What Chowhounds are discussing on the New York City boards.
Restaurants, bars, food stores, and more that are new, old, weird, or totally under the radar.
Fairway Market has fed countless time-strapped New Yorkers with its ready-to-eat rotisserie chickens. "I get them quite often," says Ann900, a regular at the Upper West Side branch. "I especially like the rotisserie chicken with Latin spices, but they also have them with garlic and lemon, BBQ, and plain." Half chickens, sold at some locations of the grocery minichain, cost around $4.50. "Tasty and good value on the nights you don't feel like cooking," says Ann, who also shares a reheating tip: Use a steamer instead of the oven or microwave. "Keeps the meat moist, even if the skin is soft."
Fairway Market [Upper West Side]
2127 Broadway (at W. 74th Street), Manhattan
212-595-1888
Rotisserie chicken image from Shutterstock
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on Friday, May 25th, 2012
The javafication of New York continues at Caffé Vita on the Lower East Side, the first East Coast outpost of a pioneering coffee roaster from Seattle. wewwew's tried two of its coffees, one brewed at the two-month-old shop and the other at home. The store-made cup, made from a medium-dark roast, was "medium-bodied and long without any forced concentration," wewwew says. "The more I drank it the better I liked it." The other, Gayo River from Sumatra, was a darkish roast, "really full-bodied, much flamboyant aromas." Even wewwew, no lover of dark roasts, says this one "hits lots of sweet spots."
Caffé Vita [Lower East Side]
124 Ludlow Street (between Rivington and Delancey streets), Manhattan
212-260-8482
Discuss: Caffe Vita Coffee
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on Friday, May 25th, 2012
Little-mentioned Balade offers, among other things, a Middle Eastern spin on pizza, and that makes some purists suspicious. So JungMann was pleasantly surprised by his recent lunch at this two-year-old East Village restaurant.
The fattoush (vegetable salad with pita chips) was the best he'd had, fresh and tasty with a burst of tartness from sumac. Tabbouleh (bulgur salad with herbs) was also nicely done, with vibrantly flavored vegetables that were complemented, not dominated, by the wheat. Loubia bil zeit (olive oil–stewed green beans) were just right, straddling the line between soft and firm. JungMann also tried the pizzalike manakeesh—one topped with the herbal condiment za’atar, the other with ham and stringy Armenian cheese—and enjoyed both. He was less taken with kibbeh krass (lamb and bulgur croquettes), which he found weakly seasoned, and baba ghanoush (eggplant dip), whose subtle smokiness was overshadowed by mushy, out-of-season tomato.
"My experiences of Middle Eastern-ish food in the East Village have generally been negative," JungMann says. "Fortunately Balade proved to be a surprise. They manage to translate Lebanese flavors into a new Arab-American concept."
Balade [East Village]
208 First Avenue (between E. 12th and 13th streets), Manhattan
212-529-6868
Discuss: Balade
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on Thursday, May 24th, 2012
15 East, long a hound favorite for upper-end sushi, also knows what to do with soft-shell crabs. Now that they're in season, it has introduced a standout version as an appetizer. "Spectacular," says thegforceny. "Light, crunchy, salty coating, clean flavors."
Tracks, a commuter haunt deep inside Penn Station, has its own way of celebrating soft-shell season: a yearly festival featuring the critters in various forms. buttertart recommends the excellent crab po' boy. READ MORE
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on Wednesday, May 23rd, 2012
Flushing's Chinatown has been pushing south in recent years, and now a Chinese mini-quarter has emerged in Queensboro Hill near the LIE. The newest addition to the neighborhood is Lake Pavilion, a Cantonese seafood and dim sum house opened a month ago by the owners of the fondly remembered East Lake, which closed a few years back.
Polecat's recent lunch suggests that this kitchen knows its stuff. Fat, juicy sea scallops and perfectly chewy conch came in a mildly spicy XO sauce that was added with a light hand. "If it's an indication of what they can do with the rest of their vast menu," he says, "then these guys are a keeper." Pookipichu discerned a similar deft touch in a light, flavorful mixed mushroom dish; juicy, caramelized lamb chops with onions and peppers; and tender, delicately cooked lobster with shrimp. At Robotron's recent family feast, chicken with crispy skin, steamed crabs over noodles, and salt-and-pepper fried fish were right on target; misfires were overcooked lamb chops and underseasoned noodles with mushrooms.
Though Lake Pavilion occupies a cavernous space, it's often packed. But you can grab something quick at an adjoining takeout counter that sells roasted meats, buns, and other bites. The duck and barbecued pork are excellent: "extremely tasty, yet not overly salty as these things can be," says EricMM.
