Ariyoshi

A few months ago, I wrote about my second favorite izakaya spot in Midtown, Donburiya.  Today I'll finally share with you which restaurant takes the #1 place!

Sandwiched among other small restaurants and bars on East 52nd Street, it's really easy to miss Ariyoshi.  You've got to go up a few steps to enter through a wooden side door.  Inside, it's a tiny little place with wood tables, chairs and benches. It looks very unassuming, but the food is amazing and traditional Japanese, and the prices are reasonable.

There is a very loyal lunch following, so on some weekdays you can find yourself waiting 10+ minutes for a table during lunch hour.  In addition to their regular menu, they have a lunch set menu which is pretty popular - you get a lot of food!

It's not as busy at dinner time, but I've noticed that the service is significantly slower and the food takes a lot longer to come out.  There is usually a steady light stream of people throughout the night though, as they are open until very late at night.  You'll probably notice more mugs of beer and sake carafes as the hours tick on.  Try out some of the Japanese snacks and join the fun!

These are a few of my favorite dishes at Ariyoshi:

Tori-Kara Ponzu (Fried chicken with grated radish in ponzu sauce)

Donburiya

When I moved up to Midtown East, I didn't expect to find a little bit of St. Marks (my college days!) in my neighborhood.  St. Marks has a strip of hole-in-the-wall "izakaya"-ish (Japanese food and drinking) spots which are really popular for college students.  Many late nights were spent over bottles of sake and lots of little Japanese noshes.  I've aged out of that crew a few years ago so it's been a while since I've been spotted there at 1am and beyond.  Wondering where the older people go? We go to the Midtown version of St. Marks!  Sure enough, there are a handful of authentic hole-in-the-wall restaurants in the East 40s/50s Streets. 

Donburiya

My second favorite izakaya spot is Donburiya located on East 47th Street between Lexington and 3rd Avenues.  It's open late, and the later you go, the more packed it gets with groups of friends relaxing over their ## bottle of sake.  It's a good sign when you see lots of Japanese people there too!

Sake! Just chillin'...

The Smith (Midtown)

Welcome The Smith to MIDTOWN!

I was doing another happy dance when I found out The Smith was opening a location in Midtown!  Yay for more yummy eats coming to my area!  They finally opened their doors a few weeks ago and it's already always packed.

Lots of seating straight ahead...

And also seating on the left!

Pocha 32 (Late Night)

Pocha 32 is the type of place that is best after a night of (heavy) debauchery.  I've never been there before midnight and wouldn't recommend it either... it always seems like an awesome idea at 2am, but not so much the morning after.

Most recently, I happened to stumble in after a night of Halloween festivities.  It's in the heart of K-town and you'll probably have to weed your way through groups of other happy people milling around the countless late-night spots on the same street.  Through Pocha 32's second floor entrance, it looks completely absolutely shady* - loud and very dark with what looks like fish nets hanging from the ceilings.

*Important to note: this is a non-Korean's view of it; this type of dark, no fuss, alcohol-with food-centric place is very common in Korea.

Normal late-night scene inside Pocha 32 (except for the pumpkin and bunny ears which are special for Halloween!)

Momofuku Noodle Bar (Late Night)

Guilty.  I may have taken late night munchies to an extreme.  But it was so worth it!

Momofuku Noodle Bar serves their late night menu between 12am and 2am.  It's pretty limited with just about a handful of things to choose from, but fear not - it doesn't mean you won't want ALL of it!  Fortunately we strolled in just in time about a half hour before closing.  When you have the munchies, imagine how hard it is to choose between chicken wings, noodles, pork buns, rice cakes and ramen.  Um, is there a choice (F) All of the above??

In the end we narrowed it down to Ginger Scallion Noodles and Smoked Chicken Wings (and a bottle of Sake! oops). 

Ginger Scallion Noodles - pickled shiitakes, cucumber, menma