Oh, the memories this Japanese joint brings back… A classic favorite of NYU students during my freshman year (partially because of the cheap, cheap food but mostly because of their blind eye towards underage drinking), I remember coming here every Thursday and Friday night while pledging in between exams. And then there were times when we came back twice within a night to a confused waitress that asked us, “Really?! Again?!”

Kenka still stands in the same spot on St. Marks, but the days of non-carding and underage drinking are over. Nowadays, for those of us that can drink legally, they’ve made drinking even cheaper. Where else in New York City can you get a 32 oz Sapporo on draft for only $5?! Heck, we couldn’t even buy a 40 for that price anywhere.

Amy is super excited. (And no, I did not photoshop that $5.00!! red sign into that menu leaflet!)

Actually, Amy agreed to pose since I was the designated photographer. At first, I didn’t realize that 32 oz was that big. The waitress came by and smacked the glass onto the wooden tabletop and our eyes widened. “You’re going to drink all of that?!” Amy inquired. “Um yeah, I hope so,” I responded. Thou shall not waste food beer.

We arrived around 9:15pm on a Saturday night to a long waiting list. Luckily it was just Amy and me because it looked like groups of three or more had to wait alot longer. Staring into Kenkas along the busy nightlife of St. Marks, Kenka epitomized that popular restaurant that you see in a Time Out Japan guidebook. Despite clearly having a heavy Japanese vibe, guests of all races aligned the wooden stools along the bar. It was refreshing to see non-Asians at a restaurant where the menu was the paper version of an anime comic, predominantly in Japanese with few words of English for description purposes.

So we waited for about 10 minutes before we got our seat. And then only a minute before the server came by to take our drink orders.

32 oz Sapporo Draft ($F-to the-I-to the-V-to the-E!!!)

I wish I had taken the shot upon arrival, in all its glory with its 1.5 inch thick foaming head but… It was so difficult to decide what to get. The menu has an extensive list of ramen, udon, and soba, but it was way too hot to get anything with a soup base. Sushi was out of the question (I’m not sure I trust eating raw fish here although I’m sure the turnover rate for the fish must be high), and we sure as heck didn’t want rice, so… we were left with their pancakes.

Oh, and did I mention? They serve turkey testicles and bull penises. Definitely out of the question.

Okonomiyaki: japanese pancake w/ pork, squid and vegetables ($6.00)

Instead, we got the okonomiyaki, the popular Japanese pancake and our favorite of the night. Okonomiyaki (お好み焼き) actually means “what you want” (okonomi) “grilled” (yaki). The base is usually flour + yam + water + eggs and then your meats, vegetables, and seafood. Man, if I ever go to Japan, heck, I’m not going to Tokyo- I’m going to go to Osaka first to get myself some authentic Osaka style okonomiyaki.

The okonomiyaki is topped with tokatsu sauce and mayo with some bonito flakes sprinkled on top. Bonito flakes are essentially fish flakes and if dropped on top of a steaming plate of okonomiyaki, they start waving back and forth, as if dancing. It’s trippy at first, but it’s really just the steam. I think Amy got a bit scared when I told her it was just fish (omitting telling her flakes).

Yakiudon: fried udon noodle with pork, squid and vegetables ($6.00)

We also ordered the Yakiudon (焼きそば), which should be no stranger to any Japanese food lovers. Udon are thick noodles (my personal favorite) and yakiudon stirfries the udon with vegetables and pork. The traditional version is Yakisoba (made from soba noodles) but the concept is the same. Usually it’s topped with “aonori” or seaweed, but ours wasn’t. Either way, the yakiudon while good, wasn’t terribly delicious. However, with that 32 oz Sapporo, it was good company for my taste buds. The flaw with all yakiudon that I’ve noticed is that THEY GIVE YOU TOO LITTLE!

Modanyaki: japanese pancake w/ noodles, pork, squid and vegetables ($8.50)

Initially, we only ordered two dishes. By the time we finished the food, it was around 10:30pm and my beer still had a third of it left. We were at the mercy of Clare, who was attending a wedding and so Amy and I wanted to sit at Kenka longer. Taking all that into consideration, we ordered another dish. Don’t ask us why now because by the time it came, we were about to burst and couldn’t only manage to eat less than half of it.

Modanyaki (モダン焼き) is okonomiyaki but with thin fried noodles in it. It tasted good, but that’s as much as I can tell you because by that time, food was the last thing on my mind… I do have to say that alot of the flavor from many of their dishes come from the heavy usage of their sauces, but what can you expect for a $6 entree?!

