Gimme Shelter

Neighborhood nostalgia: East Village, circa 1979, Fruit Exchange corner of 1st Ave + E 7th St.
Courtesy Michael Sean Edwards.

I've been lax on posting.

To be honest, my obsessive pursuit of great neighborhood eats recently took a back seat to the worst activity known to New Yorkers: the apartment search. It's all consuming and soul destroying. Especially today when the rental inventory is next to nil and the prices are sky high. I came this close to leaving my beloved East Village, where "value for money" and "apartments" don't appear in the same sentence. Even though it's always been my home while living in New York for the past 5 years.

But after a month of brokers, tears, lack of appetite, and sleepless nights, on the day I literally put in an application on a Gramercy apartment, wondering how in the world can I continue an EV food blog when I don't even live here, my phone rang. Management office. Brand new listing. Not on the market yet. There it was. In the heart of the hood. Near the police station. Around the corner from Empellon Cocina and The Toucan and the Lion, coincidentally top of my list of hottest must trys.

In the end, my stomach won out. It's time to feast again. The old neighborhood is waiting.

Sao Mai Comforting East Village Vietnamese

Perfect for sharing: Sao Mai Khai Vi platter

While unassuming from the outside, Sao Mai, which translates into 'early morning star,' is top of mind now for an East Village Vietnamese fix. Just a block from my favorite Vietnamese carry out BaoBQ, Sao Mai offers traditional fare in a warm dine in setting.

Sao Mai means 'early morning star'

Softly lit interiors have been upgraded from the former drab but popular vegetarian restaurant Quantum Leap. Consistency, freshness and service keep me coming back. Did I mention great value? Packed on a recent Saturday night, the reputation has caught on since its December opening.

Start with the delicious house appetizer ($16.00), a sharing platter of make your own lettuce wraps. Fill them with a selection of grilled meats, pickled veggies and freshly plucked mint leaves. For something more substantial, the bun Sao Mai ($9), rice vermicelli noodles scattered with grilled shrimp, pork and spring rolls, is especially good.

Lunch special: grilled pork banh mi

Other tasty basics range from a steaming bowl of pho (traditional noodle soup) to soft shell crabs ($16) and salt and pepper lobster ($24). At lunch only, the selection of banh mi is also worth trying. And Sao Mai just started a weekday $10 lunch special including a choice of appetizer, main and drink.  There's no liquor license, so instead opt for a creamy avocado smoothie.

203 1st Ave
Between 12th+ 13th Sts.
212 358 8880
Mon - Sun 11am - 11pm
Delivery available

Five Reasons to Hit Astoria's Butcher Bar

Thick smoked pork belly, aka BACON

Here's what's so compelling about Astoria's new BBQ joint Butcher Bar, aside from the obvious organic, grass fed, locally sourced meat selection. 

Meats by the pound

Meats can be ordered by the 1/4 pound.
For a table of carnivores, customizing is key. If I want a 1/2 lb of juicy double smoked burnt ends (and I highly recommend you do too) and my dining companions want the same amount of beautifully crisped smoked pork belly, we're easily accommodated.

The dry rubbed smoked pork rib platter is also worth ordering. Ribs are on the lean side and benefit from a squirt of tangy BBQ sauce made from scratch. Sides are all respectable, but the meat is the star.

Pick your own BBQ

It's a butcher shop as well, one that will actually cook what you buy on the spot.
Hello, pick-your-own-steak-option. The fresh meat selection rotates daily. But you can literally point to the biggest pork chop, or thickest bone-in rib eye to have cooked to order.

The food's so good, there are plans to expand across the street this summer.
With only seating for 20, Butcher Bar is crowded nightly. So this summer, the butcher stays put and the dining room takes a walk across the street to bigger digs. Everyone's happy.

There are no freezers on site.
Clearly freshness matters here.

Every meal ends with a slice of warm apple pie on the house.
Mmmmmm.

37-08 30th Ave, Astoria
Mon - Thurs, Sun, 11:30 am - 11 pm
Fri - Sat, 11:30 am - midnight
718 606 8140

Hooked on Baja Style Dorado Tacos

Fresh Baja fish tacos

Ensenada, Mexico. Famed port city. Plentiful fish. Home of the heavenly Baja fish taco.

It may be 2,500 miles from New York City, but thanks to the recently opened Dorado Tacos, the authentic street snack has landed just south of bustling Union Square.

I'm hooked. This is fast, fresh Mexican food at its finest. And the Baja Original fish taco, impossibly priced at $2.95, is a Cheap Eats triumph. Two freshly made corn tortillas cradle a meaty hunk of beer battered Atlantic pollock, shredded cabbage, pickled onions, salsa fresca (tomatoes, onions, cilantro) and crema. And a squirt of lime. Texture, crunch, a burst of flavor. Refined simplicity.

Spicy pickles include jicama and jalapeno

The grilled fish version ($3.25), topped with a tomatillo and avocado salsa, is a delicious lighter option. Meal sized quesadillas ($4.95-$6.50) are stuffed with gooey cheeses and fillings such as homemade chorizo, and spicy portabellas. Add a side of Mexican-style hot pickled veggies. And wash it down with a ruby red jamaica fresca, house infused hibiscus leaves, sugar and water. 

