Hell’s Kitchen – What’s Up?

Latest news from the kitchen of Hell:

I’ve been enjoying a little Ecuadorian hole in the wall on 10th called Nano as of late.  Nano has some serious Nonaism going on, with homey nona style recipes filling up the menu like the Caldo de Bola soup which made the Best Soups in HK cut.  For lunch you got various deals that include the Seco de Pollo, chicken strips in a mild but pleasant gravy, and Sango de Res, beef in a soup like green plantain sauce.  Some of the other offerings look very much Peruvian.  I’ll be adding this one to the Survival Guide

Staying with the Peruvian theme, adding Pio Pio as a large group option to the guide.  Pio Pio is a chain and it wont win any James Beard or Z-List awards any time soon.  But for larger groups, even fairly last minute, I cant think of better options that are also affordable in the area.  Décor downstairs is somewhat funky, drinks are good.  When its time to celebrate something at my company and I’m asked for “Not as expensive as last time, please” (think Blue Ribbon or Taboon), I’m left with a Pio Pio

Removing Hell’s Chicken.  I just dislike going here.  No atmosphere, lackluster food at times.  Honestly the only Korean you need to know about is Danji.

There was a time when I would wet dream about our office being in East Village.  By wet dream I mean, a co worker would shout “Its happening again!”, and another coworker would pour cold water on me.  But those moments are long gone (Replaced by a younger Salma Hayek).  Nowadays, not only Hell’s Kitchen is thriving in the food front, but businesses from East Village are slowly opening locations here.  Taqueria Diana very quietly is the latest one to open a branch on 9th (39th), just a few small blocks from the mew Tehuitzingo.  While a mixed bag so far (good al pastor, poor carnitas), the promise is there for a proper California style Burrito.  With all this Mexican greatness in the hood, I still cant find a decent reliable Burrito.  Oy, first world problems!

A lot of changes happening at Gotham West Market.  El Colmado, trying to become a viable lunch option as its neighbors, introduced a lunch menu consisting of sandwiches and salads.  But based on the punchless fancy burger I had yesterday, they need to work a little harder.  Ivan Ramen keeps reshuffling its lineup introducing various “buns” (think pork buns) including Pastrami buns.  The all-day breakfast ramen which used to be mornings only, is possibly the best thing you can eat in the building at the moment.  The most interesting addition to the market as of late has been Uma Temakeria from Chris Jaeckle, owner of the terrific All’onda in West Village.  The specialty here is Sushi served in wacky forms like nori cones (think ice cream sushi), Burritos, and design your own Chirashi bowls.  Nothing shockingly exciting, but so far so good with everything I tried.  A refreshing addition for the raw fish lovers

If you missed it, I recently blogged about my favorite soups in the area.  A blog post my mom would have been very proud of.  And before that, I gave you my favorite Thai around.  Since then however, I’ve been enjoying another place called Siri Thai on 10th ave, but not quite ready to put on the list with three very solid places there already.  The one cool thing about Siri Thai is that its not only the busiest Thai on 10th, it one of the busiest places period.

Buon Appetito!

Uma Temakeria