RedVelvet's Profile
Best Gelato ANYWHERE - La Cremeria!
OK, I'm very confused. We went again and again I got the pistachio, only this time it didn't have bits of pistachio in it. Not that it wasn't good, just that it wasn't as good as the last time.
And they definitely give you two flavors in a small cup.
Best Gelato ANYWHERE - La Cremeria!
Oh, that's wonderful news! I wonder how I missed this, the last visit at Grom was around July 10th or so - and believe me, every time I go I look at the specials. But I'll try to make it there a.s.a.p. Thank you!
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Grom
233 Bleecker St, New York, NY 10014
Best Gelato ANYWHERE - La Cremeria!
Yes, baccio is hazelnut chocolate and you might ask for a taste, it's worth trying.
The tiramisu I only tried from someone's cup, not sure if it has chocolate chips and ladyfinger pieces, but I don't think so. Maybe someone who had a whole serving could chime in. While I love tiramisu, I don't usually go for it in gelato.
But the pistachio, I do think is better than Grom's.
I think it's worth mentioning - just so you're not disappointed when you go - that LC's chocolate doesn't have chocolate chips. And I think they have less flavors than Grom. :)
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Grom
233 Bleecker St, New York, NY 10014
Best Gelato ANYWHERE - La Cremeria!
I went to La Cremeria 3 times in the last 2 weeks, each time with a couple of friends. Got to try several flavors this way and I have favorites but I have to say that everything was very good.
Love-love-love the Baccio and I don't think I'll be able to go to LC and not get it. Pistachio is the best I've had in NYC. Tiramisu is boozy and creamy. If you like sorbets (not me) the fragola and limone are as good as they get. Dark chocolate is fabulous if you're a fan of dark chocolate (not me). Amacord was my least favorite.
To give you an idea of my tastes, I'm a fan of Grom although I never thought they're as good as any gelato I had in Italy - with the disclaimer that the cassata siciliana they had on special a long time ago is stuff that dreams are made of. I find La Cremeria a step above Grom.
L'arte is going on 3rd place now and I've never liked Il Laboratorio.
katryn, I haven't done an A/B comparison with Grom but we went there the next day after the first LC try. One of us thought Grom slightly better than LC, the other 2 went with LC. As we didn't get the same flavors, can't say it's completely fair to Grom.
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Grom
233 Bleecker St, New York, NY 10014
La Cremeria
178 Mulberry Street, New York, NY 10012
Notable new pizza joints?
Great piece on Slice about PizzArte today. I'll try them on Sunday.
*sorry, meant to reply to the OP
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PizzArte
69 W 55th St, New York, NY 10019
New in Sunnyside
The best I've had was from Cherry Hill in Sheepshead Bay but I admit that this is coming pretty close. Counting the trip, it's fantastic to have this in the 'hood.
New in Sunnyside
I don't think they're fully stocked yet, although the store is by no means empty, I just think they have more goodies to spread around. I'm really happy they opened here.
New in Sunnyside
Parrot Coffee on Queens Blvd. at 46th St, just opened yesterday. For those not familiar with the Parrot Coffee (longtime exclusive to Ridgewood) they have cold cuts, many kinds of cheese, grocery items, olive bar, refrigerators with plenty of goodies - homemade taramasalata and eggplant-tomato spread, puff & phyllo dough, butters etc.
Not much unlike Massis and it doesn't appear to be fully stocked yet, but much more conveniently located right at the 46th St. 7 stop. I was told that they'll be open until 10 pm 365 days a year.
In other news, the newly expanded supermarket on the S side of Queens Blvd. (Key Food or whatever they call themselves now, they kept changing the name) is making a very good prosciutto/ lard bread. Comes in a small size also.
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Massis
42-20 43rd Ave, Queens, NY 11104
Parrot Coffee
45-15 Queens Blvd, Queens, NY 11104
best lunch place near moma
A few blocks south at Rock Center there's a food court downstairs. Tri-Tip Grill is my fave there, but there are quite a few options.
A few blocks N: on 55th St there Menchanko-Tei (very good ramen soups), on 56th St. there's Tina's Cuban restaurant with many very good sandwiches at around $7 or cooked food for $10-12. A plate of fried pork chops (comes with with fries and salad) easily feeds 2 people in my opinion. Entering the place, as seating is in the back, you'll pass by the trays with cooked food, so you can see what looks good to you. I also like their patties (empanadas) - filled with chicken, beef or cheese.
