.

Chocolate Bar Closes!

You may have (but probably didn't) read about my love for Chocolate Bar on 7th St. in the East Village. Well shortly after my post, the shutters came down & they were never open. I can report now that they've officially closed & are moving back to the West side. Boo!

Source: EV Grieve

Fu Sushi (182 Avenue B)

I was looking for a sushi spot to take my Mom to for her birthday & I came across Fu Sushi. F U Sushi? Is that like Up Yours Burger on Avenue A? Jokes aside, I later learned that the place is owned & run by a certain Mr. Fu, which explains the name.

They opened a few months ago in a space that was a crusty old clothing store & the decor is pretty simple, with plenty of cozy tables & the sushi bar & kitchen at the far end. We were offered tea & water as soon as we sat down as we looked through the menu.

We were having a conversation about how we both hated any sort of sushi with cream cheese on it & presto, the chef sent out an amuse bouche of tuna 'crunch' on a corn cracker with guess what: cream cheese! Oh, the irony. It was actually really good though.

We decided to order the Sushi & Sashimi combination for 1 as a starter while we looked for more stuff to order. It took quite a while to come out as it's obvious that the chef takes decoration very seriously & I'll admit that it looked like a piece of art (which we eventually defaced).

I still can't get over how much food there was. Both of us were stuffed after eating the plate (& we still had a few pieces left). The White Tuna was by far my favorite, but there was 2 pieces of clam sashimi (we had to ask what it was), that both of us really didn't like, just a matter of our own tastes.

Mom-Dukes got an order of Uni (Sea Urchin) as well, which was equally as attractive. I didn't try it, but she looked very pleased.

After we were done, they sent out a martini glass full of sectioned oranges which were deliciously sweet.

The food was excellent, the service was amazing (no teacup went unfilled!) & it was incredibly well priced. My only real gripe was the lack of booze. Community Board 3 turned down their liquor license as they're in a CB3 resolution area, a real bummer!

I certainly will be coming back here soon & I hope that the massive portions & the lack of booze doesn't lead to an early demise...

Song 7.2 (117 2nd Avenue @ 7th St.)

Every time I pass this place, it seems to be closed, so I was glad that it was open a few days ago. My buddy Dan & I sat at a booth & flicked through the menu. The decor is very 'Student Union'; it looks like the type of place college or highschool kids would go to meet up after school & gossip of whatever. There are photos of customers everywhere, graffiti on the tables & atrocious Korean pop music blaring.

The place was pretty empty & the staff were all sitting around a huge pot stuffing their faces while we looked at the menu. Honestly, I expected a lot more. The menu is mainly comprised of 'tapas-style' small dishes & large pots to be shared, none of which looked very appetizing. I decided on the fried meat dumplings & a small plate of eel. Dan got a seaweed salad & spicy mackerel.

Looking absolutely nothing like the items on the menu, our dishes arrived. My eel had some sort of funky, tracing-paper looking oddity on top of it & Dan's mackerel, well, um. I'll admit that the eel tasted very good, minus the 'paper', but I really didn't care for the dumplings. Dan was still really hungover from the night before, so after poking around a bit, he decided to take the food home.

The place is generally pretty busy at night, so maybe we were just expecting something different. The meal ended up being insanely expensive considering the portion sizes. I'm guessing that the thing to do would be to eat there in a large group & get those massive hot pots. I can check song 7.2 off of my list, but I won't be going back there.

Chocolate Bar (127 E. 7th St.)

[Updated; now closed!]
Hidden among the boutiques & boarded up stores on 7th street between Ave. A & 1st Ave. is Chocolate Bar, essentially a candy store for grown-ups. I was walking down the street yesterday in the freezing cold & decided to stop in for a much needed hot chocolate.

As soon as you enter the small store, the delicious smell of chocolate hits you right in the face; Yum! I ordered my hot chocolate & looked at some of their wares.

