Late Lunch/Dinner today? In town visiting our penniless 20-somethings...

In Williamsburg, try Rye or Dressler.

Easy to get to from Williamsburg:

On the J, M, Z trains: Lower East Side, suggest Peels, which I think has better food than Freeman's. Or perhaps DBGB.

Around L train, how about Northern Spy Company or Back Forty, neither of which will break the bank.

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Freemans
Freeman Alley, New York, NY 10002

Back Forty
190 Avenue B, New York, NY 10009

DBGB
299 Bowery, New York, NY 10003

Northern Spy Food Co.
511 E 12th St, New York, NY 10009

Peels
325 Bowery, New York, NY 10003

susiederkins in Manhattan

Where is the best place to get a wedding cake? Best value for the $

Baked in Red Hook also does wedding cakes. We actually just went with the plain layer cakes since we didn't want "wedding" cakes. The salty caramel dark chocolate cake was great.

As for the question of "value", I think most traditional wedding cakes run at like $9 to $15 a slice. Be warned...

susiederkins in Manhattan

burger by irving plaza?

Back Forty does a very good burger. And I haven't these burgers from these two places (but I intend to), but they're not too far: Whitman's and ABC Kitchen.

Take a pass on Stand. It's just so-so.

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Back Forty
190 Avenue B, New York, NY 10009

ABC Kitchen
35 E 18th St, New York, NY 10003

susiederkins in Manhattan

AOC on Bleecker St

I had brunch there last weekend. It was perfectly fine, but nothing special. Portions were reasonably large, and prices not high, so the quantity to price ratio is decent. Quality is OK and I thought the frites were undersalted - as in not salt at all.

susiederkins in Manhattan

6 Dudes one dinner?

If you think Jean Georges is too expensive, I think you should strike Marea from your list. Marea has some utterly fresh seafood and awesome pastas, but I'd note that fine dining italian is usually a multi course affair - an app, a primi and secondi and then perhaps dessert. It seems that four five guys, it sounds maybe a bit fussy, you get my drift? It's a lovely environment, but not what I would call super lively - my guess is that your group might stand out for being fairly boisterous.

I've eaten at Ko, but Ssam is actually my favorite of the Momofuku's. I think that is a great choice. Start off with 3 - 4 orders of the pork belly buns at least. Lots of the dishes present some meaty, fatty, spicy notes that just hits all the right notes. If you can go at an odd hour, you can try to nab a reservation for an entire bo ssam.

I haven't been, but maybe Minetta Tavern, if you can get a resy - I think it's lively, and there's been a lot of chatter about the Black Label burger - some folks think it is worth the $26 price tag, and then of course, they also offer steaks too. Basically a steak, but not a total old school steakhouse environment if you want something a bit more downtown.

The other thing that might also be kind of fun is Hecho en Dumbo. It's cheffed up Mexican, but i did find quite a lot of the food very tasty. There are some safer choices like tender pork and then there was some delicious rabbit when I went there - I think the cocktails and beers are tasty and the volume level is such that you guys won't be asked to tone it down there.

If it's a bunch of guys, how about a pig picking? I believe Breslin at the Ace Hotel does a whole roasted suckling pig as does DBGB. The advantage of that is that you get to chow down on some tasty pig, ensuring a reservation but still allowing some opportunity to check out the rest of the menu. Note, I wasn't that impressed with DBGB, but I only sat in the bar area on the night of their soft open. I suppose I should give them another chance.

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Jean Georges
1 Central Park W, New York, NY 10023

Minetta Tavern
113 MacDougal St, New York, NY 10012

Marea
240 Central Park South, New York, NY 10019

DBGB
299 Bowery, New York, NY 10003

The Breslin
20 W 29th St, New York, NY 10001

Hecho en Dumbo
354 Bowery, New York, NY 10012

susiederkins in Manhattan

Shishito

I've had it at ABC Kitchen, which buys it from the Union Sq. greenmarket. I've also eaten shishitos at Little Giant in the LES.

