Wednesday, March 9, 2016

On East Sixth Street, TonkatsuYa is in soft-open mode (and Awash has a new awning)



After just a few months in operation at 328 E. Sixth St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue, the Sri Lankan restaurant Banana Leaf closed. Its replacement, the Japanese restaurant TonkatsuYa, is now in soft-opening mode, per the sign outside ...

They are serving a limited menu for now...



And further toward First Avenue, Awash Ethiopian Restaurant has unveiled a new awning...



The old red-and-white one was looking awfully worn after the ongoing gut renovations in the apartments above.


[Undated photo via the Village Voice]

Thanks to Vinny & O for the photos!

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Is it my imagination or is the Japanese "comfort food" place becoming the froyo joint of this year?

Anonymous said...

How is Awash? I've been thinking about trying it.

Anonymous said...

Food by the gram - it has sunk to that.

Anonymous said...

Look around, there are a lot of young japanese people in the EV now because they are heavily targeted by NYU. Overseas students are very lucrative for universities, and NYU is primarily a money-making and RE enterprise at this point rather than an educational concern.

Anonymous said...

What are you two people on? If anything the Japanese population in this neighborhood has been dwindling for a while now. Talking out of our asses now are we.

Gojira said...

Anon. 10:33, it's traditional for tonkatsu and katsudon to be offered in either 100- or 180-gram servings, it's not a conceit of this particular establishment. That way you can choose if you want a smaller or a larger portion.

Anonymous said...

Awash is great: inexpensive, very good food and really friendly staff.

KeyFood4Eva said...

$15 for Katsu Curry? Get the hell outta here!

I'll stick to frying my own pork katsu, steaming my own white rice and making my own instant curry for under $10.

Anonymous said...

$15 is quite reasonable for an entree, particularly that comes with salad and rice. I'm sorry, but you're just cheap.

Walter said...

" If anything the Japanese population in this neighborhood has been dwindling for a while now. "

That's my observation as well. I'd go as far as to say "dwindling significantly" My SO is Japanese (now taking care of aging parents in Japan) and I remember the festival(s) that used to take place on East 10th Street and surrounding areas, as well as the many restaurants predominantly frequented by Japanese expats. The restaurants that are left nowadays seem to primarily depend on a non-Japanese clientele.*

*I have no statistical data for this, and my statement is solely based on my own casual observations.