By 11pm, things were starting to get quiet. The table to our right, full of college-age kids, were winding down their drinking games and the long line outside began to dwindle. I can tell you from past experience that this is just a blip, as around midnight, there’s usually another wave of hungry (more like drunk) New Yorkers seeking for cheap grub.

Our whole bill came out to…

$28!

Holy shiz. $28! For that beer large enough to fill my three-person family on a normal night and three entrees?! $28! I still can’t get over it.

Anddd, as if that wasn’t enough, they have a COTTON CANDY MACHINE outside. When they present the bill, they give you a tiny plastic cup of pink sugar. You pay the bill, make your way outside, and flip a switch. The motor starts humming and you spill the sugar into the center of the hole. Then… you start twirling and twirling.

And twirling and twirling…

Too mad neither of us like cotton candy. I just like the concept of me being able to make it.

And Amy does a good job posing as a cotton candy lover.

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New York, NY 10003
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Mocha Maldon Salt Caramel ($2.75)

Wow! It took me like a month to realize that Pichet Ong, the owner of Spot Dessert Bar, is this tiny bubbly Asian guy from Amy Blogs Chow’s “stupidly simple snacks”. I think it was awesome of him to appear on the video while giving away two of his recipes from his other restaurant, Village Tart. I loveee this video, and if you haven’t checked out Amy’s blog, you should because her videos are super cute (and I don’t use the word “cute” liberally).

Spot is located on St. Marks, a ten minute walk from NYU, a two minute walk from Astor Place, a 30 second walk from Yoga to the People, and last but not least, a 10 second walk from Red Mango. It opened in late 2009, and if you haven’t paid attention, you might have missed it. It’s underground, although there’s this magnificently large window that you can peer through and the doors are pleated with glass. Oh, and there’s a giant chalkboard menu outside, marked with the menu in bright pastel-y colors. In order words, you really have to be blind to miss this place.

The story behind Spot is basically this- American desserts with an Asian influence. The menu boasts of hot and cold drinks alike, from bubble tea to Thai tea floats. There are cupcakes with their domed icing and cakes drizzled with olive oil. Even better, Spot makes a conscious effort to go green. The dessert bar is set against the backdrop of repurposed raw barn wood and glass, and 80% of the decor and packaging is made of repurposed or recycled materials. How do I know this? Well, it’s on their website.

Adhering to its geographic roots (on St. Marks),  Spot is reasonably priced. Besides purchasing a-la-carte, you can divulge by ordering dessert tapas in three’s for only $19.95.  I think that’s loads better than the $14 you pay at Chikalious a few streets/avenues away, as you get quite a decent portion.

And yes, $7-9 desserts may sound expensive. But if these desserts don’t wow you with the ingredients, they sure will with the presentation and the way all the flavors complement each other in this mind blowing experience that we call taste.

Soft Cheesecake: Orange blueberries with walnut cookie crumbs ($7.50)

This was Sabrina’s pick. When it came out, we were so confused. “Uh, is this all three? In a glass?!” Deep down, I secretly prayed it wasn’t so and a few seconds later, the server (who by the way was super nice and quick) came out with another dish.

We didn’t know how to eat it. Were we supposed to lift the glass upside down and dump it all out? Or use a spoon? Or… lick it?

We chose the spoon method.

The top layer of the cheesecake was as soft as whipped cream and the strawberry sauce was foamy. But as we dug a bit deeper, our forks picked up this rich, creamy filling that was simply divine. A blueberry jam-like taste hid in between the crumbled crust and pineapple. Essentially, it was three carefully chosen but different fruits, all beautifully melded into cream and contained within glass. While it wasn’t our favorite dessert of the night, it came first in presentation. It’s a shame that we saved this for the end, despite it coming out first (the two other desserts both involved ice cream or sorbet), because we were too full to finish it all.

Thai Tea Float ($4.95)

I’m not exactly sure why I ordered this float. I think it was the thought of having two of my favorite things in a narrow glass with a straw thrown on top. I asked the server to use cold tea (I think it would have been similar to affogato where they pour the hot tea over a scoop of ice cream, had I not specifically requested this). While there was nothing special about it, as in I could easily make this at home, Thai iced tea is always satisfying. Would I order it again? No. But, Sabrina and I felt like indulging and this definitely satisfied my craving for something cold and creamy.