I've bought shisitos from:
1) Norwich Meadow Farms
2) Lan's farms (only there on Mondays)

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Little Giant
85 Orchard Street, New York, NY 10002

ABC Kitchen
35 E 18th St, New York, NY 10003

susiederkins in Manhattan

Recommendations for East Village

Lots of quick, cheap tasty options near you - other than living in Chinatown, you really can't do much better in terms of quality to price ratio for food options. Of course, the East Village just has a bigger variety of cuisines than Chinatown, so the EV is considered one of the top neighborhoods for food.

Xi'an Famous Foods on St Marks, closer to 1st Avenue - liang pi cold skin noodles ($4.50) and a cumin lamb burger ($2.50) or stewed pork burger ($2). This is an awesome addition to the neighborhood.

Baoguette Cafe, St Marks, closer to 2nd Avenue - banh mi, quick filling meal, and $6. (Not as cheap as Chinatown, but not bad). Summer rolls, spring rolls and pho are not bad.

Sigiri - 1st avenue, on 6th street. Go on Sunday - they have an all you can eat lunch buffet - it's a great introduction to Sri Lankan cuisine. I only mention it in case you are curious and have never tried Sri Lankan. I believe it's one of the only places that offers Sri Lanka cuisine in Manhattan.

Momofuku Ssam for a splurge. My favorite of the Momo's (even more than Ko)

Porchetta - either the Porchetta sandwich or porchetta plate.

Abraco on 7th and 1st Ave. Love it for great coffee, and tasty breakfast pastries - pain perdu and frittata/ quiche?

I think the pizza at Pizzeria Veloce (1st Avenue and I think 6th or 7th street?) is pretty good. Although, some people think Motorino (12th st closer to 1st Avenue) is better. Neither of these places serve by the slice, but it's still good pizza.

Further away from you, Dos Toros (4th avenue and 12th st) is a SF-Mission inspired burrito place. Good stuff.

For thai, I think Rhong-Tiam on 5th street and 2nd avenue is among the best in the East Village. They might have closed or something - it's unclear, but I certainly hope that's not the case...

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Momofuku Ssam Bar
207 2nd Ave, New York, NY 10003

Rhong-Tiam
87 2nd Avenue, New York, NY 10003

Abraco
86 E 7th St, New York, NY 10003

Sigiri
91 1st Ave, New York, NY 10003

Porchetta
110 E 7th St, New York, NY 10009

Dos Toros
137 4th Ave, New York, NY 10003

Motorino
349 E 12th St, New York, NY 10003

susiederkins in Manhattan

Blue Hill at Stone Barn is RUINED for me

Funny you should say that - I DO enjoy cooking and we are extremely fortunate to live minutes away from the Union Square greenmarket. We love having the greenmarket so close by. I used to be a member of a CSA, but found that too much of the produce ended up into the compost bucket, due to our somewhat erratic work schedules - sadness!

Along the same themes of service, I guess I'm miffed since the whole customer interaction thing starts at the FOTH. Case in point, we just went to Maialino last night - first time there.

We arrived early, and of course, the host apologized for our table not being ready - again, we WERE early. He suggested that we wait by the bar, and I told him that we might wander across the lobby to check out the bar in the Gramercy Park Hotel. Probably a little disappointed that they would lose business, but he quickly obliged and said that if that's what we wanted, then he could find us there too. We wandered over to the Gramercy Park Hotel bar, just to peek at the interior but ended up back at the Maialino bar with a glass of wine each, and partly that was due to the host being so accomodating.

Food was VERY GOOD. Service was impeccable, professional and not too obtrusive. Our server was great and let us know when we were ordering too much - we had ordered the suckling pig (signature Maialino dish) for two. The suckling pig was fantastic. Although I could quibble with his recommendation when we were about to order too much food, he WAS right, but then again, I wouldn't have minded if we had ordered too much food because it would have left us more suckling pig to take home for dinner. (leftover melt in your mouth suckling pig for dinner tonight :)

Food was very good and I can definitely recommend. I've had better food, but it kind of brings home to me that a lot of the whole "restaurant" experience to me is about SERVICE. If one is going to spend $125 - 150 pp, you really want it to feel like you are getting a great experience from it. We're pretty good (I do the majority of the cooking, and the SO chips in by rolling out fresh, home-made semolina pasta when it's pasta night) and I daresay we eat very well when we cook at home, so to me, it's just not worth the time and money if you don't feel welcome at a restaurant from the get-go.

