Once we exited the elevator  it was like the Promised Land. The store is fully stocked with every appliance, gadget & kitchen aid that you cam dream of.  They obviously do a brisk commercial business as about half of the place is desks & agents manning the phone. We found a beautiful 9″ Chef’s knife which was perfectly balanced.  Obviously we walked around & perused the wares, including a rack of cookbooks that I was blown away by.

We knew we were in the right place as a local chef was buying gift certificates for his entire staff.  If you’re in the market for some stuff to round your kitchen out or want a bad:ass knife, check it out….

Oysters
I pretty much have to order at least half a dozen oysters every time I visit and it normally leads to me ordering more.  They have a selection of a dozen oysters hailing from both coasts.  They’re always fresh & expertly shucked.  every day from 4-7pm is happy hour when oysters are half price.

Soups
City Crab have a Maryland Crab Soup & New England Clam Chowder, both of which are pretty tasty.  They are both standard preparations so I’m not going to go into more detail.

Shellfish
There is an extensive selection of shrimp, lobster and crab.  I’m a big fan of the Alaskan King Crab Legs & the Crab Cakes (seen here in slider form).  The tanks by the door guarantee that you’ll be getting fresh lobster & crab.

There are loads of other items on the menu ranging from steak to chicken & pasta, but I tend to stick to the basics & the dishes above are what I commonly order.

They have a fully stocked bar with plenty of cocktails (try the Rocket Fuel with a 151 floater, just be prepared to be tipsy after just one) & several beers on tap.  City Crab is out of my normal stomping grounds, but it’s worth the short trip.  I’ve only ever had one bad meal in the 14 or so years I’ve been going there so they have a pretty good track record in my opinion.

City Crab & Seafood Company: 235 Park Avenue South at 19th Street

Rai Rai Ken: 214 East 10th St. btwn. 1st & 2nd Avenue
New location: 216 East 10th Street

Photo via Daniel Husson

I’ll reiterate my previous observation that Kambi is much larger than Minca with seating up front & plenty of tables in the back.  This came in particularly handy on my first revisit after my first review.  We arrived on a Friday evening & just managed to snag a seat at the bar in front of the kitchen before the rush arrived.  I actually like the fact that the place was packed & there was a line (most likely because I was already seated), music was playing & it added some atmosphere.

We started with the shrimp gyoza which are some of my favorite in the East Village (don’t sleep on the pork gyoza though).  They also have salads, tofu & kimchi, but I think the gyoza are they best way to go if you’re going to get something to start.

Normally I’d get the Basic (salt & roast garlic flavor in a pork broth) or the Kambi (soy sauce flavor in a pork & chicken broth), which are both good, but I’ve recently discovered the Spicy Miso Ramen which is amazing.  It’s in a pork & chicken broth and is pretty spicy.  If you’ve read my blog before, you’ll know that I have a low tolerance for heat, but this is one dish that I’ll man up, cry & finish.  There’s pretty much no going back after that.

My next visit was for the lunch special with is about $14 depending on the type of ramen you get.  It comes with a pretty standard green salad, an amazing salmon salad (salmon sashimi over a chopped salmon & mayo salad) & your choice of ramen.  It’s a pretty good deal & you’ll really enjoy the salmon salad.  Kambi is normally pretty quiet around lunch, so you should get a seat quickly.

Kambi Ramen House: 351 14th Street at 1st Avenue
(212) 505 8001

Here you choose your type of meatball (everything from chorizo to a vegan option) & then select a sauce to accompany which can lead to endless variations & flavor combinations.  Both the sauce & meatballs have some pretty unique names.  There was a set menu for us, so here’s the rundown:

Hog Wild Meatball w/ Pepper Monkey Sauce
Braised pork shoulder, cherrywood bacon fat & mascarpone! What’s not to love?  The sauce was a tangy roasted Poblano BBQ sauce.  There was some smokiness there too, I liked it.

Turducken Meatball w/Dragon’s Lair Sauce
I’ll admit that I was excited to try this as I’ve always wanted to try Turducken.  Turkey, chicken & duck confit.  I immediately liked these.  The sauce was green curry peanut & red bell pepper.  I was impressed.

Shrooming Pizza
I’ll admit that I was slightly surprised to find pizza on the menu, but this isn’t your average pizza.  Called Crackerbread Pizza, the crust is very thin & crisp.  As the name implies, it is topped with roasted wild mushrooms along with baby arugula & truffle cream sauce.  I’m not much of a pizza guy, but I liked TMF’s version

Roasted Brussels Sprouts
Mom always told me to eat my veggies, but I’m honestly not a massive fan of Brussels sprouts.  Served with maple syrup & red chili sauce.

