Last Updated: August 26, 2009.

-Otafuku
-Decibel

List
Accademia di Vino
Baoguette
Beard Papa Sweets Cafe
Ch-An Teahouse
Decibel
Kyotofu
May Chan Ramen & Robatayaki
Otafuku
Robataya
Su Ra The King's Meal
T-Kettle
Washoku Cafe

Related Links
http://hubpages.com/hub/NYC-Dessert

240 East 9th St at 2nd Ave
http://www.sakebardecibel.com/

Walking down Second Ave one day, I noticed this Japanese sign hanging off a wall reading でしべる. I had no idea what that meant, and the hiragana through me off. I then saw the translation reading "Decibel", and while the reading made more sense, I still haven't figured out why they call it "Decibel".

Anyway, the stairs lead down to this inconspicuous door. Presenting to you a very speakeasy-feel, which is why I decided to just throw it up there on the list, you walk in and you find yourself in the most authentic izakaya (Japanese pub) atmosphere. You initially see a sake bar with a long bench, accessible only from the 2 ends. Being a first timer noob, I sat there thinking, "Wow, this is pretty small, but cozy." It was only after I noticed some crowd noise coming from around the corner where I thought the kitchen was that I realized there's actually more to the place than just this bench.

I walked around the corner only to find a quaint back room with another bar, tables, and a lively izakaya crowd. I felt at home. You won't find an atmosphere much like this anywhere else in the city.

They have an astounding assortment of sakes and a clever mix of shochu cocktails such as the "Bloody Mariko" which is just shochu+tomato juice. They offer an assortment of izakaya tapas like unagi (eel) or okonomiyaki. Though I do have to say that the edamame was poorly prepared, but hey, it's all about the feel right?

The huge downside is that as witty as the names are, the drinks are poorly made. I'm not much of a sake connoisseur, but I know a poor cocktail when I taste one. Having talked up the idea of having my friends try the common Japanese drinks such as ume-hi (plum cocktail) or lemon-hi (lemon cocktail), I was shocked to experience something much like the scene from "Shanghai Kiss" where Liam Liu orders a chocolate martini at an upscale bar in Shanghai. The bartender brings him a dry gin martini and drops a small block of chocolate into the drink, calling it a chocolate martini. Much like that, what we received was a glass of water/shochu mix with a piece of lemon or umeboshi (plum) inside.

On the upside, it's definitely a great place to knock a few rounds and catch up on old times. Cheers!

236 East 9, btwn. 3rd & 2nd Ave

You know those much-raved about food venues that are often described as "a hole in the wall, but absolutely delicious"? Well, Otafuku may not serve you artisnal entrees, but they certainly whip up a tasty, nostalgic batch of takoyaki (baked octopus) and okonomiyaki (Japanese grilled pancake) commonly served at food stands at exciting Japanese festivals and celebrations.

What's interesting to note is that Otafuku is actually the name of the sauce that they use with their food.Though, I do have trouble differentiating between Otafuku special sauce and tonkatsu sauce, one whiff of the grilled foods, and it's like I'm back in Tokyo. Great snack to grab on the go!

Oh, I guess I should mention, for those of you who are easily confused, the menu's broken down quite simply. You really only have two options: takoyaki or okonomiyaki, and you decide on a combination of the two. Combo A, B, and C are laid out on the menu :p

230 East 9th St, 2nd fl., btwn. 3rd & 2nd Ave
http://www.chaanteahouse.com/

Ever look for that slightly more sophisticated than Starbucks scene to play catch up with your good friends? Cha-An Teahouse offers just that sort of sought after ambiance. Offering a cozy, classy touch, you can enjoy the small, tasteful Japanese snacks or their fragrant variety of tea.

While I've passed by this place dozens of times on my way to show apartments in the East Village, I had always been curious about what this teahouse had to offer, but not enough to ever step foot. Too bad I lacked much of an appreciation for tea because it is here that I found that they serve zenzai, one of the food items, the other being wafuu hamburger steak, that I have been craving ever since coming back from Japan.

