The East Village is an area that spans east of Bowery from Houston Street to 14th Street, and it represents a multi-cultural and dynamic neighborhood in New York City.  It has been home to numerous immigrant populations creating a diverse area that includes Ukrainian, Polish, Irish, Jewish, Japanese, and Indian cultures.  Additionally, the East Village has been home to artists, writers, and musicians. Currently it has a significant student population due to its proximity to NYU, the New School, and Cooper Union.

To experience the East Village’s cultures and history, you can taste your way through the many different cuisines to be found in this multi-cultural epicenter.  New York Food Tours leads walking culinary tours through this neighborhood, highlighting important architectural sites including St. Mark’s-in-the-Bowery Church (the second oldest church in Manhattan), Cooper Union (a free college established by inventor and philanthropist Peter Cooper), and McSorely’s Ale House (the oldest bar in Manhattan). It also takes you through the vibrant St. Mark’s Place, with its culturally diverse shops, coffee shops, bars, and restaurants.

Known as the East Village Food Tour, this educational and delicious tour includes tastings of many of the neighborhoods delectable treasures: Belgian fries, falafel, Italian pastries, and Japanese takoyaki, and Taiwanese bubble teas. Afterwards you will feel like you went through several different countries in a matter of a few hours!

If you walk in the East Village, or at least the area around St. Marks St. around 3rd Avenue, you will see a trend of  Japanese supermarkets, bakeries, restaurants, and hair salons. This provides anyone a sense of how living in Japan is like without traveling having to there! Many college students from NYU, Parsons, and Cooper Union roam this area looking for cheap eats and in Japantown. Therefore, you can find affordable and delicious dishes to eat. At New York Food Tours, we bring you to the best eating establishments to sample and learn about the development of this neighborhood. Some places to highlight include:

• Otafuku – The most authentic eatery serving takoyaki (Japanese octopus balls), okonomiyaki, and yakisoba. It is a small stand and normally people stand outside eating their food.
• Yakitori Taisho – This is known for its yakitori (grilled meat sticks) and numerous other cheap Japanese dishes.
• West Udon – This restaurant specializes in making udon, and has seats at the bar so you can watch them make your bowl of udon.
• Sunrise Mart – A supermarket that has everything one would need, including Japanese snacks and vegetables, along with Japanese drinks, cosmetics, and sauces. You can find rice balls with a variety of fillings and Japanese cookie sticks like Pocky!

This excludes all the sushi restaurants in the area and there are plenty of those that are cheap. This is a really fun area to explore and experience a piece of Japan while being in New York! Check out more details on our site and be sure to book quickly while the nice weather lasts.

A crowd stands outside a tiny hole-in-the-wall stand on 9^th Street, between 2^nd and 3^rd Avenue. As you look closer, you see that most of them are eating small balls covered in a dark sauce. Takoyaki, known as Japanese octopus balls, is a street snack that is widely popular in Japan. This dish has made its mark here to Japanese and Americans alike. Otafuku is where you can get one of the most tasty and authentic takoyaki in New York City. On the East Village tour, this destination is one of the highlights where you can experience real Japanese street food!

Served straight off the takoyaki cast iron pan, you can feel the heat emanating from the plate. Take one bite and you find yourself pleasantly surprised, tasting both sweet and savory flavors. The octopus in the middle provides a nice chewiness through the dense batter and katsuobushi (fish shavings) enhances the seafood intensity. The ponzu brings the acidity that cuts the oil and the okonomiyaki sauce adds another layer of sweetness. There is also mayonnaise that brings out fatty flavor to the takoyaki. Immense pleasure overcomes you; your stomach satisfied.

You get to try takoyaki and Otafuku on our East Village Tour! Please check out our website for more details. Be sure to give us your impression on this dish when you participate in our food tour!

Bon Chon, also known as Korean Fried Chicken, is the famous and trendiest wing available in New York City, the center of culinary arts! The New York Food Tours team ventures into Boka, where Bon Chon is served. We cannot wait to taste and experience their popular spicy wings.

Can we say tempting and tantalizing? We quickly munch away at these small crispy pieces of fried chicken. Even though they are not that spicy, they are good enough so you can taste the little kick of heat in your tongue. It is not oily or sticky like Buffalo wings, but it is just as tasty if not more so. We notice that all the other patrons order bon chon with beer just like they would with Buffalo wings. Who can go wrong with that combination? You are guaranteed tasty bar and snack food by ordering both beer and wings.

Boka is one of the restaurants you walk past when you go on our Original East Village Food Tasting and Cultural Tour, so make sure to check it out. You get to experience many other restaurants and different foods in the East Village, so be sure to prepare your stomach for a culinary and historic adventure.