Nonono is a restaurant from the people behind Her Name is Han. This is located just a few blocks from Korea town. They are part of the Hand Hospitality network, which also includes Atoboy, Cho Dang Gol, and many more. The restaurant offers Japanese grill cuisine with a twist. We’ve been to the restaurant several times, and it’s been a decent value and choice for any small gatherings.

Ambiance & Service

The ambiance feels like a normal Japanese restaurant where there was a lot of activity. The tables are relatively close to each other, so it can get a little tight. However, it was fine talking to your party, so the sound acoustics were good. They have both a floor table area and a second floor area.

This is an updated entry to Dun Huang. The original East Village location is closed, but they opened another location out in Long Island City. They have several locations spread throughout the city. Dun Huang advertises itself as authentic Northwestern Chinese food. The menu at this location pales in comparison to what we got in the East Village location, so I’ll still share the differences for reference.

Ambiance

The decor at the Long Island City location is pretty no frills. It feels they have two rooms: one “main” dining area and another dining area next to the window.

Summary

This place is one of Jean Georges’ new seafood-centric restaurant situated right at the corner of the Pier near South Street Seaport. This area has a tiny Boston like mall where people can shop and eat at some decent restaurants. The iPic theater is also here too.

The area is largely going through some sort of construction. The restaurant is located at the edge of the pier and overlooks the water facing towards the Brooklyn Bridge. In fact, just about everywhere in the restaurant you can see the Brooklyn Bridge without much obstruction. If you do try to make a reservation, I definitely think the second floor seating is more beautiful than the first.

I’ve never had Portuguese food other than the pastels, so this is the first for me. This special occasion was for a birthday and to try out a different type of cuisine that is largely not as popular as the mainstream French or Asian themed Michelin Star restaurants.

We got the tasting menu with wine pairing. The hosts were very nice in that we mentioned we’d like to just have wine pairing for 1 person and not the other, so that we can share since we’re not big drinkers. The hosts still gave us 2 glasses and poured smaller samples. I am pretty sure if I had the wine pairing to myself, I would be drunk before I reached the end due to my inability to have the enzymes to process alcohol.

Katsu is some of my favorite Japanese food. It’s basically crispy, fried pork cutlets served with a savory sauce. We decided to try this restaurant because it was close to where we were in Midtown. This type of food generally is not overly expensive like other Japanese foods, and it’s pretty filling too. And for whatever reason, the pork cutlets are always really good and hearty too. I’ve also been able to come back to this restaurant several times solo and was able to be seated without much issues.

Summary

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.

Summary

This apparently is one of Jean Georges Vongerichten’s upscale farm-fresh eatery, and it has a Latin American fusion influence. We came here without reservations on a weekday night and were seated at the communal table.

The spring pea guacamole with warm crunchy tortillas was actually pretty good. The chips themselves were nicely salted, and the big tortilla that came with the guacamole was more crunchy than the latter. The split pea guacamole had a nice fresh texture. I wish there was more citrus, but all in all a good start. The birthday friend I came here with thought it was amusing to interrupt my pictures during the n-times I took this picture. This one was the best of the collection of pics I took for this course.

Summary

I’m not a big fan of venturing out to deep Queens. The trains out here are probably not as bad as going into Manhattan, but it sure feels bad. The E trains today were barely running, and the R trains were making local stops going towards Flushing.

However, today was one of those days where we felt like grubbing some all you can eat hot pot. Instead of Chinese style, we heard of this place in Jackson Heights that was Thai style. It was pretty interesting.

Summary

This place has a pretty decent ambiance.

The yuzu margarita was surprisingly pretty good. If you haven’t had yuzu before and like citrus, I recommend you get this if it’s available. I just checked their website’s drink menu, and it’s not on there. This drink wasn’t strong at all, and had a really really good before and after taste. I would drink this over any regular margarita any day.

Summary

This place is located in the Upper East, and arguably walkable from the MET.

The spiedino di gamberetti was OK to me. Nothing really memorable, but they gave you a decent amount of shrimp.

The antipasto misto was actually pretty good, and they gave a decent variety of meats and cheese. For 2 people, this was quite filling.

The pappardelle al ragu di vitello was good as expected. The pasta could have been cooked just a tad less, but the sauce it sat in was pretty good. The cheese on top was freshly grated by the server.