Secret Eats: 5 Must-Try Hidden Gems in New York City

Ho Foods in the East Village is going to be a different restaurant depending on what time of day and what day of the week you go to it. You might stop in for a quick snack—like one of their hopelessly delicious fan tuans, a masterpiece of layered textures: sticky Koda Farms rice pressed around a crisp you tiao (savory fried dough) and pork floss. At night, you’ll find one of the best Taiwanese beef noodle soups in the city, served with tender beef and springy noodles. And in the morning, a full Taiwanese breakfast spread awaits, with rich, savory soy milk, so thick it’s practically tofu, radish cakes, and scallion pancakes with egg.

No trip to New York is complete without a no-nonsense New York slice. There are whole pies to be had all over the city in a myriad of styles, but just like a New York bagel, there’s nothing quite like a gooey, floppy slice of plain cheese pizza, with a crispy bottom, akin to what the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles subsisted on. Fascati’s Pizza in Brooklyn Heights has been around since 1971 and it’s one of those tried-and-true slices. It hasn’t changed since the 80’s, which is as long as the author of this article can attest to. The tomato sauce has just the right amount of sweetness (that is, barely any). It has just the correct amount of cheese, which stretches and slides without sliding off the pizza. Fascati’s Pizza will never let you down.

HAGS is the tiniest of fine dining restaurants in the East Village and perhaps the most gem-like on this list. It calls itself a restaurant by queer people for all people, and certainly, they make everyone feel welcome in the quirkiest, most thoughtful ways (Polaroid cameras to take selfies with, and flower leis, for instance). They serve two multi-course tasting menus that are both deeply creative, interesting takes on seasonal produce: Omnivore and Vegan. Their desserts are always exceptional, beautiful layerings of crunch and creaminess.

There is no shortage of cool Japanese bars on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, but Bar Goto is my favorite. It has all the things you would expect in a New York bar – sleek, dimly lit, that feeling that you are suddenly cooler as a person for stepping through its door –  with a Japanese-leaning beverage program, plus the great bonus of exceptional snacks. The cocktail list is extensive, but precise. You have your highballs and your sours, and they’ll make you a mean savory martini. Soak up the booze with an okonomiyaki and trust me, just order every bar snack. The kombu celery will haunt you. Never has humble celery been elevated to such savory heights.

Perhaps Asian Jewels in Flushing isn’t quite so hidden, since it is enormous, but it certainly is a gem and it certainly is worth the trek to Queens (at least to me, someone who hasn’t lived in the borough in fifteen years and even when I did – in Astoria – the rigamarole of taking the 7 train to the end of the line, made it a real full day excursion). The dim sum is as good as in Hong Kong (take it from someone who also grew up in Hong Kong). The skins on the har gao are gossamer. The turnip cakes are thick, sticky, and glorious. The char siu bao is impossibly fluffy. The zhong zi, steamed packets of rice in lotus leaves, is so fragrant. Bring an extra order of beef chow fun home. Also bring a Cantonese-speaking friend (in fact, you can bring me), to flag down and shout at the ladies pushing the dim sum carts, because Asian Jewels’ customers are rabid and will fight one another to the last egg tart.