Restaurant Review: Sake Bar Hagi

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Sake Bar Hagi

154 West 49th St
New York, NY 10019 Subway Direction
(212) 764-8549

Cuisine: Japanese
Price Range: $
Credit Card Accepted
No Reservation
Hours: Mon - Sun: 5:30pm - 3:00 pm

Resting in the heart of the Theater District / Times Square lies a small underground sake bar known as Hagi. You won't even realized its there if you don't look carefully. The only sign that indeed its the place is the "sake bar" inscribed on wooden door jamb and the traditional red paper lantern at the door that leads down to the izakaya establishment. But once you are down, you will not regret it.

Hagi is usually packed with a mixture of various clientèle. There is a long wooden bar that is lined with bottles of shochu and sake, and flanked by flat-screen TVs which usually broadcast sporting events. The last time I went was the world cup, this time was baseball. There are wooden tables and chairs all around the place and when it is packed, you might end up shoulder to shoulder with your next table neighbor. Again, its worth it.

Now, I have only been to this place twice but its been a great experience. The last time was just this weekend when I went a group. Usually the wait time for groups could be 30 - 40 minutes and they take no reservation so you will need to be patience and it will be worth it.

Once seated, the server will bring you couple of menus. Their main menu and a couple of small ones which include a drinks menu filled with various kinds of sake and shochu. And its really easy to order especially when the menu is filled with images of all their dishes and drinks they served.

Nigori Sake

So we start ordering and the service is fast. Our server first brought our drinks. We ordered bottles of Nigori Sake as well as two pitchers of Sapporo and Kirin. The Nigori Sake is generally a sweet sake best complemented with spicy food. It has a fruity flavor with a clean finish.

Then comes the food. The dishes were constantly good as the group savor every dish that came to our table. "This is good" "yummy" "delicious" was all you hear from the group.

Sake Bar Hagi has a nice ambiance with the noise not overwhelming even if the place gets crowded. The bathrooms are kept clean and the place is neat and efficient. We could have stayed the entire night at Hagi but we got to give others a chance to savor the taste and enjoy the sake at Hagi.

Diakon salad with crispy baby sardines.
The lightly picked diakon complemented well the crispiness of the baby sardines.
The unique flavor of seawood and rice wine vinegar made it a very delightful dish to start with.

Wasabi Shumai
Dont let this fool you, its bite sized but it packs a punch to clean your sinus.

Deep Fried Oysters
This was the fave of the group. We ordered 3 orders and ended up ordering 2 more

Neopolitan
A very interesting dish composed of Pork belly, onion, soba noodles and ketchup.
Yep, you read it right.. ketchup.

Restaurant Review: Sarita's Macaroni and Cheese

345 East 12th Street,
New York, NY 10003
(212) 358 - 7912

American, Mac and Cheese
Price: $1.50 - $47.00
Dine In, Take Out, Delivery

Sarita's Macaroni & Cheese or better known as "S'MAC" is a nice little eatery located in Manhattan's East Village. It open its door on June 24, 2006.

So I went to the place with a friend before we headed to another friend's party. This place sure stands out from its neighborhood with Orange and Yellow-Greenish front walls with glass pane surrounded by black outline. Once you are inside, the place is of typical NYC eateries - small but cozy with a combination of high and low tables and chairs. The high chairs are cushioned while the regular chairs are plastics. There is also sitting with the window view even though their isn't really a view. The interiors is surrounded by brick wall and the lighting made the whole place look - well, mac and cheese.

Sure was hard to choose which one to order while reading each description of their recommendation but I ended up getting the Nosh Napoletana with regular elbow served with breadcrumbs.

The waiting time wasn't long, I would say it took about 10 minutes from the time I ordered to the time my mac and cheese arrived. And it sure smell good when it did, the mac and cheese was in a cast iron skillet serve over a wooden serving plate. It sure looks tempting.

After taking this image on the left, I started munching away on my mac and cheese. The fresh mozzarella was delicious while I could easily taste the roasted tomatoes and garlic with the aroma of the fresh basil. I tell you though, even for a small size, it can make you feel full.

My buddy told me he has tried the other varieties that Sarita's have and like it. Guess I have to do the same thing as well.


Sarita's Mac & Cheese website