8 Hours in NYC — Nami Nori, Foxface, Rowdy Rooster, Prince St, Los Tacos No. 1

Spent some time “working” in the Hamptons and it was too rural for me so took the bus into the city one day for 8 hours or so. So ate at 5 places:

  • Los Tacos No. 1: the drop off was close to the Grand Central location and heard NYC might have good tacos finally, so had to check it out. Got a carne asada and adobada. Not bad.

  • Prince Street Pizza: took the subway down and we all know what Prince Street is. Have had this slice a million times and this one didn’t disappoint.

  • Foxface: walked up to Foxface and got a Smoking Fox (Smoked Boneless Rib, Coleslaw, Pickles, Our Spicy Sauce). Ate in the parklet of the dumpling place next door. Another Foxfacer was saying how his sandwich (a patty melt of wagyu with foie gras) was the best thing he’s ever eaten so had a bite of his, and it was very good indeed. As was mine.

  • Nami Nori: walked over to Nami Nori and had the house set menu with a few add ons: uni and hamachi. It was crowded (used a reservations from a “friend”) and it’s kind of a tourist restaurant but pretty good, and the uni was the best I’ve had in a while.





  • Rowdy Rooster: Indian fried chicken sandwich. Was really good — good spicing on the batter, the pickles and sauces balancing it out — but at that point I could barely eat anymore so ate half and gave the other half away. The guy hadn’t heard of it before but loved it.

Then back on the jitney back to the surreal life.

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Ok, never mind where you ate, but 5 places in 8 hours? RESPECT!

J/k re “never mind…”

I like Los Tacos a lot. The lines have gotten ludicrous, though, so only at off times now. I walked by the Times Sq location yesterday around lunchtime… and kept walking.

Nicely done on Nami Nori reservation… I haven’t been yet (haven’t tried, tbh, but your report is encouraging)

Rowdy Rooster - was it crowded? It’s by the critic-favorite indian restaurant group, and I haven’t liked their other offerings, so I wasn’t motivated to try it, but can’t argue with the idea. Is it a chickpea batter? I’m most curious about the bread - they claim it’s pao, but I’ve never eaten anything resembling pao in NYC (including at Paowalla).

Nice pic!

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I like Los Tacos a lot.

I’m from California and “grew up” eating in Mexico (and live there part time still) but have been visiting NYC regularly for the last 15+ years. Mexican was always so bad there but, ya, Los Tacos was not bad. I was pleasantly surprised.

Nami Nori reservation

Ya, it was crazy crowded even on a random weekday afternoon. We were dog watching in the Hamptons so “accidentally” used my gf’s boss’ resy to somehow get a reservation the day of. Other people were waiting or ate outside (which didn’t really seem ideal for that restaurant). But the staff were super nice and cute — in my half food coma, I ordered more beer and sake while they were shutting down between lunch and dinner service but once hearing my story of the day, had a drink with me and gave me a couple extra bites (like I needed them… I guess that was the joke).

Rowdy Rooster - was it crowded?

Ya, people were in there eating, but they move fast — I just got it to go and it only took <10 minutes or so. The inside is fun but at that point I just wanted to be outside in the air. And for some reason I still don’t know, I got the bigger sandwich which comes on a potato bun, but the smaller one does come on pao. I didn’t see one myself though. The batter was wheat flour and maybe some others mixed in, but definitely not just chickpea. It was a good sandwich, I just threw in the towel at that point.

But then waiting for the bus, I went into this beer bar to charge my phone — Murray Hill sucks but found a cool enough spot and they were nice and ended up giving me a grilled cheese after me telling them my day… (can’t tell if they were being nice or trying to torture me). I ended up giving it to some other dude waiting for a different bus lol. I felt like santa giving sandwiches at that point.

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Love this ,thanks for sharing!!!

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@chiel Have you been to KazuNori / any thoughts vs NamunNori? Now I’ve got handrolls on my mind!

No, sorry, I haven’t been to KazuNori .