Candies in awesome Anime-style & graffiti wrappers, cakes & other morsels of goodness. There's a small seating area in the front, but I got my drink to go. As someone who grew up on Nesquik & Swiss Miss, I can honestly say that this is the best hot chocolate I've ever had (I'll admit that I haven't been to Max Brenner's yet, but that place has a totally Starbucks vibe). It was incredibly rich & the texture was amazing. You could immediately tell that this was made with real chocolate & not granulated, freeze dried crap. I didn't have much time to check out the rest of the menu, but bet your ass I'll be going back there again.

Ishikura Sushi (67 1st Avenue @ 4th St.)

Bracing the cold last night & refusing to wait on line at Takhachi, my brother & I walked a few extra blocks to Ishikura Sushi (formerly Kura Sushi) as a friend had recommended the place. Luckily the place wasn't very busy & we were seated at a spacious booth right away. With hands warming on delicious green tea, we took a look at the menu.

Honestly, everything looked good, but I don't know why the menu is so extensive. There seemed to be a lot of dishes duplicated in different sections, which made ordering somewhat difficult. Stefan opted for the Blue Crab Miso, while I just got a regular Miso soup to start. Stefan was thoroughly unimpressed with his soup, which he said had way too much vegetables in it.

The sushi that we got was extremely fresh & beautifully prepared. The salmon & tuna were both amazing. The service was good (our tea & water glasses were never empty for more than a minute or so) & I liked the decor. Ishikura is definetely a place that I'll be checking out again.

Persimmon (277 E. 10th St.)

I had a chance to check out Korean hot-spot, Persimmon, located on 10th St. between Avenue A & 1st a few days ago. Chef/Owner Youngsun Lee honed his skills at Momofuku & has now created a prix fixe 'neo'-Korean experience in the East Village.

The menu is seasonal, changing every two weeks & will set you back $39 for 5 courses per person. They are currently applying for a liquor license, so are no longer BYOB, a shame as some booze would have really improved my meal.

I started with the fish cakes & Dan got the sliced beef with melon sauce, both of which were good. We both selected the Bossam or pork belly for the next course which I'll have to admit was amazing! Simply cooked, yet delightfully fatty & flavorful, this was by far my favorite dish.

I followed with the massive Salmon & Rice pot which I really enjoyed. The small dishes that came with the mains really added to the experience. They included kimchi, roasted baby garlic & tiny fried fish. I'll have to admit that the next 2 courses really didn't do much for me; a small soup with mushrooms & a watermelon dessert.

All in all, I enjoyed the food there. The staff were attentive (we sat at the bar, right by the kitchen) & friendly. I'll definetly be going back when they get thier liquor license & the menu has changed (hopefully the Bossam will still be on there!)

Porchetta (110 East 7th St.)

After reading NY Mag's review of this new 'pork-centric' gem in the East Village, I decided to go try some for myself. According to the 'omnipresent' Wikipedia, porchetta is; 'a savory, fatty, and moist boneless pork roast of Italian culinary tradition'. A pretty accurate description if you ask me.


The location is small, offering maybe 6 seats at counters, so I think it really lends more to takeout, but I still ended up eating there. The menu is small & concise, offering vegetarian options & a few sides, but I was really only interested in the pork, so I ordered the porchetta plate (who needs bread anyway?)which came out to about $13. Before I left my house, I did a bit of research & found mixed reviews & some complaints, mainly about price, portion size & what some whackjob described as 'inedible gristle'. I found none of the above to be true.

Served with beans & greens, I found the pork to be incredibly moist & flavorful. I particularly enjoyed the spice rub on the pork - the fennel added so much to this dish. Being a pork aficionado, I ate every bit of the succulent fat before polishing off the rest of the meat. I'll have to admit though, that the sides really didn't do anything for me - I was all about the pork. Now if only they would sell it by the pound!

The decor is minimalistic, the staff are engaging & friendly & the food is top notch. I'd recommend Porchetta to anyone who likes pork, or just good food in general. Rest assured that I'll be going back there.

