A much needed update to the “Bread and Butter” of this blog. Seven year old Hell’s Kitchen Survival Guide still outperforming all other posts year after year. The Z-List and the Turks & Caicos page complete the top three. There are many sources for Hell’s Kitchen out there today but I truly believe this is still the most comprehensive and up to date of the bunch. Most HK guides written by people who dont spend much time there and/or dont really understand the area well. But enough about me…
Whats new in 2020? Mexican, Thai, Ramen, Korean continue to dominate, so naturally three additions fall into that group. I’m seeing more and more Chinese/NOLA style boils popping on 9th, and a slow moving shift from East Village (either opening more locations or moving). Its good news for HK but a little sad because it means owners relying a bit more on tourists. Still, that didnt save some of the places that closed lately like Gloria (I tell ya that location is cursed).
Dropped from the list:
Otto’s Tacos – Still like the shrimp tacos, but getting a little inconsistent.
Mentoku Ramen – Just prefer EAK and the old-guards
Benares – Closed
Gloria – Closed
Merilu Pizza – Closed
Added to the list:
E.A.K. Ramen Hell’s Kitchen – My Ramen of choice these days. First successful infiltration of IEKEI (pronounced EAK) style Ramen in NYC, albeit on tourist heavy restaurant row (46th) for some reason.
UOGASHI – This is it! The Holy Grail in this Sushi deprived Kitchen. An East Village import. The space housed a different sushi place which explains why it took me 6 months to realize and try it.
Le Sia – Its one of those rare situations where I add a place to the guide before my first visit. I’m well too familiar with Le Sia in East Village and what these guys are capable of. Its a very fresh opening. Expect fiery Chinese style crawfish/crab boils, BBQ skewers, and the type of authenticity the neighborhood isnt used to.
Tulcingo Del Valle – Shame on me for waiting this long to add this one. I just never took it very seriously I suppose. A 20 year old Pueblan feels like the last of the neighborhood bodegas. No shortcuts, fresh or bust approach is the secret.
Alan’s Kitchen Mexican Cuisine – This one is a tentative addition as its new and I’ve only been once, but the Carnitas here so far are Mission-esque (Mission District is a Mexican paradise of sorts in SF). The tacos are so good I hear Los Tacos nearby are changing their name to #2
Alan’s Kitchen
It’s becoming increasingly difficult to write posts like this considering everything that’s going on in the world today. Fires in Australia, mayhem in Iran, Hong Kong, impeachment, and this dude is writing about some beach in Anguilla. But this is a place worth writing about. And as I get older and wiser its becoming more and more clear that in this fragile world, a beach and even looking at pictures of a beach (which I dont do enough) has crazy healing powers. Numerous recent studies 
Rendezvous Bay (special shutout to the person who invented copy and paste) simply put is the perfect beach. Just like most such beaches, you may not find it at its best behavior when you first see it. The winds can get too strong, and sometimes it may feel deserted for a reason. When we first saw it four years ago we werent impressed. But after spending a week at what looks like its best side, we understood. It’s one of the most walkable, most swimmable, and most perfect size beaches we’ve seen. But most of all, its almost empty! From my vantage point, best seat in the theater, one person walking by every 20 minutes. It’s one of the best sheer beauty to people ratio in the Caribbean.
One of the cool things about this bay is the lack of hotels. You got CuisinArt in the west as the lone major resort, and a few boutique hotels. One of which is the reason for the post. 
Spaghetti alle Vongole at Trattoria Tramonto
Tuna Tartare at Jacala
This is not your father’s Coney Island Ave. When I lived in that part of Brooklyn in the 80-90s, Turkish places like Sahara dominated. Turkish, car washes, ice cream, and affordable divorce lawyers to be exact. Nowadays, the business hub, that doesnt quite lead to Coney Island, features even better Turkish (Taci’s Beyti), respectable Moldovan (Moldova), Uzbek royalty (Nargis), swanky Russian nightclubs like Chinar, and a plethora of Pakistani joints between Foster and H. And when I want to kick it up a notch, there’s always 
Meats in a form of kebabs and lamb chops dominate the menu. Lulya kebab (minced meat) here is thick and juicy. But what sets them apart here is they are wrapped with thin dough. Get the lamb over chicken. Guru Hingal is a thin pappardelle like noodles topped with a “ragu” of onions, and lamb cooked in its own fat. You wont find better tasting pasta in south Brooklyn.
Sometimes I cringe when I read my old posts. Ever so often it starts with the title. Why did 
I’ve come to realize that I’m not much of a beach reader these days. The heat, the glare, the turquoise water, way too many distractions out there. But what’s my excuse at home? Dont know. But at the beach I prefer long walks, listening to music, and sometimes just aimless staring while getting lost in random thoughts. Albert Einstein got much of his ideas from aimless wandering. I’m getting there. The best I came up with in 6 days is “What the heck is a Post Malone”, and “How do you spell Rendezvous, anyway”. Silent Zs just seem so annoyingly wasteful, especially these days for some New Yorkers (Verrazzano is missing a Z in all 96 road signs and business names).
Eating With Ziggy 