AliceS's Profile
UWS Japanese
We tried to get in touch with Sun-Chan to make a reservation (my dad insists on it!) and could not. I swung by and took a look at the place and I'm not sure it's even open anymore. It looks a little tight to get into for 2 people in their 70s too, so we ended up going to Kouzan on 93 and Amsterdam. I'm not sure my standards are still as high as they were when I was living in NYC, but I really like the place. Some spotty service, but overall the food was very good and the atmosphere comfortable and pleasant.
UWS Japanese
I grew up on 99th and RSD, parents still live there. Dad is just emerging from knee replacement and would like Japanese. Anything new and worthwhile in the immediate area?
Thanks in advance!
New to Milwaukee, looking for guidance
We did go to Fortune for our very Jewish Christmas. It was better than what we have had so far around here, which is admittedly not much for Chinese food. The salt and pepper squid was a little less flavorful than I like and the Ma Po Tofu was also a little bland. I wonder if you need to press them on really wanting spicy authentic food.
New to Milwaukee, looking for guidance
A lot of Vietnamese restaurants/Pho places are called "Pho ____" with a number at the end, often the street number. This usually does not mean that one is connected to another.
Phan Garden is on my list of places to try.
New to Milwaukee, looking for guidance
I have now eaten at 2 Vietnamese places, Hue and Pho 27.
We went to Pho 27 first. The waiter we had was super-nice and really made us want to go back. The food was quite good. Now, we just moved from MN where there is unlimited fantastic Vietnamese, so we are a little picky. We thought the pho/chicken pho was very good, but a little on the greasy side. It had a good flavor though. We liked it a lot, and will go back. Prices are very reasonable, appropriate for an authentic Vietnamese restaurant. Oh, the fresh spring rolls were fantastic!
We went to Hue tonight and were a little less impressed. The atmo is very nice, but it is pricey and a little gringified for Vietnamese. Not rough enough flavors, too refined. And I did not like the fresh spring roll at all, which is disappointing for a Vietnamese place. Probably won't go back.
New to Milwaukee, looking for guidance
We have been going to Ee-Sane for awhile now, and have a pretty good dining experience every time. That is, until last night. I ordered my usual, pad kee mow with tofu, medium spicy. Usually it's very good, but last night it was absolutely inedible and I had to send it back. Gummy, sticky, overly sweet noodles, barely a hint of hotness. It was really disappointing, and for me to send something back it has to be BAD!
Have they jumped the shark in the last few weeks? Do they occasionally have a different chef? My husband had the pho, which he acknowledges was a risky choice, and it was not very good, but he owns that mistake. Not sure if we can go back now though.
"Ethnic" Grocery Stores in Milwaukee
Went to Rhino Foods today and WOW. This place is awesome, I am in heaven. Huge store, knowledgeable staff, great selection. They have a counter which I think makes fresh papaya salad, though I did not ask. We will be back often. Thanks for the recommendations!
Milwaukee Night Out, preferably Japanese
We ended up at Sake Tumi and it just didn't quite do it for me. The tofu cake was not at all tofu-y, and I love tofu. It was all deep-fried-y, which is not what I wanted. The sushi was fine, not super, but OK. Chow baby had the sesame chicken, which was fine for her.
I will have to try Nanakusa, that sounds like a good next option.
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Sake Tumi
714 N Milwaukee St, Milwaukee, WI 53202
Milwaukee Night Out, preferably Japanese
how about Sake Tumi? Despite the kitschy name, it has a decent rep, and I impulsively made a reservation there for Saturday. Willing to cancel if it's no good though.
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Sake Tumi
714 N Milwaukee St, Milwaukee, WI 53202
Milwaukee Night Out, preferably Japanese
Is Izumi's relatively nice too? Is the sushi very good?
