MONDAY, DECEMBER 29 2014
One cold winter night, Elias and I stumbled on Zen 6 after trudging miserably around East Village and encountering hour long waits at prime Japanese food spots. We just wanted some ramen!!!!!! Tucked between a residential building and a shuttered restaurant, Zen 6 was our [insert winter equivalent of “oasis in the desert.”] After starving for hours, we then proceeded to order a remarkable amount of food:
Three apps, two large bowls of ramen, a post-entree snack, and two beers later, we were STUFFED but super thrilled that we found such a great place. It’s a very small shop with friendly staff and a delicious menu. I love the casual atmosphere and the lowkey vibe which made it a great spot to just snack/drink and chat for a while. Food wise – I dream about their Akadama Champon (seafood ramen) which completely KO’s the version at our previous haunt – Jebon in St. Mark’s. The soup base for it is incredible! The kara-age was A+ crispy, the takoyaki were sizzling hot, and of course we had to try a ramen burger when we saw the promo card on our table. It’s no longer the “food trend” everyone’s talking about and to be honest – kind of messy – but it’s definitely worth a try if you haven’t already had one.
And as if we didn’t just eat we headed back over to St. Mark’s for dessert at T-Kettle where we finished off the night with bubble tea and warm sweet egg waffles 🍳
FRIDAY, APRIL 03 2015
A few months later, we caught up over Himalayan/Nepalese food at one of Elias’ favorite spots, Cafe Himalaya.
So GOOD! Cafe Himalaya has quite an unassuming storefront, but the diners and lineup spilled into the street and that’s always a good sign! It was my first time having Himalayan food and if I had to sum it up, I would describe it as a mix of Thai and Indian flavor profiles and DELICIOUS. I’m not the biggest dumpling person in the world (I know… I’m Chinese wtf), but these had such a crispy skin coupled with the juiciest filling *^* The lamb curry was the BEST lamb curry I have ever had in my life – so tender and flavorful without any gameyness. It was not a good camera night so I somehow missed photos of my delicious glass of mango lassi and Elias’ amazing glass of salted lassi. My regret is that my stomach wasn’t doing too well for starters so I didn’t get a chance to try any of the more uniquely Himalayan dishes on the menu.
We finished up the night chatting about life, love, and the works over drinks & cakes at Veselka. I’ve yet to have something savory at Veselka, but it kills me every time I see the meat combo platters under the dessert section because WHY NOT remember kids you can be anything you want to be.
| Zen 6 328 East 6th St New York, NY 10003 zen6ny.com |
Cafe Himalaya 78 East 1st Street New York, NY 10009 |
Veselka 144 2nd Avenue New York, NY 10003 veselka.com |
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