East Village – Page 6 – Writing With My Mouth Full

Sigiri

91 First Avenue between 5th and 6th Streets
212/614.9333
$60 for two, BYOB, without tip
♥

Because it’s the only Sri Lankan restaurant in Manhattan, Sigiri is a gem. It’s on the same block as the East 6th Indian restaurants, so if you blink–or if the red lights make you squint–you might just miss it. But try not to miss the dhal vade or lentil patties, the fish and potato cutlets and the vegetable and fish spring rolls, all breaded and deep-fried with traditional Sri Lankan spices. You can get each as an appetizer portion for about $5 or get the sampler for $8.50. The beef curry was a bit boring because the meat was dry inside, but the coconut milk curry covered its blandness and made the dish edible. We loved the yellow basmati rice cooked in saffron with cashew nuts and golden raisins. It was so hearty I could have eaten it without anything else. The best thing about Sigiri, though, is their BYOB policy. Dowel Quality Products, the deli downstairs, sells every beer imaginable.

Searching for a Good Taco: East Village

Miss Geolouxy volunteered her services to accompany me for my second search for a good taco. It was after work so we decided to meet at Astor Place and work our way up and down First and Second Avenues from 1st to 10th Streets. I didn’t bring a list of places since the east side is not my territory, but I had a map to keep us from making a wrong turn towards the no-number streets. (That’s for another day.)

The area around St. Marks Place has always been the place to get a bowl of soba noodles early in the day, a sterling silver stud for your ear at lunch, a tattoo in the afternoon, a pair of socks from the Sock Man afterwards and a chicken gizzard yakitori with a bottle of Sapporo for dinner, all in one day. While you can still get all those today, you’d have to fight your way to get through the crowds stopping by chickpea, the falafel place in the corner, Chipotle, Grand Sichuan and soon enough Bamn!, a shop full of vending machines off Second Avenue. The neighborhood has indeed changed.

We learned early that it would be hard to keep our budget of $3 for each taco. The downtown locations come with an extra price hike. Unlike the tacos uptown, the second tortilla is wrapped around the first so that they look like burritos, perhaps it’s because people are on the go downtown. I also found it interesting that none of our tacos came in half-moon shapes.

San Loco Mexico, 124 Second Avenue off St. Marks Place, 212/260.7948

The guys at the bar wouldn’t get up from watching their baseball game to let two ladies sit and eat, but at least the catfish taco was good enough to make us stay. The fish is breaded and deep-fried and it was crispy and hot enough to make everything all right. The shredded pork was equally tasty and succulent. The two tacos cost us a little less than $7.

Puebla Mexican Food and Coffee, 47 First Avenue between 2nd and 3rd Streets, 212/473.6643

The chorizo taco was just all about salty goodness here. We loved the cilantro and the lime juice, plus the tortilla had a different texture than what I was used to. My favorite out of the four even at $5.25.

Downtown Bakery, 69 First Avenue between 4th and 5th Streets, 212/254.1757

The guava jelly roll is a plus but we weren’t there to rate their pastries so we stuck with the chorizo taco that came with avocado. Instead of ground pork, this was sausage cut up in smaller pieces. The tortilla seemed to taste more real here, too. They serve two tacos for $6 but they were nice enough to sell us only one to share.

Paquito’s, 143 First Avenue between St. Marks Place and 9th Street, 212/674.2071

We ordered the beef taco this time for $2.50. It was a little bit chewy but the good salsa that came with it was pretty tasty. Their “Real Mexican Style” taco was more substantial than the others. Their red blinking sign gave me a headache while we waited for our order, so if I have to return, I’d check out their restaurant next door.

We only had a couple of hours–we opted for a manicure first, of course–so we ended up only hitting four spots but what good spots they were!

Menkuitei

63 Cooper Square on 3rd Avenue
212/228.4152
$30 for two, with two drinks, without tip
♥

Astor Place is filled with restaurants serving Japanese comfort food. I go to Menkuitei for their grilled fish neck. Their ramen selection is good, too, plus you’ll deal with less of a crowd here. The house special is one of my favorites but I must say I find it hard to say no to the curry bowl.

Degustation Wine & Tasting Bar

239 East 5th Street off 2nd Avenue
212/979.1012
$130 for two, with two drinks, with tip
â™¥ â™¥ â™¥

The latest from the Jack and Grace Lamb empire, Degustation is the replacement for Jewel Bako’s robato grill next door. They kept the same layout: an open kitchen where you can sit at the bar and watch everything unfold as you wait for your food. This time around, polite Latino chefs show their skills behind the counter instead of the more familiar Asian chefs along Second Avenue.

Head chef Wesley Genovart, fresh from Perry St., is twenty-six years old and looks it, too, but he’s adventurous enough to fry artichokes with Kumamoto oyster in mussel broth and celery leaves. He’s smart enough to recognize that a slowly poached egg can be served with Serrano ham in chicken broth and, bless his heart, stuff a squid with braised short ribs and serve it with lentils.

The lamb was perfectly grilled with hen-of-the-woods mushrooms and served with a sauce simply called “chlorophyll” which was, you guessed it, green in color. The pork belly is so crisp, the fat just screams Eat Me as soon as the plate arrives in front of you. The grapefruit in caramel water was the perfect complement to the seared foie gras and the lemon juice went well with the grilled jumbo shrimps. To end our night out, one of the chefs grilled strawberries and served it with ginger granita and basil and mint sauce. My only regret was not ordering this in between our seafood and meat courses to cleanse our palate.

Our 8pm reservation was easy to get, but we ended up waiting for forty minutes at the door to be seated. The staff never forgot us and served us complementary glasses (two each!) of champagne while we waited. A croquet amuse started us off and they still kept us in mind after six dishes and served us a wild arugula salad with ham and almonds to show their appreciation for our patience.

For a minute, I forgot that we were in New York City because of the exceptional service but, really, where else can I get this much good food for under a hundred dollars?

ChikaLicious and ChikaLicious Puddin’

203 East 10th Street off Second Avenue
212/995.9511
$104 for four, desserts only with matching drinks, with tip
â™¥ â™¥

If you have room for dessert, Chika will whip up one of the most simple yet satisfying desserts for you at ChikaLicious, a tiny space on 10th Street. Assuming, of course, that they haven’t sold out by 11pm or that you’re not waiting to be seated for more than 20 minutes.

The prix fixe is only $19 and includes an amuse, a main dessert, petit fours and a glass of wine. Your choices for main desserts run from the creative, like kiwi in lavender soup, to the surprising, like peppercorn ice cream and red wine sauce with warm chocolate tart.

Update, 2008: They have opened ChikaLicious Puddin’ across the street that serves three kinds–at least when we visited–of “puddin'”. Light, fluffy and sweet, their puddings are the perfect end to a blistery winter night.