Food Tours · Tour

Georgian Cheese Boats and Japanese BBQ off Ninth Avenue

Two and a half hours in Hell's Kitchen, eight guests at most, starting at a Japanese yakiniku restaurant on West 44th between Eighth and Ninth. There are two branches of it in the city, so make sure you are at the Hell's Kitchen one and not the East Village. The neighbourhood was longshoremen, tenements and the gangs that ran the West Side piers, and it kept the reputation long after the docks closed. What filled the ground floors afterwards is the reason to come: Ninth Avenue and the streets off it hold one of the densest runs of small international kitchens anywhere in Manhattan, three minutes' walk from Times Square and almost entirely unvisited by the people standing in it. The tastings move across cuisines rather than through one. Japanese barbecue grilled at the table. Georgian khachapuri, the boat-shaped bread with molten cheese, an egg cracked into the middle and butter stirred through it while it is still too hot. Old-school Italian meatballs. And more, chosen because the restaurants are neighbourhood fixtures rather than because they photograph well. Your guide fills in the dockside history and what replaced it. The walk ends near Ninth Avenue and West 55th Street. Water and the food are included; alcohol is available to buy. Minimum two people per booking, guided in English. Vegetarian works with notice at booking; vegan, dairy-free, kosher and gluten-free do not. It runs in any weather, and there is an indoor version to ask about if the forecast is bad.