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Lower East Side/Chinatown: The Meatball Shop

Sun, 30 Oct 2011 10:42:18 +0000

The name doesn’t lie: You will find meatballs at the Meatball Shop—loads of them. Beef, spicy pork, chicken, and even a vegetable version. You pick a meatball, you pick a sauce (tomato, or a creamy Parmesan, or spicy beef, or mushroom gravy), and provolone or mozzarella, and it’s all piled onto a white or wheat hero. You can also go with a meatball-slider version, or a heftier “Meatball Smash” sandwich on a brioche bun. The only part of the name that’s misleading is “Shop.” There’s a full-fledged dining room here, albeit a small one, though you may opt to sit at the bar or grab your sandwich to go. On paper, the concept sounded a bit too niche; in reality, it’s a smash. Well-deserved: The meatballs, along with sides like a daily leafy green or the none-too-light risotto, polenta, or mashed potatoes, are just the thing for a spell of malaise, or a hangover, or too many lame protein bars.

The Meatball Shop: 84 Stanton St.; (212) 982-8895.

Prices/Features: Cheap/Casual.

Lower East Side/Chinatown: Kuma Inn

Sun, 30 Oct 2011 10:40:41 +0000

Pic courtesy of newyork.metromix.com

Kuma Inn somehow avoids the rampant douchebaggery (sorry, overused word but most appropriate here) of the surrounding restaurants and bars on Ludlow, Orchard, Stanton, and Rivington. Must have something to do with its almost-invisible perch one level up from the street. Walk up a narrow stairway to the second floor and you’ll find a buzzing room—and, alas, a wait on weekends. Filipino-American chef and owner King Phojanakong’s menu has an appealing mix of spicy-meaty Asian-inspired dishes (like sauteed Chinese sausage with Thai chili-lime sauce, or pan-fried pork tonkatsu with watercress salad) and lighter seafood or veg options (drunken spicy shrimp, seaweed salad). And everything’s on the cheaper side. Not massive portions, but enough—and perfect for sharing. Keep in mind that Kuma is BYO; corkage fees range from $1 for beer to $5 for wine, on up to $10 for a liter-and-a-half bottle of sake.

Kuma Inn. 113 Ludlow St. between Delancey and Rivington Sts.; (212) 353-8866.

Prices/Features: Cheap/Vegetarian-Friendly

Lower East Side/Chinatown: Grand Sichuan

Sun, 30 Oct 2011 10:38:25 +0000

The neon-lit Chinese spot Grand Sichuan, along the chaotic Bowery-Canal nexus, is not a first-date spot by any stretch—unless you want to prove your cheapness, or, well, your impeccable taste in Sichuan. Also, be warned: Communal tables only here. But of the multiple, confusingly related (or in some cases unrelated) Grand Sichuans in NYC, this is one of the best, consistently nailing dishes like salt-baked squid, eggplant in garlic sauce, spicy double-cooked pork, and prawns with chili sauce. On a recent Saturday night, a baseball-capped David Schwimmer was here with his family—but a celeb hang this is not. You might want to order two rounds of beer at once; the waitstaff can be slow to check back in, especially on madhouse weekend nights.

Grand Sichuan. 125 Canal St. between Bowery and Chrystie Sts.; (212) 625-9212.

Prices/Features: Cheap/Vegetarian-Friendly/Good for Groups

Lower East Side/Chinatown: Cheeky Sandwiches

Thu, 20 Oct 2011 16:25:46 +0000

Within weeks of opening, Cheeky already looked like a neighborhood fixture. It’s cramped and ever-so-slightly trashed on the inside—very New Orleans, and deeply welcome if you have a thing for Nola— but the kitchen counter is immaculate. And so are the heavenly po’boys, stuffed with fried oysters or fried shrimp or fried chicken (sense a theme?) or braised short ribs, and for the non-carnivores there’s a generous veggie muffaletta. More manna for New Orleans nostalgists: Zapps spicy Cajun potato chips, chicory coffee, beignets. You can eat in if you can scrounge up a free space and stool, but otherwise plan to drop by, pick up your food, and scarf it down as you wander this way-down-south corner of the LES.

Cheeky Sandwiches: 35 Orchard St. between Hester and Canal Sts.; no phone.

Prices/Features: Cheap/Casual.

Chinatown: Xi’an Famous Foods

Fri, 14 Oct 2011 17:11:46 +0000

Stop by Xi’an Famous Foods for the hand-pulled lamb noodles. Stay for the “spicy and tingly” lamb-face salad, the stewed pork “burger”, the liang pi “cold skin” noodles with sesame sauce and chili oil. Amazing what this tiny little storefront noodle stand can do, from pulling its own thick, stretchy, lusciously sopping noodles right at the counter, to frying up small English-muffin-like sandwiches piled high with stewed pork and cuminy lamb, and juggling a near-constant line. If it were just the novelty factor (lamb-face salad? Dude!), the crowds would have thinned out by now. But the noodles and all the slow-cooked lamb and pork permutations (spicy or cumin-tinged; hot or cold; in soups or salads or sitting on mountains of the handmade noodles) are spectacularly tasty. Just note: There’s no place to sit, unless you luck into one of the two cramped counter stools facing the window—and you don’t mind random passersby stopping and staring through the glass at you as you eat, which seems to be the way things roll at Xian. For more seating, hit one of the Flushing locations or the newer branch on St. Marks Place.

Xi’an Famous Foods: Chinatown: 88 East Broadway #106 at Forsyth St. (on Forsyth St. side of the bridge); no phone. East Village: 81 St. Marks Pl between First and Second Aves. Flushing: 41-28 Main Street Bsmt #36, and Flushing Mall, 133-31 39th Avenue #FC10.

Prices/Features: Cheap

Lower East Side/Chinatown: Sorella

Wed, 12 Oct 2011 10:14:57 +0000

Pic courtesy of TastingTable.com

At a friend’s awesome wedding in Missouri last summer, the designated hotel happened to be hosting a Tiny Treasures convention. What are Tiny Treasures? Very creepy little dolls that are meant to look like real babies; and terrifyingly, they do. So what does this have to do with the Allen Street Italian restaurant Sorella? Nothing, except that it too is a tiny treasure; but it’s not creepy or terrifying. It’s just cool. And delicious, and pretty damn affordable in these rocky times. The dishes, like grilled quail with bacon-cooked lentils or veal sweetbreads with quince-bacon marmalade, are mostly small-plates-oriented and priced to move, topping out at $15 (except for about three daily main-course specials). The pastas, like agnolotti stuffed with ricotta and walnut pesto, come in portions that are closer to what Italians actually eat when they eat pasta: small-ish but filling—if you take your time eating and savor every bite. If you want to carbo-load like a professional wrestler, you won’t feel sated here. But you will be won over by the narrow, chic bar room up front and the small dining room in back. Bonus: No bum-rush if you linger a bit without ordering dessert.

Sorella. 95 Allen St. between Broome and Delancey Sts.; (212) 274-9595.

Prices/Features: Moderately Priced/Vegetarian-Friendly/Good for Groups