White Miso Semifreddo: Olive oil cake, raspberry sorbet, candied sesame ($8.50)

This was my pick. Ironically, I had just made olive oil ice cream a few days ago, so I knew I had to try this. What was most intriguing was not the olive oil- it was the white miso semifreddo. We had no idea what that even meant. Later we realized that the white miso semifreddo was the ice cream-like substance layered in between the olive oil cake. Semifreddo, Italian for half cold, is made with equal parts of ice cream and cream. If I remember correctly, the server said it was made of soy. But what I loved about this dessert was not the semifreddo, nor the miso, nor the olive oil. It was the burst of concentrated raspberry that came from the sorbet. Oh my. I could almost imagine raspberry fields exploding in my head as I took each bite.

Hands down, my favorite dessert of the night. I learned that raspberry + olive oil = deliciousness.

The dessert is garnished with more miso, olive oil, blackberries, and raspberry syrup. One day, I’m going to recreate this at home. It’s going to be a hit.

Five Spiced Fennel Cake: Caramel citrus with peach frozen yogurt ($8.00)

This was the one dessert and Sabrina and I chose together. I don’t know about Sabrina, but I chose it for the peach sorbet. Surprisingly, the peach sorbet was a bit of a miss for me, or at least when I had it by itself. I mean, since this came out last, the raspberry sorbet from the dish before set such high expectations that nothing could have shattered that bar. In contrast to the light, sweet, and salty play from the White Miso Semifreddo, the Five Spiced Fennel Cake is exactly what it sounds like. Instead of raspberry fields, imagine pumpkin fields.

The fennel cake had this warm and and earthy taste to it. Imagine all of those deep spices that we all bake with- like cinnamon, five spice, nutmeg, pumpkin spice… Then blend that all together deep into a moist cake. The peach sorbet, which contrasted against the intensity of the raspberry sorbet, was light in comparison. But it was perfect in complementing the cake, balancing out all of those loud flavors. The caramel citrus was also a thoughtful addition, providing sweetness above all else. This would be the perfect dessert to order on a hayride (or in front of a fireplace).

And there you have it. Three gorgeously prepared desserts, influenced by both Western and Eastern cultures. As we ate, we watched the pastry chefs prepare other desserts. It’s a small, open kitchen, and it was humbling to see how such creativity can be produced in such a confined space.

By the time we finished, neither of us could move, so even contemplating the prospect of finishing off a cupcake would have been absurd. All their cupcakes run at $2.75 a pop, which is the standard for the city. Which one would I have tried? The green tea or the mocha with the sea salt for sure.

If you’re ever nearby or are just craving something sweet, I definitely suggest coming here. If Spot Dessert Bar was in the West Village, I think they could increase their prices by 20% and easily get away with it. For someone who is frugal and is constantly on the lookout for a deal, I really loved this experience. For $20, you’re not only paying for quality dessert, but you’re paying for the ingenuity behind the creation of pairing flavors that you won’t be able to find easily elsewhere and for the craftsmanship of Pichet Ong.

For awhile, frozen yogurt shops were sprouting up on every other block. What really got me was the name of these places. Like… Daydream. Really?! Do you want to eat at a place called Daydream? It sounds like a candy shop for little girls dressed in pink.

16 Handles isn’t such a bad name. Sorta reminds me of 21 Choices in Pasadena, CA. Anyway, nowadays all these fro-yo places are all the same. You get frozen yogurt in all these wild flavors and blah blah. Customize it with your favorite toppings all for the standard price of 50 cents/oz (or something like that).  They always end up tasting the same, and they always end up costing you like $6+ per cup.

But, on a hot day, how can you resist that? At 16 Handles, it’s what you’d expect- 16 flavors everyday “on tap.” Too bad beer doesn’t come that way. Anyway, the flavors I tried were:

• Red velvet: Holy shizz, it tasted like red velvet. Let me tell you though. I love red velvet cake. I love frozen yogurt. BUT I DON’T LOVE RED VELVET FROZEN YOGURT.
• Strawberry: Tasted like exactly like a frozen yogurt version of strawberry ice cream. Sabrina liked it and I gave it an “eh.”
• Pomegranate: Possibly my favorite! A little tart from the frozen yogurt itself, but also a bit acidic (in a good way). It’s like, a diluted version of POM in a frozen yogurt, but without that puckering dryness after you have POM.
• Pina Colada: Also really good. Really pineapple-y, but goes well with the fruit toppings
• Eurotart/Original tart: They’re two different flavors but I couldn’t taste the difference. Essentially, they tasted like the Pinkberry vanilla to me.