Tiny Dorado Tacos is the offshoot of the original Boston area hotspot. As owner Michael Brau reveals, the secret's in the prep. "We spend all day dicing tomatoes and onions, hand chopping cilantro and serrano chiles, zesting and slicing limes and oranges for marinades, shredding cabbage and jicama for tacos, grilling red peppers and zucchini, scooping avocado, and grating cheeses for quesadillas." It's paying off.

It also makes a welcome lunch alternative to Num Pang, the excellent Cambodian sandwich shop across the street, when the lines are unbearable.


28 E 12th St near University Place
Mon - Sat, 11 am - 10 pm
Sun, 11 am - 9 pm
212 627 0900

Eating Beaver

I went to a fascinating lecture titled "Strange Meat" this week hosted by the always enlightening Brooklyn Brainery.

Here's what I learned. There's a world of strange meat out there. But 'strange' is relative. Case in point: when Charles Dickens made his first visit to the US in 1842, he was a minor superstar and heart throb. The grand City Hotel in NYC threw a lavish dinner in his honor. The third course of the sumptuous menu included roast bear. Bear was a common meat in the 1800s. Who would think of eating bear now?

For that matter, who would eat fermented, rancid shark meat? Or feast on moose muffle, the bit between the nose and overhanging upper lip? Or drink snake wine (with a cobra in the bottle, not a measly worm)? What famous French president wanted his final meal to be a fragile songbird, a delicacy now outlawed?

It's all relative.

During the event, we naturally got to sample Strange Meat. My friend Yasmin took the above photo, prompting me to ask on Facebook if people could name the meat. The responses were impressive: moose face, Rocky Mountain oysters, horse, Soylent Green (clever), groundhog, wild boar, elk, squirrel, sloth, porcupine and hyena. It was actually beaver.

It had been slow cooked and the meat was the consistency of pulled pork. But it tasted tinny, like canned beef. So there. I've now tasted beaver.

The next Masters of Social Gastronomy Series lecture will be on candy. Let's see what disturbing facts we'll uncover there.

Does Pok Pok Wing Deserve the Raves?

All hail Portlandia for bringing us the finest wings in NYC

Why should Korean fried chicken get all the love?

Portland-based Pok Pok Wing has just changed the local playing field with its first NYC outpost. The tiny Thai wing factory took over the old LES pork-bun haven Baohaus (which moved to bigger digs on E 14th St.). And the early buzz has been not just great but phenomenal. Add my two sticky, chili-crusted thumbs-up to the mix.

Try the free pandan water

Spicy Asian wings are an all-time favorite of mine. Crisp in Chicago holds the trophy. I even begged the owner to open in NYC to no avail. Instead, he just went on to win best in the country awards. Which doesn't help us New Yorkers.

Never mind, we now have Pok Pok. Wings are marinated overnight in fish sauce, sugar and garlic. Then deep fried and tossed in another coat of the same marinade kicked up with optional chili paste.

Ike, right, and his inspired recipe

Owner Andy Ricker's inspiration came from his travels throughout Thailand. Returning to Portland, he turned to Vietnamese friend Ike to perfect the flavors. The result, Ike's Wings, is a triumph, with the addictive blend of crispy, sticky sweet, salty, and spicy elements.

Wash 'em down with a mild drinking vinegar ($4) or soothing complimentary pandan water. Pandan is a fragrant tropical plant popular in Southeast Asia. Leaves are soaked in water to create a soft, slightly nutty flavor, perfect for tempering the chicken's saltiness and heat.

First timers should go for the full order of wings ($12.49) - six spicy or regular. They're too good to share, so don't even try. You can share the plenty of Fresh Naps on hand.

Brooklynites, don't despair. Pok Pok NY, a full service restaurant in Red Hook, is in the works this winter.

137 Rivington St. (between Norfolk + Suffolk Sts.)
212-477-1299

Craving BaoBQ

EDITOR'S NOTE: CLOSED

Asian BBQ comes to the East Village

Ever enterprising restaurateur Michael Bao Huynh (Baoguette, Mikey's Burger) strikes again. And I'm hooked. BaoBQ, his latest EV cheap eats dining concept, celebrates Southeast Asian barbecue, a favorite of Huynh's.

"In Vietnam, it's everywhere," he explains of his native home. I can see why.

Since its quiet opening just before Christmas, I've been a regular. I crave the chicken. A lot. Instead of writing about it, I've just been eating it.

Thai smoked BBQ chicken

BBQ pork chops with dirty rice

Two styles of BBQ chicken are house specials: lemongrass marinated Thai (my favorite), and chili glazed Vietnamese. Both are smoked and finished by char grilling over apple wood. The meat just clings to perfectly crisped skin as it falls off the bone.

Then there are the addictive homemade dipping sauces. Classic Vietnamese nuoc cham is mildly spicy and sticky, and Huynh's own "Super Bao" hot sauce lives up to its name.

Vietnamese grilled pork chops are also bone gnawingly good. The roasted cauliflower, and sticky rice top my list of mostly traditional sides which nicely compliment the meat. The underdressed som tam (papaya salad) could use more tang. Noodle dishes and other grilled items, including Korean bulgogi, round out the menu.

A new favorite BBQ with a twist

Huynh is a very physical presence at BaoBQ these days. But, not surprisingly, his mind is already on his next neighborhood venture opening in March: Mikey's Cheesesteak. No doubt the classic sandwich will get a Baoified twist.

Note: A few months ago, I wrote about best East Village deliveries for $10. BaoBQ now tops this list.
 

229 First Ave
(between 13th + 14th Sts)
212 475 7011
Delivery available
Average entree $9