Zenzai is a type of red bean soup commonly served cold or warm as dessert in Japan. Certainly we can find red bean soup in many Chinese restaurants, but those dessert items are quite plain. Zenzai offers more than just red bean soup. It usually includes ingredients such as ice cream, shiratama (mochi), fruit, shaved ice, and condensed milk. Yeah, may not have been the best made zenzai or seem all that complicating, but I'm glad to finally get another taste of Japan that I have been desiring for a long time.

Do note that it's not a raw egg in there. That's a chestnut, or 'kuri' in Japanese.

Beard Papa Sweets Cafe
2167 Broadway at 77th St
18East 41st St btwn. 5th & Madison Ave
5 Carmine St at 6th Ave
740 Broadway at Astor Place


With multiple locations opened up in the city, it's a fast new industry of specialty desserts. The balance of Beard Papa's original creampuffs is a pleasant blend of being not too sweet fluffy pastry shells and deliciously sweet custard filling dusted with powdered sugar.

Though they do offer various flavors such as green tea, mocha, chocolate, and eclaire, the original vanilla is by far their specialty. I had 5 of these today, one of each flavor, so if I turn down your offer to join you in devouring these tasty delights, forgive me, I'm stuffed.

Accademia di Vino
1081 Third Ave., New York, NY 10065
nr. 64th St.
www.accademiadivino.com


Accademia di Vino, or the Academy of Wine, brings you nothing short of what is expected from its sybaritic title. Walk down into the cellar-like decor just around the block from the prestigious Midtown Center on 64th St and feel the ambiance of an Italian setting. This is definitely a place where you would indulge in multiple entrees and spend a good, relaxing amount of time as you stuff yourself full of the originally tailored dishes and read through the journal full of wine.

While I may not know the names of everything I ate, I can tell you that the meat was juicy, tender, and flavorful both inside and out.

The pastas did not present anything new, but the Asiatic influence of using Kobe beef and sashimi in the mix livened the palette. It would have been nice to have the staff slightly more attentive, but in that busy, robust setting, the boisterous conversations keeps you engaged in the dinner talk.

To conclude the night, the mix of dessert items were fabulous. The nutella pizza was a great complement to the various fruit items. Unfortunately, panna cotta, while delicious, was nothing out of the ordinary. Accademia di Vino is certainly worth a visit, especially for the wine lovers!

Washoku Cafe
9 East 37th St.
btwn. 5th & Madison Ave
http://www.washokuny.com/

IT IS ABOUT TIME that we had some authentic Japanese comfort foods! Don't eat any more of that Yoshinoya crap. This is FAST, it's DELICIOUS, and it's ridiculously CHEAP! Not to mention that they accept credit cards. Their donburi (rice bowl) is $8 and below, the lunch boxes are $4.99, and their food tastes better than any other venue at this value.

They opened up recently in January, and they present to you an inviting Japanese cafe environment with a super friendly staff. Walk in, and you'd be surprised at how clean this place is despite having such affordable meals. Try walking into Oh Taisho and saying that!

I was dying to try their Japanese style hamburger steak after having read about the place in the Chopsticks magazine, but they ran out by the time I got there :\ Japanese style hamburger steak is the type of comfort food that I've been craving for such a while.Now, they need to add in Omu-raisu (omlette rice). They listened to their customers and recently added Curry Rice to their selection. Oh, I forgot to mention, the portions are much larger than the $6 rice bowls you get at Saint's Alp! Go check it out for yourself. Lunch is THE prime time to eat at this place.

119 Second Ave at 7th St

This restaurant was a total disappointment. You know, robatayaki is supposed to look more like this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxfmYfFjFEM like the Yakitori Taisho atmosphere.

What you get is this poor idea of creating a slightly sophisticated look

They've lost out on the whole concept, and really, all I see in this place is watered down ramen soup with grilled skewers at a slight premium over the same dishes you could get at Yakitori Taisho, except not as delicious.

I hate to bash, but from what I understand, this restaurant is pretty much Korean-influenced Japanese food. I mean, the menu says it all. I don't think I've ever seen a Japense ramen restaurant that serves japchae.

The May Chan Ramen was a watery seafood soup, much like a lot of other Korean dishes you see in ktown. There wasn't even an option of miso or shio based ramen. The basics of ramen!

And the tsukemen soup base was quite bland. Where's the MSG at??

