They only very briefly, at least in the NYC and northern NJ areas. Then they were gone again. I haven't seen them in months. Did supplier problems kill this item? If so, then how depressing. I've had to switch to the long flat crackers in cellophane trays.

In another thread you mentioned "...Paterson NJ for a delicious $2.50, Syrian or Lebanese falafel." Sounds good. Is Khumar one of the $2.50 places? Any updates?

I guess there's no accounting for taste. Just because someone is middle eastern doesn't mean they like to eat falafel with any actual flavor in it. Every race, color, creed, and nationality has at least a few people with no taste. Sometimes certain Chinese people eat at terrible Chinese restaurants too.

Mamoun's is an atrocity of supreme blandness. YMMV as always.

I'm a bit sad to see that the insanely overrated, incredibly bland Mamoun's is spreading its tentacles into New Jersey. Their falafel doesn't taste like anything! But if you like eating cardboard, sure, give it a shot! Ugh. Do Pitopia or Maoz have any locations in NJ? Those are much better falafel chains. Mamoun's is for undiscerning drunk people, cheapskates who don't care about flavor, and people who don't know what falafel is supposed to taste like.

I went to Pho Thai Lao for the first time recently and enjoyed it. We tried to mostly order Laotian dishes. I've been to Laos and this food seemed authentic to me, though I'm no expert. We had a conch larb. I'm not crazy about conch but my dining companions liked it. The spicing in the larb was very good. One of my dining companions really loves spicy food and she was happy that the request for very spicy actually came out very spicy. As for the Thai portion of the menu, we got a green curry. It was very good. It was not the best green curry I've ever had, but I wouldn't hesitate to get it again. The sticky rice was very good too. I liked the decor as well.

After seeing a lot of bad or mediocre reviews on Yelp, I was ready to be disappointed but I was impressed. Maybe their standard run-of-the-mill Thai dishes don't taste like what people are expecting from Americanized Thai restaurants? Or maybe they are inconsistent?

I've also heard that the Bite Size Everything Crackers are back-ordered, both from employees in NYC and in Paramus. One employee told me that it's one of their most popular products. I hope that's true. Seems like they've been gone for a while. Supplier problems, perhaps?

I was wondering the same thing myself. I haven't tried Panda's $1 pork-and-chive dumplings yet.

I *did* try the scallion pancake and was not impressed. It was very heavy and filling, and left me feeling logy. Not much scallion. Anything that's fried that much should taste better.

I also tried the "leek dumplings" (actually it was more like one huge flat dumpling, or a Chinese pancake filled with leek). Not bad, especially for $1.50, but nothing I'll go out of my way for. Also they have a crunchy braided dessert bread item for $1 which is not bad, a bit bland, but it grew on me. As with most Asian desserts, it was not very sweet. It might be better fresh -- it had been sitting around for a while -- when I put some of the leftover braid in my oven for a few minutes, that livened it up a lot.

Panda has very nice ambiance by the usual standards of a cheap dumpling joint, with more seating than you'll usually find in such a place. So I guess I'll still try the pork dumplings sometime, but so far I am not inclined to think they will be better than Prosperity's dumplings.

And there are a LOT of things on their menu to try, so if anyone else has checked out some of their offerings, please chime in.

When I was in Thailand, I loved the mangosteens. They were delicious. The best fruit I've ever eaten (and durian is #2 for me; never been a huge fan of lychees or rumbutan). I would definitely crawl from my deathbed for some *fresh* Thai mangosteen. But they are very sensitive and easily-damaged. I've never bought the imported ones here in the U.S. because I figure they can't be worth it. And a few people have told me they're not as good as in Asia. I can see why. Freezing? And picking before properly ripe? No way. Heck, I wouldn't freeze a mangosteen for an hour, much less long enough to ship it to the U.S.

How about the durian? Is that as good as in Asia? Do any of these vendors sell small amounts? I'm not sure I want a whole one, although I've heard that durian, totally unlike mangosteen, DOES freeze well, so maybe a large amount is not such a problem -- I can make space in my freezer for THAT. The price seems to have leaped significantly in the past few years, hasn't it? I thought I saw it as cheap as $1.90/lb in the past and now it's $3-$5. So a whole durian runs at least $17, generally. I like durian but I don't know if I $17 like it, you know?

Isn't THAT the truth! For instance, why are avocados so expensive here in the U.S.? I believe they cost the equivalent of 25 or 30 cents in Mexico. Recently I've seen them for $1 which is about as low as they've ever gotten. The shipping costs should not account for THAT much.

That's (New) Kam Man in English.

My vote goes to the new place, Pitopia, on 37th just off Broadway. It's just like Maoz, but with MUCH tastier falafel balls! Truly excellent.

That said, I went there at *night* when it was nearly empty. Not sure how good it is at lunchtime, when it's reportedly totally packed with hungry office workers.