So why 16 Handles over Pinkberry? Because you can get more flavors. Because you get more toppings and you can pile them on yourself. But why Pinkberry over 16 Handles? Because you can easily over spend at 16 Handles without realizing it. So if it’s hot, don’t waste your energy in finding this place. Admittedly, though, it satisfies the sweet tooth.

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Photo du jour:

Birthday Cake Sundae: yellow cake, vanilla ice cream, fudge frosting, and a candle ($5). At this point, we were laughing so hard that I couldn’t even keep my hand steady…

Happy 21st Dan! Even though you weren’t with us in person, we still celebrated (and ate your birthday cake/sundae without you). I hope you got our 2 voicemails of us singing happy birthday in the background. I even blew out your candle and Slo sucked on your happy bday lollipop that came with the sundae. I wonder if the next table over thought we were obnoxious…

For some reason, I thought The Smith was a diner. When it first opened back in November, I’d walk past it everyday on my way to campus. It has this rustic exterior, with black painted over a what seem like wooden boards and a white logo plastered on top. Since it’s inception, it’s been getting alot of buzz, and of course, it helps to be the sister restaurant of Jane nearby. Sabrina described it as a “wanna-be hip West Village restaurant relocated to the East Village.” And so while prices are a bit above what you’d expect from neighboring restaurants on St. Marks, The Smith is definitely worth checking out.

Tap & Seltzer (free), and Allagash White ($6) (all the way from Maine!)

Our group of ten turned into six met at around 6pm and the hostesses were very accommodating on the seating. I was originally going to make reservations, but they require a credit card number on Opentable.com Up until around 6:20pm on Saturday nights, it’s definitely possible to seat large groups of eight or under without a reso.. Upon seating, they immediately brought us two sets of two bottles (complimentary), one clear and one green- tap and seltzer. A nice gesture, if you ask me.

The menu’s a bit short, but covers everything from burgers to pasta to even bibimbap?! Say what? All of us stayed away from the bibimbap since we were pretty sure that no one could do it better than the Koreans restaurants. And so while everyone else was still deciding what they wanted, Slo and I hopped onto the back of the menu to look at the draft selection because what’s a burger or a sandwich without beer? I ended up choosing the Allagash, which upon further research, is a place in Maine, but nevertheless, provides for a very light Bluemoon-esque sort of taste.

Burger Deluxe: special sauce, cheddar, bacon, the works ($15)

You might say to yourself. “Dang, $15 is alot for a burger!” BUT HAVE YOU SEEN THIS BURGER?

Half the table- Slo, Suzie, & Jlee all ordered burgers and all unanimously agreed that it was the greasiest burger ever, but still banging delicious. I had a bite from Suzie’s and it was swarming with juice from the meat. It was stacked high, probably because the burger itself was so thick. Everyone got it topped with the works (lettuce, onions, and tomato)- the way it should be done. They all came with a heaping pile of fries too, which were the thin shoelace cut ones, salted and fried to the perfect degree of tastiness and crispiness. You can ask for their house chimichurri, which goes great on both the burger and sandwiches alike.

From top to bottom: Slow Roasted Pork Sandwich with kimchee aioli ($14), shaved cauliflower & watercress, Wild Mushroom Fettuccine with arugula, roasted garlic, & shaved parmesan ($15), and Roasted Chicken Salad with arugula, apples, walnuts, brie, & grilled onions ($17)

But the rest of us ventured out into sandwiches, salads, and pasta. I have to say- the kimchee aioli really caught my attention and so I was the one who got the Pork Sandwich. It’s hard to describe how it tasted because it was simply a jumble of different flavors that somehow came well together. The kimchee aioli isn’t overpowering at all. In fact, I requested the chimichurri when Slo did and even would have preferred to have a sweeter sauce, maybe barbeque, on the sandwich. I really appreciated the quality of the bread; it was one of those robust sourdough loafs where you could still see the dusting remains of the flour on the top bun.  The pork sandwich was overall satisfying and I had to wrap half of it to take home (which I am finishing right now as I’m blogging away).

Vineetha didn’t say much about her pasta, which I gather was an “ehh” to a “not bad?” Jungyon’s salad looked absolutely delicious with the well oiled argula and chunks of brie. There must have been like half of wheel of brie in there! I think I might replicate that salad to bring to work…

REVISE: Vineetha personally gchatted me to tell me that… “The mushrooms were amazing… I like portobello stuff and the arugula was good too.” So scratch the previous paragraph. It was a really good dish!

