NYC Tastes

Ahhh...there's nothing better than checking out an old favorite after a long break.  Walking down the stairs into this subterranean sake joint I was brought back to so many fun nights spent chowing down on endless skewers of yakitori... ...and pitcher upon pitcher of Sapporo beer. There are some great things in life that never change.  Hopefully Sake Bar Hagi will always be one of them. Sake Bar Hagi 152 West 49th between 6th & 7th Avenue New York, NY 10019

NYC is a wonderful and magical place to visit around the holiday season. The Rockefeller Center tree is gorgeous, all the hotels are decked out in red and gold, holiday pop-up shops fill the parks- what could be better? Unfortunately you have to be prepared for what I can only describe as controlled chaos. You will be wrangled like cattle to see the tree, stand in line at a Starbucks for 30 minutes, not for a caffeine fix but to use the single smelly bathroom and you’ll probably be so pooped out from all of your shopping and touring that you’ll see a TGI Friday’s or Olive Garden and think it’s an oasis in the storm. Two hours later (because you’ll have to wait for a table like all of the other tourists who thought the line at McDonald’s and Subway were too long) you’ll wonder why the food and service were so crappy and suddenly your wallet is empty as well. It’s the holidays in NYC folks and one must be prepared to weather the season. If you’re from the city you should know thi...

I was dying for some more delicious caffeinated beverages the other day so we grabbed the train uptown to go to Fika. We actually stopped off on the way at the New York Public Library just to walk around and were surprised to see a really great exhibit on Jack Kerouac. We were delighted to have found such a great thing to do on a Saturday that didn't involve any money so....we decided to go out to dinner.   That's just the way we roll :) After Fika we walked down into the Times Square area and headed towards Sake Bar Hagi. We had tried to go here once before and there were no tables. This time we showed up at 5:45 just 15 minutes after they had opened, and scored the last table.   5:45...Who eats at that hour? And this place is packed! Even though this is in Times Square it is NOT a tourist destination. Hagi is a basement itzakaya barely visable from the street above.  We sat down and ordered some Kirin Light, shochu and a bunch of dishes. The point of an itzak...