Hunan Slurp Called ‘Most Accomplished’ of New East Village Chinese Restaurants

Hunan Slurp gets a thumbs up from New York

The rise of stylish Chinese restaurants in the East Village is one of the greatest trends in New York City dining right now, and according to New York critic Adam Platt, Hunan Slurp is one of the “most-accomplished addition[s],” he writes in a two-star review of the noodle and Hunan cuisine restaurant. The owner-chef is Chao Wang, an artist who created the wood-planked space to make food that he craved from his home. Mifen, or rice noodles, may be a flagship of the menu, but Platt says that the other dishes are just as worthy. He highlights the cold dishes like chicken feet, sweet-and-sour spare ribs, Hunan charcuterie, and a whole fish.

A different Hunan restaurant opens a bit further north

Yet another restaurant joins the spate of hyper-specific East Village Chinese restaurants: Silky Kitchen, located at 137 East 13th St. closer to Union Square, has opened, specializing in Hunan cuisine. The menu includes a tight selection of appetizers like pig ear or beef tripe salad and dumplings, but the centerpiece is a variety of mifen dishes. Choose from options like stewed beef or hot and sour vegetables, all of which can be piled on top of dry noodles, soup noodles, or rice. Spice levels, too, are customizable, and everything clocks in under $14.

A Cuban bakery in Bed-Stuy — and other coming attractions

Come October, popular Bed-Stuy restaurant Pilar Cuban Eatery will be adding a bakery to its repertoire. It will share an address with the restaurant and will offer Cuban tamales, pastries, sandwiches, shakes, coffee, and bread. Over in East Village, a pizza restaurant is planned for a former Chase bank. A “modern Japanese” restaurant called Pado is gearing up to open at 199 Second Ave. And in the LES’s “Hell Square,” an oft-maligned space is getting yet another new restaurant. This one will be Asian fusion and comes from restaurateur Aleksander Gutgarts and Akiva Ofshtein. Bowery Boogie seems dubious about it.

Harlem Bar-B-Q shutters — and another closure

Harlem Bar-B-Q on Lenox Avenue has closed. Open since 2015, it served dishes like baby back ribs, burgers, and wings. A taqueria appears to be opening in its place. Over on LES near East Broadway, the Department of Health shut down hip cafe Little Canal. Owners say electrical problems impacted refrigeration, but it should be reopening today or tomorrow.

Another New York man alleges he’s a victim of an exploding Corona bottle

Earlier this month, a barback at Frying Pan sued Corona’s parent company after an exploding beer bottle allegedly blinded him, and now, another local man claims he too was partially blinded by an exploding Corona bottle. Lachtman Ramnanan, a construction worker from Queens, says a bottle from a six-pack popped and hit him in the face. He needed emergency surgery, and despite two surgeries on his left eyeball, he only has about 20 percent of his vision back. He’s now out of work and joining the lawsuit.