Hot Tin Roof Sundae
By this point I was getting full, but I can always make room for dessert.  Malted hot fudge & sea salt caramel with candied walnuts over a marshmallow gelato.  Sounds like a lot going on, but it was absolutely delicious.  Full stomachs or not, we polished the dessert off!

The Meatball Factory is a good looking restaurant with an open floorplan, a large bar & plenty of large windows.  The service was attentive without being pushy.  There’s an extensive beer & wine selection as well.  I haven’t been to any other ‘meatball restaurants’ in the city, but this was as good a start as I could have hoped for.  Please note that for this review I was invited to dine here, but I have tried to remain as accurate as possible.  I will definitely be going back on my own dime in the near future.

The Meatball Factory: 231 2nd Avenue at 14th St.
(212) 260 8015

Need the perfect wine to go with your Bobwhite Counter fried chicken? Stop by Alphabet City Wine Company on Friday Jan. 20th for a fried chicken wine pairing tasting!!!

Photo by Danny Kim

I visited recently & I was impressed by the remodeling they had done on the space. There’s a long counter & several high tables for a total of 17 seats.  With a few of the recent closures in the ‘hood (Joe’s & Duke’s in particular), it’s really nice to see a new place open that I actually enjoy.  Ok, now on to the food.

Roast Chicken
Served with an insanely good biscuit & salad, it’s a full leg & thigh of deliciousness.  The skin is crispy & well seasoned & the meat was really moist.  I was a happy camper.

Fried Chicken
I was lucky enough to get a batch straight out of the fryer, insanely moist with a substantial breading which I really enjoyed.  I think I prefer this to the roast chicken.

Pork Chop Sandwich
It’s been suggested that Porchetta now has a serious competitor for the best pork sandwich in the East Village & I’m in agreement.  Topped with chow chow (a Southern relish, see here) & served on a bun with salad.  They’re onto something here.

Winter Salad
Baby greens, red beets, goat cheese, Florida grapefruit & candied pecans.  Topped with a shallot vinaigrette.  That’s a whole lot of ingredients, but it worked well.

Cheddar Grits
Cooked in milk for extra creaminess & loaded with cheddar cheese. If you make grits at home with the store bought Quaker brand, you can immediately taste the difference in quality.  The grits here are the real deal.

Other sides include Black Eyed Peas & Creamed Kale.  They tend to rotate, so make sure you take a look at the board to the right when you enter the restaurant (or just ask your server).

There’s a real lack of restaurants open for lunch in the East Village & Bobwhite totally fills that gap.  Check it out if you get the chance.  It’s moderately priced & well worth the visit.  The Sweet Tea there is great also.

Bobwhite Lunch & Supper Counter: 94 Avenue C near 6th St.

Akter Grocery: 106 Avenue B

There were around 18-20 of us, so we were ordering off of the Prix Fixe Menu ($55, booze extra).  I dove right into the Chicken Liver Mousse which (luckily) was put down right in front of me.  Topped with pistachio & served with thick cut bread, it was an excellent start.

There was also Squid Stew with cranberry beans, cauliflower, wuhammara & walnuts. We also had a salad with ranch dressing.  Now on to the main dishes.

Cast Iron Chicken
Pretty much self-explanatory. Half a chicken roasted & served in a cast iron skillet. Topped with rosemary & sitting in a delicious bath of pan drippings & onions.  A winner.

Red Wattle Country Chop
The Red Wattle is a heritage breed of domestic pork & despite the menu, this was served on top of sauerkraut instead of cheddar grits. Served on the rare side (notice the pink in the picture, it won’t kill you!) with a lovely crisp char on the skin.

Steelhead Trout
This is the dish that I ordered & while I was staring longingly at the chicken & pork, I did enjoy it.  A little on e the small side, but with an excellent sear , I was impressed but still hungry.

We moved on to dessert: Guinness Chocolate Cake. Guinness+Chocolate+Cake=Awesome, even Pythagoras could have figured that out.  I spent most of my time eating the icing which was sweet & laced with lemon rind.  I totally approve.

The meal ended and people started leaving, but the core group of alcoholics revelers stayed behind to drink whiskey by the fireplace.  The staff were totally cool & didn’t rush us.  Despite having a heck of a time finding the place, I’m really glad I went.  Good food and an awesome atmosphere; Bonus.

Vinegar Hill House: 72 Hudson Avenue
Exterior image via NY Times