Aug 26, 2010 | Posted in Blog, Food, Life, Travel

My 5 Favorites, Not-to-Miss East Village Bites

It's always good to know where to go for great food in the city. To start off, head to the East Village on the lower east side. There are hundreds of place to sample a variety of different cuisines and drinks. The neighborhood contains the most varied group of ethnic restaurants in New York City. There's every type of food you could think about wanting to eat and you can find it there.

1- Motorino
349 E 12th St (between 2nd Ave & 1st Ave) New York, NY 10003
Motorino is one of my personal favorites on 12th street. It's best known as a brick-oven pizza joint and was featured on Time Out Magazine. Their menu is robust and features much more than just pizza. I went though their appetizers section and it was hard to pick just one out. One of the appetizers that catch my attention was the Warm Spicy Octopus & Potato topped with Chili Oil and Lemon. It turned out to be very delicious. I also order the Cherry Stone Clams and the Prosciutto Di Parma pizza. The crust is crisp and puffy at the edge with fresh sauce that lingered in my mouth.

(Spicy Octopus & Potato)

(Ommegang Wittle Beer at Motorino)

(Cherry Stone Clams pizza)

(Prosciutto Di Parma)

(My Ice tea at Motorino)

(Motorino's menu)

2- Veniero's Pastry
342 East 11th Street New York, NY 10003
After all the delicious pizzas, I had a huge craving for dessert and a cannoli seemed like the perfect fit. I headed to the famous Veniero's Pastry on 11th Street. They have a wide selection of choices including cannolis, tiramisu and much more. There's definitely something for everyone.

(Veniero's Pastry)

(Veniero's Pastry on Left and Rice to Riches on Right, these two photos are from Akito)

3- Japanese Restaurant in East Village
Next I headed down to St Marks Street. This is where you'll encounter a much different atmosphere. Walking through the endless strip of restaurants from Japanese, Thai, to Middle Eastern, it certainly whetted my appetite.

4- Pommes Frites
123 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10003
Be sure to check out the Pommes Frites for some Belgian fries. A few more blocks away is the Astor Wine shop, a great place for variety of Italian wines. I bought two bottles of wine.

(Japanese Restaurant in East Village)

(Astor Wine)

5-Rice to Riche
37 Spring Street (between Mott and Mulberry St), New York City
Finally, my last food venture was rice pudding at Rice to Riches. This place is bright and cute. They have many unusual flavors and toppings for the rice pudding. It's very tasty, however, the price is a bit high just for the pudding ($7.75). So I've covered some of my favorite eats in East Village. Do you have any suggestions on which one is your favorite pizza or dessert place?