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Asian

There are lots of Asian restaurants in the St. Marks Neighborhood - perhaps one of the largest concentrations outside of Asia! If you want Japanese, then dive down into the Japanese sub-category. Otherwise, the "Asian" category includes Chinese, Vietnamese, Tibettan, and Thai restaurants (so far).

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Indochine

Very Good
I've only eaten here once (so far), but I'm inclined to give this Vietnamese restaurant a good review. I had a green salad (too large, but with a wonderfully light sesamee dressing) and the Tilapia En Papillotte which came amazingly prepared in a paper bag and was totally out of this world. Then to finish off my meal, I had the iced coffee: a wonderfully thick coffee, combined with sweetened condensed milk, and poured over coffee ice cubes (!!) - amazing. The best iced coffee I've ever had.

So, all in all a pretty wonderful experience. The place does have an "old world" feeling - like you might get with some old steak house. Turns out, Indochine has been around now for 20 years and has had many famous devotees (Warhol, artist Julian Schnable, others).

Appetizers ($8-14), entrees ($17-23), rice ($4-5).  (2006-01-07)
Also In:    Restaurants / Categories / Highly Recommended

430 Lafayette St (just south of Astor pl.)
New York, NY 10003,USA
212-505-5111

Grand Sichuan St. Marks

Quite Good
A very nice, dependable, standard chinese restaurant. The Grand Sichuan contains all of your favorites and the food is fresh and high quality. Nothing brilliant or exotic, but just good, basic, dependable Chinese food.

And frankly, there's not much (good) Chinese food in and around St. Marks, making the Grand Sichuan a valuable find.  (2005-11-08)

19-23 St. Marks Place (btwn 2nd and 3rd ave)
New York, NY 10003,USA
212-529-4800

Klong

Very Good
Very very good Thai restaurant, sleek and arty with a gorgeous 20-something waitstaff.

And the food is wonderful. I've had a duck with vegetables (it was a special), the beef with red curry, and the chicken satay. Everything was wonderful - spicy, tasty, perfectly cooked, crunchy vegetables when the should be crunchy, and moist, fluffy rice. Recommend: the Thai iced tea with lime - maybe the best non-acoholic drink I've had in a restaurant.

$8-10 noodles, $8-10 curry, $10-16 house specials, $5-6 deserts, $3-5 appetizers.  (2005-11-20)
Also In:    Restaurants / Categories / Highly Recommended

7 St. Marks Place
New York, NY 10003,USA
212-505-9955

Tsampa

Very Nice
Tsampa is Tibettan food. It's a wonderful place with brick walls, candlelight, wood, rugs to sit on, and a huge, bedraped picture of the Dalai Lama whimsically beaming down upon the guests.

The food is quite good. I've had the Tibetan Curry (recommended), the Khampa Momo (Chinese dumplings), and the Nya Phing (like a warm salmon salad with noodles). Everything tasted fresh and the flavors were exotic and rich. For something different, try the Tsampa Dessert which has the consistency of paste but tastes wonderful. I can totally imagine the monks eating it on special occasions.

The one negative is that table service can be slow, especially on busy nights. One night I gave up and left the restaurant because no one showed up to take my order. But, once you are able to order, things usually progress smoothly thereafter.

$5 appetizers, $9 vegetarian, $10-16 fish, $10 chicken, $6 desserts, $2-6 drinks.  (2005-11-29)

212 E 9th Street (btwn 2nd &3rd Ave)
New York, NY 10003,USA
212-614-3226

Tara Thai

Basic but good
Tara Thai is a little hole in the wall on 1st avenue serving basic Thai food: Nice and spicy, fresh ingredients, efficient service. Had both the Kang Nua (beef with red curry) - very good, and the "golden triangles" (like samosas, but deep fried with a flakey covering - a bit too greasy). Also had a nice Thai iced tea.

Basic recommendation: A good place for Thai food if you're in the neighborhood, but not worth a special trip.

Appetizers ($3-6), soups ($4), entrees ($8-9), specials ($10-16).  (2006-01-20)

137 First Avenue (btwn St. Marks and 9th streets)
New York, NY 10003,USA
212-777-5141

The Dumpling Man

Fair
I wish I could recommend this place. I love the concept, and I love Asian dumplings. Sounds like a match made in heaven?

Sadly, no. The filling is rather bland, and the dumplings themselves are gummy.

My recommendation is to stick to the basics: Seared (not steamed) dumplings. Avoid the special sauces. The red sauce (the Marco Polo) is a standard, onion-y Italian sauce - nothing special. The hot sauce (The Monster Sauce) is interesting: kind of a spicy-hot oil, but probably not worth the extra $1.50. But really, just get the standard soy-sesame-vinegar sauce (which you can find on the condiments bar).

Tia's flan was alright, but again, nothing special. But hey, they're really *clean*.

Dumplings 4$ for 6 pieces, 6$ for ten, add $1.50 for special sauce. Flan for $2.  (2005-09-25)
Also In:    Restaurants / Categories / Cleanliness Award

100 St. Marks Place (btwn 1st and A ave)
New York, NY 10009,USA
212-505-2121

Why Curry?

Good
I love their takeout menu. At the top it has a huge banner: "Why Curry?" And in the middle, in small type, it says "Why not?"

Listed as a "Homestyle Thai Restaurant," I've only eaten here once so far, so I'll need to go back. But my initial impression is that the sauces are very sweet - almost cloyingly so. I had the Tofu Tod (with the spicy plum sauce) and (I think) the Why Curry chicken, and, as I said, everything was a bit too sweet for my taste.

I'll report back once I've had a chance to try other things on the menu.

Small dishes ($4-7), soups ($3-4), Curry ($8-9), Specials ($9-15), noodles ($8-9).  (2006-04-08)

126 St. Marks Place (btwn 1st Ave and A)
New York, NY 10009,USA
212-473-1620

Jenny's Cafe

Good, esp. for drinks
A cute little place tucked in next to Crif Dogs. They specialize in drinks, and drinks take up about half of the menu, including a lot of different teas (with milk and without) some with tapioca pearls (small pearls of chewy, sweetened starch which cluster at the bottom of the drink - really fun, I think), also called 'bubble tea', plus a lot of different smoothies and coffees.

They also have some appetizers (I had the vegetable spring rolls, nice and crispy), soups, noodles, and fried rice.

Drinks ($2-4), small foods (2-7$), hot pots ($13-16).  (2006-04-08)

113 St. Marks Place (btwn 1st and A)
New York, NY 10009,USA
212-674-4739


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