In Search of...Izakayas, Ramen Joints, Sake Bars

Lately I've been pretty bummed out about job prospects. However, I still find time to dance my butt off! Current faves getting maximum play time include: "Girls on the Dance Floor" by Far East Movement, "Sorry Sorry" by Super Junior and anything by Big Bang and Kero One (I'm in love with "When the Sunshine").

Contemplating on what makes me happy, I realized that my life is marked by moments of poetic lyricism (spoken word, open mics), musical hysteria (from acid jazz to electronica to nu soul) and, of course - FOOD.

Which brings me to my main point. Lately I've been scouting for some quality home-style Japanese curry, authentic ramen bowls and izakayas. Here's a list of joints I plan to hit up in the near future:

Go!Go!Curry
Manhattan/Midtown
273 W 38th St
(between 7th Ave & 8th Ave)
New York, NY 10018
Highlights: All things Curry! Grand Slam ($12.50) - two katsus, two sausages, a shrimp and a boiled egg with rice; Hideki Matsui chips; Free topping every 5th, 15th & 25th of the month. Additional toppings: fukujinzuke (pickle), cheese, natto ($1-2 ea.).

Sake Bar Satsko
Manhattan/East Village
202 E 7th Street
(between Avenue B & Avenue C)
New York, NY 10009
Highlights: Sake bombs; inventive appetizers for both meat eaters and non-meat eaters (edamame, spicy tuna roll, siu mai, gyozas); $28 for the 6 shot sake tasting every Tuesday and Wednesday, which comes with free appetizers.

Ippudo NY
Manhattan/East Village
65 4th Ave
(between 2nd Ave & 8th St)
New York, NY 10003
Highlights: Akamaru Modern Ramen ("the original tonkotsu" with Ippudo's special sauce, miso paste and fragrant garlic oil; slices of simmered spicy Berkshire pork, cabbage, onions, kikurage mushrooms & scallions) and Ginga Kogen beer.

Kasadela
Manhattan/East Village
647 E 11th St
(between Avenue B & Avenue C)
New York, NY 10009
Highlights: Tebaski (Japanese-style chicken wings); rock shrimp tempura; hijikki salad (seaweed and watercress); grilled squid; sake.

Otafuku
Manhattan/East Village
236 E 9th St
(between 2nd Ave & Stuyvesant St)
New York, NY 10003
Highlights: Japanese street food - Okonomiyaki (pancake with savory ingredients); takoyaki (octopus balls).

Soba-ya
Manhattan/East Village
229 E 9th St
(between 2nd Ave & 3rd Ave)
New York, NY 10003
Highlights: cold buckwheat soba; black sesame ice cream; milk tofu; Lunch box - Nimono (simmered vegetables with soup stock and soy sauce, Dashimaki (omelette).

Umi No Ie
Manhattan/East Village
86 E 3rd St.
New York, NY 10079
Highlights: Goto udon noodles; House curry; Japanese meatball with sunny-side up egg on top; shochu; dry sake; Sapporo reserve.

Minca
Manhattan/East Village
536 E. 5th Street
(between Avenue A & Avenue B)
New York, NY 10009
Highlights: Pork broth ramen and Charsu Shoyu ramen.




Have I whet your taste buds enough yet? If you're interested in hitting up any or all of the listed restaurants with me, leave some comments below.

Photos courtesy of Yummyinthetummy.

Day 6: Soba & Misono Wok

Hot soba.

Julia made me some yummy hot soba in a light broth for lunch. Even as a kid, I loved nori, the ocean-tinged salty crunch of seaweed.

Tuesday (3/24) I listened to my friend Katie and two other B.U. students as they shared their first-hand internship experience with Uganda in front of a crowd of sixty or so students and adults. They spoke about how their hearts broke for the Ugandan people. The event was called INJustice and included an interactive visual and video exhibit where you could see, read and hear about the plight of the child soldiers and the tragic lives of those in Uganda. After the awareness event, we headed to Misono Wok at Super 88 to quell our ravenous appetites.

