Great night out in New York: Otafuku, PDT, Mayahuel and Sundaes & Cones.

It's been a while since my last post so couple of weeks ago we decided to go out and try out as many new places as we can in one night.

We started with the Otafuku, this tiny Japanese place, located on 9th street between 2nd and 3rd avenues, is specialized in Takoyaki (a piece of octopus covered in a tempura batter type mixture and fried in small round holes in a hot skillet then covered in mayonnaise and toped with Bonito flakes and eaten with a toothpick) - be careful it is extremely hot - and Okonomiyaki (Combination of a pizza and a pancake with various ingredients). Since our trip to Osaka we were searching for a local restaurant that offered similar quality Takoyaki but most restaurants in NYC uses frozen Takoyaki because it's much easier to warm it up and serve. So we will return to Otafuku for our Takoyaki fix. It's a tiny place so it gets busy quick in the evening and late night.

Otafuku
236 East 9th Street (Between 2nd and 3rd Avenues)
New York, NY‎ 10003
(212) 353-8503‎

Our second stop was the world famous PDT (Please don't tell), thanks to the Travel Channel's Extreme Bar Hopping episode. PDT is secretly tucked in to the Crif Dogs, famous for their hot dogs. You access it through the phone booth, reservations are hard to come by because of the size of this cocktail den but if you don't mind sitting at the bar and getting there early then you will most likely get a seat at the bar and watch these master barmen do what they do best.

PDT's menu is full of masterfully crafted cocktails, wine, beer and even few signature hot dogs passed through a secret compartment in the bar from the next door Crif Dogs. Don't forget to order the tater tots or waffle fries with cheese and jalapeños. 

After sampling a French Absinthe from an Absinthe Fountain, few delicious cocktails and our signature hot dogs we thanked our barmen and headed out to our next stop; Mayahuel.

PDT - Please Don't Tell
http://www.pdtnyc.com/
113 St. Marks Place (Between 1st Avenue and Avenue A) 
New York, NY‎ 10003
(212) 614-0386‎

Mayahuel is place to go if you enjoy quality tequilas and mezcals paired with tasty and shareable dishes from the kitchen.Watermelon Sugar (tequila, mezcal, sugar cane and watermelon juice) was the first cocktail and it was finished as quickly as it hit the table. Simply delicious. Second cocktails was the Red Ant River Swizzle, another great cocktail incorporating the absinthe with tequila.  There are so many great cocktails to choose from you don't know where to start.I also recommend ordering few dishes like Palomitas (Popcorn with lime, cotija cheese, and ancho chili. Freshly popped to order for $5), Tacos (Soft tortillas with carnita, tinga, or chorizo with cilantro, radishes and lime for $12) and Tortillas (Crispy toritlla chips served with guacamole, smoked tomato, and salsa verde for $8) to share along with your cocktails. Besides these shareable plates there also offer large dishes like Mole Braised Chicken, Pork Belly or Scallops all for $12/each.

Mayahuel
http://www.mayahuelny.com
304 East 6th Street (Between First and Second Avenues)
New York, NY 10003
212-253-5888

On the way back home our next and last stop was the Sundaes and Cones on 10th street. After a long night of eating and drinking we needed a little bit of a sweet fix so Sundaes and Cones was the perfect place to enjoy a nice ice cream on a waffle cone on the way back home, enjoying the cool night air.

Sundaes & Cones
http://www.sundaescones.com
95 East 10th Street (Between 3rd and 4th Avenues)
New York, NY 10003
(212) 979-9398