Daniel76's Profile
Best Vietnamese?
Hello All,
A New York Chowhound currently in China. I am heading to New Orleans in a couple of weeks. I guess it is crawfish season here in China because I just had an amazing plate of crawfish. It was in some garlic and chile oil with a hint of sesame. But the whole thing was covered in hot peppers.. it was one of the best crawfish dishes i have ever had.
Anyway, this got me thinking about what asian preparations there must be in New Orleans among the Vietnamese Community.
Not to mention, the sprouting up of Canjun style Seafood Restaurants in America's Asian Communities.. In Brooklyn you have a place called the Boat House, in Las Vegas and D.C you have Hot N Juicy Crawfish and in Cali you have the Boiling Crab.
So, i am going to be in New Orleans June 8th to the 17th. I am staying on Lafayette Street by the Hotel Lafayette. Are there any good Vietnamese Seafood Restaurants close to where i am staying. Or just exceptional places i should hit up.
Thanks so much,
Daniel
Catania - Ca-put?
I thought they owned another place somewhere in brooklyn.. perhaps a call to that locations would answer some questions.
Most adventurous food in NY
Yeh, unfortunately when I went, everything was overcooked and had no flavor. The place is more a hang out for early 20 somethings who want to go eat lots of food and drink lots of beer, cheap.
Ayada Thai
I was surprised that there is no dedicated thread to Ayada. I have been here a few times a couple of years ago but, had not returned until last night.
I post all the photos on http://brooklynbite.wordpress.com/2012/04/23/ayada-thai-queens-ny/
Here is the write up.
Ayada Thai (Woodside)
78-03 Woodside Ave. (Woodside Ave & 78th St)
(718) 424-0844
It has almost been two years since I have last been here.
Last night while returning from the Berkshires, Miss A and I were switching drivers on the side of the road. Miss A is studying for her drivers test and she has been under my tutelage. Let me just say to all my fellow drivers out there, you are welcome. Thanks to me, there will soon by another super driver on the road. Right now we are learning the basics but, shoulder of the road driving, the art of the rolling stop, look both ways before you blow the red light, lessons will all be passed along in time.
So, as we were switching drivers we noticed how close we were to Elmhurst. At first we were on our way to my favorite Taste Good but, Miss A is starting a Juice Cleanse this week and last night was her last meal for a good 8 days.
We ordered all our food super spicy and they did not disappoint. This is one of the more spicy meals I have had in recent memory. Sticky rice and A Thai Ice Tea saved my life. We ate two sticky rices which really helped.
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We started with the raw shrimp and the Thai Sausage.
Raw shrimp marinated in many things including lime juice and garlic. I love bitter melon and this is a great addition texture and taste wise. A little raw garlic to keep away the vampires.
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Garlicky and slightly sour sausage served with lettuce to wrap, a slice of ginger, roasted peanuts and Thai Peppers. It’s a great combination. I have had other dishes where lime skins and coconut were also added to wraps. And instead of a regular lettuce they were using broccoli leaves, I believe. But, this was really nice.
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Next up was the pork laab, or larb. This was really lovely. The thing I love best about this dish is the amount of toasted rice. It not only adds a really unique textural component but, a very nice toasted sort of nutty taste. This is a winner for sure.
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At this point our mouths were pretty much engulfed in flames. Feeling really good but, on fire just the same. We ordered a cat fish dish. This was really lovely as well. Catfish and eggplant spicy yellowish curry. There was lots of coconut milk and I would guess something that was flammable or on fire. It was delicious. You know it’s a spicy dish when you welcome the cooling affects of a jalapeno pepper. Seriously, you can see some of those peppers sliced on top of the dish. I started chewing on a pepper and my mouth started to cool. I was thinking, oh, it’s just a jalapeno.
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Shrimp Pad See Ew. It was saucier than any pad see ew I have tasted. It was also probably the best version of this dish I have had.
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As we were sitting there eating, there were all of these mangos lined up along the counter. We kept eying them through dinner know, that at some point we were going to get the sticky rice and mango. Sticky rice was covered in this coconut cream or coconut and condensed milk. The mango was super ripe and perfect. It was a much needed cooling off. This was also the best mango and sticky rice I have eaten.
All in all, it was a wonderful meal. I will not wait so long to return.
