East Village Archives

In East Village

Raclette NYC: Delicious Melted Alpine Cheese

January 27, 2018

A popular place is Raclette NYC is the East Village for some savoury melted cheese over your meal. How can you deny such a glorious thing? When we visited New York, we couldn’t say no. It’s gotten very popular in the news lately for this classic Swiss dish.

Interior

It was busy for lunch, so reservations are recommended to ensure you have a seat. We made reservations a few days in advanced and they did call us a day before to confirm our attendance.

Parsienne

The Parsienne has a 7 oz pan-seared marinated skirt steak, sautéed mushrooms, roasted asparagus and potatoes. The we got the black truffle cheese from France. One of the most popular choices. The best part of this experience is seeing the staff bring the raclette to your table and scrape the oozy cheese onto your plate right before your eyes. The stake was done medium rate and it was delicious.

Savoyarede

This dish has roasted potatoes, cornichons, and pickled white pearl onions. I wanted something simple and not too heavy as I already had a meal prior to this. I chose to have the porchini cheese from Switzerland. Delicious and cheesy with the savouriness of porchini. The overall dish was pretty meh, but then again, I chose a dish that wasn’t as interesting.

Final Thoughts

You pay for the dish and then you pay for the addition of the cheese. So, the menu is a bit deceiving even though these are both raclette dishes. If you’ve never tried this before, it’s still fun to try out and remember to get a reservation.

We Rate Raclette NYC:

Address:
511 E 12th St, New York

Website:
http://raclette.nyc/

In East Village

Momofuku Noodle Bar: Ramen and Pork Buns in New York

July 1, 2012

Momofuku Noodle bar is a popular restaurant to have noodles and are known for some amazing pork buns. CanuckGirl and I went here for dinner and the place was packed! It was about 30 minutes for a table for 2.

This location is the first momofuku restaurant. It serves ramen and dishes that changes with the seasons.

There is a bar and also a lot of other seating in the back.

Pork Buns has pieces of fatty pork belly with hoisin, scallion, and cucumber.

The meat was very nice, but I wish the skim was crispy…that would put this item over the top! CanuckGirl thought it was good too, but a bit too fatty.

Momofuku Ramen has pork belly, pork shoulder, poached egg and some other items. Canuckgirl thought it was ok, but a bit salty.

Ginger Scallion Noodles has pickled shiitakes, cucumber, and cabbage. This bowl of noodles were quite big. I expected some broth to go with this, but it was mostly dry noodles. I was kinda disappointed with this item.

Overall, the noodles were decent and the pork buns were delicious. The wait is very long during peak dinner times, so be prepared to wait. The tables are very close together, so you won’t have any to deal with people everywhere. They try to pack a lot of people into this restaurant.

Words of Wisdom:

Pork buns a must
Long line ups
A tad expensive
No reservations

We Rate Momofuku Noodle Bar:

Address:
171 1st Ave
New York, NY

Website:
http://www.momofuku.com/

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In East Village

Ippudo: Ramen in New York with Huge Lines

June 28, 2012

Ippudo NY is the first overseas branch of the famous Japanese ramen chain. It was open in 2008. Ippudo was founded by Shigemi Kawahara in 1985 in the Daimyo District of Chuo Ward, in Fukuoka City. By the time Ippudo NY was opened, there were over 30 branches throughout Japan. By 2012, Kawahara had expanded his ramen empire to over 40 locations.

I arrived at 5pm for 1 person and the wait was already one hour! I wanted to give up at this point since that wait was ridiculous. Fortunately, CanuckGirl really wanted some noodles and they take same day reservations…so we made a reservation for 2 at 10pm.

The bar at the front of the restaurant has some nice decor.

There is even a wall of ramen bowls!

The East Village location features two dining rooms, a sake bar, an open kitchen for non-ramen dishes, and an open ramen bar. The noodles are made in-house in the basement.

It’s very dark inside, but it made for good ambiance.

Complementary tea is something I definitely needed on my travels.The servers were very good about refilling my cup.

Miso Ramen ($15) has soy bean paste flavored noodle in Tonkotsu (pork) based soup with pork chashu, cabbage, menma, ginger, and scallions. CanuckGirl did enjoy her ramen.

“The Kuro Kasane, or Kasane Black is a limited time special ramen at Ippudo NY. It has an authentic “Kasane” tonkotsu & chicken soup with noodles, topped with pork loin chashu, cabbage, sesame kikurage mushrooms, red pickled ginger, naruto, scallions, and fragrant “Black” garlic oil.

It was pretty good, but with the addition of the garlic oil and the broth, it was a bit salty for my liking. It’s still a pretty solid bowl of ramen.

Overall, the waits for a table are ridiculous, but if you make a reservation on the same day, you should have no issues at all. The prices are a bit high compared to what you would find in Vancouver, but you’re in NY, so be prepared to pay more.

Words of Wisdom:

Make same day reservations
Has daily specials
Ramen is a must!

We Rate Ippudo:

Address:
65 4th Ave
New York, NY

Website:
http://www.ippudony.com/

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In Bakery

Momofuku Milk Bar: Crack Pie in New York

June 23, 2012

When visiting New York City, we knew we had to try the Momofuku Milk Bar. People around the world rave about their amazing desserts. I’ve never heard of a milk bar before, so this would be a fun-filled adventure to East Village with CanuckGirl. They have various locations around New York. They even sell their popular Momofuku Milk Bar cookbook here too.

Blueberry Miso + Cereal Milk Soft Serve Ice Cream ($4.50) I didn’t know which flavour to get since they were so good, so I asked them to twist the two flavours. To my surprise, they were able to do it. I think my favorite would have to be cereal milk because it reminded me of the sweetened milk after you eat your cereal. Highly recommended.

Another item on the menu that really intrigued me was the crack pie. Looking at the first few ingredients, you know this isn’t a pie if you are on a diet. Butter, sugar, brown sugar and cream.

Crack Pie ($5.25) was so good. Bad for the hips, but very delicious. It will definitely satisfy any sweet tooth.

All the items that was sold at this shop was all pre-packaged, so don’t expect a bakery type of setting. There are very little seats inside, so most people just do take-out. The locations do vary, so not all locations have all their items.

Words of Wisdom:

Order anything with Cereal Milk!
Crack Pie is a must!
Under $10
Very little space to sit and eat

We Rate Momofuku Milk Bar:

Address:
251 E 13th St
New York, NY

Website:
http://www.momofuku.com/restaurants/milk-bar/

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In Dessert

Big Gay Ice Cream Shop: Twist Cone with Sprinkles in New York

June 21, 2012

When visiting New York, I knew I had to go try te Big Gay Ice Cream Shop. I saw it on Food Network a few months ago and I had to see what all the buzz was about. It was a very hot day in New York, so ice cream was definitely needed!

They also have a Food Truck called Big Gay Ice Cream Truck!

The interior is very small, so you can’t really sit down anywhere. You basically go in, give your order, pay, get your order and leave. A lot of people were eating outside or were walking around.

Vanilla and Chocolate Twist Cone with Rainbow Sprinkles

So many sprinkles! I had the choice of choosing between chocolate sprinkles or rainbow sprinkles. I think I made the right choice! It really does turn you into a kid again.

The taste was quite good, but it wasn’t super amazing. It’s something simple that’s enjoyable. They also have other more adventurous types of ice creams too. I really wanted to try something more basic. I did enjoy my visit!

We Rate Big Gay Ice Cream Shop:

Address:
125 East Seventh Street
New York, NY

Website:
http://biggayicecream.com/