Because that Burger Deluxe just looked soo good in person, I thought maybe you’d want a second look. If I ever go back to the Smith, it’d be for that burger…

I feel like I need to explain about the ketchup with the peppers. When the burger arrived, the first thing Slo did was grab the ketchup, pour out a hefty amount, and then grab the pepper shaker. She then proceeded to literally dump massive amounts of pepper onto the ketchup while the rest of the table looked at her like she was nuts. But then, we all tried it, and well… I started doing it too.

Hiding behind the Birthday Cake Sundae Pink Pussy Cat Sundae: strawberry ice cream, strawberries, red velvet cake, whipped cream ($5)

By the time dessert came around, I wasn’t quite myself to say the least. A pint of the lightest beer will get me a wee bit too happy but also loaded with great ideas. As I was reading the description of the Birthday Cake Sundae, I thought to myself, “OH BOY! IT COMES WITH A CANDLE! IS IT ANYONE’S BIRTHDAY?” And then the table remembered that it was Dan’s birthday, who was originally meant to come, but had made prior birthday dinner plans prior to my dinner plans. So, we ordered it, sang happy birthday to him (first just to ourselves, second to his voicemail, and a third just for kicks), blew out the candle (twice) and devoured the cake. I love birthdays!

A special thanks to Jungyon Park for taking some of these pictures! Namely the top and bottom right of this set (and the salad picture way above!)

And so that was it. It was probably one of our longer dinners, but a ton of fun with a ton of great food. The server was great (and in fact, struck up some conversation with Slo when she found out that they were both from the same area in Pasadena, CA). We arrived with the sun still bright and left to the bright (bokeh’d) lights of the city. Excuse my expression in the last photo. My expression wasn’t toward The Smith, but rather to that thing standing to my left.

Chorizo ($9)

After I got home (which is now sadly approximately 50 miles away from the West Village), I had to double check my Michelin Guide Book to make sure that I remembered the right restaurant. Sevilla doesn’t have a Michelin star, but it has one of those “inspector’s favorite picks” icons, meaning it’s supposed to be good. Uh, it wasn’t.

Usually, I like to wait a couple of days before writing about an unsatisfactory experience just so I don’t say anything that I’d regret. Now that I’ve given Sevilla a good 5 days, I think I’m ready to spew.

Paella a la Valenciana: chicken, sausage and seafood with rice  ($22)

Sevilla is supposedly known for their paella, which came highly recommended in not only the Michelin guidebook, but also on several reviews on Yelp. I’ve been to a few places in the city for Paella, and this is definitely not among the top. I’ll talk more about the paella later.

To start off, they gave us one complete loaf of bread for two. Rarely do we get that much bread, but we saved it for the chorizo. I think the manager chuckled when he saw us eating it like a sandwich.

Sangria: White, Half Pitcher ($13.50)

Of course, no visit to a Spanish restaurant is complete without sangria. I think sangria is one of the sole reasons why Sabrina and I have begun seeking out Spanish restaurants. The sangria here is no where near as good as that from Las Ramblas, but it was much cheaper. You can choose between white and red, although it feels as if they throw in the fruit right before serving it to you as opposed to having it prepared ahead of time.

But half a pitcher is… ALOT. I got in 3 glasses.

Then out of no where, a salad came along! Another one of those half-baked salads with dressing smeared all over as if someone forgot the dressing bottle was tipped over- but greens are appreciated wherever given.

Now, the paella-

The best paella I’ve had is obviously in Spain (where my host-mother would have a pot simmering away each weekend) and instead of bring back memories, this paella was too wet. The flavor was there, but the amount of moisture totally detracted from the flavor.

To Sevilla’s credit, there was a ton of shellfish and it’s table side service so the runner served us each a hefty portion filled with chunks (or actually, A HUGE chunk of chicken), at least 3 clams a plate, mussels and shrimp.

It was also huge and we had so much left over. The funny thing is, I brought it to work the next day and it actually tasted better, probably because when I reheated it, the rice dried up a bit.

What also exacerbated the “thumbs down” was how they charge you $3.95 if you split a dish. How the heck could they possibly expect ONE PERSON TO FINISH THAT WHOLE POT OF PAELLA?! Ridiculousness.

No matter what the Michelin or Zagat Guide book may say, I’d stay away. Maybe it was just an off night for them because the restaurant was pretty crowded throughout, but that one experience was enough to plaster a “Not Recommended” on the review.

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