Loosely based on some sort of boat or log cabin theme (I couldn’t really tell), Kabin could easily skip the gimmickry and still be a decent place to spend a happy hour guzzling beers and shooting the shit with some friends. We were there in the early evening, and the place was already blaring with the sound of young drunkenness. Now, this is normally one of the more annoying things to put up with, but the drunk dudes in the place were so over-the-top funny, that I found myself more amused than annoyed. That was until one of them started swinging barstools around like they were matador capes, and then he politely excused himself to go barf. The friendly bartender took everything in stride, and was surprisingly one of the better bartenders I’ve experienced recently in the city. She actually looked us in the face when taking our orders, had a comment or three about the drunken idiots, answered some quick questions, and hung around just the right amount. She also gave us a heads up when the happy hour two-for-one deal was ending in case we wanted to sneak in an extra drink or four, which was very sporting (and not very common) of her. If you removed the oddball log cabin facade from the back room, this could be just another great bar with a really decent beer selection, a nice amount of space, and just enough sheen on its wear to keep it our of the dive bar realm. [MF]
92 2nd Ave.
212/254-0204