NEW YORK — Tradition is not the first word that comes to mind when one plans a visit to Manhattan's East Village, sometimes referred to as New York's counterculture capital known for punk rock, new wave bands, drug dealers and tattoo parlors.
But the area, loosely spreading between First and Third avenues in Lower Manhattan, is also a destination to find affordable yet authentic culinary offerings — including Irish, Italian, Jewish, Ukrainian, Korean and Japanese — that have evolved with the passing of different ethnic groups over many years.
The hole-in-the-wall Japanese restaurant Otafuku is one such eatery, frequented not just by Japanese expatriates but also by students of nearby New York University in search of cheap, tasty eats. The restaurant, opened in 1998, specializes in such down-to-earth Japanese fare as "takoyaki" (octopus dumplings), "okonomiyaki" (vegetable, meat, seafood pancakes) and "yakisoba" (fried buckwheat noodles).