Kenka, one of the many Japanese restaurants along St. Marks in the East Village, looks like a hole-in-the-wall type of restaurant when you walk by:
Chris and I went during the winter and didn’t find the food to be anything special (I had the salmon belly and Chris had a combination platter – both were not even worth mentioning), but we decided to give the place a second try. The menu is quite large and has a ton of options for everyone, so we decided to order some small dishes and share. The place is ALWAYS packed since they offer a lot of little dishes and a large assortment of Japanese sake and beer. The restaurant has a great variety of people on any given night, so expect to wait at least 15 minutes before getting seated.
We started off with Japanese curry:
The curry was smooth and a little spicy (the way I like it) but the ratio of curry to rice was 2:1. Stinks! Also, the curry was lukewarm on a busy night, meaning it was sitting around for a while (or they just don’t heat it up). It reminded me of the curry from the Japanese supermarket on 41st and Madison with its big chunks of carrots and potatoes. I’d order it again (I mean, it was only $5!).
Our second dish was a ramen soup:
The ramen noodles were cooked perfectly, the broth wasn’t too salty, and there was a large piece of pork to munch on. It was great! Chris even thought the ramen was better than Momofuku’s – gasp!
Our third dish was a pancake with squid, beef, and pork shavings:
The dish wasn’t executed well; the pancake was DRENCHED in different sauces (teriyaki sauce that was way too sweet/tart and mayonnaise that was too thick) and the pancake was too doughy and undercooked, making the dish a huge disaster.
Overall, Kenka kind of redeemed themselves; the service was prompt, the food was decent, and the bill was under $20. It’s definitely a place to get drinks and have snacks, but not a place I’d go for a solid meal.
I headed to The Capital Grille for a business lunch and semi-enjoyed the dry-aged steaks. I started off with the lobster bisque:
Huge chunks of lobster in a creamy bisque that tasted like it was whipped. The soup was creamy but not dense – very light and airy, surprisingly.
My co-worker ordered the wedge as an appetizer:
A huge WEDGE of lettuce with bleu cheese, bacon bits, and tomatoes. She said it was tasty – it looked like a huge mess to me.
For my main course, I ordered the Kona Crusted Dry Aged Sirloin with Caramelized Shallot Butter:
A healthy dose of butter, wouldn’t you say? It was a little salty because there was such a huge glob of butter on top of the steak, but the Kona coffee didn’t add to the steak’s taste. I thought it was prepared well, but the seasoning might have been too much – I drank 3 iced teas because it was so salty.
Two of my co-workers ordered sirloins with mashed potatoes:
The mashed potatoes tasted whipped and buttery (and I love it when they keep the skin in the mix) but it was definitely too salty. The entire meal tasted like it was dipped in salt water before it was served to us.
One of the guys we took to lunch is a vegetarian (I had no idea) so he ordered fries:
I felt bad, but I guess he wasn’t that hungry anyway.
For dessert, we ordered the coconut cream pie:
Light and fluffy with a wonderfully buttery pie crust. I’m not a huge fan of coconut, but the taste was light enough that the pie was enjoyable.
I ordered the creme brulee with a side of berries:
They definitely didn’t skimp on the berries, but the creme brulee wasn’t custardy enough for me. It wasn’t watery, but it just didn’t solidify enough for it to be truly enjoyable.
The last dessert was their own chocolate ice cream:
It looked delicious and I didn’t have a chance to sample it, but my coworker ate all of it, so I’m guessing it was good.
The Capital Grille is a great place for a business lunch, but their food is just too salty for me to actually enjoy what I’m eating. If they used less salt overall, I think it would be SO much better.
By
grace.g.yang
· August 27, 2007
Under:
Asian,
Dinner,
K-town 
I love Korean food. Sometimes I kid that I’m actually Korean since I love their food so much. ^_^ I used to go to Seoul Garden once a week when I lived right by K-town, but now it’s only on special occasions. I went with Josh a couple weeks ago (I ate so much crap while he was here I don’t know how I’m still walking right now). He wanted to try Korean food, so I took him to one of my favorite restaurants along the strip of restaurants on 32nd. One of the many reasons I love Korean food is because they always give SO many side dishes (ban chan). My favorite from the night:
It’s made from mung bean paste and is quite plain by itself, but that’s why you add soy sauce, sesame oil, and chili sauce. When my mom makes it, she also adds apple cider vinegar and cucumbers. I know it sounds incredibly weird, but it’s a healthy snack, I swear!
