dzop's Profile
late dinner near the 92nd St Y
To be specific - I've had sublime manti from there, both vegetarian and meat, multiple times, but I find the pides greasy and meh.
Best Pizza Near Cooper-Hewitt?
I have nothing but respect for your taste in food in general, GoS. But (a) Luzzo's potato-gorganzola slice is a thing of beauty and (b) Anna Maria's was not awful in its heyday, for what it was, which was a deeply NY style pizza. There was nothing Italian or authentic about it, but there's room for good food in that space too.
late dinner near the 92nd St Y
Too late, but Marmara is a Turkish place that's a block or two away on 3rd, is open till 11, and serves food that can be surprisingly great, if sometime uneven. Well priced, too.
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Marmara
1660 3rd Ave, New York, NY 10128
Best Pizza Near Cooper-Hewitt?
I'm a little late to the party, but as a lifelong Carnegie hiller, the correct answer to this question was almost certainly Little Luzzo's, which is better than it's EV sibling IMO, way better than Arturos or Mimis and serves by the slice. Makes more sense than hauling to 2nd Ave. But I should also note that Nicks is definitely a pizza joint, no matter how much red sauce placeholders they have on their menu, and it still sucks that Anna Maria closed, years later, because it would've been a perfect answer to your question.
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Anna Maria
1592 1st Ave, New York, NY 10028
Little Luzzo's
119 E 96th St, New York, NY 10029
looking for THICK soup noodles in Chinatown
Guh, I love Xian as much as the next guy, but that's as different as apples and oranges.
Anyone else? I mean a thick, almost udon-like noodle, but one that is made by hand.
looking for THICK soup noodles in Chinatown
My favorite northern chinese place (in another city) used to serve noodles in its noodle soup that were much thicker than I've seen in Lanzhou places in Chinatown. Similar style noodles were an option at one of the noodle places I went to when I was visiting Beijing.
Any place serve the thicker noodles? I suspect they're not hand-pulled, but rather, cut from rolled out dough. They have the thickness (and consistency) of the knife-shaved noodles, but they're long like the hand-pulled ones.
Recs for non-Mandarin speakers in Beijing
Now, that's just not true. I've had very good luck in countries where I didn't speak a word of the language, but I learned the word for "chicken" and "beef" or how to say, "specialty". And you can get buy really well doing that, as long as you're open to trying whatever they put in front of you. But its facilitated by the restaurant culture in most of the western world being more-or-less constant in each country. When I was in, say, small-town Austria, there were plenty of places I went to where there was a total language barrier, but, like, main dishes are skill a meat and a side. It's sort of hard to screw up.
My concern in China is that the restaurant culture is sufficiently different from the US that you cant "fake it". My idea was that, maybe upscale places were more likely to follow recognizable norms such that I could get by ordering, though perhaps without a complete knowledge of what's coming.
Recs for non-Mandarin speakers in Beijing
Thank you for your recs...it has been an enormous help. I'll be sure to update this thread or post a new thread with my results once I get back in early Sept.
Recs for non-Mandarin speakers in Beijing
See, I don't necessarily want a place with a picture menu- I want a place where I won't feel like I'm on Mars. If I can fake it with a typed up list of what I want, or if they just understand the word "chicken", that's fine. What I want is somewhere b/w expat and hole in the wall- say, " upscale local". No matter what I try, I get recs that are basically "exapt/tourist trap" or "it will be impossible for you". Surely there must be a middle ground?
Recs for non-Mandarin speakers in Beijing
You think Da Dong over Made in China?
Other than that, those recs seem to be similar to what I'm coming up with looking on beijinger and timeout, which makes me feel better about the quality of their reviews.
Recs for non-Mandarin speakers in Beijing
I worry that hotel restaurants are too far on the other end- i.e. not challenging enough.
what I'm shooting for something that's neither hole-in-the-wall authentic, nor wholly international. Is there no such thing?
Recs for non-Mandarin speakers in Beijing
My girlfriend and I will be traveling to Beijing later this month.
Neither of us knows a whit of Mandarin. We've never been to China.
We are, however, reasonably knowledgeable w/r/t food from China by USA standards. Have tasted/understand the different cuisines that come from different provinces, etc.