My Tukbokki.

This is my tukbokki (rice cakes) with dumplings ($6.95). Usually when you see food drenched in red, it's code word for HOT HOT HOT. I was right.

My mouth felt like it was literally on fire as my tastebuds were sparked (electrified?) with each proceeding bite. I imagined myself a warrior heading into a brush fire forest. Not the best imagery, but it recalls another similar experience...the time I tried this stir-fried squid dish at Buk Kyung that was covered in red hot sauce. Ojinguh bokkeum.

After I ate my fill, I closed the lid and planned to take home the rest for later. Not four steps out of the eatery, I felt a sticky substance oozing through my gloves. Uh. YEAH. I thought, It can't be...but it was.

I assessed the damage. Worse than I expected: a viscose, oily red pepper sauce not only on my gloves but all over the front of my coat, hoodie, jeans and -- worst of all -- my white button-down shirt. Now the only reason I even wore that particular shirt that day is because I had run out of laundry. Talk about bad luck...

Despite my accidental run-in with hot sauce, I still savored every bite of that tukbokki. No hard feelings.

Rachel's Spicy Tuna.

Hannah's Kim Bap.

Dave's Kimchi Fried Rice.

Dave's heart was a flutter after consuming the kimchi fried rice. Sweat it out, my friend. Sweat it out. SO worth it.


Rating: 4 out of 5 stars. I only wish I hadn't spilled hot sauce all over myself. Bleach, please come to my rescue.


Locations:
Buk Kyung II
151 Brighton Av
Allston, MA 02134

Misono Wok
1095 Commonwealth Av
Boston, MA 02215
617.783.9888

Day 3: Valleys and deserts and peaks o my

My dear readers (or whoever reads this thing), my apologies for the delayed entry. I assure you that I have not been kidnapped by midgets and shipped to Siberia in a sealed drum, neither have I vanished from the blogosphere. My lil' laptop-that-could has been in the "repair shop" (AKA the able hands of my uncle) for routine maintenance. Not to fear: it is up and running again. And so are the pictures.

Los Angeles has been treating me well, even if has rained the past four days in a row (the alternately incensed and surprised reactions of native Angelenos is quite amusing, I must say). In any case, I will do my best to recap:

Since it was a sunny 82 degrees, we decided to trek out to Venice Beach. Before hitting the sand, we stopped at Yashima, a Japanese restaurant with savory udon and soba noodles. My cousin told me that she first heard of this place from her cousin years ago. Kyle had a cute kids' meal that was served in a three-layer interlocking bowl that was shaped like a baby cub. I thought it was an ingenius idea. Oh, the Japanese and their innovativeness. Most of the clientele looked like young adult co-workers on a lunch break.

I ordered una don (eel over rice) combo, which came with a choice of hot or cold soba -- I opted for the cold. Daikon, seaweed, tempura flakes, wasabi and a small green bottle of soba sauce accompanied the dish. I emptied out the tempura and used that container for my soba sauce, since I wanted to do it the 'traditional' way: Dunk a serving of soba into the sauce and slurp it up real quick. I had a grand time trying out my technique (sorry, my picture didn't come out right, but you can get an idea of how it looked here).

My cousin ordered the tempura udon, a classic choice.

Venice beach was a beautifully relaxing and peaceful time. I got to engage in one of my all-time favorite activities: people-watching. Bicyclists zipped by in massive numbers. It must be a popular pastime here. There's nothing better than laying out on a stretch of sand and letting all the distractions and cares of the day float away with the cry of the seagulls and the waves lapping on the shore. I took many pictures of the sea, beachcombers and palm trees. Everyone from wiry-yet-spry old white dudes to tattoo-sporting Latinos, college/high school students and an inordinate number of females jogging with their canine friends graced the beach.

P.S. I've attempted this entry three times and somehow my pictures refuse to integrate with the text today, so I will post the pics separately as I am running out of patience with this moody laptop. I swear, it has a mind of its own.