Ivan Ramen in the Lower East Side...Worth the Higher Prices?

I've been eating ramen on a fairly regular basis these days, and Ivan Ramen has been on my radar since they opened up in the Lower East Side over a month ago. Looking at the menu I noticed that the prices are a bit higher than many ramen spots, including apps that were flirting at or over the $10 mark and bowls of ramen range from $13 to $15.  Though for convenience they do accept credit cards which may factor into the higher prices...

I really haven't had a lot of mazemen (soup-less) ramen and the Ivan's Triple Pork Triple Garlic dish sounded great.  The concentrated, reduced pork broth was indeed rich and flavorful, and the char shu and bacon bits inside were good, I wish there was more garlic flavor as advertised.  At $15, I also wish the serving was bigger; it really was on the small side for the price.

I was with my brother for dinner here after work and he ordered their shio ramen and was very disappointed.  I also tried the broth and thought it was somewhat one-dimensional.  My brother said the noodles were also seemed a little mushy/overcooked.

For an appetizer we both loooove okonomiyaki and wanted to try their version, using a waffle and scrapple bits instead of an egg based omelette/pancake.  Pretty interesting and the the scrapple does work well with it, but it tastes too much like just a regular okonomiyaki.  But again, with the price of the appetizer for $12 for a small-ish okonomiyaki it's just simply not worth it...

Would I go there again? Prolly not... While there aren't really many ramen spots in the Lower East Side (only Yuji Ramen comes to mind), in my opinion it's worth the few minutes walk up to the East Village for some great options.

Ivan Ramen

25 Clinton St.

New York, NY 10002

(646) 678-3859 

Damn Good Lamb Burger at Rustic L.E.S. in the Lower East Side.

I'm in the Lower East Side often for shows and this tiny restaurant is way too easy to miss since it's on the outskirts of the area on Ridge Rd between Stanton and Rivington (I believe that it's the only restaurant on the block).  Rustic only has a few tables and a bar area that seats about four with a tiny open kitchen , but a great looking menu nonetheless.

The thing to order here however, is the lamb burger, served with duck bacon and Gruyere cheese.  When I went there on a recent Thursday night before a show, unfortunately they didn't have the accompanying duck bacon, but it was still delicious.  The owner offered to add a fried egg, sauteed onions, and mushrooms, but I was happy that I only picked the onions, as it really made the loosely packed and tender lamb meat stand out.  Unfortunately the fries were pretty anemic/soft during my at least during my visit and didn't really stand up to the awesomeness of the burger.  I would still definitely order the dish again though, the burger was that good!

The lamb burger, cooked medium rare.

Rustic L.E.S.

124 Ridge St.

New York, NY 10002

(646) 833-0848

Creative Bowls of Ramen at Yuji Ramen in the Lower East Side

Ramen has been one of my favorite foods to eat this winter, and recently I was finally able to try the much-hyped Yuji Ramen before seeing a show at Bowery Ballroom late last year.  Yuji Ramen is on the second floor of Whole Foods at the Lower East Side and merely has bar/counter seating.  Yuji is known for their "Mazemen" already marinated, soupless ramen, as well as a ramen tasting menu that is tough to get reservations for, but also since the place only has a few seats at the bar.

Other than the tasting menu, they also have a small menu of ramen dishes, and I was able to try the uni miso mazemen (I believe they have a salmon and cheese one as well as a spicy tuna option).  For around $10 the bowl of ramen they give you is pretty tiny, but is also topped with a generous amount of uni.  The ramen is also good and toothsome, and actually reminds me more of an Italian al dente pasta. 

While I may not go to Yuji Ramen while I'm craving ramen, it's worth trying once.  They're doing some pretty creative stuff there with the delicious Japanese staple and have to be commended to trying to go outside the box.

