Nonono is a restaurant from the people behind Her Name is Han. This is located just a few blocks from Korea town. They are part of the Hand Hospitality network, which also includes Atoboy, Cho Dang Gol, and many more. The restaurant offers Japanese grill cuisine with a twist. We’ve been to the restaurant several times, and it’s been a decent value and choice for any small gatherings.

Ambiance & Service

The ambiance feels like a normal Japanese restaurant where there was a lot of activity. The tables are relatively close to each other, so it can get a little tight. However, it was fine talking to your party, so the sound acoustics were good. They have both a floor table area and a second floor area.

Victor’s Cafe is fairly close to Times Square, but not quite in the Theater District. It’s located on 52nd St near 7th ave, and it has had a steady stream of patrons over the last couple years. What is interesting about this restaurant is that the menu is fairly straight forward, and most of the visitors are people referred by past patrons, including myself. I’m not a fan of Cuban food in general, but this restaurant’s food was surprisingly pleasant.

Summary

This place is located in the Upper East, and arguably walkable from the MET.

The spiedino di gamberetti was OK to me. Nothing really memorable, but they gave you a decent amount of shrimp.

The antipasto misto was actually pretty good, and they gave a decent variety of meats and cheese. For 2 people, this was quite filling.

The pappardelle al ragu di vitello was good as expected. The pasta could have been cooked just a tad less, but the sauce it sat in was pretty good. The cheese on top was freshly grated by the server.

Summary

The food here was just like one of those casual fast food centric places. It’s on Seamless (food delivery service), so enough said.

The churrasco was $18 and was mildly satisfying. They gave you a decent amount of meat, and it was quite tender when ordered “medium rare”. It came with this mayonnaise like green sauce, that had only a mild kick to it. With this, I opted for french fries and pineapple on the side. The french fries were just OK, and the pineapple was kind of bland. The pineapple skin was on at the top, so it wasn’t as great as other places.

Cool speak easy spot right next to Bathtub Gin. Seems to be Cuban driven. It has a very jazzy speak easy feel to it. The theme of the menu is pretty cool. On Wednesdays, they have a live cuban band.

The bartenders can craft drinks based on what you’re looking for. I think weekdays are probably the best to come here. The music on the speakers is good and isn’t loud, and you can actually hear people. You can also order snacks here as well.

Summary

The food here was surprisingly decent. I usually don’t expect many places in Midtown East to be good, let alone Asian ethnic foods.

We ordered a pineapple Mocktail and a glass of Hite, which is nothing to write home about.

The banchan here was pretty good, although portion size is on the smaller side. You can ask for additional banchan as needed. Here you got kimchi, mixed salad, jalapenos, pickled cauliflower, pickled daikon cubes, and pickled daikon slices. For sauces, you got some soy sauce centric thing that I never remember the name of, salt and pepper, and bean paste. On the top you have fresh large lettuce leaves for wrapping.

Summary

The vibe here is pretty cool if you’re into old school jazz environments. The walls have a load of records and lots of old music devices. It does get a little noisy, and sometimes people eat really slow to create a wait. It’s not too different than other typical Korean bar/chicken joints where they have lots of alcohol and Korean bar foods.

The drinks were ok. Started off with a passionfruit lemonade. There are some bubbles, so it doesn’t taste oversweetened compared to normal lemonade. The pineapple soju reminded me of small cans of Dole pineapple juice with some liquor and pineapple chunks in it. They serve the pineapple soju in a carafe.

Summary

This is located in the backside of Chelsea Market along 14th Street. Basically walk towards Tippler, and it’d be on your right side. Can’t really miss it. It seems to be a semi-throwback to Baja style fish tacos.

I got shrimp ceviche, 2 fish tacos, and 1 spicy shrimp taco.

I wanted the fish ceviche, but they were out for whatever reason. The shrimp ceviche was pretty good, although I’m not too much of a fan of it being put on a big tostada shell. I thought it’d be more peruvian style but who would have thought.

Summary

I’ve walked by here many times, but I’ve never actually ate here until now. One of our guests loves this place because of the burger.

The prime beef tartare was pretty good. It definitely was tender and tasted like good quality beef.

The rotisserie chicken was really tender. If I had to dock it points, it’d be for how salty the sauce and everything was. Also, it was oily too. However if you’re wondering about the meat, it was juicy and cooked nice.

Summary

I’m not a fan of brunch at all, so this was the first restaurant in the area I was in that seemed interesting to me. I completely forgot it was Easter Sunday, but luckily their prixe fix menu had all the regulars on it.

The bread was nothing to write home about. It came slightly on the cold side.

The escargots de bourgogne in baby potatoes were actually pretty good. Albeit slightly salty in some bites, they tasted better than the other appetizers on the table.