Tempura is one of those things in Japanese cuisine that is pretty expensive for what it is, but when you find the right batter with the right ingredients, it’s so good. In Torrance in California, it’s been over a decade since I tried specialized tempura, so I was craving it recently. Unfortunately my partner loathes tempura for some odd reason, so I opted to dine alone when they decided to watch a Broadway show.

I haven’t frequent the heart of the East Village for quite some time. Walking through St. Marks, it’s pleasant to see that the city is slowly coming back alive. People still walk around with masks for the most part, and some restaurants have closed. Despite all this, the energy is slowly coming back alive. Since we were in this area and because now everyone is out and about, it’s getting difficult to do walk-in dinings.

It seems when it comes to hot pot, East Village is a thriving destination. Usually people try to go to 99 Favor Taste because it also has grillable BBQ meats in addition to hot pots. When people don’t have reservations and are quoted a 2 hour wait time, the next logical option is to look for another hot pot place which just happens to be this place since it’s a few streets down.

French dips, let alone good ones, are pretty nonexistent in NYC. I’ve had a good one up in Upper West Side at Jacob’s Pickles, but other that I usually get my cravings by making my own. We just got out of watching the movie theater, and we were reasonably close to this new location. The chef used to work as an executive chef at 4 Charles Prime Rib in the East Village, and they picked a fantastic location on St.

The Blue Ribbon chain is known for their seafood and sushi. So it was interesting to see them coming out with the fried chicken venture. This has been around for a while, and for the last few years, friends have raved about it. We got the 4 piece mixed with fries basket. The chicken itself is pretty tender and juicy. The skin is lightly crisped and doesn’t have the batter thickness that something like KFC or Popeyes has.

I’m introducing a new category for restaurants that have gardens. This one has an interesting one. I didn’t find it particularly that great, but it seems to be an attraction for others. This is tucked near or in the Standard Hotel, I don’t quite remember. In the summer, the indoor seats are mostly vacant, so definitely ask for a seat near the window if you decide to sit inside.

The clams were OK. The Nola clams were better than the casino. The casino was so oversalted by the bacon such that you couldn’t taste the clams at all. The shrimp beignets were forgotten. The most memorable items were the crawfish dip and the cornbread. The crawfish dip was really good and had a lot of flavor to it. The cornbread was super buttery and was nice as well.

This place’s beef noodles was just OK. I’ve had better. The portion size is just ok. I also got a side of bean curd, and it was a little on the salty side.

Decent Japanese snack place with okonomiyaki and octopus balls. But that’s about it.

Got the rare strip. It was pretty good for $30 for 14 oz. Not a lot of fat on it. I think the price keeps getting cheaper because not a lot of people go to this.