   

Yuji Ramen

95 E Houston St (at Whole Foods)
2nd Fl
New York, NY 10002
Neighborhood: Lower East Side

(646) 262-1358

Crazy Colombian Hot Dogs at Los Perros Locos in the Lower East Side

As far as the "crazy toppings on your hot dogs" spots I've had the pleasure of having including Crif Dogs, Asiadog, and Japadog, the relative newcomer Los Perros Locos is probably my favorite.  Los Perros Locos tops theirs with almost an obscene list of over the top and yummy ingredients, which means it's spot is great for a late night meal after a night of drinking or just simply after catching a show in one of the many venues in the area.  It's a bit on the outskirts of the area by Allen St and Stanton and easy to miss, but it's worth going out of your way for.

I only found out about this place after picking up a Groupon, and I'm glad I did the deal included three dogs, a salchipapa (one of the most genius food combos ever--hot dogs with french fries) and two beers.  They have a pretty good selection of Central/South American beers as well, including Aguila, Presidente, and Cusquena.

The owner, Alex, was very cool and recommended the the three dogs below:

This is the Mas Perfecto, topped with a bunch of salsas, crushed potato chips, melted mozzarella, apple chipotle slaw, fried bacon cubes and quail eggs.  If this looks like you could get messy eating this you would be right.  Under all that craziness there's a hot dog and bun in there somewhere!

The second recommended dog is the Chimi-churri-chori Dog, with comes with a chorizo instead, grilled provoleta cheese, crushed potato chips, and what else, a chimichurri sauce!

Last but not least, we also had the Amerro Perro, which is topped with a list chili, chipotle kraut, crushed Fritos, shredded cheese and more!

  

We also had the salchipapa, which consisted of a few waffle fries topped with some of the salsas used on the dogs as well as chorizo and fried bacon cubes.

Overall this is a great spot and I hope they stick around, I for sure will be stopping by again after a late night in the Lower East Side!

Los Perros Locos

201 Allen St

(by Stanton St)

New York, NY 10002

Pig and Khao in the Lower East Side for Yummy Filipino-Thai Fusion!

Filipino food is set to be "the next big thing" in the NYC food scene.  Along with Jeepney, Pig and Khao recently opened late into 2012 to great reviews.   

My girlfriend and I stopped by on a weeknight before a show and ordered the sisig (probably my favorite Filipino dish).  Sisig is crispy pork bits, often including pieces of pig ear, served on a sizzling plate with an raw egg to mix in.  Pig and Khao's version was crispy with just the right amount of fat and tart vinegary goodness.  

We also ordered the crispy pata (pork leg/knuckles).  Pig and Khao's isn't simply thrown into the fryer like the more classic Filipino preparation.  Theirs actually reminded my of roast duck.  The skin wasn't very crunchy but was still very flavorful.  Instead of serving the pig's foot/knuckles, their version was served off the bone (maybe the leg meat?).  Different, but still really delicious!

It was the first time my girlfriend had sisig and crispy pata, and she (or should I say we!) thoroughly enjoyed both dishes.

Pig and Khao

68 Clinton St.

New York NY 10002

(212) 920-4485

Izakaya Dodompa in the Lower East Side for Yummy Japanese Bar Food!

If you find yourself in the Lower East Side and want Japanese Izakaya Dodompa is a great spot to get cheap no frills Japanese bar food.  While their BBQ may not be as good Yakitori Taisho or Sake Bar Hagi, they still have a ton of other tasty options.

The yellowtail sashimi had huge fresh chunks of yellowtail.

The raw octopus with wasabi is a steal (I believe it's around $5) and was very tasty!

Their agedashi tofu (fried tofu in broth) was good.  The tofu was light and the broth was warm and rich.

I think this app was also around $5.

Whole grilled squid.  This was excellent, and I love the fact that they included the tentacles as well.

Stir fried pork with kimchee was good.  If you like kimchee they also have a kimchee pancake and kimchee stir fried noodles.

