Category: New York Restaurants by Area

New York City Restaurants by Neighborhood

Nomad

78 Second Avenue at 4th Street
212/253.5410
about $200 for five, with two bottles of wine, without tip
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Three of us drank two bottles of Algerian red wine while waiting for the rest of our group. When the five of us were complete, we shared two lamb shanks that were so tender, the meat just came off the bones when our forks touched it. Two order of crab cakes were the least African on the menu, yet they were still tasty. I liked their tagine so much I could have eaten one more serving. The seafood pancake was so-so and the chicken kebab tasted like, well, chicken.

We were seated at the front and the breeze would come in every time someone opened the door. We asked to be moved when the back room freed up, but the manager never returned to accommodate us even though they told us they just needed to clean up in the back. Minus that one slip, the waiters were almost unnoticable which could be a good thing when you’re just enjoying the food and the company you’re with.

Village Yokocho

8 Stuyvesant Street off Third Avenue
212/598.3041
about $60 for a lot of food for two, with drinks, without tip
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Kimchi fried rice, ramen bowls, yakitori, cold noodles and duk bo kki…

What more could you ask for after a night of drinking?

Aurora Ristorante

70 Grand Street at Wythe Avenue, Wiliamsburg, Brooklyn
718/388.5100
about $125 for two, with a bottle of wine, without tip
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Dinner’s always nice when a group of you eat and drink without feeling like you’re at a restaurant. The waiter asks for your orders and serves them unobtrusively. He also knows when to ask if everything is okay and knows when to leave you alone. I wondered whether this is just a Brooklyn thing, and if it is, I might find myself in the area more often.

Aurora was a very cozy place for us to eat dinner one cold, Saturday night. Five of us shared two bottles of wine; one light and sweet and the other, heavier, courtesy of our waiter who gladly suggested them even though they weren’t the most expensive bottles on the list. The octopus was warm with potatoes and capers. The veal tongue was done just right and not overpowering. I loved the bagna cauda, the Piedmont anchovy dip served in half a roasted red bell pepper; it went well with all the vegetables that came with it.

I haven’t had pork belly with skin that was evenly toasted and crispy. The meat was so tasty and not at all salty, which is easy to do with pork belly. The broccoli rabe and caramelized apple were side dishes with it.

The frisée, fennel and pear salad was a nice addition to our table. My truffle ice cream was perfect with the chocolate powder and sauce. It was a nice ending to a very comforting meal.

Ureña

37 East 28th Street between Park and Madison Avenues
212/213.2328
about $150 for two, with two drinks, without tip
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Update, 2007: Renovated as Pamplona

Ureña is the latest restaurant to open in Murray Hill from one of David Bouley’s apprentice and ex-executive chef of Blue Hill, Alex Ureña. The restaurant has been dubbed one of the ugliest by New York blogs when it opened, but it was obvious that they’ve listened to the critics by the time we visited. They’ve softened the lights to tone down the harshness of the yellow walls and swirl-patterned carpet. The bar is still by the door, but New York City real estate doesn’t come cheap and I can imagine that it will stay there.

Alex Ureña is Dominican and Ureña is billed under Spanish food, but I would categorize it under New American because the menu was a mishmash of different ingredients and cooking techniques. There’s a lot more fish in the menu than I expected, but there’s really nothing unheard of. I wanted to see more of the experimental side of the chef–the El Bulli techniques he’s learned from another mentor, Ferran Adrià.

I did enjoy the octopus and the arctic char with the sweetbreads. The beef ribs also melted like butter. The sauce was a good match to our Grenache. The reward came during dessert with one of Caryn Stabinsky’s creations, of Wylie Dufresne’s WD-50. I loved the beet panna cotta; it was in perfect harmony with the sour cream and orange salt.

Our waiter did not warm up to us until he saw that we loved our dessert. When we were seated, he asked us if we wanted tap or sparkling water. When the boy answered tap, he asked us what “chap” was. He may have left us perplexed, but I’m pretty sure Ureña will finally surprise us the next time we drop by.

Sobaya

229 East 9th Street off St. Mark’s Place and Second Avenue
212/533.6966
about $50 for two, without drinks, with tip
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One of the few places that still hand-roll and hand-cut their soba noodles is Sobaya, one of my lunch staples. Whether I order a hot bowl of soba or a cold one, I always pick the one with nameko mushrooms. The one with the yam is also good. If you have a large appetite, one of their lunch boxes is an excellent choice.