Skip to content, or skip to search.
Skip to content, or skip to search.
Home > Restaurants >
|
Mon-Thu, 6pm-midnight; Fri-Sat, 6pm-2am; Sun, closed
L at First Ave.
$18-$27
American Express, MasterCard, Visa
Not Accepted
The name of this cevicheria comes from the Spanish for “naked”—and while no one is sans clothing, everything at this East Village spot is stripped down. Desnuda has just a handful of seats at its narrow, dark wood and marble-topped bar (there’s no room for tables), and it’s decorated by little more than one opulent chandelier and several motor-powered silk fans. Offerings consist of oysters, ceviche, and wine. Among the dozen or so options, the king crab dish is a knockout—in addition to citrusy hunks of snowy crabmeat on the plate, foamy mounds of sea urchin roe top fresh fig slices, an unexpectedly delicious combination. Other ceviche dishes—like hamachi tiradito—benefit from the addition of unusual ingredients like bee pollen. You may not fill up on these tiny portions of cured fish, but watching oysters smoked in a homemade “gravity bong” (what looks like a cut-off soda bottle over a plastic container) will certainly give you something to talk about.
Recommended DishesKing crab ceviche, $22; ceviche mixto, $18
Adam Platt picks 2009’s top dining destinations,
including Dovetail, Momofuku Ko, and Corton.
The best that the city’s restaurants have to offer:
paella, coffee, grilled cheese, ramen, and more.
We live in a city full of small cheap-eats miracles,
including $1 foods, Korean fried chicken, and burgers.