Otafuku: Best balls of them all

Takoyaki definition from wikipedia: (literally fried or baked octopus) is a popular Japanese dumpling made of batter, diced or whole baby octopus, tempura scraps (tenkasu), pickled ginger, and green onion, topped with okonomiyaki sauce, green laver (aonori), mayonnaise, and katsuobushi (fish shavings), originating from Osaka


Little shack with a bench outside for sitting, I usually sit on the steps across the street. Their takoyaki is honestly one of the best things I have ever tasted. Combo B is the way to go, takoyaki and okinamiyaki (cabbage pancakes). I can't understand the negative comments about the mushiness and oversaucing. The flavors and texture made my mouth so happy. I daydream about these balls in my mouth. I really do.

PS There are definitely places to get this dish besides this place in NYC, but Otafuku is the freshest and most delicious in my humble opinion.

They now sell bottles of the addictive sauce- very worth picking up. I attempted to make okinamikayi with my sister and it did not come out half bad. Egg, cabbage, flour, Otafuku's sauce= easy breezy.


236 E 9th St

Village Mingala

This place is perfect in every way!

Its not easy to find a place in the city that is delicious, different, cheap, accepts large groups on weekend, and is BYOB.

We loved the green tea salad and the chickpea salad, they are a crazy mouth party, the mango salad was devoured in seconds, the thousand layer pancakes with chicken is great, the bermese tofu is unique-made of chickpea, the coconut rice is a flavorful and huge side dish for 3.50, and the green tea ice cream comes large and not too sweet.


21 E. 7th Street

Bamboo 52

1st visit for early office happy hour:
The happy hour is worth all the stars in the sky. These are serious cocktails! They have a great selection of drinks with tempting ingredients all for $4 or $5. I loved my geisha mojito and basil pear martini. The food was decent enough, I shared a shrimp tempura roll. I took my office here for our inauguration happy hour celebration very early on a weeknight. The service was great- Steve really put effort into taking care of us. We decided to go for the giant flaming volcano bowl (yea you wish your office is this sweet) which was a bowl of a lot of rum and fruit and a flaming 151 shot in the middle. It was strong and fun, although the happy hour drinks are more economical.
Its a very cute spot and we all look forward to the outdoor space in the spring. Actually, I plan on taking my sister back here tonight- its that good.

2nd visit at a more prime time hour:
2nd time around at a much busier time the quality of drink and service were definitely not as good. The wait for a table was not bad at all. But the basil pear martini did not taste anything like the delicious one I had while the place was empty and the bathroom line was a bit of an issue. I did learn that other drinks off the cocktail menu were also half off, including shots and $4 jack and cokes, which is nice. I also learned about severe sake hangovers and that they are really not fun at all. It is still a good happy hour, get there early if you want your cocktails to be tastier.

344 W 52nd St

Uncle Nick's Greek Cuisine: Where is my lemonade?

The good thing about Uncle Nicks is there is ample space for a big group to go during lunch, that is often hard to find in the area. We reserved a table and were seated in their mezzanine level, which worked out well for us. The menu has a lot of options. I wasn't up for getting a big platter so I ordered a beef souvlaki sandwich for $5. The sauce and pita were nice but there was not enough meat AND the meat was too tough anyway. My coworkers appeared to enjoy the mousaka, spinach pie, and massive salads. They did not serve lemonade- what greek restaurant doesn't serve lemonade? Greek restaurants are maybe the only places where I would order lemonade, grrr. My main complaint though is that it took 3 times longer to wait for the food than it took me to eat it!

382 8th Ave.

Mooncake Foods

Opening week:
I enjoyed the Soho location and was thrilled when I found out a location was opening up a few blocks from my office.
The space isn't as charming (at least as of now) as the one in Soho, but it is certainly bigger.
The portions were really generous, with many sandwiches,salads, and platers costing under $9.
My coworkers and I enjoyed the miso glazed salmon, lemon grass shrimp, and the braised beef shins. My beef shins were cooked perfectly, but they could have used a slightly stronger flavor. Most items come with rice and salad. We noted that similar, less tasty dishes would cost around 5 dollars more at any diner.
For $4 you can get a pot of tea for the table that they keep refilling.
They also deliver. Great addition for those who work and lunch near Penn Station.

Repeat visit notes:
Went back for lunch and shared the octopus with spinach noodles and the pulled pork. They were both prepared very nicely and had a lot of flavor. The spinach noodles are surprisingly addicting. This place is so great at having healthy, delicious dishes. The people who work here are so sweet. I am lucky to work so close to here and am so-far successfully converting my colleagues to be Mooncake food lunch time go-ers instead of heading to the diner.

263 W 30th St

Woorijip

I went twice to the buffet in 4 days and I am itching to go again. You can be completely stuffed and have enjoyed several different well prepared items for $7. They are constantly replacing the steam trays, so you know everything is really fresh. I loved the bulgogi style beef, the zuchini pancake,veg mandoo, and fried pork in different styles. Good for a group even thought its small- you can take it to go and eat in herald sq park- just ignore the schizos hissing at you.


12 W 32nd St

Sweet N Tart

So the owner recently went to China and got inspired. He updated the decor and menu and its pretty bangin. I loved the old Sweet n Tart. I wouldn't say the new Sweet n Tart is way way better, but its certainly different. Foi gras dumplings? Now we are getting fancy. We had perfectly grilled shrimp on sugarcane sticks. We ordered some delicious wontons and dumplings. They now have a selection of toasts, we had one that was covered in what tasted like coconut condensed milk- so simple, so delicious as a dessert. They now have a full mocktail bar. Besides the basic bubble tea varieties they have fresh fruit mixed cocktails for around 5 dollars- I was jonesing for a shot of rum in my gingery peach drink. I kinda miss the hand scrawled signs on the walls of the daily specials though.


136-11 38th Ave