We're going to be continuing on to Hong Kong later in the trip, so we'd like to save our Cantonese food for that part of the trip.
What I'd love are recs for places with:
(a) enough English that I can order food- doesn't need to be an english menu, but a waiter who speaks English or pictures I can point to would be sufficient
(b) on the nicer side. Doesn't need to be super-pricey, not looking for expense account, but also not looking for hole-in-the-wall. I recognize this might sacrifice some authenticity.
(c) anything interesting. This can be stuff I can't get back in the states: eg, food from Yunnan or Guizhou. Or, something westernized, but creative: For example, "Bei" interests me. I know its in a hotel, I know it has a western chef...but the menu just looks interesting to me. I'm thinking that might be my pricey meal.
Basically, what I'm looking for are mid-priced to maybe slightly more expensive restaurants, that I'll be able to at least have some idea of what I'm ordering, and I'd love to try stuff I can't get outside of Beijing.
FWIW, we're staying at the Fairmont Beijing in Chaoyang- we're willing to travel for good food, but obviously if we're trekking across town it has to be worth it.
Trip Report: Utah---excellent meal at the Forage
I looked at the link, and you're right- that's what they were.
They also had the Chocolate Twists in another box, which were just slightly smaller than an NFL football but didn't look as tasty and unusual as the chocolate cake donuts.
My family was out eating dessert tonight and those donuts came up in conversation...they were a darned good sweet!
Trip Report: Utah---excellent meal at the Forage
Quick 4 day trip to Moab. Flew in and out of SLC
Random Doughnuts in a Gas Station in Spanish Fork- We had these when we stopped for car munchies before going up into the Wasatch. These were obviously brought in from a local bakery, were in a brown cardboard doughnut box and by the register. They were delicious and quite unlike New England doughnuts: chocolate cake donuts with a thick cocoa glaze. Vaguely similar to Krispy Kreme chocolate devils food doughnuts, but much better.
In SLC:
The Forage: Awesome, awesome meal. The style of cooking is extremely close to that of Paul Liebrandt at Corton, in NYC, but these food was tastier and frankly more refined. A ton of food, even with the 3 course option; yes, it's 3 courses with smallish portions, but you also get 3 amuse bouches and a palate cleanser. Memorable dishes included the best soft-boiled egg dish that I've ever had and a absolutely jaw dropping cous-cous with chorizo and szechuan pepper. Desserts were absolutely AMAZING, literally, the best I've had in a restaurant in a few years. Mint frozen yogurt was so intensely mint flavored that I nearly fell off my chair.
Service was beyond impeccable. Wine list was excellent by NY standards; great BTG options (2 burgundies, both under $12!) and well chosen and exceptionally well priced bottles.
I eat out a lot in NYC- in the past six months, I've been to Bouley, J-G, Annisa, SHO Shaun Hergatt, Aldea, among others. My mom, who I was eating with, recently came back from a trip to Paris where she ate at a couple of multi-starred restaurants. We both agreed it was the best meal we'd had all year.
And the 3 course prix fixe is $45! For a 2 hour experience? I cannot recommend The Forage more highly.
In Moab:
Moab Brewery- Fine, functional, brewpub cuisine, actually better than I expected. Had a decent smoked half chicken ($13). Beer was mediocre.
Center Cafe- CLOSED (disappointingly!)
Desert Bistro- We planned to eat here, but we went in and the menu was so bad, and the food so nasty looking, that we left. Higher than Manhattan prices(I'm from NYC); $26 for the chicken.
River Grill (at Sorrel River Ranch Resort)- Good. Expensive, but a smidge less than Desert Bistro, and we enjoyed our meal. Pork chop was thick, cooked as ordered, and tasty. Appetizer (steak with maytag blue on toast) was overpriced and only OK. Wine list mediocre, but better than Desert Bistro. View was tremendous.
Restaurant at Red Cliffs Lodge- OK. High priced for what it was. Prime rib was rare and juicy, but bland. Crockpot Barbecue ribs were fall-off-the-bone, but BBQ sauce wasn't house made. $18 for the rib and $22ish for the prime rib. Also with tremendous view.