Also on 56th there's another good Japanese restaurant, Sushi-ya - good bento boxes at $15, excellent udon soups and generally good value and quality sushi.
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Tina's Restaurant
23 W 56th St, New York, NY 10019
Menchanko-Tei
43 W 55th St, New York, NY 10019
Sushiya
28 W 56th St, New York, NY 10019
Tri Tip Grill
30 Rockefeller Plz, New York, NY 10112
Late night in LIC/Sunnyside/Woodside
Natural Tofu closes at midnight.
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Natural Tofu
40-06 Queens Blvd, Queens, NY 11104
Red Velvet & Carrot Cake suggestions
I find Red Velvet more flavorful than a plain cup/cake. Granted, if it's done right. The biggest kick is the frosting, though.
I didn't try Two Little Red Hens or Cake Man Ravens but everything else I tried was mediocre at best - and I hate to say this but I like the Magnolia Red Velvet Cake (not so much the cupcakes) . Which is why I'd rather make it myself.
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Two Little Red Hens
1652 2nd Ave, New York, NY 10028
Looking for good hot and sour soup
Nha Trang Center, if you want to go Vietnamese. I love their fish hot and sour (salmon), but they have variations with chicken, shrimp or vegetables only.
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Nha Trang
148 Centre St, New York, NY 10013
Groupon deal of the day is ChikaLicious Dessert Club
$10 for $20 Worth of Cupcakes from Dessert Club ChikaLicious, max. 3 per person, redeemable one at a time within a year. A bit of a pain that the order has to be emailed a day in advance, but I for one will deal with it.
I hope this message is not inappropriate for the board. I'm a big fan of ChikaLicious so I hope some of you are interested.
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ChikaLicious
203 E 10th St, New York, NY 10003
Dessert Club, ChikaLicious
204 E 10th St, New York, NY 10003
Yum Yum Thai Restaurant in Sunnyside
Unfortunately, lunch is usually near work, in Manhattan. YY is dinner and to me it's on the expensive side for what I got.
Yum Yum Thai Restaurant in Sunnyside
Yes, we usually order from I am Thai also, but we wanted to try Yum Yum to see how it goes.
I wonder how YY portions are dining in.
Yum Yum Thai Restaurant in Sunnyside
Had delivery from them a few days ago.
Coconut soup w/shrimp, curry puffs, pad woon sen and seafood karee.
The soup was ok but had 2 little shrimps in it.
The curry puffs, delicious, I could have a dozen at a time.
The entrees were good, tasty - although a bit bland looking. What surprised me the most was the portion size: if barely half the height of a round plastic container. The seafood karee seemed a bit fuller for the two big mussel shells, but really not too much food for $40 (after t&t).
I wish I thought about taking a picture of the portions, they were ridiculously small.
I need a good butcher in Queens
Sunnyside Meat Market is not really a butcher, I'd say their specialty is cold cuts. They do have some cuts of beef and pork, sometimes lamb (especially now, before Easter when they sell very young lamb), but I would not expect expert cuts. Other then that, their meat is fresh and reasonably priced.
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Sunnyside Meat Market
43-10 43rd St, Queens, NY 11104
Cannelle Patisserie in Queens
Croissants got smaller, too. They're almost half of what they used to be.
But they're still amazing.
Sunnyside Lunch
A Korean restaurant on Roosevelt Ave at 49th St., right under the 7 train.
Never tried it, had a couple of instances of intent but in all honesty I don't find it inviting somehow. I'm sure I misjudge the place but there's this air of exclusivity, somehow.
I looked at the menu a few years back and I remember thinking that it's not inexpensive either.
ISO Kombu Noodles
Would you be so kind and tell me at what location? went to Bowery and couldn't find it. I suppose they're in the same fridge with the tofu and shirataki noodles?
Turkish Ingredients
In Sunnyside there's a deli on Skillman at 47th St. that I recall having cheeses. I'll pass by one of these days and make sure, if that wouldn't be too late for you.
For canned foods, olives, spices there's one small deli on 43rd Ave at 46th st (I think it's called Sunny Grocery), also Massis (43rd Ave & 43rd st) carries quite an assortment of Turkish products.