Yeah..what a disappointment. And I thought we'd get something new to the old village. Maybe that 9th St Robatayaki restaurant will deliver something fresh.

26 Saint Marks Place btwn. Third & Second Ave

T-Kettle offered some pretty decent bubble tea. Of course I always guage by the original flavored, black milk bubble tea, and I'd have to say that it's hardly that much different from Saint's Alp. The preference over Saint's Alp is that the size of the cups are totally different! Saint's Alp regular size is this tiny Mr. Sippee cup, whereas, T-Kettle offers legitimate adult size cups for roughly the same price.

It's a shame though. Just passed by the place tonight and found T-Kettle, along with BBQ Chicken, closed down. The reason? "Closed by the Helath & Hygeine department for operating without a permit." Shocking isn't it? How does the place operate so long and so prominently and then all of a sudden get shut down because of a permit issue? I'm curious to know.

231 E. 9th St., New York, NY 10003
nr. Stuyvesant St.

For some reason this "robataya" style dining is the new Japanese theme in the East Village.
For those of you who are not familiar with this dining style, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAlm8Zd3Vrk

In place of what used to be Col Legno (http://nymag.com/listings/restaurant/col-legno/) is a new Robataya restaurant opening up. Funny thing is, no matter how often I've passed by this place on the street, I never noticed Col Legno or Robataya. Strange how change can happen in the blink of an eye and the past becomes a mere blur.

705 Ninth Ave., New York, NY 10019
nr. 48th St.
http://www.kyotofu-nyc.com/

Does the scene look familiar to anyone? The contemporary look of this Japanese dessert spot is from none other than Hiro Tsuruta, the very same interior designer for the ever so popular dessert bar, ChikaLicious. White walls, large, glass windows, and a very clean feel. Fusing Eastern and Western flavors, Chef Ritsuko Yamaguchi presents a delicate touch of artistic dessert excellence.

Offering food for $10 and below and dessert items for as much as $17, this boutique cafe brings you the elegant feel of relaxation. Oh, and in case you didn't quite catch it, this place specializes in turning your dinner tofu into a sweet mix of flavors.

37 St. Mark's Place
(between 2nd Ave & 1st Ave)
New York, NY 10003

If you haven't tried Baoguette, then you better get your self over there with a 10 in hand as that's all you'll need to chow down a gratifying lunch. I'll admit I haven't tried their sandwiches, as this was my first visit, and the first item on the menu that caught my eye was of course the Pho Special. You know how you like to judged a Thai restaurant based on their pad thai? Well, I just had to try their pho. To be honest, I'm actually quite disappointed in that. If they're going to compete against Pho32 in a couple months in their pho noodles, they've got a long way to go.

The soup was flavorful, but the noodles weren't as soft as I had expected and the meat was not as tender. But that's just one corner of their menu. The sandwiches look, smell, and I'm sure they taste just as delicious and for under $6, you get a loaf full of meats and veggies to your liking. Even the British guy to my left really enjoyed the classic Baoguette.

And on those beautiful summer days, they open up the seating area so that you can enjoy the fresh air of Saint Marks and absorb the excitement that this street always brings. Plus, you get plenty of eye candy ;]

105 E. 9th St., New York, NY 10003
nr. Fourth Ave.

Featuring artistic dishes and a traditional feel, Su Ra is designed to make you feel like a king! It's a nice gimmick to have the waiters and waitresses dressed in traditional Korean clothing, but really, that's the extent of the theme. I wasn't too impressed with what I ordered.

The haemul pajeon (seafood pancake) was pretty good. It had original flavor, but a tad bit expensive for my taste. I was surprised that I was able to taste anything at all being sick and such. What really disappointed me was the tofu soup. One of the lamest tofu soups I've ever had. Had a watery taste with tofu too firm for what I'm used to, and is almost comparable to the soonduboo I had in Savannah. I don't know if it's the lack of my ability to taste or if it was the soup, but really did not get much flavor out of it. The staff is friendly, so even when asked how the food was, of course I had to smile and patronize.

Just those two dishes ran me a $20 lunch, and that was with a 20% discount too. -_-; I actually assumed the haemul pajeon was somewhere around $6. oops...