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Izumi's Restaurant
2150 N Prospect Ave, Milwaukee, WI 53202
Milwaukee Night Out, preferably Japanese
Big birthday dinner this Saturday. We had planned to go to Umami Moto, but I read some reviews that said it is loud and child-unfriendly. The chow-baby is a seasoned restaurant goer (she's 5yo and has been going out to eat since 2 weeks of age), but the reviews made it sound like not such a good choice, plus not such good sushi. Is Nanakusa reasonably nice? Is there another Japanese place you would suggest? I am open to other Asian cuisines (I love all, but am leaning toward Japanese for my b-day). Is Peony nice?
I know Peony is way West and I am willing to travel out there (we live in WFB) but would prefer to stay within the city.
Thanks in advance!
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Umami Moto
17800 W Bluemound Rd, Brookfield, WI 53045
"Ethnic" Grocery Stores in Milwaukee
We are now living in Milwaukee, in the Whitefish Bay area, and are desperately seeking "ethnic" grocery stores, specifically, Asian markets and Middle Eastern markets.
Thanks!
New to Milwaukee, looking for guidance
Pad Kee Mao is another name for Drunken Noodles.
New to Milwaukee, looking for guidance
oh, soup dumplings, so great! Thanks!
I tend to judge my Thai restaurants by their drunken noodles, do any of the places you mentioned have a good version?
New to Milwaukee, looking for guidance
We also went to El Guapo's just out of desperation (we arrived in town around 6pm and needed to eat). It was pretty bad. Very fatty heavy salty not spicy Tex-Mex food. I had a torta which was served on toasted white bread (!) and was meh, hubby had 2 a la carte soft tacos, fish and chicken mole, both of which were the same level of meh as the torta. We sat outside which was positively infested with flies. When we mentioned it to the waitress, she seemed to be aware of it, but no one warned us. It was Wednesday so it was all day happy hour, and the Margarita was pretty good. Also the service was pretty good. But it is not a destination by any means. Sadly it seems that the immediate WFB area is pretty much chains and places like this, am I wrong?
New to Milwaukee, looking for guidance
We ate at Jake's yesterday on our short trip out, and I would not even add the "between coasts" caveat. It's the best Pastrami I have ever had, and I am from NYC. Best EVER.
New to Milwaukee, looking for guidance
These are all such great suggestions and ideas, I can tell I'm gonna like it here!
We are moving to Whitefish Bay, but I will be working in Wauwatosa, and we are also willing to go anywhere for the best.
On our next trip out there we will do some sampling.
New to Milwaukee, looking for guidance
We will be moving to Milwaukee at the end of the summer and are looking for a plan of attack for finding our food niche. We currently live in St. Paul, MN and essentially live off Asian food. We eat dim sum a lot, Japanese, Chinese (esp. Szechuan), some Thai, plenty of Vietnamese/Hmong. There are good options for all of these cuisines in the twin cities. While we are not looking to recreate our lives here, we would like some leads on how to find some new favorites.
I understand that one can search the boards, but what I am hoping is that people will either point me to particularly good threads or post some blogs or suggestions. I am getting that Peony is the beginning and end of dim sum in Milwaukee, is that right?
Thanks in advance!
Where can I find a whole pig in MSP?
sorry, that second link should be http://www.husnikmeat.com/
Where can I find a whole pig in MSP?
We are probably delaying the whole pig thing because we don't have enough people coming and most pigs tend to be about 40#. However, I did want to share 2 other tips I got outside of chowhound for others who may have had their interest piqued:
Swanson Meats in Minneapolis: http://www.swansonmeats.com/
Husnik Meats in St. Paul: http://www.swansonmeats.com/
By the way, the reason we are interested in this is that my birthday gift to Paz was something called La Caja China: https://www.lacajachina.com/
Finally, JohnE: that'll do pig. . . that'll do.
Murder Burger Ponsonby Auckland Report
I have been to Murder Burger twice now and have loved it both times. Had the same thing both times, the burger with jalapeno pesto, which was truly spicy, a quality that I have had trouble finding in NZ. My husband got the standard and my daughter got a little burger that she enjoyed much.
