Kasadela

I went to Kasadela on a Saturday night. There is a bar section as you walk in where they can serve you food, then the place opens up into a warm space with brick walls. The decor is East Village meets Japan, with sake bottles on the brick walls, mismatched chopsticks, and chalkboards hung up on the walls with today's specials.

The Japanese waiters and waitresses are very attentive, and knowledgeable about sake and food. Kasadela has an extensive drinks menu. I tried three bottles of sake, and they were all great. I had the Shunsetsu (literally, spring now), a light, smooth sake, perfect for the start of a meal, followed by Summer Snow (an undistilled sake with a voluptuous flavor), and Masumi (another smooth sake).

We started out with renkon chips (lotus roots), which were very yum, salted just right. After that came the saikoro salad (green salad with steak), nasu dengaku (eggplant with miso), pumpkin croquettes (one of my favorite dishes of the night, shaped like a heart for valentine's), chicken tebasaki (like the Korean fried chicken, Japanese style), and shrimp donburi.

We thought the dishes would be small, and that we might need to order more, but we were stuffed and unable to finish the donburi at the end. The food was fabulous, though, and so was the warm staff. We stayed at the restaurant for three hours, and didn't feel rushed at all.

I'm definitely going back to Kasadela. They take cash only, so make a trip to the ATM before you go. If you forget or go over budget (as we did), there's an ATM around the corner. It's a great gem for foodies and sake lovers.

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647 East 11th Street (close to Ave C)
New York, NY 10009
212-777-1582
http://kasadela.com/

Penelope

I went to Penelope for dinner around 9pm on a Saturday night with a friend. My friend lives in the neighborhood, and thought that 9pm was late enough to avoid having to wait. We opened the doors to the restaurant, and walked into a queue of eight people. We were told the wait was a half hour, so grabbed a drink at Banc, a few blocks away and returned at 30 minutes later.

The line of people had disappeared by the time we returned, and we were welcomed by a friendly host and waiters. I was surprised at how cute and quaint the restaurant was. I felt like I was in West Village, not Murray Hill. The food is comfort food, great if you're a brunch person like me. The menu has salads, sandwiches, mac & cheese, and pot pies.

We ordered a spinach artichoke dip to share, and I ordered a chicken pot pie for main. My friend ordered the "nice chicken meatballs" sandwich. The spinach artichoke dip was delicious: hearty, with just the right amount of all the ingredients (not too creamy or cheesy). It came with three different types of bread, which were all delicious. The sandwich (yes, I tasted it) and the fries that came with it was great, and so was the chicken pot pie.

The service at Penelope was great. The waiters were courteous and friendly. It feels like the type of place you can linger at for hours (if you ignored the huge line out the door). The menu is very reasonably priced. If you're up for brunch-type food, this is a great option in Murray Hill.

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159 Lexington Ave
(at 30th St)
New York, NY 10016
212-481-3800
http://www.penelopenyc.com/

Tony's DiNapoli

Following my Upper East Side friends' recommendations, I reserved a table for 10 at Tony's DiNapoli on 2nd Ave at 83rd St for a friend's bachelorette party. When we arrived at 8:30pm, the restaurant was bustling with energy. The place is great for big groups - we saw a few large groups gathered with balloons and presents.

The waiters were polite and friendly. We ordered a few bottles of red wine and were served bread with olive oil. The olive oil had sliced olives, peppers, and other spices in it... absolutely delicious. I had a hard time stopping myself from eating too much bread. Good thing the huge plate of appetizers (asparagus salad - special of the day) arrived quickly enough. The platters here are huge. They serve mostly family style platters which easily serve 3-5 people. For our group of 10, we ordered 2 platters of appetizers, 2 pasta dishes, and 2 meat dishes. We had 3 large take-home plates full of food leftover after we finished eating.

We ordered the seafood pasta and rigatoni with eggplant and mozzarella (each dish <$20... and remember each platter serves 3-5). Both very hearty and delicious! I also enjoyed the chicken and sausages with peppers.

The atmosphere is casual, but the restaurant has a warm decor and it makes you feel like you're a part of a large Italian family. This restaurant will be on my short list for bithday parties or any other occasion with large groups.

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1606 2nd Avenue

(between 83rd St & 84th St)

New York, NY 10028

(212) 861-8686
www.tonysnyc.com

Asian Fusion @ Momofuku Noodle Bar

I love ramen. Last night, I went to Momofuku Noodle Bar (1st Ave between 10th & 11th St) with a group of ramen-loving friends.

We waited for 30 minutes to get a table at 9PM on Friday. They don't accept reservations. The restaurant decor is simple, and the lighting and level of music was perfect for getting together with friends for some good conversation. We ordered the dinner prix fixe (smoked duck salad, ramp pancakes, spanish mackerel, and soft serve ice cream), the steamed buns with pork, asparagus, momofuku ramen, and pork belly ramen. The prix fixe dinner was very tasty, and a great deal at $30. The three of us shared all the food family style. I highly recommend the steamed buns with pork and asparagus (if they have the asparagus. Momofuku uses very fresh ingredients and the menu changes daily). Momofuku ramen was good, with fairly thin noodles (not as thin as Ippudo), pork, menma, egg, and seaweed. I wasn't a huge fan of the pork belly ramen. The noodles were too thick for me.

Overall good experience, but I probably won't come back for the noodles. I will, however, come back for the other items, especially the pork buns and fresh vegetable dishes.

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Momofuku Noodle Bar
171 First Ave (between 10th & 11th)
New York, NY 10003
No reservations accepted

Great pork buns for less than $1

It's been over a year since I've moved to Manhattan. New York usually lives up to its reputation in being one of the most expensive cities in the world to live in (New York City was ranked #5 in an international survey reported in June 2008), but there are many gems that serve great food at amazingly affordable prices.

I came across one of these gems today in Chinatown, a sure place to find great deals. Mei Li Wah, located on Bayard between Mott and Elizabeth, offers baked roasted pork buns for 80 cents a piece. There are customers continuously lining up to pick up their roasted buns, steamed buns, or rolls. I sat down at one of their 8-10 tables and enjoyed the fresh roasted pork buns, as well as the rice noodles with shrimp, shu-mai, and fish. The rice noodles were less than $3.00 and also delicious.

According to my friends, the baked roasted pork buns are very similar to Filipino pork buns, and we saw many people lining up to pick up dozens of buns that they had called in. The restaurant was remodeled after a fire in 2008, and looks more modern and cleaner than what it used to be, according to a friend who has frequented this restaurant over the years.

Great deal. I am definitely going back. Next time, I'd love to try the Chinatown Ice Cream Factory across the street after the pork buns. http://www.chinatownicecreamfactory.com/

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Mei Li Wah
64 Bayard St
(between Elizabeth St & Mott St)
New York, NY 10013
(212) 966-7866