Make sure to get their delish chicken wings (sweet with sesame seeds and pepper or spicy korean style)

Takoyaki (octopus) balls in tomato and cheese.  This is pretty much total drunk food and goes great with a beer.

Here's the BBQ sampler set with mushroom, chicken thigh, chicken heart, meatball, and pork belly.  The only decent skewer is the pork belly.  The others were just ok.  They don't even have grilled chicken skin skewers on the menu....nooooooo!

Overall, the restaurant is a great spot for Japanese food, since there's really not that many options in the Lower East Side aside from sushi places (though I've yet to try Blue Ribbon Izakaya and Cocoron).  They have good happy hour deals on beer and sake as well from 5 to 7pm.  

Dodompa

71 Clinton St

(between Stanton and Rivington)

New York, NY 10002

212-533-4781

Mission Chinese Food at the Lower East Side...Worth the Hype??

Go during any given hour at this new uber popular Chinese spot in the Lower East Side (by way of San Francisco) known for unique takes on spicy Szechuan style cuisine, and you're probably going to end up waiting in line.   Since they've opened a few months ago, the lines at Mission Chinese Food have been pretty insane, though the prices are very reasonable at around $8 to $13 a dish on the average.  Our group was there on a Tuesday night in June at 6pm and we pretty much had to wait close to an hour for a table.  By 7 or 8, I can imagine that the lines would even be longer...so at this point your best bet is to go during off hours or maybe even get takeout.

Mission doesn't hold back on their take on the Szechuan classic mapo tofu; their version is also fiery hot, very flavorful, with a decent amount of Szechuan peppercorns.

A dish that's pretty awesome was the Thrice Cooked Bacon...the Bacon is good, but stir fried rice cakes really make the dish.  However, although spicy and flavorful the salt level almost made it inedible at the same time.

The Kung Pao Pastrami was also a pretty good dish that was again very flavorful but packed with an insane amount of salt.  It's spicy and stir fried with a lot of peanuts and celery.

Lastly, we had the Chongqing Chicken Wings.  The wings were fried really well but the dish was really more salty than spicy.  The chilies were basically there for dramatic effect haha.

So that's it for my trip...there are a lot of other interesting items on the menu, but the insane lines have pretty much discouraged me from making a second trip back anytime soon.  The food was flavorful but oh-so-salty.  I think the only way to eat the food here is to take the approach of looking at it like drunk food!  While salty, the food would go well with an ice cold beer.  Speaking of beer, the make the wait more tolerable, they do have a keg in the waiting area where u can help yourself to complimentary Bud Light....which is a great idea!

Mission Chinese Food

154 Orchard St

(Lower East Side)

New York, NY 10002

(212) 529-8800

New Flavors at the Newly Renovated Doughnut Plant in the Lower East Side!

I think this is my third entry about Doughnut Plant, which does such a great job of bringing repeat customers back due to their ever rotating seasonal flavors to keep things fresh.  I stopped by a couple of times recently just after I found out that their original Lower East Side location was renovated to match the look of their newer Chelsea location.

Some of the great new donuts include:  Chocolate Chip Donut....this was awesome.  It's basically a chocolate glazed donut with crumbled chocolate chip cookies sprinkled on the outside.

Next up is the hazelnut donut stuffed with chocolate.  It's s small donut but packs a flavor punch!  The hazelnut flavor REALLY comes through and was so aromatic.  The chocolate filling was smooth and compliments the hazelnut really well.

I love pineapples, and their pineapple donut was awesome and choc full of pineapple-y goodness!

Of some of the newer flavors, the only one that was a letdown was the salted peanut.  I'm a fan of savory desserts (anything salted caramel or salt with chocolate is awesome), but this donut tasted more like just peanut flavor instead of salted peanut.

Here's their new fancy display case with some of their donuts.  Some of the perennial faves like tres teche, carrot cake, and creme brulee are still always in stock.

Here's the new storefront.

Finally, last fall I was able to try some seasonal flavors but forgot about posting them.  They included the (then) new strawberry donut (I got the yeast version).  It was pretty good from what I remember.

