Barrio Chino

For the best damn margaritas this side of the border make your way down to Broome and Orchard. “Barrio Chino”, Spanish for “Chinatown”, serves up some seriously good Mexican food. The guacamole and steak tacos are perfection and if you’re in the mood for something light, the Calamari Salad is always a favorite. With exposed brick walls, dim lighting and ample bar space, Barrio Chino is inviting without any hint of pretention. The large windows lining the west side of the restaurant open to the street, allowing for a great summertime brunch location. Definitely expect to wait at least 30 minutes to be seated on a busy night. But, after one taste of that sweet, sweet, ambrosia that is their grapefruit margarita, you’d be fine with waiting an hour. Trust me.

www.barriochinonyc.com

2523 Broome Street

Gnocco on Tompkins Square Park North

I'm very biased. All the Italian waitstaff kiss me on both cheeks when I walk in the door. I take everyone I like there. I even get free glasses of Prosecco. When you walk into the entrance, you're greeted by a bunch of greasy guys twirling dough. Oops, I thought this was supposed to be an Italian restaurant. But if you go to the back and make a quick left, you find a surprisingly large space for the East Village, and there's even an outdoor patio that's heated in the wintertime (as in you could wear a t-shirt). Even to sit at the bar with a glass of wine, the place is damn romantic. I always order the same things: appetizer- the burrata with olive oil and tomatoes, the cortadina salad (arugula with flaked parmesan cheese), and then the real reason I'm obsessed: the brick oven pizzas. A creature of habit, I stick to my margarita (the sublime marriage of cheese, tomato sauce and olive oil over thin crust orgasms in your mouth), but some of my other favorites are the Tartufate (mozzarella, truffle sauce, mushrooms, and spec), and the Parmigiana (mozzarella, tomato sauce, eggplant, shaved parmesan cheese and basil).
I may turn into one of those crazies who never leave the E Village because of this place.

Aroma Kitchen & Winebar- (Next to BBar)

I was really excited about this charming little winebar. I had walked by it a hundred times on my way to BBar, but never poked my head in to spy on the dishes. The owner is a woman from Malta and a guy from Italy (I assume they're a couple, though their website doesn't specify). Being the drunkies we are, the three of us shared a bottle of luscious Montepulciano. At $32, it was the cheapest bottle of red on the menu. Our wonderful Italian friend (from Jersey) recommended the gratin of gnocchi, sausage, and some other heavenly flavors that was so rich I thought I had won the lottery. On a carb kick from the gratin, the three of us shared 2 pastas. The first pasta, linguine "al cartoccio", baby clams, fennel, white wine, was admirable by Macaroni Grill standards, but for $18, I would have gotten another two glasses of Montepulciano. Our other pasta dish was bucatini "cacio, pepe e uovo", pancetta arrotolata, recommended to us by the server as having lots of mouthwatering cheese. Quoting the first of us who tried the dish, "it tastes like cat food." There was barely any cheese, so we figured it must have escaped from the pasta during the journey from kitchen to table! Or maybe, the egg swallowed it? If I ever go back, I'll just stick to a salad and maybe the sicilian meatloaf which looked good on my neighbor's plate.

NY Burger Co. - Chelsea

Turkey Burgers-- excellent.
Honey Chipotle Ranch-- need I say more?
Sweet potato fries-- soggy
Turkey Chili-- disappointing.

Tebaya- where Japan meets Chelsea

Small, overcrowded, slightly overpriced-- Tebaya is Japanese down to their little counter stools efficiently placed as close together as possible.

A favorite among the under $10 lunch crowds, and often local construction workers, Tebaya serves up their own garlicy flavor of chicken wings (orders come in sizes varying from 8 to 50 pieces), as well as traditional Japanese favorites such as chicken katsu (soy-marinated fried chicken cutlet with salty sweet sauce over rice), karaage (fried meat or vegitable on stick), and for the gaigin among us, chicken teriyaki. I, for one, am a sucker for the chicken katsu. Oh sweet friedness...

Most things on the menu can be purchased for less than $10, and servings are perfect if you don't want to overeat, but beware, after you tack on a little side order or become overzealous with your ordering.. things can get pricey fast. For those not watching their waistlines, it's definately a good idea for workday lunches.

