7 eccentric restaurants in NYC to try out

 

Finding a good restaurant in NYC is easy, but tasty food is not all that New Yorkers want to experience when visiting a restaurant. Remember, dining out is one of the ultimate things to do in New York. Even though specialties from all over the world are available on every corner, the ultimate NYC experience should not only please your taste buds but leave your entire body amazed as well. Today we represent you our list of 7 eccentric restaurants in NYC to try out.

 

1. Please Don’t Tell

Please Don’t Tell (PDT) is a speakeasy-style bar located in East Village, Manhattan. There are many similar restaurants and bars all over NYC but some details make this one so special. First of all, you will have to try a little bit harder to get the reservation since their lines open at 3 pm and they often leave you waiting for an answer or they simply tell that you got the wrong number. However, being persistent pays off. After you manage to book yourself a spot in this legendary bar, you will have to walk through the secret phone booth in order to reach it. Finally, you will be able to enjoy amazing cocktails and complement them with delicious hot-dogs or burgers from the place next door. If you end up loving this place, you should also check out some of the top underground attractions in NYC since there are some similar bars on the list.

 

2. La Caverna

 

If you would like to experience something entirely different from the urban jungle that NYC is, you can head into La Caverna. It’s a cave-like restaurant located not so far from our previous pick, in East Village. The decor is a bit gaudy, but the food is OK and quite affordable. If you like eccentric restaurants and bars, then La Caevrna deserves a place on your list.

 

3. Apotheke

 

If yоu are afraid of white coats, this place might not be the one for you. Or, it could just be the right opportunity for you to overcome your fear while sipping cocktails made in a chemistry lab. Once you enter this amazing cocktail bar, the clinical scientists welcome you and serve you medications, i.e. drinks. They are also willing to discuss the prescriptions the guests feel they need. The spices and herbs used as ingredients for these drinks originate from their rooftop garden.

 

4. Inchiran

 

Inchiran is not a typical Japanese restaurant even though it serves some top-quality tonkotsu ramen. Such places are usually busy and loud, but in Inchiran you are granted some privacy with your meal. The place is famous for so-called Ramen Focus Booths which allow you to enjoy your meal without distractions. This is the restaurant where you can simply unwind after a long day at work or after finishing an errand. The first time I have visited this restaurant was on the exact day I moved to NYC. After I said goodbye to the guys from Movage Moving NYC looked like too loud of a jungle for me and I just wanted to enjoy a nice warm meal. Inchiran was the perfect choice that I keep coming back to every time I like to enjoy food by myself.

 

5. Burp Castle

 

Burp Castle is also a restaurant you do not get to see every day. In this eccentric restaurant, yоu will be able to enjoy your food and drinks in a monastery-themed ambiance. Medieval-style murals and paintings on the walls are not all that makes this place feel like church. You will have to respect the monastic values and keep your voice down to show respect to the place that you are visiting. If you fail to do so, the Monks will shush you and remind you where you are. This is actually a “temple of beer worship” offering a dozen draft and around forty imported bottled beers. Gregorian chants played from the stereo fulfill the atmosphere and make it even more serene.

 

6. Max Brenner

 

Addicted to chocolate? We get you and we know just the place where your chocolate dreams come true. A bar where everything is about chocolate definitely deserves its place on our list of eccentric restaurants in NYC. Max Brenner invites you to indulge in decadent desserts and enjoy the taste, fragrance, sound, and feel of chocolate that is all around you. Chocolate associations are expressed even in the music that is on and in the design of the place and the shop.

 

Here are several specialties that will make your mouth water at the very thought of them:

 

• Thick hot chocolate – originally from Italy, but here it is consumed from specially designed mug meant to be held (or better say hugged) by both hands while consuming this delicious drink. It is called the hugmug and you can get in Max’s gift shop. For some people, peace and quiet can be found wherever their coffee mug or, in this case, a hugmug is.
• Milkshake – made of chocolate, of course, and served in an Alice Cup to remind you of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
• Chocolate pizza – anybody who knows anything about Max Brenner is that this is the place where you can get chocolate pizza. This iconic treat is made of two types of chocolate, toppings of your choice, and roasted marshmallows.
• Chocolate fondu tower – roasted pieces of marshmallow with creamy chocolate dipping – who can resist the temptation?
• Suckao – again something you won’t get to taste in any other restaurant in NYC. It’s a pure chocolate drink made from cocoa beans (kakao in Spanish) that is being consumed by sucking through the metal straw. Hence – the name.
• Cappucino and chocolate in a kangaroo cup – specially designed for both coffee and chocolate that you can dose to your taste.

 

7. Sik Gaek

 

This is not a place for those faint of heart. The restaurant serves Korean food that is very popular in NYC. But, besides their world-famous barbecue that you can have here, this restaurant takes pride in their fresh seafood. To prove how fresh it is, they will bring it to you alive. If you are not sure you will be able to eat the octopus still squirming on your plate, maybe you should stick to the barbecue, but you have to agree that this is one of the most eccentric restaurants in NYC.