Considering how easy some dishes are to make at home (e.g. think bone marrow with parsley salad on toast) ambiance and service really are such a key part of the fine dining experience.

susiederkins in New York State (exc. New York City)

Blue Hill at Stone Barn is RUINED for me

Yes, I tried booking it 60 days in advance. Problem is that I have no idea what time of day the tables become available on OpenTable for a reservation for 60 days in adance.

By 8:45 am, no tables were available other than for 9:30pm slots. Does this mean that I need to start checking on the hour every hour beginning at midnight? At least with Ko and the Danny Meyers restaurants, resy's are available for the furthest date out (28 and 7 days, respectively) at set times - 10 am. I just don't know (and neither did the reservationist) know what time tables for a date that is 60 days out becomes available on OpenTable.

susiederkins in New York State (exc. New York City)

Blue Hill at Stone Barn is RUINED for me

You're right - it would be better of me to have raised the issue directly with the restaurant instead of taking it to chowhound. I'm sure no restaurant wants to attract that kind of publicity, and they otherwise do very fine work in promoting sustainable, local cooking.

I did feel pretty heated after the conversation. I really did want to make a nice day of it and we were really going to make the effort more or less just to dine at the restaurant - the whole antiquing stuff was added so that we wouldn't just be driving up there and back for dinner.

The other issue that leaves me feeling aggrieved is that the reservation system is unclear - I've jumped through the requisite hoops to score reservations at some of the finest restaurants in NYC (Babbo, Eleven Madison, and Momofuku Ko). But at least I knew WHAT and I needed to do and WHEN I needed to do it. Bad enough that you have to think about dinner plans 60 days in advance (REALLY? 60?!?) but to not know what to advise prospective patrons about when to call or log-on is inexcusable.

susiederkins in New York State (exc. New York City)

Blue Hill at Stone Barn is RUINED for me

I took my then-boyfriend, now husband to Blue Hill in Washington Place for his 30th birthday about 2 years ago. We had a great time - it was a fantastic meal and I was impressed with what they could do in November. Since then, we had wanted to check out Blue Hill at Stone Barn - the idea was to make a day trip of it, maybe do some antiquing and hitting up Blue Hill at Stone Barn for a 6 / 6:30 reservation.

I'm no dummy - I know they open up reservations 2 months / 60 days in advance and Saturday nights are very popular. I also know that living in downtown Manhattan, the last thing I want is a "day" trip that ends with a 9:30 dinner and a 45+ minute drive back to the city. Thus, I dutifully count the days backwards and target a mid September date. I set my reminder in my calendar to log onto OpenTable / call at the appropriate time.

I log on to OpenTable at 8:45am and check the availability. Damn! All of the early time slots are taken. (Hmm... that's weird, I never heard of tables being open so early - must be kind of odd. I think it's odd because I believe the Danny meyer's restaurants release tables at 10:00 am exactly 28 or 30 days in advance - it's a nice system, it works. )

AHA! Maybe I will try CALLING them to make a reservation - maybe there are tables that are not available via OpenTable.

Me: Hi, I wanted to inquire about a reservation for Saturday, September --- for a party of 2
Reservationist: The only availability we have is 9:30 pm.
Me: Hmm... that's rather late. Are there any tables that are not reserved via OpenTable so I can call back?
Reservationist: No, our system is connected through theirs and all of the tables can be booked on OpenTable.
Me: OK, well, do you know when the tables become available on OpenTable for reservations?
Rservationist: No
Me: But you just said that your reservation system and that of OpenTable are fully connected. How do you not know when tables become available on OpenTable?
Reservationist: I don't know.
Me: Well, you see my point - I can't figure it out on OpenTable and if YOU DON"T KNOW, who else am I supposed to ask? (I admit to getting pretty miffed at this point and sound frustrated)
Reservationist: Well, I don't know how OpenTable works.
Me: But it's YOUR reservation system that is hooked into theirs? How do you NOT know???
...
Me: OK, well, can you find out if I call you back tomorrow with the same question

*click*

THE RESERVATIONIST HAD HUNG UP ON ME!