Need recs: Citrus store/stand and other food recs near Vero Beach
We are going to a Nats game, so thanks for the rec!
Need recs: Citrus store/stand and other food recs near Vero Beach
One place I have my eye on is Marsh Landing in Fellsmere. Is that a decent pick?
Need recs: Citrus store/stand and other food recs near Vero Beach
My biggest request is a request for the best citus store near within ~1hrs drive or so. May be going up to the Space Coast for a Nats ST game, so around there could work too.
This doesn't have to be the prettiest, and it doesn't have to be a farm. I'm thinking of the New England cider/apple type place, where sometimes the best unpasteurized cider comes from some guy who sells a bajillion varieties of amazing apples out of a dusty store in the middle of nowhere. There are also some big flashy farms that sell amazing cider.
I don't care which I go to here, I just want jaw-dropping juice and oranges. (And since I'm going next week, Valencias should juuuuuust be in season, right?)
Also, any restaurant recs around Vero, within 30-45 min drive. Prefer something I can't get up north-- Florida style food, such as it is. Seafood is good, but I'm picky about quality. High end is fine, but consider that I'm coming from NY, so I'd rather have slightly-cheaper but unique than a standard issue middle-to-nice restaurant.
Thanks for any tips
Sushi...but the place needs to have non Japanese options as well...
Is Green Tea going to be better than Sato on the north side of Waltham? that's my default option, and I had sort of assumed Green Tea was on a similar level...
Sushi...but the place needs to have non Japanese options as well...
Looking for a sushi place that also offers american-style "Asian" dishes. I love sushi and I'm an experienced eater, but my girlfriend wont eat anything beyond a few pieces of tuna/salmon sashimi and hates soba and the usual american-style "japanese" apps and entrees (tataki, tempura, teryaki etc..).
Basically, I need a japanese-cum-chinese place with sushi that'll satisfy me. Prefer, if possible, classic Japanese-style sushi like you'd get at Toraya, but I'm definitely willing to have mediocre Chinese-owned sushi as long as my girlfriend has something to eat too.
We're in Waltham, but we'll go as far as Boston/Burlington/Woburn/Framingham etc...
Best Liquor (and wine) Stores in Greater Boston
Vintages, out in West Concord, is the best selection I've ever seen in the Boston area. Prices are a tad high (maybe 10% more than typical MA retail) but the selection is astounding, especially in Italians and Burgundy.
Their Pinot rack basically consists of Chevillon (from generic Bourgogne to his LSG), Mugneret (from generic Bourgogne to her GC's), Hubert Lignier, Kistler and Belle Pente. Plenty of wines from great importers like Kermit Lynch and Neal Rosenthal. Even some interesting half-bottles: last time I was there, they had halves of Domaine Tempier, out of Bandol.
I wouldn't go in there wanting to spend less than $20, but for mid-high end stuff it blows away the other places I've been to (BLM, Martignetti, Gordons, Bermans, VinoDivino (which is a joke), Blanchards and Martys)
UES b-day cake
Two Little Red Hens is best option on the UES, but that's damming with faint praise. Their buttercream icing is dense to a fault in their layercakes (but works terrifically on their delicious cupcakes).
Le Bernardin or EMP
"By wine service, I meant the overall knowledge and expertise of the wine staff and head sommelier, Aldo Sohm, and their ability to choose wine pairings or several bottles with your meal. "
I guess this is where we have to disagree. For the vast majority of diners at these restaurants, they will have -a bottle- with their meal, not the tasting menu with pairings or a multibottle orgy. In that scenario, the BTG and half bottle selection becomes critical, and EMP is much superior to LB in that regard. When I go out with my non-wine-loving family and I'm limited to a single bottle or BTG pairings, the high-end treatment you'll get at LB if you're racking up a $300 wine bill is pretty much irrelevant.
And if I'm going out with my wine-loving friends, I'd still rather go to EMP so we can bring the big guns. Basically, outside of a expensed meal, I can't see how someone who cares about wine would pick LB over EMP. Either I'll make use of EMP's liberal corkage policy (and you could be ahead of the game just by swinging by Crush or Chambers the day before your meal and picking out an older bottle at retail) or EMP's better low-end selection if you're only going to drop ~$40pp on wine.
