Way back in the day when Mr. Hipster used to work down in SoHo, I used to get K & P takeout all the time. I remember it being amazingly inconsistent, but amazingly free (my bosses made up for my paltry salary by plying me with complementary pad thai.) After actually eating in the restaurant for the first time, I have a whole new-found respect for the place. Sure it’s your typical SoHo, Asian mash-up, but there is a certain rustic flair that makes a quick dinner here feel fun and mellow. For the area, the prices are actually reasonable (entrees are around eleven or twelve bucks) and the service almost acceptable (almost). We’re always plugging the whole Asian fusion (that’s what mash-up means) thing. I mean there’s nothing better than being able to order scallion pancakes, pad see yew, nua yang and sake–all your Asian favorites–in one place. Despite the nice mixture of cuisines, the menu is actually pretty limited in its choices. Amazingly there looks to be only two or three things on the whole menu for vegetarians–and two of those are a tiny, green salad and some wimpy soup. Of course I’m the one who spends most of my time at Greek diners perusing the fifteen pages of lamb shank and squid ink pasta primavera, so I may not be a fair judge of what constitutes a robust listing. The high ceilings and worn wood interior–along with the prerequisite hot help–make for cool surroundings. Mix that with some decent eats shared amongst friends and several Japanese beers and you have what amounts to the perfect place to chill after a long day of wondering how the hell there are people in this world that can afford to buy clothes in those damn boutiques with like three tank tops and four pairs of jeans hanging there and “free” espressos for all the ladies in the two thousand dollar, pointy shoes. [MF]
127 Greene St.
212/228-1212
kelleyandping.com