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Primrose Cafe Clinton HIll
In order to see photos, you can visit my blog
http://brooklynbite.wordpress.com/
147 Greene Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11238
Neighborhood: Clinton Hill
(718) 789-7890
My neighborhood has a lot of things going for it. And each day, there seems to be new places opening up. This new spot, the Primerose Cafe is a very welcome addition. It's a cute little spot, right on Greene Ave. And though it appears to be tiny from the outside, there is plenty of seating inside.
Here is one back room where I was sitting.. They have board games and things to play. In addition to this back room and the equally cute front room, they have some seating outside as well.
The coffee here is amazing. The guy, Justin Schultz was an ex Roberta's worker but, I have read that he competes in coffee competitions. Not to mention., he is responsible for doing the roasting for this spot. In addition to teas and coffee both hot and cold brewed, there are sandwiches and pastries. I have tried some sort of salami and aged gouda sandwich which was pretty damn good and their almond croissant. Now, I don't think they make their own croissants but, I am a stickler. And these, well, are not my favorite. My favorite at from Bien Cuit, which every coffee shop should be buying from. But really, if I eat 6 almond croissants in a year, I would be shocked.
They have these drinks called Gibraltar. It's a small latte, kind of like a macchiato. I love these things so much. My favorite is the first sip where you get the hot cream mixed with the coffee. It's a pretty strong drink. Instead of getting a large drink, though, i don't know if they make them, i get two so I can have two first sips.
So, if you are every in the area, I highly suggest you check out what they are doing over here. Great coffee, nice sandwiches.
Almond croissant at Cannelle is.............
Will have to check this out, Bien Cuit is still my favorite.
Tope Ethnic Restaurants to try in Queens
I like Taste Good Malasian, i like Mama Meenah's Filipino.
Interesting Eats Las Vegas
yun nan garden, was awesome.. great sichuan food. i highly recommend.
Interesting Eats Las Vegas
I have a large customer who likes fun spots.. I have taken him out in vegas a few times. we wen to Raku, Honey 1 BBq, Lotus of Siam.. Last meal we ate together was a great restaurant in China together..
Anyway, whats a real fun place I can take him tomorrow night.. Price is not an issue but, it doesn't have to be expensive.. Just amazing food.. Raku has been the best place we have gone so far..
Thanks for your help,
Daniel
What are the best dishes at these restaurants?
I must be the only person that find Scarpetta extremely average.. i have been to the location in Manhattan, where I live, several times.. The special spaghetti that everyone raves about is essentially the Marcella Hazzan's Butter Pasta Sauce. The service has been spotty and it was truly nothing special.
What's the Longest Anyone Has Ever Had to Wait to be Seated at a Restaurant in Queens?
Also, Imperial Palace, in Flushing.. We have waited an hour on a saturday night. and then there are the dim sum places.. The Korean spots in Murray Hill.. I have waited at mapo and the place where all the kids go to eat that live octopus.. There are a few korean spots which are hard to get into on a saturday.
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Imperial Palace
136-13 37th Ave, Queens, NY 11354
Mapo BBQ
149-24 41st Ave, Queens, NY 11355
Sik Gaek
161-29 Crocheron Ave, Queens, NY 11358
What's the Longest Anyone Has Ever Had to Wait to be Seated at a Restaurant in Queens?
yeh, those Greek Place on a Friday, Saturday night in Astoria.. There can be 2 hour waits.. Also, Trattoria L'Incontro has nice waits..
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Trattoria L'Incontro
21-76 31st St, Queens, NY 11105
private party in south brooklyn for 100
I have not been but, i just read in the village voice that, mercado Williamsburg is huge and not really crowded ever.
Corner Bistro
Agreed, I am not kicking it out of bed but, I went a month or two ago to Tofu and have not been back.. I have been to Flushing probably 10 times since then.
Has anyone tried Sensation Neo Shanghai Cuisine in Williamsburg
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Sensation Neo Shanghai Cuisine
208 Grand St, Brooklyn, NY 11211
Catania Cafe on Atlantic Ave
They are funny and you can tell it's pretty authentic in terms of it's Italian-ness. Initially the hours were either 8 am or 9 am on weekdays.. I don't know what they are now. But, after trying two or three times to go on a weekday, only to find the place was opening late, I gave up.. I would call the owner's cell.. He would answer very nonchalantly.. "Ciao, oh, yes, I am afraid I am running one or two hours late"
One or TWO? Funny stuff. The food is great, we get the Baba rhum on the regular. We will eat at sottocasa and walk over for dessert.