Lake Pavilion [Flushing]
60-15 Main Street (near 60th Avenue), Flushing, Queens
718-886-6693
Discuss: Lake Pavilion, new Chinese in Flushing
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on Tuesday, May 22nd, 2012
At Koreatown's Gahm Mi Oak, the signature dish is sul long tang, the milky, long-cooked ox-bone soup. But the kitchen also does well by the mung-bean pancakes called bin dae duk. Miss Needle says they're pan-fried to order and come out crisper and heartier than others around town. Gahm Mi Oak's bibimbap, aromatic with sesame oil, is another winner.
Gahm Mi Oak [Koreatown]
43 W. 32nd Street (between Broadway and Fifth Avenue), Manhattan
212-695-4113
Discuss: Best of Koreatown??
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on Thursday, May 17th, 2012
BKNY Thai stuffs a whole fish with herbs, wraps it in banana leaf, and steams it beautifully, Pookipichu says. It's the signature specialty at this under-explored restaurant in Bayside, Queens, where the crab fried rice is nearly as good. In fact, Pookipichu adds, BKNY's best dishes are the equal of those at such local lights as SriPraPhai and Ayada. So why haven't we heard more about this place? "It's a Thai restaurant that's not near a subway," he says, "so it never gets discussed."
BKNY Thai [Bayside]
47-11 Francis Lewis Boulevard (at Rocky Hill Road), Bayside, Queens
718-281-1900
Discuss: thailand's center point - delicious
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on Wednesday, May 16th, 2012
Momokawa's been on our radar for its small plates: sashimi, fish cakes, clam ramen, and more. But hounds have had little to say about two of its specialties, sukiyaki and shabu-shabu.
Until now. Lau recently weighed in on both of these Japanese standards, finding them to be worthy versions. He reports that Berkshire pork sukiyaki—thin-sliced meat, simmered at the table with vegetables, tofu, and glass noodles in a concentrated broth seasoned with soy, mirin, and sugar—is very tasty. Beef shabu-shabu—the hot-pot variant in which slices of meat are briefly swished (hence the dish's onomatopoeic name) in boiling broth—is another winner. It's served with noodles, a heap of vegetables, and sesame and ponzu sauces for dipping.
Rounding out Lau's dinner: creditable renditions of simmered kabocha (winter squash); house-made tofu; sautéed ginger pork; satsuma age (fried fish cake, a past hound favorite); and tender, buttery gindara saikyo (miso-marinated grilled black cod). Service is friendly and the clientele is mostly Japanese, but the restaurant's access—downstairs to the basement, then upstairs to the above-street-level dining room—is somewhat baffling.
Momokawa [Kips Bay]
157 E. 28th Street (between Third and Lexington Avenues), Manhattan
212-684-7830
Discuss: Momokawa – Unappreciated Shabu Shabu and Sukiyaki
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on Tuesday, May 15th, 2012
Yo-Burger reminds some Bronx hounds of a certain crazy-busy fast-food chainlet from Manhattan. "Yes, it's totally a Shake Shack rip-off," says BronxBree. "But it's still really good. Good-quality Shake Shack–style burgers and tasty fries. Sweet potato fries too." You can also get first-rate shakes and choose your frozen yogurt toppings.
In some ways, Yo-Burger might even be too much like its fast-growing inspiration. Just two months after it opened, the lines at peak hours rival Shake Shack's. "They even went to the trouble of over-salting the meat just like Shake Shack!" says District 10. "Actually, the fries are way better than Shake Shack's. All in all, it's a pretty nice spot, and I'd much rather those guys have my money than Danny Meyer."
Yo-Burger [Bronx]
3726 Riverdale Avenue (near W. 238th Street), Bronx
718-708-6828
Discuss: Riverdale Restaurants
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on Monday, May 14th, 2012
Dense, rustic, Bavarian-style rye breads are among the specialties at Landbrot Bakery & Bar, which michelleats says is worth seeking out. The namesake Landbrot ("country bread") has a hint of caraway. The Berlin brot is a bit sour with a touch of honey aroma, "magical" when served with an aged raw goat's milk Gouda. "Just make sure you have good teeth (or good dentures)," michelleats advises, "since that crust is quite sturdy."
But Landbrot, which opened its West Village flagship last month and has a Lower East Side café/bar on the way, is not about bread alone. Chowhounds recommend the Linzer cake, Berliners (jelly doughnuts), bear claws, rhubarb coffee cake, pretzel rolls (plain or topped with Gouda), and an apple strudel that michelleats calls "out of this world"—moist and loaded with apple, raisins, nuts, and sweet spices. Arrive earlier in the day and you're likely to have lots of choices. kathryn dropped in around 4 p.m. and was too late for the Berliners. Timing was also an issue for katzimmer: "While I could not be more excited about the free-pretzel-with-your-beer happy hour, my pretzel was a little stale when I got it around 6 p.m."
Landbrot Bakery & Bar [West Village]
137 Seventh Avenue S. (between W. 10th and Charles Streets), Manhattan
212-255-7300
Discuss: Landbrot Bakery
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on Monday, May 14th, 2012
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