I wasn't looking for special favors. I just wanted some information and it strikes me as incredibly odd that the reservationist couldn't answer a question about their reservation system. Also, and maybe I am a spoiled customer, but for someone who is likely going to spend AT LEAST $300 on a dinner for two, and spend 45 minutes EACH way to travel for dinner - well, I would have hoped for a lot more helpfulness on her part. At any rate, there are any number of fantastic restaurants in Manhattan, that it's just not worth the bother to head out there.

P.S. As a matter of principal, I'm also boycotting the Blue Hill on Washington Place.
P.P.S. I'm also frequently asked to give restaurant recommendations - I'm no longer recommending Blue Hill.
P.P.P.S. That reservationist was an unhelpful jerk.

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Blue Hill Cafe
2427 Route 52, Hopewell Junction, NY 12533

P.S. Restaurant
100 Rano Blvd Ste 8, Vestal, NY 13850

susiederkins in New York State (exc. New York City)

Need recs for a space with a private room for a 30th bday (30-40 people)

Try Sala on the Bowery. I believe their packages start at $60 - 70 / pp with passed tapas and sangria / wine.

Mercat also has a small basement room that might fit that number as well.

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Mercat
45 Bond Street, New York, NY 10012

susiederkins in Manhattan

ISO Beef Wellington

Thanks for the thought - but I was specifically interested in feedback from 'hounders who have tried beef wellingtons in various restaurants.

susiederkins in Manhattan

ISO Beef Wellington

I'm the type of person who frequents the greenmarket to figure out what is for dinner or lunch that day. I prefer my salmon wild-caught, MSC-certified and cooked rare. I felt a twinge of guilt on eating blue fin tuna, but since it came with the omakase order, it seemed rude not to eat it. I will, also 99 times out of 100 always order a rib eye in favor of a filet mignon. WD-50 is one of the top restaurants I have had the pleasure to visit in the last year.

And, yet the idea of eating a beef wellington seems to strike at my funny bone. (Also, I do think liver or foie gras atop beef, how bad could that be?) So, where to go for the best beef wellington out there? Also, I know One If By Land... serves it, but that place is just TOO historic for my taste, and I'm not keen on the rest of the menu offerings.

Thanks in advance!

susiederkins in Manhattan

Il Cantinori

It's kind of a scene-y, and you might spot a celeb or two. I think we spotted Jonathan Adler the one time we dined there. The menu is uninspired cliche and the food just barely cooked competently - that's why we were only there once. There are MANY other better italian restaurants at which to eat. For the same price, you can eat at Babbo, Scarpetta, Alto, Lupa, etc.

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Lupa
170 Thompson Street, New York, NY 10012

Babbo
110 Waverly Pl, New York, NY 10011

Scarpetta
355 West 14th Street, New York, NY 10014

susiederkins in Manhattan

Group Bday Party Ideas- Ninja NY?

ugh. Yes, the food is just uninspired. Don't foist such craptastic food on other foodies!

For something "different", maybe try Daisy May's pig-picking, or Churrascaria Plataforma (meats on a sword, anyone?).

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Churrascaria Plataforma
316 West 49th Street, New York, NY 10019

susiederkins in Manhattan

private room, cozy, elegant, 15 people -post-City Hall wedding

Blue Hill has a back room that fits 18 - 19 at the most. It'd be the perfect size for your foodie gathering.

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Blue Hill
75 Washington Place, New York, NY 10011

susiederkins in Manhattan

A Brief Report from Hecho en Dumbo

For those expecting a cheap, filling Mexican meal - this isn't the place. For those who enjoy seeing a different side of Mexican cuisine beyond what's offered at the standard burrito / taco joint, here's the spot for you. As the previous reviewer mentioned, this is a small plates style place, which is nice for dates and big groups.