This is one of the best burgers I have ever had, worldwide, and I encourage everyone to go. They are also genuinely nice and quirky folk.
http://www.murderburger.co.nz/
Restaurant Recs in Royal Oak area?
We have been living in Auckland CBD for the last few months and for our last weeks here we will be housesitting in Royal Oak on Mt. Albert Rd. We will have a car but are looking for recommendations that are close-ish as we like to walk and we have a 4 1/2 year old. We like Asian food of all kinds (as does the kid!) but would try anything good regardless of origin. We don't want to break the bank of course!
Thanks in advance.
Spago on Customs St. Auckland
This place opened in our neighborhood recently and the menu looked appealing so we tried it. The good news: the service and ambiance are quite nice. The bad news: at best, the food is average or mediocre and the prices are unreasonable. They bring out a bottle of flavored olive oil for the table but you have to pay $8 for a loaf of ciabatta to dip. I ordered the pappardelle with pork belly and sausage and the pasta did not taste fresh at all. For $23 I would have expected homemade pasta. The noodles were a little narrow for papparedelle too, more like fettucine. The pork belly was in tiny little pieces and while it had reasonably good flavor it wasn't worth the money. My husband got one of the pizzas, it was a mediterranean with eggplant and it was OK but nothing special.
The waiter was extremely (somewhat excessively) attentive. The one redeeming feature might be the antipasto selection, but I don't think we will go back just for that.
It's at 46 Customs St. East near Britomart.
Sal's New York Pizza Auckland report
I will start with 2 caveats: I am from NYC so I am a big pizza snob, and I am going to sound like a total shill but here goes:
This place is off the hook! It is far better pizza than anything you can get in Manhattan anymore and it is as good as almost anything I've had in Brooklyn. It is truly authentic NY pizza: perfect crust, not too chewy and not too crispy, lovely sauce, good cheese to sauce ratio.
It is important to get fresh pizza so I recommend getting your own pie ($24 for 8 slices, it's cost effective too since each slice is $4-5). If it's a busy time, you can get a good slice because there is adequate turnover, but try not to get a lone slice between 2 and 5pm.
They are in the central city on Commerce St just off Customs. This place deserves to thrive, and the owner is a real New Yorker (from Queens).
http://www.sals.co.nz/
4A Commerce St, Auckland.
379-SALS
yum cha in Auckland - my fave place - whats yours?
Just a heads-up that according to the sign on the door, due to unforseen circumstances Sunshine is closed until further notice. We were going to go there to try a different place but ended up back at Grand Harbour since I couldn't get through on the phone to book at Sunshine.
yum cha in Auckland - my fave place - whats yours?
We went to Grand Harbour this past Saturday and it was outrageously good! Background: I grew up in NYC and ate dim sum (as we call it) about once every couple months at least. I usually live in Minnesota which has surprisingly good dim sum as well. Grand Harbour was the best I have ever had. Particular favorites (and I don't really know the names:
Shrimp-coriander dumplings: just exquisite
Deep-fried "football" (or rugby ball) shaped dumplings filled with pork + were amazing, so light and crispy
Shrimp-rice noodle: these are the long dumplings with shrimp inside (they also had pork): this is my favorite dim sum dish and this was the best I have had--had scallions as well as the shrimp
BBQ pork buns, steamed and baked
Deep fried squid
It is going to be hard for me to try other places after this one. Is it worth it to try Sunshine, or should I just stick with what works?
Thanks for the tip!
Szechuan in Auckland
I posted earlier about Khyber Pass Road, have not had a chance to explore it yet, but now I have a specific craving: top notch Szechuan. We have no food limitations and are willing to pay a reasonable amount. We are just fine with dives. Our goal is optimal deliciousness. For some perspective, I am a New Yorker by birth and have been living in Auckland CBD for about 2 months. We do not have a car so it needs to be bus-able (sometimes we rent a car so suggestions requiring driving are fine too).
Thanks in advance!
