Category: New York Restaurant Reviews

New York City Restaurant Reviews

Gam Mee Ok / Gahm Mi Oak

43 West 32nd Street between Fifth and Sixth
212/695.4113
about $30 for two solontangs, with two drinks, with tip
♥ ♥

Solontang is bone marrow soup that the Koreans have perfected. Gam Mee Ok slow-cooks beef bone marrows in large vats of water until the broth becomes milky white. It is served in a clay pot with rice and noodles and all you have to do is sprinkle it with scallions and add some salt to bring out the beef taste.

Gam Mee Ok also makes the best radish kimchi in New York City’s Koreablock.

Related post/s:
I love Han Bat three blocks away

Honmura An

170 Mercer Street off Houston
212/334.5253
about $125 for two, with two drinks, without tip
♥ ♥ ♥

Updated, 2007: Honmura An is now closed.

When it’s cold outside, all I want is a hot bowl of soba. When I have money, Honmura An is always my first pick. It’s one of the few places in New York City that still makes its own soba. If you come at the right time during the week, you can watch one of the Japanese guys cut the buckwheat into single noodles in the back of the restaurant. It’s pretty cool to watch the precision involved in soba-making.

If you go on a Saturday, several limos pull up outside dropping off well-dressed Japanese people for brunch. Even when it’s packed inside, the cherry blossoms and the clean lines of its furniture design provide a haven from busy Houston Street. The dinner menu is a little more pricey and a $50 tasting menu requires at least two people to order per table. I usually order the nameko mushroom hot soba with an avocado or salmon salad to start. Whatever I’m in the mood for, I end my meal with their homemade green tea ice cream.

Joe’s Ginger

113 Mott Street on Hester
212/966.6613
about $60 for two, with two drinks, without tip
♥ ♥ ♥

Updated, 2006: Joe’s Ginger has move to 25 Pell Street off Mott, 212/285.0333

There is now an alternative to Joe’s Shanghai. I come to Joe’s Ginger now to avoid the long wait for a table at Joe’s Shanghai. It’s a lot smaller and less noisy, plus the waiters have time to talk to you about their suggestions like the kamote tops, a vegetable more familiar to the Filipinos than the Chinese, or the deep-fried whole quail. Some of my other favorites are the fish with yellow chives and the string beans with minced pork. Seasonal vegetables include peashoot leaves, swamp cabbage (or kang-kong) and baby bok choy flash-fried in garlic. Start with the mandatory xiao long bao, or soupy buns, and taste what made Joe’s Shanghai open up Joe’s Ginger in the first place.

Sparks Steak House

210 East 46th Street between Second and Third
212/687.4855
$200 for two, with a bottle of wine, without tip
♥ ♥ ♥

My older brother lives in Manila and whenever he visits New York City, he has one request: eat a nice slab of steak at Sparks Steak House. When mafia boss Paul Castellano and mobster Thomas Bilotti were gunned down in front of the restaurant in 1985 under the orders of John Gotti, it forever put it on the map as one of New York City’s institutions. It’s less violent today because the crowd is mostly made up of the younger finance bunch who want to splurge before signing a business deal, but commoners like me can still enjoy a juicy sirloin steak with a bold glass of red wine.

Avoid peak dinner times and reserve a table for 9pm or later, especially on weekends, because you’ll spend less money at the bar while you wait. (We once waited an hour drinking at the bar even with an 8pm table.) You might not be related to any one in the Gambino family, but you’ll feel like royalty after you treat yourself to one of the Ceetta Brothers’ cuts of meat.

Noodletown

28 1/2 Bowery corner of Bayard
212/349.0923
about $10 for two, without drinks, with tip
♥ ♥ ♥

Noodletown is not only a restaurant, it’s an institution. When Chinatown becomes a ghost town, Noodletown, or Great N.Y. Noodletown, as their sign suggests, is still open and stays open until four in the morning. Asian kids who come from a long night of dancing and drinking usually end up in Noodletown. Customers sit with strangers in round tables with only one thing in mind: the congee to cure the hangover that’s to come in the morning. I’ve made many inebriated visits to Noodletown as well. I usually order the congee with slivers of roasted duck and dot it with spicy hot oil. Visit during the day for a saner experience and order the roast duck or roast pork hanging by the window. For less than $5, it’s a great deal for lunch. The soft-shell crabs, lightly battered and flash-fried, are delicious when they are in season. If you can manage to get one of the abrupt waiters to tell you what vegetable is fresh, order the peashoot leaves or the swamp cabbage sauteed in garlic or stir-fried in oyster sauce.