However, since it's all wood and hard surfaces, the noise can get to cacophonous levels. Service had a few kinks to iron out, but the servers were generally pleasant, so I expect that to improve over time.

We arrived on the early side, and since we had a bit of a late lunch, decided to order a "light" meal, with 2 starters and 3 from the rest of the menu. Probably if we had been much hungrier, we could have gone with 1 more dish, but it was a reasonable amount of food.

For our meal, we started off with:
Picaditas de Jaiba - warm, slightly crisp and seasoned corn medallions topped by sweet, cool and tender dungeness crab, rounded off by the fatty avocado slivers. I didn't taste the jalapeno oil, tho, but it didn't really need it. A squeeze of the lime wedged offered with the plate perked up the dish with some bright acidity. Very tasty. For the price, I thought it was a very reasonable portion of crab and masa. The warm, slightly salty corn masa made for a nice temperature and textural contrast to the cool crab.

Pozole rojo - Perfectly decent. Shredded pork and hominy soup. This one is a little more difficult to share, and needed a considerable amount of oregano and spices to enliven this dish. I'd be perfectly pleased if I could make this dish at home, it just was not at the same level as the other meals.

Mains:
Tacos de costilla - short rib beef tacos. The SO thought the meat was a little gristly, but I liked the flavor. I chewed some of the meat off the bone at the end of it.

Chicharron de puerco - braised pork belly, that had been shredded and pan fried into a medallion(?). It came with a sweet pea flan. Delicious - the braised pork belly was tender and the exterior had a nice crispy, savory (salty, but not too salty) crust. I didn't get much flavor from the chileajo and cumin salsa, but otherwise, the dish was excellent.

Mixiotes de Conejo - braised rabbit with honey, cinnamon and chile mulato, served alongside rice cooked with almonds, bacon and avocado. Delicious - rabbit's a pretty lean and mild flavored meat, tasting somewhere between chicken and pork in terms of flavor profile. The rabbit was fork tender, and the dish was kind of a highfalutin' Mexican sort of comfort food, a spiffed up version of arroz con pollo, except with rabbit instead of pollo.

All in all, we would definitely go back - so glad it's moved from DUMBO to the Bowery!

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Hecho en Dumbo
354 Bowery, New York, NY 10012

susiederkins in Manhattan

Need help! Pick 4 of these restaurants...

Wow. Fun list. I've been to Lugers, JG, EMP, Babbo, Ko, and Daniel. However, I do have to throw in a vote for WD-50. Definitely get the tasting menu - I'd suggesting swapping the "eggs benedict" for the scrambled egg course. They do let you swap out stuff. Also, note, if you like chef spotting - who doesn't - you are almost guaranteed to see Wylie back there in the kitchen.

WD-50's tasting menu is fun and playful - you won't find anything else quite like it.

BTW, I love Babbo, but that's because I love great pasta.

In terms of variety, I sort of think that with JG, EMP and Daniel that you've got the French/French-influenced cuisine covered, so tossing WD-50 into the mix would I think give you a more interesting mix.

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WD-50
50 Clinton Street, New York, NY 10002

Babbo
110 Waverly Pl, New York, NY 10011

susiederkins in Manhattan

Coming to NYC in the summer - outdoor ideas ?

Casa Mono opens up its doors in the summer so it's like an al fresco experience. Falai in Lower East Side on Clinton has a backyard area that is a nice spot for some fine dining.

susiederkins in Manhattan

Prepared Chicken Stock??

Murray's Cheese Shop has prepared chicken stock. FreshDirect also sells prepared chicken stock as well. Those were pretty decent stocks, which I used before I started making my own.

susiederkins in Manhattan

Chinatown Tipping [moved from Manhattan board]

Yes, it's appropriate to tip in all instances in which you are being served food and/or drink. $1 for $5 check sounds right, and I would tip $2 for ~$10

I always adhere to the standard of 15% for good service, 10% for bad service and 20% for exception service. My parents, who are Asian are absolutely terrible tippers - they tend to think $1 per person is appropriate and I wouldn't be surprised if there are other Asians of that generation who think the same way.