-----
Pitopia
1369 Broadway, New York, NY 10018

Ah, so the place out front is called Shanghai Traditional Dumpling! I failed to make a note of the name, and our source did not know it either. Thanks Dave.

I love those Shanghai dumplings. The texture is really nice and unique. I like things that are crispy on the bottom. The wontons are really good too.

There were no specials as far as I could see. I don't recall anything like sweetbread skewers. I could have missed them easily though.

I don't know about Queens, but if you want very good Uzbek in Brooklyn with decent service, then try Nargis Cafe. On my first visit, I went with a Russian speaker and got good service. The second visit, without a Russian speaker, they were maybe a little bit frostier, but still pretty OK by Eastern European/Russian standards. Popular place in that neighborhood. I was a little bit disappointed in the plov (I guess I prefer a different style of plov, like the one that existed for a hot minute at the long-gone Roosevelt food court in Flushing), but everything else was yummy.

It may not be a fair comparison since I haven't been to Cheburechnaya in a few years, but Nargis is way better than Cheb based on my experiences.

-----
Nargis Cafe
2818 Coney Island Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11235

I have a craving for good chilli gobi or gobi manchurian, after having a pretty damn addictive one from Delhi Garden in Edison NJ recently (but I'm probably not getting back to central NJ anytime soon). Is Chinese Mirch no longer the place to go for this? Can anybody recommend something better in Manhattan? Who's currently got a good Indo-Chinese chef, anybody know? I could venture to Jackson Heights if that's appreciably better. Tangra in Sunnyside is mentioned elsewhere, but there are some pretty poisonous recent reviews on another site... I need up-to-date info....

Ah! What a range of choices! Is there one you would say is best overall? I'm glad to see lots of choices since I'm probably not going back to Casa Vasca -- my last visit there suggested they might be going downhill into bland Iberia/Fornos-style territory. (Yes, yes, I know Portuguese and Spanish are not precisely the same, but I'm just looking for seafood in the Ironbound in general.)

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/7899...

I second the hearty recommendation for Lalibela. It's a bit pricey compared to some places, but it's worth it because the food is excellent, and the portions are very large. The food is much better than at any Ethiopian place in NYC that I've tried, and I've tried several of them.

I suggest getting authentic Sichuan dishes at Chengdu 1 in Cedar Grove (just west of Montclair). They also have American-Chinese dishes if any of your colleagues want that, but I've never gotten that there.

I've had good-to-excellent experiences at Aroma Palace in Montclair for Indian.

If you can venture as far as Bloomfield, there is excellent, unusually authentic Thai food at Boonsong and at Brookside Thai.

-----
Brookside Thai Restaurant
380 Broad St, Bloomfield, NJ 07003

Chengdu 1
89 Pompton Ave, Cedar Grove, NJ 07009

Aroma Palace
379 Bloomfield Ave, Montclair, NJ 07042

FINALLY got over to Topaz. Based on my one visit so far, I'm not that impressed -- Boonsong and Brookside in Bloomfield are better. Admittedly that's pretty tough competition though.

Trader Joe's has discontinued their delicious Oat & Wheat Brain Swirls cereal, which I've been eating for at least eight years now. I'm distraught. Any ideas for recipes for something similar? I'm willing to experiment but I barely know where to start. I make my own granola at home frequently, but so far, my baking skills don't extend much beyond that and cookies. I'm not sure how to approach making a sweet, crunchy cereal involving oat and wheat bran. (Maybe this would require more equipment than I've got.) Any ideas?

I tried eating Kellogg's Cracklin' Oat Bran instead, but yuck. It's all wrong. I used to like Cracklin' Oat Bran a few decades ago, when I was a kid, and I figured that Oat & Wheat Bran Swirls were a somewhat-altered knock-off of them, but as it turns out, that's not the case. Cracklin' Oat Bran has a much rougher mouth-feel and is heavier on the bran, I think. Tastes kind of gravelly.

I disagree strongly -- Fornos is one of the factory-style tourist traps. "More quantity than quality" as the original poster put it. Go with Casa Vasca or Seabra's Marisqueira instead.

-----
Casa Vasca
141 Elm St, Newark, NJ 07105

Seabra's Marisqueira
87 Madison St, Newark, NJ 07105

Just to update, now that I've been to the Kam Man location in Edison, I can report their jasmine green loose-leaf tea is not very good, in my opinion. They don't have the same coarse-but-tasty $8/lb stuff as in Manhattan. They have one that's $7 for 4 oz. ($28/lb.) but it tastes salty and a bit fishy to me. I can't speak for their other loose-leaf teas but they might be worth trying if you're looking for a great bargain.

Sad to say, in fact, now also the Manhattan location has stopped supplying the same great "#1100" jasmine that used to be available for $8/lb. They've replaced it with something much uglier, resembling old, stale-looking crumbled leaves -- it's not as bad as it looks but it's not as flavorful as the previous #1100 and has some unfortunate hints of grassiness, like a bad Japanese tea.

