East Village – Page 5 – Writing With My Mouth Full

Soba Koh

309 East 5th Street between First and Second Avenues
212/254.2244
$25 each for three, with three beers, with tip
♥ ♥ ♥

As soon as the the Dr. had a slurp of Soba Koh’s broth, he said, Sobaya has been crushed. Now, we like Sobaya, our usual Sunday lunch destination, but we’ve been wanting something new. Unfortunately, Soba Koh only opens after 5pm, so when we were looking for a place to eat one Thursday night, we agreed to walk over the east side for some hot bowls of soba with a couple bottles of Sapporo.

The kinoko soba is filled with three kinds of mushrooms–enoki, shimeiji and shiitake–and its broth was rich and earthy but subtle at the same time. I ordered the soft-shell crab tempura soba because I’ve been seing fresh soft-shell crabs in Chinatown lately. My broth tasted different from the kinoko’s, a tad lighter and cleaner, even with the deep-fried batter and shellfish on top.

We also got some deep-fried shrimps with their heads on and chicken wings with sansyo peppers for appetizers. Both only whet our appetites. The chicken wings were a little slimey to me, only because I expected them to be fried but instead they were broiled and moist inside. The shrimps were crunchy and even tastier with a squeeze of lime juice. Soba Koh might not have a soba maker on display like Sobaya and Honmura An, but their firm noodles easily compared while their broth exceeded expectations.

Related post/s:
Sobaya before Soba Koh opens up

Prune

54 East 1st Street between First and Second Avenues
212/677.6221
about $75 for three, without drinks, without tip
â™¥ â™¥

Prune’s selections are influenced by different cuisines and that’s exactly what I liked about Chef Gabrielle Hamilton’s style. The tripe is a must-try even though you don’t like tripe. In Barcelona, I ate a lot of tripe. Prune’s version is Milenese, topped with a delicate dollop of pesto and shredded cheese. It’s light but beefy at the same time. I only wished it was served with country bread so I can scoop up the sauce. The skate wing comes with capers; simple and understated. Now, can we talk about the roast beef? I don’t think I’ve ever tasted anything as good. It’s soft, it’s bloody and just so damn tasty. Both dishes came with potato slaw sprinkled with Hungarian peppercorns. You crush them with each bite and then there’s that burst of spicyness which gives the side dish its entire personality. We made room for the thick homemade apple pie with buttermilk ice cream. It was the perfect way to end a nice long lunch. The golden-brown sugared crust was such a treat.

I’ve always wanted to go to Prune but could never make myself walk over to the east side when I’m deciding where to go for dinner. I also don’t wake up early enough to make it downtown for a weekend brunch. When they announced that they are finally serving lunch during the week, I had no excuses left. I’ve seen a line outside Prune during warmer nights, but it was quiet when we walked in on a Friday afternoon. There was ample natural light which makes you just want to sit back and stay. Prune was the chef’s childhood nickname, but I can easily call it Home.

Updated, 2007: There was a long line for Sunday brunch even though it was almost 3pm. We decided to wait for 15 minutes next door with our iced coffees. We walked back to check if we can finally get a table, but we were told that we have to wait another twenty minutes. I was grouchy and hungry, so I told the Dr. that I can’t wait any longer. We started to walk away from Prune when I heard the maitre d’ call my name. She said she was going to seat us in the next five minutes and asked us to wait just a bit more until they clean the table that just emptied. I appreciated the fact that the maitre d’ just didn’t let us walk away. She could have easily picked any of the other couples waiting outside. We were lucky to be squeezed in and so we celebrated with bloody marys, stewed chickpeas, lamb sausages and a ham and cheese sandwich.

Otto Pizzeria e Enoteca

One Fifth Avenue on 8th Street
212/995.9559
$90 for three, with several drinks, with tip
♥ ♥

When a group of my friends and I just want a laid-back night with good food but can’t afford the other Batali establishments, we end up at Otto where we can eat thin-crust pizzas cooked on a flat-iron griddle. My favorite is the funghi and taleggio pizza with earthy mushrooms and fragrant taleggio cheese. The fennel with bottarga, or Italian caviar, showered with mozarella and pecorino pizza is also delicious. For those who want something more familiar, the classic marinara and pepperoni pizzas are also available as well as smaller pasta dishes like penne, spaghetti and linguine. We spend most of our money in antipasti like prosciutto, octopus, tomato and mozarella salad and the anchovies.

