Brick Lane Curry House

03. September 2008 East Village, Indian + South Asian 0
306-308 East 6th Street on Second Avenue 212/979.8787 about $200 for five, without drinks, without tip ♥ I’ve never heard of phaal until it made the Omnivore’s Hundred from verygoodtaste.co.uk. From that site’s must-eat list, I checked off 75 items that I’ve tasted and eaten. Among the other 25 is phaal, or phall, a South ...

Hearth

30. July 2008 American, East Village 2
403 First Avenue corner of 12th Street 646/602.1300 about $80 each for four, with drinks, with tip ♥ ♥ I don’t think I’ve met a more sincere maitre d’ than the petite woman at Hearth. We didn’t have reservations when four of us stopped by. We were hoping to get seated at the kitchen pass, ...

Ippudo

03. April 2008 East Village, Japanese 1
65 Fourth Avenue between 9th and 10th Streets 212/388.0088 about $40 for two, with drinks, with tip ♥ ♥ Shigemi Kawahara became Japan’s Ramen King after winning three consecutive years in a TV program against other ramen chefs. After twenty years in business, people still line up outside his Ippudo branches in Japan. This East ...

Freemans

25. March 2008 American, East Village 3
End of Freeman Alley, off Rivington Street between the Bowery and Chrystie Street 212/420.0012 about $80 for two, with drinks, with tip ♥ Package something well and watch the people come. This seems to be Freemans’ motto and it works. First, the location that still confuses people who do not hang-out in the area: where ...

Momofuku Noodle Bar

15. January 2008 Chinese, East Village, Japanese, Korean 3
171 1st Avenue between 10th and 11th Streets 212/777-7773 about $58 for two, with one beer, with tip ♥ ♥ Updated: My bad. Momofuku Ko is still under construction in what used to be the original space of Momofuku Noodle Bar. Thanks, Zach. Is there a stronger English word than savory that can describe the ...