danoots's Profile
Sweet Afton
I really enjoyed my one trip to Sweet Afton. I worked through a spicy cherry margarita, and several of the drafts (all Brooklyn-based), and thought the cocktail-and-beer-curator did a nice job here. We enjoyed our food (burgers, pickles, mac-and-cheese) but I would've loved *one* menu item that would cut through the heaviness of everything else on the menu. Some sort of salad or raw-ish vegetable would've been fantastic. That said, I'll be back.
Chelsea Date
Just a voice of dissent here... we only ate at Red Cat once, but had a great experience. It's definitely 'neighborhood-y", but the comfortable feel of the restaurant and the homey food add up to a winner in my book.
Gascogne... I've eaten there quite a few times (although only at lunch), and despite the nice surroundings, I have never had anything there that was anything beyond "just okay".
Culinary Walking Tours
Agreed, Raheem runs a really great tour.
My wife has been on most of the big food tours in NYC (she runs a NY for visitors web site), and she really likes the Foods of NY tours. She dragged me along to their sushi tour (more of a walk-through sushi 101 at a single restaurant) last week. It was really enjoyable, and I learned quite a few things about sushi I didn't know... Raheem was a pretty fantastic guide.
Based on that tour, and the wife's raves about their other tours, I'd definitely consider using these guys for your geeky-food-tour needs.
NYT has finally discovered Flushing
Heh... I was heading here to post the same map. Great resource.
Indian on 6th St. that doesn't suck?
Panna II has fairly lousy food, but I nonetheless almost always bring any NYC newbies there. It's cheap, BYO, and a lot of fun.
LIC Waterfront...anything fun?
I've been thinking about the Waterfront Crab House, but hesitated to post it on this thread. Tried it only once... our verdict was the food wasn't very good, but it has a really great "old New York" atmosphere that I enjoyed. I think it's worth trying, if only for the atmosphere.
Low Fat Milk That Tastes Less Low Fat
Jim,
In the NYC area, Ronnybrook Farm sells organic low fat milk that has a much richer mouthfeel than traditional low fat milk. They also have skim milk which is still good. Very good products. Fresh Direct carries them.
Pasteurized whole eggs?
Yup... same place, and probably same chef... Paul Vandewoude, who was still running Tartine when I went a few years back.
Our cooking class was part of a tour, "A Culinary Walk Through Italian Greenwich Village", run by Marisa Tomei's mother. It probably wouldn't offer many hidden gems to chowhounds, but it was a fun tour nonetheless.
Pasteurized whole eggs?
I'm curious which cooking class you heard this from, because I've only heard this once before, and it was also at a cooking class... I just can't remember which. I'm guessing it was the same class, and I'm also guessing that the chef was off-base. I initially tried looking into this further, and couldn't come up with any information to support the theory.
Pegu Club
Although I definitely don't want to present myself as an authority here, those that suggest Pegu is a "be-seen" place, or that the drinks aren't artfully created are just plain wrong. Owner Audrey Sanders is one of the most respected cocktalians in the world, and the bartenders on staff are amongst the most skilled in the city. I think there are legitimate reasons to criticize Pegu, but think some of the previous comments were off base.
New bakery in Jackson Heights?
I love Lety's... yours is an interesting observation on the coffee though... I wonder if they've changed it since I tried Lety's coffee a couple months ago. The few times I had it, it was horrible -- weak, and indistinguishable from street cart coffee.
Starbuck's Jackson Heights
>...and they fill the espresso cup to the very top for just $1.85...<
That's a problem. A properly poured double expresso should be (someone else correct me if I'm off base) about 2.5 ounces max. Bigger is definitely not better in this case.
Uncle Georges in Astoria
Agreed IrishNYC. The logic was unusual in that post. If that is true, why even order grilled fish in a Greek restaurant, if you can get grilled fish at hundreds of other restaurants in the area?
Best 5 restaurants in Jackson Heights?
After living in the nabe for a couple years, we've recently begun eating at Thai Son -- for Vietnamese. We've been enjoying it. It's cheap, and convenient for take-out (right by 74th street station).
La Portena is about the best value I'm aware of for a "steakhouse" -- their skirt steak is gigantic (big enough for two), delicious, and somewhere in the range of $15 with salad.
LIC or JH for dinner
Dissent on Tournesol. Not a lot of this type of restaurants in Queens, so it gets some points there, but don't think it distinguishes itself from many of the other small French places in Manhattan.