Since these restaurants keep their costs low, I would imagine that they pay their servers the absolute minimum wage, which, technically for employees that also receive tip income is $2.13 an HOUR.

http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSTRE56N48E20090725

Also, if you think about it, a server who racks up tips of 15% on an average check of $5 - 10 versus servers in other restaurants in the city (average check of $30 - 100) rack up a lot more in tips.

susiederkins in Not About Food

Need good birthday spot- with conditions

2nd the recommendations of Blue Smoke or Hill Country. Barbecue generally works even for conservative irish guys.

susiederkins in Manhattan

Sea Dog Blueberry Ale?

Just a follow-up, I walked into the Dual Specialty Store - 1st Avenue, between 6th and 7th and they DO have Sea Dog Blueberry Wheat Ale.

They also had other Sea Dog varieties, including Raspberry Wheat Ale, Apricot and one other which I forget at the time.

susiederkins in Manhattan

Recommendation for client dinner (9) in midtown?

Couple other options to include:
Anthos
Alto - I think good Italian food should work even for the those who have a fairly conservative palate.

Think Bar Americain is just alright, nothing to get too excited about.

susiederkins in Manhattan

Sea Dog Blueberry Ale?

Two leads -

I've actually found it at the Whole Foods on Bowery. I didn't find it in the main beer room - there is another beer fridge hidden in the cheese section -be sure to check it there.

I've also found it at the Dual Specialty Spice Store that is on 1st Avenue, between 5th and 6th st, I think. It may be a seasonal thing, but it is possible that neither place have them now but I have bought them at both of those places.

But the best blueberry Ale I had was the Newport Storm Blueberry Ale, which was delicious. Unfortunately, it doesn't get distributed farther south than Connecticut! But the Sea Dog Blueberry Ale is very good.

susiederkins in Manhattan

Please help me plan my trip! (Sichuan noodles, pastries, etc.)

Prosperity Dumpling at 46 Eldridge - $1 gets you five boiled or pan fried dumplings. $1.50 gets you a pork or beef sandwich.

Punjab Deli on 1st street, between 1st and A. $5 gets you rice plus 3 choices of indian vegetarian entrees. Cheap and enormously filling.

Sichuan noodles - dan dan mian. Very good version of this at Grand Sichuan on St Marks. I think it's $5 for those noodles.

Baoguette on St Marks, betwen 2nd and 3rd Avenue. $5 Banh Mi, although Banh Mi So 1 on Broome or Saigon Bakery on Mott do it better for slightly cheaper.

Caracas Arepas - 7th St between 1st and A.

Porchetta, 7th st between 1st and A. Porchetta sandwiches.

Otafuku on 9th st for yakisoba.

susiederkins in Manhattan

Spanish Tapas

I've been to quite a few Tapas places, but I think a good start for you would be Las Ramblas on West 4th, just off 6th avenue. Las Ramblas serves Barcelona style tapas, which is different from other regional tapas.

They definitely have the tortilla espanol (egg & potato mixture), grilled sardines and the octopus. I think they also have the small fried fish - smelts on their menu.

http://www.lasramblasnyc.com/

Mercat - I quite like this place, but it's quite different from barcelona style tapas
Casa Mono - fantastic, but it's Spanish inspired, so not authentic.
Sala Bowery / 19 - Decent, but nothing to write home about
Tia Pol - very flavorful and the food is very good, although it's probably more inventive and less representative of a typical tapas restaurant, but it can get very crowded and popular. I don't know exactly what style it serves, but it's not Barcelona style
Euzkadi - Pass. I live a few doors away and found it to be decent, but nothing special.

And Despana is a great place to check out for some jamon to take home for later.

susiederkins in Manhattan

Romantic East Village restaurant?

Dieci on 10th, between 2nd and 1st Ave has very good food.

Pylos has a nice atmosphere as well. I wouldn't call it super romantic, but it's very civilized. Food is great.

susiederkins in Manhattan