Bian Dang and Pastel OUT at Food Gallery 32
Only yesterday we were nodding our heads at Robert Sietsema’s love letter to Food Gallery 32, and in particular The Village Voice’s ode to Bian Dang’s awesome porkchops, when we received a shocking tweet from @CaraPaige. “No more Bian Dang” at Food Gallery 32, we were informed. Sadly, we’ve confirmed that to be the case. Instead of awesome deep fried Taiwanese goodies, a new stall, dubbed “Mr. Fish” has replaced Bian Dang. And instead of Korea’s quixotic take on Italian food, a stall called “Doyaji Pork House” has replaced Pastel.
More photos and menus of the newcomers after the jump.
Dojayji’s menu, which seems to be mostly tonkatsu, Japanese/Korean style curries, and omurice, all thankfully under $10.
Bian Dang has been replaced by Mr. Fish, which embraces confused fusion sushi rolls.
The menu, while mostly affordable, gets a solid shrug of the shoulders and an eye-roll. Certainly not a replacement for Bian Dang’s pork chops or General Tso’s chicken.
Meanwhile the 3rd floor space, previously occupied by Crepe Monster, lies un-utilized.
The reason for the shakeup isn’t entirely mysterious. From an anecdotal perspective, I’ve noticed short lines at Bian Dang and no lines whatsoever at Pastel during my frequent visits to Food Gallery 32. While I wish that both stalls had stuck around longer, it seems that Bian Dang and Pastel weren’t aligning with Food Gallery 32’s strategy (whatever that may be).
Posted by Chris H. at 8:30 am, July 20th, 2012 under Food Gallery 32.
13 Comments | RSS comments feed for this post
I hope this is a move for Bian Dang to open a brick & mortar of their own near Midtown.