Village Yokocho

8 Stuyvesant St., East Village, NY

7.1

map & more

Neighborhood
East Village

Cuisine
Japanese
Korean
Pan-Asian

Nearby
Webster Hall

Official Website

By Chris Stang
December 9, 2010

We have been on one hell of an Asian food bender lately, and we’re loving every minute of it. Next stop? Village Yokocho. We were first tipped off to Village Yokocho in Sam Talbot’s Friday Fives a few months back. The guy was a little reluctant to give up his go-to Date Night spot, which obviously put it high up on our list of places to check out. Perfect for Date Night? We’ll see about that…by going there together. Right after we went to the Rag and Bone sample sale in Chelsea Market and got One Lucky Duck smoothies. Yikes.

Even though we were there on an Immaculate man date, we have to admit that Sam was right about Village Yokocho. We didn’t think the food was quite as good as some of the other Eastern eats we’ve had recently, but it’s definitely a great date spot. Why? Well first of all, the restaurant is full of all sorts of action. It’s a lively mix of big drunk groups and young trendy couples, and everyone (including the staff) seems to be having a pretty great time. Second, the restaurant is connected to well known, sexy Japanese lounge called Angel’s Share. Everybody in the lounge must be seated, so things stay civilized. Eats at Yokocho followed by intimate drinks and light groping in the lounge? You’ve had worse nights.

Food Rundown:

Deep Fried Squid Legs
A popular order at Village Yokocho, and we liked them. Don’t expect to see calamari though. These are thin squid tentacles, lightly fried and served with a mound of mayo. A little chewy, but good nonetheless.

Yakitori Assortment
There are better places for Yakitori in town, but an assortment of meat on a stick never really disappoints. Order this if you’re really in the mood for it, but we’ll probably skip the grill next time and go for more noodle/dumpling dishes.

Pork Ramen
A decent bowl of porky noodles that will do the job, but nothing close to some of our favorite Ramen establishments around town.

King Crab Dumplings
Recommended by our Japanese waiter with a sweet tattoo sleeve (lots of that here), these dumplings were awesome.

Bibimbap
We’re becoming quite fond of the bibimbap here at the Infatuation , but this one just wasn’t as good as some of the others we’ve had recently (see Dokebi). We’ll give it a B minus.