Le Bernardin or EMP
Someone upthread claimed that Le Bernardin had a superior wine service. I don't think I agree. Le Bernardin may have a better collection of GC Burgs in the cellar, but unless you're going to be ordering Rousseau Chambertin with your dinner that's basically irrelevant to you. Despite the accolades, I'd pick EMP's wine service over any restaurant in the city, including Le Bernardin, for all but a tiny stratosphere of people. (And Le Bernardin doesn't allow corkage, while EMP's corkage policy is a reasonable $35, meaning that if you really want to have that Rousseau Chambertin you're better off buying it at auction and bringing it to EMP).
EMP has the best BTG service in the city, I think, and it's half bottle selection rivals Landmarc.
Birthday tasting lunch - Bouley or GT?
Roast chicken, on the whole, isn't a fad. Roast chicken served at high-end restaurants is absolutely a fad that started with the economic crisis. Or maybe it's just pure coincidence that it was on the menu at a whole bunch of restaurants I ate at in the past 6 months (eg, Centrolire, Commerce, Craigie on Main (in Boston)).
Haven't seen meatloaf on the menu of anywhere outside of the 21 Club, but maybe that's just my bad luck. Meatloaf is delicious.
Birthday tasting lunch - Bouley or GT?
I agree with you about that J-G is uneven, but as I said, food quality is so subjective and inconsistent that it's hard to draw conclusions. Besides, I'm disappointed in probably 75% of the meals I eat out, even at the top places. But I like the J-G menu. Hopefully the food is living up to it.
Birthday tasting lunch - Bouley or GT?
If you're going to serve chicken, do something other than roasting it. Every restaurant is serving roast chicken right now. It's a fad. Do something different/interesting. Serve something I can't make at home.
You once again sidestep my point, which is that the current menu at EMP is basically a checklist of current fads in restaurant food. There are other parts of the pig other than it's belly. The aforementioned roast chicken. And christ, beet and goat cheese salad?
Also, there's repetition of ingredients. Eg, meyer lemon is used multiple times.
While I personally had weak food at EMP (as have most of my "eater" friends), I recognize that all restaurants are inconsistent and YMMV. But the crappy menu is more objective than food quality. Put EMP's lunch menu up against J-G, and the difference jumps out at you. It's a derivative restaurant, and it caters to a certain, more media-influenced clientele.
Birthday tasting lunch - Bouley or GT?
Really, 4 stars, from the Times! Well, that's infallable.
I have looked at the menu- both at the meal I ate there over the summer and just when I made that last post. My criticism: which is that the menu is largely uninventive and simply a checklist of current food "fads", is borne out by a menu which I described above. Pork belly was innovative when Wylie Dufresne put it on his menu 7 years ago.
Most people are influenced by the publicity surrounding a restaurant and experience a placebo effect when eating a place like EMP. I'm confident, based upon my past experiences eating there and the current menu, that the food for a weekday lunch is not on the level of J-G, Bouley, or even Cafe Boulud.
On the other hand, the wine list and wine service is EXCEPTIONAL. IMO, it's the best in the city, especially BTG. What other restaurant in NYC serves Vin Paille or Belle Pente Pinot BTG? (Hint: no one). And prices are very reasonable compared to Daniel or J-G.
I mean, really. Another roast chicken? The first 25 restaurants serving roast chicken didn't exhaust the point?
Birthday tasting lunch - Bouley or GT?
But the food at EMP is mediocre and the menu is like an uninventive "whos-who" of all the fads in high end NYC restaurants. I'm going to half guess this without looking at their menu: for starters: squash soup, tuna tartare, beet and goat cheese; for mains: sausage, bone marrow dish, pork belly, and wait for it, wait for it....ROAST CHICKEN!!!!!
Honestly, i got 4 of the above dishes without looking.
Yawn. Don't waste your money.
Birthday tasting lunch - Bouley or GT?
W/r/t Bouley, I think there has been a sea change in the restaurant since the "reshuffling of the deck" of David Bouley's restaurants. Make sure the reviews you're looking at are recent.
