Pictures:
mu shu lamb: http://www.flickr.com/photos/readin/5646239282/in/set-72157626430521205
gedo noodles: http://www.flickr.com/photos/readin/5...

We followed a tip from Time Out Beijing for dinner tonight and were absolutely thrilled with the outcome. XiXia Fengqing is a Ningxianese restaurant west of Dongsi Bei Dajie, on Xiguan Hutong. They have an English language menu, a simple menu divided into Noodle Dishes, Cold Dishes (mainly salads) and Hot Dishes -- we shared a noodle soup in lamb broth, fried gedo noodles (sort of like little gnocchi or spaetzle) with garlic shoots and lamb, and Mu shu lamb. (I'm not sure if every dish on the menu contained lamb; certainly a wide majority did. The menu claimed that all their lamb came from a farm in Ningxia province.) All three dishes were just outstanding; the soup is in the running for the best thing I've eaten on this trip. (Ellen and Sylvia both thought the gedo noodles were the best thing.) To drink we had the delicious "eight treasures" tea featuring goji berries and dried longan. The restaurant is listed uder Time Out's "Cheap Eats" heading and certainly lives up to the billing; our tab for an ample dinner for three was 67 元.

Brand-new Jamaican place on Irvington and Ward is very good. Not every dish is great though; avoid the jerk chicken. Such a pleasant place to be, and the dishes that are good, are great.

There is a new El Salvadoran hole-in-the-wall on Freeman St. in West Orange -- I had some of the best chicken soup I've ever tasted there tonight. Rich broth, plenty of meat, vegetables tender without falling apart. Big bowl of soup with homemade tortillas (the thick El Salvadoran style) and rice, for $5. The restaurant is called Galena's and it is just west of Valley St.

Sorry -- didn't realize you can't put HTML into posts. The URL's are:
http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/005359.html
http://www.languagehat.com/archives/0...

A funny story <a href="http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/005359.html">here</a> (with an update <a href="http://www.languagehat.com/archives/0...> -- basically the NY <em>Times</em> food section published an article about <em>olla podrida</em>, which translates as "rotten pot", but misreported that <em>podrida</em> is a contraction of <em>poderida</em> and that the dish is called that because it makes you powerful. Turns out they got the misinformation from a chef and confirmed it in Wikipedia; but the author's response to a reader who sent in a correction was pretty weird.

There is a really good Mexican place in Orange, on Scotland Rd. just south of the overpass -- I forget the name right now. Also I have heard that the place on the south side of Main St. just past Northfield is good, but I've never tried it.

(Also next door to there is a very nice bakery.)

In Inwood today, we stopped in at a shop called "la reina de los chicharrones" and it did live up to its name. It's at Broadway and 204th, and their primary business seems to be chicharron, though they have other stuff too. I also saw a lot of people buying soup. The chicharrones are big hunks of fried pork with a serious amount of meat attached to the rinds. They are sold by weight, $10 a pound. No English spoken.

Anybody been? What did you think? I ate there for the first time last night and was pretty impressed -- it seems to me to be on the same level or a little higher as Ariyoshi in South Orange, which had been my favorite in the area. I had Chirashi, just delectable, and wasabi shumai which packed a pretty powerful punch. I was also glad to see they have bento lunches and katsu don, which is a big favorite of mine. Any other Japanese recommendations in the neighborhood?

A new shop opened in South Orange across from the train station called Terence Allen, which looked kind of promising -- they sell salads and wraps, and fresh produce. I tried it and advise you not to bother. It has the feel and flavor of a cafeteria; a really expensive cafeteria. It's too bad -- the location is really nice, the garden in back would be a really pleasant place to eat if the food were good. I hope they shift gears, the strategy right now seems to be if you charge people enough, they won't notice the food is bad.

Has anyone been to Harrar, the new Ethiopian restaurant in South Orange, yet? I ate there last night and liked it a lot; I had not realized how long it had been since I ate Ethiopian cuisine -- it's been years. I find I don't really have a standard in mind to rate Harrar against; it tasted very good but I couldn't really remember well enough to compare it to other places.

While doing some research recently I ran across this bit of folklore: if a woman feeds her husband roasted owl, he will become completely subservient to her every wish. Words to this effect appear on hundreds of folk wisdom web sites although none has any information about the source. So my question is, who eats owl? I've never heard of it -- do people hunt owl for meat? Also, have any of you heard that folklore indepently of my bringing it up just now?

Interesting -- I just found out from http://www.southorangevillage.com/discus/messages/62746/121604.html?1152758285 that Bagels-4-U is owned by the son of Sonny and that they baked a lot of Sonny's bagels. So I'm glad I will still be able to get good bagels though not quite as close by. Also -- here is more about the fire at Sonny's: http://www.southorangevillage.com/dis...

Funny, I didn't think the bagel I had there was as good as Bagels 4U -- but I have only had one and was not paying super-close attention. Gotta disagree about best bagels in the area, which until last month was Sonny's Bagels in South Orange, they blew anything else in the area out of the water. Unfortunately they had a kitchen fire and it looks like they will not be reopening.
I was mainly saying "don't let the name throw you off" because I tend to avoid food businesses with corny French names like that. I'll try the Sloppy Joe at Millburn Deli.

My fave is Coimbra, at 637 Market -- a longish but by no means infeasible walk from Penn Station. It is also the most intimate of the Ironbound restaurants I have tried

There's an Italian bakery in Orange with bread I like a lot -- trying to remember the name. I think it is Sanitary Bakery -- checks yellow pages -- Yep, Orange Sanitary Bakery, 114 South Essex Ave, close to the Orange train station. Not sure if it is made with lard but you could check -- either way it is very good.

There's a very good deli in Millburn, on Millburn Ave. just west of Lackawanna on the north side of the street. I think it is called "Bagel Chateau" but don't let the name throw you off -- very tasty sandwiches. Also a place across the street from there called "Millburn Delicatessen" that I have never tried but heard good things about.

Wow -- thanks for the compliments everyone -- alas the work is not mine, just a cool link I found. Sorry to give the wrong impression. I ought to have said that in the original post.

A recipe for a fabulous new meatloaf:

http://www.blackwidowbakery.com/demo/...

I think the closest subway is probably the Ditmars stop on the N -- but that is not particularly close. You could go to the Broadway/Roosevelt stop and take the bus that goes up to LaGuardia, it must have a stop fairly close to 21st Ave. and 77th. And thanks, Eric.

Could anybody remind me of the name of that wonderful yogurt company in East Elmhurst? I remember it being on 21st Ave in the high 70s but have forgotten the name.

Jim -- how can you do that when HTML is disallowed in the posts and comments? Or did I miss a recent change of policy?

It is more efficient to reply to the original topic, I think, especially if what you have to say fits well within the original topic (which it sounds like it does) -- otherwise if somebody reads your new post, and wants to find out what earlier people have said about the place, s/he will need to do a site search, duplicating the work you put into finding the old post. (If you reply to the old post, s/he may well still be doing a site search to find if there are any other comments about the place, but will come up with one fewer result so have less work required to read everything.)

I seem to drink a lot of IPA in the summer -- my faves are Magic Hat #9 and Dogfish Head 60 Minute. In the winter I don't drink a lot of beer, these last couple of years anyway.

I like Myers in the summer, or another sweet dark rum. My favorite ways of drinking it are with iced tea, or with club soda, or with ginger beer. Any of the three can be mixed about 2 parts to 1 part rum, with a slice of lime.

A little bit uptown from there are two very nice breafast places -- Barney Greengrass, and the Popover Cafe. Both are on Amsterdam near 86th St.