The service is brisk especially when the place is hopping on weekends. If you prefer to skip the dining room, there are tables at the bar where you can just stand and hover over your food and Italian wine. During one visit, our waiter bumped into our table and spilled water all over my brother’s lap. They apologized by bringing him a complimentary beer and dessert afterwards. It’s not Babbo, but your wallet will gladly thank you for it.

Momofuku Ssam Bar

207 2nd Avenue corner of 13th Street
212/254.3500
$9 for one, with a drink, without tip
â™¥ â™¥ ♥

Remember when the Lambs were all over 5th Street opening up to five restaurants in the area? Two of them, a Korean grill, now Degustation, and Makimono, now occupied by Jack Oyster Bar that was around the corner, have since closed. So can the east Village only be conquered by one person–or one couple–at a time? And is it David Chang’s turn this year?

Every time I walk by Momofuku, it’s packed. I like my Berkshire pork as much as everyone else, but spending $13 on a bowl of somen is hard to swallow at times. Besides, when I am in the mood to spend that much for a bowl of noodle soup, any one of my white guy friends are not available to eat with me–a white guy is the accessory-du-jour at Momofuku if you’re an Asian girl. (Look up from your sticky steamed buns when you go.)

I wish Chef David Chang all the luck now that his second restaurant has opened. From bowls of noodles made fancy by adding Berkshire pork and seasonal ingredients come Korean burritos called ssam made fancy by adding, well, Berkshire pork and other seasonal ingredients. To me, though, a burrito is a burrito: a whole mess of rice, beans and meat wrapped in soft tortilla even if there are Asian touches to it. At Momofuku Ssam Bar, edamame, shiitake mushrooms and kimchi are the culprits. I was ready to surrender towards the end of my heavy lunch but I was with three other boys who thought another half would have made the $9 worth it.

Momofuku Ssam is so much better for dinner. After an hour wait in a pub down the street, we returned to be seated at the bar. The warm veal head terrine reminded me of Babbo that I almost forgot David Chang became famous because of his noodle bowls. The sweetbreads were grilled, complete with burnt stripes, and were excellent beer food with pickles. I loved the roasted mushroom salad with crosne, or Chinese artichoke, in a pistachio-based sauce. The grilled lemongrass pork sausage was much better and lighter than its soft tortilla counterpart. The lettuce is fresh and crunchy, and like Korean kalbi, is used to pick up the soft sausages. David Chang just can’t help but go back to his Asian roots and I commend him for that.

Bond St

6 Bond Street between Broadway and Lafayette
212/777.2500
$155 for two, with four drinks, with tip
♥ ♥

Several years ago, you would have caught a glimpse of Leonardo DiCaprio dining at Bond St. Today, the bouncer in all-black suit is still standing outside and all the beautiful people are still inside, but instead of Leo’s posse, you’ll see the suits and the loud groups of bankers eating on, most likely, company money. Ah, the life. We went one Wednesday night at 8:30pm without reservations. As soon as we asked for a spot for two, they led us to the sushi counter! Ah, the life of those without expense accounts!

It gets loud in Bond St but the energy is intoxicating. The sushi chefs scream a greeting when diners walk in and a goodbye when someone leaves. We opted for the sushi and sashimi omakase with a bonito-crusted scallop appetizer to start. From what I can remember, we had the pike eel, the otoro, the shrimp topped with caviar and the uni. While nothing is sublime that made me swoon and roll my eyes back, the fish is still sushi-grade. They still melt like butter and they still taste insanely fresh.

Several years ago, Leonardo DiCaprio switched to Moomba after he got tired of Bond St. For normal people like me, Bond St is still a pretty good Japanese place.