The sesame donut was really amazing.  The sesame seeds really come through and gave a super, nutty toasted flavor.

The Valrhona chocolate was just ok.  I got the yeast instead of a cake version and it just simply reminded me of a chocolate glazed donut.  This flavor is still around now.

Two locations:

Lower East Side

379 Grand St

NY NY

Chelsea

220 West 23rd Street
New York

Pok Pok Wings....Not Worth the Hype!

I had been looking forward for a chance to try Pok Pok's new spin on the asian chicken wing craze, especially after trying some great Korean wings from the likes of Bonchon and Japanese wings from Tebaya.  Pok Pok's wings are Thai style, marinated in fish sauce, fried, and tossed in a sweet caramelized fish sauce.    The wings can come mild or spicy.  Originally made famous in Portland, Pok Pok opened a new location in NYC in the Lower East Side in the space formerly inhabited by Baohaus...and man it has been busy since!

A whole order (6 full wings) are $12.50 and a half order is $7.25, and comes with a side salad.

When the wings came our group was excited, but after having the wings the excitement waned.  The wings actually had a nice complex flavor, but after a few bites the predominant flavor became salt.  The first wing tasted ok, but each additional wing became harder and harder to eat!  If you use fish sauce at all, it's a very salty ingredient, even more so than soy, and the fact that they marinate the wings in fish sauce, and toss it in more fish sauce just makes it more salty.  The only way I could see this working is if you're drinking some ice cold beers with the wings, since buzz + beer + salty fried food = tops.

Otherwise, you can do better just having some Bonchon.

Pok Pok

137 Rivington St
(between Norfolk St & Suffolk St) 
Manhattan, NY 10002

(212) 477-1299 

Croxley's Ales in the East Village for Great Beers and the Cheapest Wings in NYC!

I have a weakness for hot wings and my go-to spot is Croxley's in the East Village right on Ave B and East 2nd.  They don't have the best wings but they are decent, and come in at an amazing 10 cents per wing on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays all night.  Yup, that's right...all night!  I have come here on several occasions before a show in the Lower East Side area and is a cheap and quick place to grab a bite and drink before a show.

They are 20 cents on Saturdays during the day and all day Sunday, which is still a great deal.  They also have a great Friday happy hour deal for FREE (doesn't get better than that!) wings from 5 to 7pm at the bar...all you need to get is a $5 drink minimum....basically you can get a drink after a week of work and fill up on wings for $5.

Croxley's also has a good beer selection and even has their own beer.  I usually opt for the Croxley's blonde, which is light and crisp, and is only $5 a pint.  You can check their entire beer menu HERE.  They even have beer cocktails but I haven't had a chance to try theirs yet.

Yep, you too can get all this deliciousness (and more), for just $5!  The beer pictured is a pint
or Croxley's Blonde.

Croxley's Ales 

28 Avenue B (right between the border of East Village and Lower East Side)

New York, NY

Delicious Eats at the Grub Street Festival at Hester Street Fair!

This summer has been full of great outdoor food festivals and flea markets, and Grub Street's Food Festival on Sunday 10/23/11, showcased a lot of good local eats from NYC and Brooklyn.  Some of the vendors were also with Brooklyn Flea Smorgasburg, but there were still a lot of other great food stalls I wanted to try out...so let's get to it!

First up, we wanted to try Luke's lobster roll to see how it compares to Red Hook Lobster Pound at Smorgasburg.    Luke's has a great roll that actually seems a little bigger with BIG HUGE chunks of lobster meat, but I prefer how Red Hook's seasoning.  Luke's is also a little more mayonaise-y than Red Hook's traditional Maine style roll (I prefer less).  It's all a matter of preference though.