I am beyond mystified that anybody could find the falafel at Mamoun's to be anything other than totally bland and cardboard-esque. Or that anybody would prefer it to Taim. Mamoun's is for people who don't like real falafel. Or for people who don't like flavor. (JUST IMHO! No offense. I've read too much Pauline Kael, so I criticize harshly.) Maybe you grew up on it, or it takes you back to nights of drunken revels at 3 a.m.? It's a nostalgia thing? To me, it's like greasy Americanized Chinese food vs. REAL Chinese food.

I'm a real cheapskate, but Taim is definitely worth the much higher price. It would be worth twenty times the price.

ODE TO MAMOUN'S

Mamoun's, Mamoun's
lousier than fried baboons
I'd rather eat harpoons
than go to Mamoun's

like warm cardboard
but, if it's all you can afford*
then enjoy
but me, I'm like, "OY!"

this really sucks
even for three bucks
it's totally bland
I'd rather eat my hand

(*A low blow, I know -- I'm a cheapskate too, but Mamoun's? Ewwwww.)

-----
Taim
222 Waverly Place, New York, NY 10014

Mamoun's Falafel
119 MacDougal St, New York, NY 10012

I'm also a little obsessed with falafel. I really miss the Taim truck, which used to park in midtown on certain days, but the police have kicked them out of midtown entirely, along with all the other trucks, due to some BS court ruling.

Kwik Meal #1 (a cart) has a really amazing falafel sandwich at the southwest corner of 45th and 6th. The sandwich is a bit small though, but it's excellent. I just read somewhere that it's brushed with butter, though. Isn't that cheating?! :) I don't know, I just feel like falafel sandwiches shouldn't have butter. But that won't stop me from going back again and again anyway! The bread (pita? thin laffa? something great anyway) seems to be homemade.

Of course, there's also Maoz at 40th & 7th as well as a new location on 8th Ave. near 43rd. But for me, that's more about the falafel salad bar (especially the pickled red eggplant) than the falafel itself. Their falafel is good but not as good as Kwik Meal's or Taim's.

I tried Gazala once. It was OK. I'd put their falafel at about the same level as Maoz's.

Any other suggestions that aren't too far west? I generally have to stick to places east of 7th Ave.

I've been meaning to try Azuri for years, but it's way too far out of bounds for me for lunch. I keep meaning to get over there for dinner, but I often work late. I don't want to get there close to closing time and incur the wrath of the proprietor. There are some scary stories in an older thread about what happens if you go there as late as, say, 8:30.

-----
Gazala Place
709 9th Ave, New York, NY 10019

Kwik Meal
45th St and 6th Ave, New York, NY 10036

Maoz
200 W 40th St, New York, NY 10018

Taim Mobile
, New York, NY 10001

Maoz
683 8th Ave, New York, NY 10036

Who, mine? In fact, yes, my parents have gone there several times. They're fairly adventurous eaters, but you don't really need to be that adventurous for Lebanese. If you like Greek, and/or hummus/grape leaves/kebabs etc., then you'll probably like it. The advice is intended for whomever reads it who also is likely to enjoy Lebanese food. If Scholar399's parents are relatively open-minded then they'll enjoy it.

But if you want a fancier place, then try Toros, a Turkish restaurant with gorgeous decor just across the border from Clifton in a decent part of Paterson.

-----
Toros Restaurant
1083 Main St, Paterson, NJ 07503

Ooops, sorry, I hope I didn't mislead anybody with that post. This time at Briarwood, they DID have tea leaf salad, to my great surprise. HOORAY! Plus, the music was a little bit less deafening than usual. I only needed the earplugs for some of the louder live-band karaoke singers. Overall I'd say the food was especially good this year. They ran out of yellow beans (dal?) to go with the paratha, so they made paratha with ground meat instead, which was better IMHO (I can't remember if it was beef or pork, but it was delicious). The shan noodles were fantastic too.

Kamil's for outstanding Lebanese food. The decor isn't much but in the warmer months, you can sit outside. Really delicious.

-----
Kamils Restaurant
1489 Main Ave, Clifton, NJ 07011

I've been to Briarwood three or four times. One time they did have tea leaf salad (the first year I attended, I think), but the other two or three times, they didn't, sadly.

BRING EARPLUGS. Usually a Burmese-American teen-aged rock band plays music at pulverizing volume at this event. I'm dead serious. Do NOT come to this thing without earplugs. Your eardrums will be severely hammered.

HillJ: Baking? Presumably you are using a lot of green tea POWDER then? I doubt my info is of much use to you, then. Kam Man probably doesn't have a better price for that prepackaged powder than any other average Asian market. I don't like the grassy taste of that Japanese and Japanese-style stuff, personally, and the loose oolongs and black teas I've tried from Kam Man in Manhattan haven't impressed me much -- they're blunt and heavy. Extremely inexpensive, though.