Peter Luger=nothing but hype
I am not thinking anywhere.. i am sorry, if I that is how it came across.. I still find it to be a top tier steak, i am just saying, its no longer in a league of it's own.
Unique Food Experience in NYC
wd 50 is the place to be.
I would also recommend, Corton for the mind blowing factor.
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WD-50
50 Clinton Street, New York, NY 10002
Corton
239 West Broadway, New York, NY 10013
Peter Luger=nothing but hype
We had dinner there last night, an early dinner there last night.. We arrived at 4:45 and were promptly seated. The space is the same as it has been since I have been going there.. I actually went a few months ago for a cheeseburger and ended up sitting in the same spot again.
Much has been said about the waiters and the room and the casualness of it all. To me, it's perfect in that aspect. People complain about the gruff waiters, I did not see that at all actually. The waiters were super friendly and very nice to Miss K when she ordered the "Holy Cow" huge ass chocolate Sunday. Perhaps it's such a touristy spot that people coming from out of town like to mix it up with the waiters. Who knows. We wanted food, they gave us food, when we wanted more drinks, they brought more drinks, when we wanted help with ordering, he gave us the answers we were looking for.
To me, Peter Luger was one of the only places that lived up to the hype. I would read people's reviews about it being average or bad and I wanted no part of hearing about it. And while I am still in love with the restaurant, it's history, and the ambiance, for steak alone, it has lost some of its luster. And I don't think it's because of anything Peter Luger has done. I just think that the products and techniques that are used at Luger is more common than before.
Dry aged steaks, big green eggs, infrared broilers, these are things that the at home cook now has access to. And while the steak at Luger is still delicious, it can be had elsewhere. Where once Peter Luger was the only game in town, I can go to my local butcher, buy a bag of charcoal, and produce the same results in my backyard. And by me., I mean anyone who has the inclination and the time. Or I can go to a number of other steakhouses which provide similar steaks with much better sides.
Even the bacon, I remember getting the bacon here years and years ago.. No one was serving thick slices of bacon like that. Now, it's almost pedestrian.
The sides at Luger are pretty average. The German Fries, the Shoe String Onions Rings, the Creamed Spinach. All can be had much better somewhere else. The onion rings were greasy, the potatoes dry, the creamed spinach, one note.
The only part of a Peter Luger Steak Dinner that can not be replicated is the wonderful atmosphere, the history, the excitement of the place.. Everyone is happy to be there and it's a special thing.
If I were to recommend a reason to go there in order to seek out exceptional food, it is their burger. It's among my favorites in the city. It's a must try for burger fans. It's truly a beautiful thing.
We had a truly wonderful time, the steak was delicious. The price, the month long wait, the lack of a decent wine list, and the average sides, were the drawbacks.
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Peter Luger Steak House
178 Broadway, Brooklyn, NY 11211
Donuts
I live about two blocks from dough, I have zero desire to eat one of those.. I go to Peter Pan..
As TIna Fey said "The best doughnut? That's Peter Pan doughnuts in Brooklyn. It's a Polish bakery. We shot nearby once for 30 Rock. It's a white-cream-filled powdered doughnut. And I really believe, when I first tried it, if I had a penis, I would put it in this doughnut. I finally understand what you guys are thinking about and what motivates you guys. "
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Peter Pan Donut & Pastry
727 Manhattan Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11222
Dough
305 Franklin Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11238
Need Help Identifying a Restaurant
I am fiercely loyal in that instance and would tell Family members A-Z to choke on their food if they tried to exclude my wife. However, it sounds like your husband would most likely be the luckiest of the group if he were excluded.
That being said, please let us know the name of the restaurant.
Brooklyn - Gowanus -Park Slope
Went to Little Neck the other night for dinner.. We had a really nice dinner. My biggest complaint would be about the plate of steamers we ate there. It was a small bowl of steamers and I believe the cost was something like 14 bucks.
I have rarely eaten steamers out as it's such a fun dish to eat at home. Especially with the great prices of clams in chinatown and the ease of the dish to pull off, it's a fun weeknight dish.. Anyway, we received perhaps 12 or 14 clams for 14 bucks. The dish was good with peppers and everything but, it just seemed very over priced..