Since Josh had never had Korean food before, he ordered what I ordered – I stick to the Kimchi soup (usually kimchi chigae, but this time I ordered a combo, which is kimchi soup with short ribs):
My favorite part of the kimchi soup is cracking a raw egg into the soup…if you look closely, you can see the yolk cooking! The short ribs weren’t too fatty and you didn’t have to cook them at the table, which is a huge bonus because then your clothes don’t end up smelling like smoke afterwards. The meal was great (as usual) and I think it’s a safe bet for a solid Korean meal.
99 Miles to Philly’s cheese steaks are so awesome they’re probably better than the ones you get in Philadelphia (SO kidding…I’ve never had a cheese steak in Philly so I can’t really compare the two). Anyway, I love the cheese steaks from 99 Miles to Philly – the meat, wiz, and bread combo is heavenly:
The bread at 99 Miles to Philly is amazingly good – it’s similar to French bread, but it’s not as crunchy on the outside. I’d say it’s a cross between a baguette and hoagie bread (unless they’re the same). The cheese wiz, even though it’s incredibly bad for you, is SO good with the meat (who would’ve thought – cheese wiz with meat?!). YUM!
Top the meal off with some of their french fries – seasoned perfectly, just the right size, and always hot – even when we ordered the fries for delivery. I LOVE THIS PLACE!
I went to El Parador after hearing great things about their sangria, food, and atmosphere. We arrived around 9:30 on Saturday night to find the restaurant a little empty (the kitchen closes at 11 on Saturday’s). We were given menus and promptly ordered guacamole:
In my opinion, I make the best guacamole by mixing pico de gallo with an avocado or two 🙂 El Parador makes a great guac by keeping large chunks of the avocado intact and keeping it more avocado based than anything else. At some restaurants, I feel like you don’t even know what you’re eating because of all the crap they mix in with the avocado – at El Parador, they used just enough seasoning and tomatoes to keep the original flavor.
I ordered one of the specialties, the Mole Poblano, (apparently the National dish of Mexico) – complex, multi layered sauce with over 24 ingredients, served with a 1/2 of a chicken, stewed in mole:
They are definitely not stingy with their portions – my mole poblano came in a crock pot with three more large chicken pieces and lots of mole sauce. I thought the mole sauce was terrific because there were lots of different flavors mixed together. My chicken was tender and the sesame seeds sprinkled on top of the dish was a cute touch.
Chris ordered the fajitas:
The meat was well cooked (a nice medium rare) and I liked the bell peppers were soft and a good mix with the beef (although, would it kill them to de-seed all the peppers before cooking them? sheesh).
Ariel ordered the other house special, the Pollo Parador, which is 1/2 a chicken marinated for 24 hrs with their oldest secret recipe:
I thought the chicken was well flavored and tender, but Ariel thought the chicken was a little dry. Maybe the piece he offered me was the BEST PIECE OF THE ENTIRE CHICKEN. 🙂
Ariel’s friend, Darius, ordered the Rib Eye with Chipotle – Grilled 24 oz center cut rib eye rubbed in chipotle and garlic adobo and roasted seasonal vegetables:
Darius is a huge fan of chipotle and he loved the steak. He ate it all, too!
El Parador is probably the best Mexican food I’ve had in the city, although, after dinner, I realized that I don’t really like “authentic” Mexican food…I prefer Taco Bell, Chipotle, and sometimes Qdoba. Out of all the places we’ve tried so far, El Parador is at the top of my list, although, there’s a taco place I still have to try in Midtown – it’s in an office building around 49th, I think. After I go there, I’ll let you know if I’m ever going to have Mexican in NY again.
