Our 10 Best East Village Restaurants, 2012 Edition

By Robert Sietsema Fri., Mar. 9 2012 at 8:00 AM

7. Zabb Elee -- Those who despaired of real Isaan Thai food ever arriving in the East Village were thrilled by the appearance of this offshoot of a favorite Jackson Heights café. And those who like their food mouth-searingly spicy were also mightily pleased. 75 Second Avenue, 212-505-9533

6. Vandaag -- The Northern European and Scandinavian menu of this distro ("Dutch bistro"?) came as a surprise when the place opened, and so did its cocktail menu centered on genever, the antecedent of gin. But who can argue with bitterballen -- a compact oxtail sphere crumb-coated and deep-fried? 103 Second Avenue, 212-253-0470

5. South Brooklyn Pizza -- While effete pizza parlors are concocting tiny, expensive, and semi-burned pies in the style of Naples, this tiny stall -- barely a restaurant -- emulates Dom DeMarco, the pizza king of Brooklyn, making a superior version of the neighborhood pie, with extra oil, extra herbs, a shockingly good tomato sauce, and a last-minute sprinkle of Parmesan. 122 First Avenue, 212-533-2879

Location Info

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Downtown Bakery II

69 First Ave., New York, NY

Category: Restaurant

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Dirt Candy

430 E. Ninth St., New York, NY

Category: Restaurant

Back Forty

190 Ave. B, New York, NY

Category: Restaurant

Zabb Elee

75 Second Ave., New York, NY

Category: Restaurant

Vandaag

103 Second Ave., New York, NY

Category: Restaurant

South Brooklyn Pizza

122 First Ave., New York, NY

Category: Restaurant

Il Buco Alimentari & Vineria

53 Great Jones St., New York, NY

Category: Restaurant

Ramen Misoya

129 Second Ave., New York, NY

Category: Restaurant

Momofuku Ssam Bar

207 Second Ave., New York, NY

Category: Music

Prune

54 E. First St., New York, NY

Category: Restaurant

Tags:

Downtown Bakery, East Village, Our 10 Best, ramen

We Recommend

Zara Gonzalez Hoang

Just went to Ramen Misoya tonight. Yum. Pete - If you read this, thanks for the tip. Well worth the detour. The ramen was geat (both hokkaido and kyoto style). Not Ippudo great but definitely on par with rai rai ken.

Herb

Great list! Prune's bone marrow takes me back to my childhood, when my mom used to make hot pitcha for dinner and then had the left-over cold pitcha the next day. yummy!!!...and yes, I do have the recipe!

Joshua4844

Forget Ethnic cuisine. Where can I find a cheeseburger with a good firm bun andA sharp cheddar? And a cold draft.

<< Work at home, $45/h, link

It happens to each according to his consciousness, is the Law of Consciousness.

Chase Chang O Son

gotta check em all out!

Chase Chang O Son

Mmmm...yummmy, but Prune is so busy all the time.

Nancy Duggan

Ms. Hamilton "became...philandered"? Please explain.

Rick Shaw

Yeah, great list...these are some awesome places. And I cant wait to try the few I've missed! Cheers

Sam

FYI, you misspelled genever as "ginever." Nice list!

guest

ASIANS CAN ACTUALLY READ MINDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!they can hear and see what your visually thinkingthis is the solid truth

The reason a lot of Asians have completely expressionless faces, segregate from everybody else-only associate with Asians and don't associate with non Asians that much, and are very unfriendly in general is to avoid accidentally revealing that they can read minds. If all over a billion Asians where to show facial expressions all the time just as much as non Asians, integrate and associate with non Asians much more, and be much more friendly and talkative, then a lot of them might accidentally reveal that they can read minds by accidentally showing a facial expression or dirty look when someone thinks, or visually pictures something in their mind they don't like, find astonishing, or funny etc because those people might see that and and really wonder what that was that just happened there and see the connection, and they might accidentally say something similar to what the person was just thinking and going to say. If they all associated with non Asians a lot more then there would be a lot more people around for them to accidentally show facial expressions when those people think things they don't like etc, so they segregate and only associate with Asians so there won't be anyone around for them to see that and have any accidents happen in the first place.

Try thinking, best yet visually picturing in your mind something absolutely crazy as you possibly can when you are around Asians, and try looking for Asians who give people particular looks, especially dirty looks for what appears to be for completely no reason, that is them giving people looks when they hear and visually see someone thinking something they don't like, find astonishing, or funny etc.It still happens spite a large percentage of Asians having completely expressionless faces all the time, it would just happen a lot more if none of them had completely expressionless faces all the time, it's still not uncommon!

I know this may sound crazy, impossible and unbelievable, BUT IT ISN'T CRAZY WHEN ITS TRUE

You have to spread the message!!!!!!The world has to know about this!!!!!