I had the fried perch special of the evening. It was chicken fried perch. Served with coleslaw and awesome tarter sauce.
Relaxed and comfortable vibe. Not rushing back but, it's a reliable spot.
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Littleneck
288 3rd Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11215
Brooklyn - Gowanus -Park Slope
yeh, i like little neck.. in fact, i am heading there tonight for dinner with my pops.. I had the steak tartare there and a few other dishes.
Why oh why did I wait 10+ years to go to Locanda Vini e Olii?
I love this place too.. So happy you enjoyed it.
Brooklyn - Gowanus -Park Slope
I was going to say Little Neck for sure.. Also, I went to Draft Barn this weekend.. If you want like the most ridiculously large selection of beers that you have ever seen, then, hit this place up too..
Draft Barn, 530 3rd Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11215
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Draft Barn
530 3rd Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11215
Littleneck
288 3rd Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11215
Where has all the Fresh Fish Gone?
Hmm... So confused.. you are looking for a great place that is cheap? A new spot in Chinatown that has good seafood is that place right on Mott.. It's directly across the street from Golden Steamer, it's a large supermarket that opened a couple of months ago..
They have live fish.. But, what really impresses me is the clams, the giant squid, oysters and clams,razor clams, the live shrimp, the baby octopus, they always have a few different species of live crab from Dungeness to, Blue and Cornish looking Crabs. The lobster tanks.. I also buy beautiful looking Sardines, and live fish from the tank. i buy branzino and monkfish.. it's all great. I eat fish three times a week in my house.. And the prices are incredible..
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New York Mart
128 Mott St, New York, NY 10013
Allswell, Williamsburg
Just had a wonderful meal there last night.. It was one of the more satisfying meals I have had in a long time. We arrived around 930 or 10 and the place was fairly empty.. The room is really pretty at night, very cozy and romantic. Waitstaff was so nice as well.
We started with their in house baked bread and their in house made ricotta cheese.. This was off the charts delicious.. The bread was thick and toasted and topped with some olive oil, in my mind I can't remember if there was a little rye or it was a sour dough.. The ricotta was so creamy in taste and texture.. For 5 dollars, we received three large pieces of bread and about a cup of cheese.. It was a great value..
Next up, smoked Artic Char on a potato pancake with some sour cream or crema.. The pancake was the size of an 8 inch plate. Topped with beautifully done char, some crema, i think some dill and capers.
We then moved on to this sort of sliced pork crudo tonnato.. Oh my this was good.. It looked like Berkshire Pork because of the beautiful ribbons of fat. .It was sliced paper thin and the tuna sauce was delicious.. This like all the dishes were beautifully balanced.. There were not like clumps or glopped on tuna sauce. There was a perfect amount that sent you searching around the plate and finding just enough..
Finally, we had this broccolini with spaghetti.. The pasta was cooked like perfect, perfect. The pasta, I asked what brand, it was gustiamo.. I noticed there was something in the texture and color that was different.. No I see that it may have been made from farro.. .. http://gustiamo.com/...odotto?id=12681 .They separated the broccolini from the large stalk so there were just thin little spindles.. Tossed this in the spaghetti with a little cream sauce.. Oh my, I was expecting to be disappointed when I ordered it because it is something we make for Miss K all the time.. All I can say was wow, this dish was revelatory in it's execution and taste.. Just simple and delicious..
The menu is rather large and changes daily.. We could have ordered totally different dishes and not felt like we missed out.. I highly recommend coming here. I think I may come back tonight!
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Allswell
124 Bedford Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11211
Golden Punjab in Richmond Hill
Was in a taxi last night when my driver and I got to talking about an unfamiliar subject, food.. He is from Indian.. He told me that this is his favorite Indian Restaurant in his neighborhood.. He really loves this place and I must try it..
There is no mention of it anywhere on the web.. Has anyone been.
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Golden Punjab
130-02 101st Ave, Queens, NY 11419
Best sushi in Brooklyn
Oh by the way, the best sushi in Brooklyn... It can not be had on a Monday night.. 1 or 8, closed, Taro, well it was closed last night because of the holiday, Gen, closed on Mondays.
Best sushi in Brooklyn
Hmm, well, I would have to head on over there this evening. Will report back, I look forward to it.