9th Street Espresso expands!

I've always been a fan of the coffee at 9th St. Espresso, but not such a fan of their crowded 700 E. 9th St. location. So, I was really stoked when they opened a Thompson Square branch at 341 E. 10th St. (between Ave. A & Ave. B). Gone are the crowds & tables packed with laptops & people pretending to work. The new spot has a much more 'take-out' feel. It's still the same great coffee, but minus the clutter. The stark white decor & high counter running along the length of the store give the space & airy feel.

But what about the coffee? Oh yeah, the coffee, it's pretty damn delicious, probably the best in the city in my opinion. A little on the pricey side, but the baristas really know what they're doing & the consistency of the Hair Bender blend used for espresso is amazing. One cappuccino is all you need to kickstart your day. Check it out if you are in the area (they also have a location in Chelsea Market).

Black Iron Burger (540 E. 5th St.)

I've been watching, with a lot of interest, the remodeling of the old Bouche Bar, so when Black Iron Burger opened up, I knew I had to go & check it out.

As soon as you enter the place, you know that the owners mean business. The location is small, but they did an excellent job with the decor. They have a wide selection of great beers & I was glad to see that there wasn't a Bud Light tap in sight.




I ended up getting a beer & a burger with blue cheese, quite possibly my favorite topping for a burger. Served unpretentiously on a plate & wax paper with tomatoes onions, lettuce & pickle, visually, it looks great. I wasn't 100% sure what to expect, as this was my first time there. I thought that the burger was good, not great, but I had 2 major gripes; Firstly, the bun. Maybe I'm just fussy, but I found it a little on the hard & dry side, no matter how much I drenched it with ketchup. That's the best way I can describe it.

My second & far more startling gripe is that we (I went with 2 friends) were never asked how we wanted our burgers cooked. This is fine if you're at McDonald's or like burgers that have been sitting under a heat lamp all day, but for a restaurant that's specializing in burgers, this is unacceptable. I like my burgers rare to medium-rare, so I found it to be overcooked. That having been said, I think there must have been some customer backlash as a friend that recently went there was asked how he'd like his burger cooked. Bravo.

They're still a new restaurant & are probably ironing out the kinks. It's no Corner Bistro, but is a decent, inexpensive option for burgers in the East Village, comparable to Royale. I'm definitely going to go back there & see if anything has changed.

Barnyard (149 Avenue C)

Avenue C has finally got a high end meat & cheese shop. Barnyard, located between 9th & 10th Streets & opened by the Brix Wine guys, it's a real welcome addition & shows how the neighborhood is changing. They sell a variety of goods; sandwiches, breads, meats, cheeses, pate, duck fat & the like. The staff are friendly & knowledgeable & while the location is great for me as I live a few blocks away, my only real problem is the price. Some of the cheeses top out at $25 a pound, so if you love as much cheese as I do, each visit could turn out to be extremely expensive.

That having been said, I will be going there for some specialty items, but for my basic cheese & cured meats needs, I'll be going to East Village Cheese.

I'm Hatin' It!

I performed culinary seppuku last night & ate McDonald's... Don't ask me why, but I was really craving some processed mystery meat. I ordered from the shithole on 1st Avenue between 6th & 7th. It only took a few bites for me to remember why I haven't eaten from them in 3 years. Instead of just going with my usual 'Chicken' McNuggets, I decided to prolong my agony & ordered a Fillet 'o Fish, Big Mac & an Apple Pie as well. The Nuggets I could tolerate, but the Fish sandwich was by far the most disgusting thing I've eaten in a while.

Why the hell is their food so hideous (better yet, why the hell did I attempt to eat this stuff)? I can imagine some fat cat in their corporate office devising more & more ways to poison McDonald's customers while driving stock prices up.

Ronald McDonald you SUCK! Oh no, not you Hamburglar & Grimace, you guys are ok in my books...