Hill Country - Hype Country
I split a pound of moist brisket earlier this week, and thought it was some of the best I've ever had (albeit very fatty, which may or may not be to your taste).
What I choked on were some of the prices -- I ordered the "devilled eggs", and got literally one ice-cold egg split in half. It was fairly unremarkable... a bit bland. The price, however, was remarkable... $3.95. Add to that a couple of $4 glasses of iced tea and a $5 small dish of potato salad, and it made for a very overpriced lunch.
new sushi coming to Jackson Heights
Don't harsh my buzz, David.
While I'd love to get even a Mickey's-caliber sushi place in JH, *anything* is better than Happy Kitchen.
Best places to buy BEER in the 5 boros
I just made my first trip to Bierkraft (http://www.bierkraft.com/ ) in Park Slope this weekend, and was impressed in their operation. Don't know specifics, but they've got a pretty huge selection in bottles, plus the option to buy "growlers" (jugs) of beer, which you pay a deposit on, and return to refill. Think they have more than 10 types of nice beers for sale in this method, which worked out really nicely for us. They also have a huge cheese selection, charcuterie, chocolate, and Sullivan Street Bakery bread. Their prices seem competitive, if not cheap. It's pretty impressive, and worth a visit.
Is there anything you just can't make, no matter how hard you try? [Moved from General Topics board]
Thanks much for your help Caroline. I'll give that a shot.
Is there anything you just can't make, no matter how hard you try? [Moved from General Topics board]
Good bread. I've never been able to bake a really great loaf of bread in the style I want... a relatively light loaf with a still-toothsome crust. Mine have always come out pleasant, but too dense, no matter how I alter the recipe / baking method.
Yogurtberry - more new stuff in Jackson Heights
Give the "original" flavor a try before you write the place off... as with Pinkberry, I think the green tea flavor is an inferior product.
Yogurtberry - more new stuff in Jackson Heights
Just got back from my first Yogurtberry experience. Re: price vs. size, I was actually pretty pleased... $2.50 + $1.50 got me a nicely sized small cup with three fruit toppings - mango, raspberries, and blueberries.
The yogurt itself was nicely flavored, but the texture of mine was definitely more icy than Pinkberry. The fruit was a pretty huge step down from Pinkberry also... much of the mango was unripe, while the raspberries were pretty beaten up/mashed into a liquid.
Wasn't a total bust, but I was definitely hoping for a little more from Yogurtberry...
Yogurtberry - more new stuff in Jackson Heights
Just an FYI, this is cheaper than what the other fro-yo places charge. Pinkberry is $2.99 for a small (5 oz.) serving.
I still haven't had the chance to drop by yet... planning on giving it a shot tonight.
Ninja Tonight
Too late to find another place?
Bruni's review...
http://events.nytimes.com/2005/10/26/dining/26rest.html?ex=1188360000&en=44832a2a532b8b20&ei=5070
Bar Stuzzichini - Very Mediocre
We had the worst experience with service I've ever experienced in an NYC restaurant at Bar Stuzzichini. We were ignored for ridiculously long stretches by our waiter, were condescended to by an obnoxious somelier, and then blown off by a manager when we complained (after two hours without receiving any entrees, we managed to flag him down -- he basically forced two unwanted glasses of red wine on our table of three, then acted as though the situation was now resolved). I actually felt a bit badly for our waiter, as he began to realize how poorly we were being treated. He brought the check to our table, said "sorry", and trod off.
Almost all the food we had, we liked. The octopus in particular was fantastic. But, I'll never set foot in the place again.
Macaroons at Madeleine- amazing!
the coconut with rum was also fantastic. the rum dominates a bit, but in a good way.
Best bread and butter basket?
I'll second the Del Posto rec....mmmm.... lard-i-licious.
Nachos like back home...
Growing up in Hamilton, Ontario (about an hour from Toronto), there isn't much to miss about the food back home.
One guilty pleasure, though, is the nachos you can find at every one of the dozens of generic sports bars in the area. Nachos generally arrive heaped on a plate, covered in jalepenos, chili or shredded chicken (or both), sometimes sliced black olives, topped with shredded (NOT liquid) cheese. The whole mess gets stuck under a broiler until the cheese on top melts / browns. Small dishes of salsa and sour cream always accompany the nachos.
Anyone found anything similar in the city? Queens/Brooklyn is just fine too. Bonus points to anyone who knows of anywhere that has video trivia (the bar game using the wireless keyboards you can play from your table - very popular in Canada / the midwest).
