"Admittedly, we go to the self-proclaimed “Asian speakeasy” 212 Hisae’s knowing that we're going to feel a bit curmudgeonly around the hoards of NYU students who (understandably) flock there for $5 drinks. But we too pay rent in NYC, and knocking (more than) a few bucks off our rent week tab keeps this place in our orbit. Plus, despite the crowd, we know we'll never be the oldest ones here. 212 Hisae is owned by “Grandma” Hisae, who previously owned the first rendition of this bar called Hisae’s Place with her husband. To this day, the East Village legend is a late-night fixture at the restaurant, milling around from table to table chatting with patrons and making sure they’re satisfied with their kimchi fried rice and kabocha dumplings." - izzy chen, with warm welcome, neha talreja, bryan kim