Do: take-out
Don't: try to eat-in at rush hour
Maybe: spring for one of their homemade teas

Casa Adela- Ave C

These cold days and even colder nights have New Yorkers yearning for the warm breeze of their Caribbean fantasies. I say, if you can’t book the trip, at least eat the food. Casa Adela, located just north of E 4th St on Avenue C, serves up a boriquen delight. The roast chicken, their specialty, will leave you licking your fingers with pleasure. The Caribbean flavors bursting in every bite of this oh, so, moist dish. At $7.50 for ½ a chicken, Casa Adela is not only just good eats, its good for your wallet too. On a special note, during the Christmas season, delicacies such as pasteles and coquito are available for purchase…but don’t wait too long because these items fly. Buen Provecho!

Hundred Acres- cute place, average food

Though recently opened, it's easy to walk by the classy, old school Greenwich Village exterior of Five Point's and Cookshop's newest cousin. The inside of Hundred Acres gives the same feeling, except for about a dozen photographs of the inside of a deserted farmhouse (which I found to be a bit gloomy). Maybe it was my fault for going on Vday (stereotypically the worst night for restaurant service), but minus the rushed service, I'd only order 2 of the 4 dishes again. I wanted to have the calamari as an appetizer, but by 8 o'clock, they had run out of squid so we had to settle for the special, shrimp and grits. Expecting a bit of Bourbon St spice, the flavor was as dull as the barnyard photographs in front of me. Being it was Vday, we also ordered oysters on the half shell. They would have been fine if it had been Passover, since that they only gave us a white horseradish dipping sauce, instead of the usual alternative of a tomato based sauce. For the main course, we had the grass-fed bottom round steak (whatever that means), which I must say, was excellente, even with the lingering taste of horseradish in my mouth. For dessert, we had an apple tart a la mode that almost made up for the disappointing appetizers.

KASADELA-really, really far east

Its tough to rally the troops all the way to 7th St and Avenue C, but Kasadela, a Japanese tapas and sake bar, is well worth the $10 cab. (Hey, you must have done it for Cafecito at one point). When one thinks of Japanese tapas, they don't think chicken wings. But at this hip, yet low-key treasure, its all about the wings, baby. Marinated in soy sauce and to my delight, not breaded, these crispy chicken wings will have u licking your fingers like a kindergartner. The blackened miso cod is also a big winner and I'd take it over Nobu's version any day of the week.

Co. Pizzeria- CHELSEA

On the corner of 24th st and 9th ave, Co. (short for company) stands out like a sore thumb on the not so trendy Chelsea meets Midtown West intersection. I went in on a chilly Tuesday around 2 PM, and for a $13 margarita pizza, I figured I'd be eating alone (the restaurant was half full). Also for $13 (pizzas range from $9-$18), I was a bit disappointed. The entire outer ring of the crust was blackened and as much as I enjoy the taste of charcoal, I was unable to eat my usual favorite part of the pie. The dough was light and fluffy, or should I say, fluffy and more fluffy. It was a bit soggy in the middle, but for no particular reason. The sauce seemed runny and watered down. The cheese was yummy, yet the dough (though a grandchild of Sullivan St. Bakery) took over the pizza. I'd go back, but not before a few drinks and a different kind of pie.

La Barra Cevicheria- LES

Walking into this LES mexican cevicheria, the inside of La Barra reminds me a bit as if Barrio Chino (the taco and margarita joint almost directly across the street) threw up on itself. With exposed brick from the adjacent building, minimal craigslist-esque furniture, and a bathroom that reaked of cigarette smoke, La Barra is the perfect lower east side hole in the wall. Even though it is BYOB (the best part of the restaurant besides the ceviche), four of us were still able to rack up an $80 bill, including 2 ceviches, 2 salads, guac, and a tamale. The ceviche is, hands down, deliciously flavorful and has the perfect amount of lime, cilantro, salt, freshly cut fish (theres a mushroom ceviche for you veges, though I did not try it) and whatever else they put in it. Everything else was..nothing special. I was also pleasantly surprised to find we were the only customers speaking English--