Cured meats - "exotic" types and where to buy?
I second Muncan. There are so many choices that is mind boggling, and talk about good value - the prices are very reasonable. They have very few things that are factory made, everything else is made in-the-house.
There is a lamb sausage that comes to mind - ask for "babic". It's very dry, flattened and shaped in a loop, and it has to be sliced very thin because of the hardness. Sort of a jerky texture, incredibly aromatic and flavorful. Slices are about the size of thumbprint.
Set of pictures here - http://www.flickr.com/photos/loladear/sets/72157622223737534/
they were taken at both Muncan locations (there's another in Ridgewood, a bit longer train ride, Astoria is much easier to get to). You have a product and price list there, too.
Sunnyside Lunch
There's meat at Natural Tofu. LA Galbi is pretty good (if not excellent) and so is the grilled octopus drenched in hot sauce, bbq chicken etc. Very good seafood pancake for starters.
The name of the place is misleading, they have a couple of soups with soft tofu and seafood (and they're really-really good, a bowl of their soup makes a great meal, especially when it's cold outside).
Mangal - look in the display case before ordering and see what looks good to you. Lachmacun is good for starters, their salads are decent also.
There's a very small bakery on Queens Blvd. bet. 46th and 47th, their pan con queso in several variations is my fave for breakfast, but they have a few other pastries too.
On Skillman & 46th st there another pastry shop, Daco-Romana bakery, that makes decent coffee.
What other uses are there for a not so great pie crust?
I'll remember that for the future. Made the pinwheels, cinnamon and gruyere - http://www.flickr.com/photos/loladear/4143312792/
Thank you all. They're great snacks and they won't last long - half gone already.
What other uses are there for a not so great pie crust?
Thank you all, I think I'll do the rolls, both with sugar-cinnamon and cheese - sounds great.
rworange - I dont hate it, it just wasn't great as a pie crust. Actually, the crimped rim was good, which is why I think the roll idea is great.
I'll let you know how it came out, and again many-many thanks. :)
What other uses are there for a not so great pie crust?
I used a new recipe for pie crust this year, and it came out a bit too dough-ey (gluten developed? maybe wrong proportions?) It was ok, but not great, not flaky and buttery - although I used 3 sticks of butter for 3 1/2 cups flour.
Well, too late to troubleshoot now, but I'm left with a disc of dough that I don't want to throw away.
Any ideas about what I can make with that dough other than pie crust?
Cherry Hill Gourmet market, Sheepshead Bay
I did a search and couldn't find any reference to this wonderful place. So here it goes.
In one of our trips to Brighton Beach we decided to change our cell phones and got a tip from the Russian guy at the cellular store* - best bread in the neighborhood, in his opinion, is either at a Turkish bakery on Ave. Z or Cherry Hill market. We drove a couple of minutes to Cherry Hill and are in love with the place. Clean, excellent food, and the cherry on top: open 24/7. AND there's a parking lot.
Breads are indeed superlative, everything we tried from the salad/cooked food counter was good to excellent (worth mentioning the rabbit in cream sauce I got the last time - I was expecting dry, overcooked meat but boy, was I wrong!), even the pastries were better than your average Brighton Beach food store. Other stuff we get there: Odessa brandza and some wonderful pork sausage, the Israeli Salad is superlative, a so called "youth" (or "healthy") salad, a tongue and radish salad, baked giant beans... and there's always more.
Also worth mentioning there's a Cafe on the second floor.
See the pictures in my flickr set (click on slideshow in the upper right corner) and judge for yourself if it's worth the trip. Mind you, we're traveling from Sunnyside for this place - I'd say it's worth it.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/loladear/sets/72157622636461903/
Cherry Hill supermarket - 1901 Emmons Ave. (Lundy's Building)
*which shows you can find out about great food in the most unexpected places :D
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Cherry Hill Gourmet Market
1901 Emmons Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11235
Recipes using a lot of paprika
My fave cornish hen recipe is to salt&pepper halves, than lightly but seriously coat in paprika (you can use a bit of hot paprika if you wish, I only use sweet) and broil 10 minutes on each side. There's a smokiness to the skin that is hard to describe.
sweet breads in queens?
Sunnyside Meat Market, 43rd St. at 43rd Ave. Call before to make sure they have them that day: 718-786-2626
