K Pasa
2 Main Street
Sag Harbor
631-800-8226
Lunch and dinner daily,
breakfast soon
What is K Pasa? Is it, as it calls itself, an “American taqueria”? A place that serves “street food with a Latin flair”? Is it “inspired by the all-day, aprez-beach lifestyle of the East End, Laguna Beach, and Malibu”? Here’s what K Pasa is not: a Mexican restaurant serving hefty portions of rice and beans.
It seems that K Pasa is still getting its sea legs. The menu has changed a bit since opening, but it has retained its clever individuality. The majority of offerings are little tacos of all kinds, most at a kindly priced $4. Some eyes may be drawn to the Nashville hot fried chicken sandwich or tater tots with ranch dressing, but what I mostly see is the opportunity to try many healthy things, like the living salad, super green salad, vegetarian and vegan offerings, and virgin sangria.
K Pasa is in the primo viewing location where La Superica was for many years. This is a welcome change and renovation for so many reasons.
When you walk in the door there is a nice bar, then an open kitchen restored with beautiful deep green tiles. The whole right side of K Pasa is windows, giving you a view of the water, boats, the bridge, the windmill, and moronic drivers struggling to navigate these things called “stop signs” and having to “yield” to human civilians. Just past the kitchen, the space opens up to a dining room with one long communal seating arrangement, comfortable booths, and high tops along the windows. There are a few neon signs — “tacos and tequila are cheaper than therapy” — and an amazing black and white mural on the back wall. I could have just asked who did it but I forgot to, so through diligent and time-sucking internet research I found out that it was done by the artist Danny Lawless. It has a lady jockey holding a martini, riding a blue whale, trippy swirls, a rubber ducky, birds, a lighthouse, and on and on. There is a movie marquee sign that changes exhortations frequently. “I doubt tequila is the answer but it’s worth a shot” and “Well behaved women rarely make decent margaritas.” The folks behind the new restaurant are Jeff Resnick, Ryunosuke Jesse Matsuoka, both of Sen fame, and some other partners. They know what they are doing.
That being said, there are a few kinks and glitches to be worked out. We arrived for an early lunch on a weekday and were the sole occupants of the dining room for the first hour. We started with guacamole and salsa. Both were very good and although some people have told me they were appalled at the portion size in relation to the price, we found both to be reasonable. The guacamole serving was about one and a half pints for $11 and the salsa was a very reasonable $5. They are served with small, freshly fried whole corn tortillas. We also tried a spicy margarita, excellent and very spicy.
We moved on to fried oysters, cod, rock shrimp, Peking duck, lamb, lobster, and cauliflower tacos. The fried oysters were good, with three placed into butter lettuce cups and topped with a bit of salsa and micro greens. Sadly, the oysters were not crisp. Nor were the rock shrimp. Which led me to several possible conclusions: One, they were prepared in advance and had been reheated, or, two, the deep fryer had just been turned on for the day and had not yet reached the proper temperature for frying. I would prefer to believe the latter. This was our only small disappointment with the tacos.
The cod was crisp and had a bit of red cabbage, radish slices, and good tartar sauce. The rock shrimp tacos were so good, in spite of their lack of crispness, that we ordered several more. The chipotle creme made the dish very reminiscent of Sen’s rock shrimp. There are other somewhat Asian influences on the food here such as a spicy cucumber salad with miso vinaigrette and the Peking duck taco, which was excellent and full of moist meat, slightly sweet from hoisin sauce and with crunchy bits of cucumber and scallions.
The lamb was also very, very good, full of tender lamb, a hint of mint, a few crumbles of feta cheese, a sprinkle of pomegranate seeds, and pickled red onion. The lobster taco had a surprisingly huge amount of very good lobster salad. It had tiny pieces of celery and a nice citrusy flavor, almost like it had yuzu juice or orange zest in it. The cauliflower taco was good and virtuous, kind of juicy and sweetened up with some raisins.
Each taco is about four bites, and everything is served on small metal trays with parchment paper embossed with the martini lady whale jockey logo. Personally, I love and appreciate a place that gives you the opportunity to try many small plates. And $4 to $5 for most of the tacos on the menu is crazy reasonable. The service on the day of our visit was good. Our waitress, Tiana, was sweet. When an addition of a half avocado on the lobster had been forgotten, she offered to bring it after we had finished. We insisted we didn’t need it before dessert but she returned triumphantly nonetheless with another dish of guacamole.
Prices are very reasonable. Chips, dips, and raw bar items are $5 to $12, tacos are $4 to $12, most are $4 and $5, sides are $5 to $6, salads and bowls are $10 to $13, with many topping options offered at $2 to $12, and desserts are $5.
There are two desserts at K Pasa, a chocolate tres leches cake and rice pudding. My guests enjoyed the chocolate tres leches cake; it was very moist and had a bit of bite from cayenne. The rice pudding was very good, creamy and fresh with a sprinkle of cinnamon.
The analogy that came to mind after trying my friends’ new restaurant (they weren’t there that afternoon) was the memory of teaching my teenage son to drive. If you have ever experienced this you know what I mean. You love them so much and you want them to succeed but you can’t help but bark out “slow down! Use your blinker! Christalmighty!” You know deep down that because this is your baby that you raised up, that they will be just fine, better than fine.
K Pasa is fine, better than fine, and their motto on the menu “sharing is caring” says it all. I can’t wait to go back and try those tater tots . . . after a super greens salad.