Second was Arancini Bros, who specialize in Italian style rice balls and have a shop in Brooklyn.  We just got the traditional ragu, which had meat sauce, peas, and ricotta...it was sooo delicious!  At $3 a pop, they were like a little ball of fried goodness with a surprise inside! The ragu had simple, traditional flavors but was still excellent.

They also had some other flavors...maybe next time I'll have to try the Nutella rice ball!

Bark Hot Dogs had a stand but weren't necessarily selling all their specialty hot dogs.  Instead, they had a few simple, no frills dogs but had a fixins bar where you can go nuts and top your own dog.  The hot dog tasted great and the bun was nice and toasted.  Here it's topped with pickles, relish, onions, and alfalfa sprouts...delicious!

Snap, who also sells hot dogs, had a pretty interesting avocado fries so we had to try that.  The avocado was super creamy and encrusted with crispy Panko bread crumbs.  It came with a tangy mayo dipping sauce.

Char No.4, which is actually a bar/restaurant in the Gowanus section of Brooklyn that has a great looking menu, had a stand that simply sold a braised short rib and roast pork shoulder chili.  The chili was super meaty and really fills you up and warms you up on a brisk day, but I wish I had more spice (though I know many can't handle it).  So we had to add hot sauce and sour cream, which were offered on the side.

I've had P&H Soda before, but saw that they had a "chocolate" flavored soda that I had to try.  It's sounds weirder that it actually is, as you only get a hint of chocolate.  Pretty good, but next time I'll have to try their other interesting flavors, which include ginger, cream, hibiscus, and quince.

Purple Yam is a popular and trendy Filipino restaurant in Brooklyn, and they had a stand that sold some pork ribs as well as some funky seaweed vegetarian taco...which isn't the least bit Filipino at all!  The pork spare rib with some lightly vinegared rice was pretty good.   The taco, which looks super interesting, uses a fried nori shell as the taco, and is filled with some rice, bitter melon, cucumber, green mango, and bitter melon, actually tasted bland and watery.  I probably won't be trying their restaurant soon and will likely stick to Woodside for good Filipino food.

Pies and Thighs, which is on my list of must-try restaurant spots in Brooklyn, is famous for their fried chicken.  At their stand though, they only had small pieces of what looked like chicken tenders in between buttered biscuits.  This was the messiest thing we had all day and tasted just ok.  I MUST still try the restaurant though!

However, the best thing we had all day had to be the amazingly spicy Jerk chicken at MissLily's, and I found out later they have a restaurant by Greenwich Village.  The pile of perfectly grilled and blackened chicken was $6 for two drumsticks and two thighs, but the oh-so-spicy green jerk sauce that you add yourself was super addictive!  It's the one dish that day I would certainly love to have again!

So, this is probably the last outdoor eats this year, but it was certainly full of good eats!  It's definitely getting cold so it'll be a long time before food festivals start popping up all over NYC again.

Russ and Daughters: An Old NYC Institution for Great Bagels and Lox!

Russ and Daughters is a Lower East Side institution that has been around for close to a hundred years is a classic, family run, NYC deli/specialty store.  They specializes in a great variety of smoked and pickled fish, cream cheeses, caviar, bagels, and even dried fruit and candy.

Unless you know the nuances of your lox and smoked fish products, the selections here can be a little intimidating.  I just went with the classic lox (cured) with sesame and poppy bagel with plain cream cheese, opting to add some pickled onions and capers.  The sandwich itself is a bit pricey (I believe it was around $11 but may vary depending on how much lox you have in it), but you get your money's worth as the lox was oh so good.

Here's an inside shot...

Here you can see a variety of flavored cream cheeses:  They even have a caviar cream cheese and a tofu creamcheese for the health conscious.  I've actually had it one time and it tastes light and fluffy!

This is just some of the smoked fish that they have.  They also have another display case of just 

varieties of smoked salmon.

 This is the outside...it's literally a block from another classic Lower East Side institution, Katz' Deli.

Russ and Daughters

179 E Houston St
New York, NY 10002

(just know that they close at 8pm)