kwun kee was awesome, went with my friend who is from tai po. Thanks for all the suggestions can't wait to try them!

I'm afraid you misunderstood my intention - I am most interested in Cantonese by far (note the contrast with Sichuan, Western) for the very reason you described. I grew up enjoying Flushing Cantonese and I'm excited to see how much better it gets here in HK.

hey i'm an exchange student studying at CUHK near Sha Tin for the term. you guys have been incredibly helpful so far in getting me interested in a ton of restaurants in hk from perusing other posts. basically i was kind of hoping for some focused rec.'s for
1) inexpensive food or at least an emphasis on value
2) more easily accessible to sha tin - i.e. tai po is great, kowloon pretty good, causeway bay not so much. it's not that i won't eat in causeway bay plenty, i'm just less likely to hop on the mtr for a meal that far away.
3) food that i can't get that much in ny - cantonese is fine in ny but i want to learn what i'm missing out on, but for instance sichuan seems pretty strong in ny (tell me if i'm wrong), not really interested in western rest. rec's (i've seen the major ones).

thank you guys so much. in return i'm planning on compiling a lot of this and other rec's into a map, hopefully it'll be helpful for others. cheers!

where are you able to buy good thai ingredients in NH? im from the upper valley and have no idea where to start looking.

I came across this thread while trying to decide whether to dine at eleven madison park this week, and i couldn't help but comment bc it reminds me of the reason I am hesitant to return in the first place.

Three summers ago, we had the gourmand menu (5 course tasting) at lunch and part of the reason i suggested it was the value and, additionally, the supposed flexibility of the menu for diners which I thought made it ok for the less adventurous in our group. Essentially, when one of my dining partners asked if he could sub out his first course (beets w/ goat cheese) he was given a less-than-friendly response and eventually told he could only switch to the salad. This was pretty annoying because 1) all of the appetizers were similarly priced and it didn't seem to be a cost issue 2) it prevented other diners from making one or two switches which they had probably wished to make before the unhelpful response and especially 3) bc i had read other reports on chowhound that made it seem as if swaps were not only favorably received but also somewhat commonplace on the gourmand. I understand why this is not normally the case with tasting menus but I based my recommendation of it based on the supposed higher standard of service, and I left feeling surprised and let down that what I had expected as the normal set of "rules" had not applied to us.

To me this went beyond just a service issue bc it was not a matter of a bad waiter or waitress or special attention but a simple decision that was made which allowed some to swap dishes, a privilege which was denied to us.

Kuma Inn is awesome, not that quiet but certainly not loud, not trendy, fun, great food.

I have had Pepe's and Keste within the past month.
Pepe's plain pie (no mozz, parmesan from the shaker) remains my gold standard, favorite pizza of all time.

They are very different pies, with the Keste crust being thinner (and a little bit floppy/watery) in the middle, and thicker and much airier around the outside.

Note: watery in the middle isn't really a bad thing, you just focus on the toppings (which are delicious) and don't really notice the crust until you work your way to the outside of the pie, where crust is king.

Pepe's crust is much denser, but both of the crusts are reasonably chewy (which for some reason I seemed to appreciate more with Pepe's) and, and this is the selling point for me, have a good amount of char/burnt spots. Yum!

I don't think you will be disappointed by Keste.

Degustation is one of my favorite restaurants. I would do that Friday and then eat at Perry Street on Sunday for lunch. They serve the brunch menu on sunday (which is basically all regular lunch dishes, you can look on their website) and it is an insanely good deal at $26 for three course.

I think Bar Rom at the Modern is sneakily very expensive, especially because it doesn't seem that you would save any money at lunch.

People say Porchetta is overrated, I'd do shake shack or pizza instead.

maybe take a "mini-vacation" up to Blue Hill at Stone Barns for one of your dinners.

Otherwise, perhaps Marea or Convivio (tho some would argue that Alto is underratedly the best of these three). Also consider Ko, seems like a really special experience, and Soto if you love uni.

I thought that when fugu flesh (the majority of what you'll eat) was prepared correctly none of the poison would remain intact, hence no tingling. Therefore, there would be no significant difference between wild and farmed except perhaps in terms of taste and perceived danger.

On the other hand, I have read that the liver, illegal but often served in Japan, will produce a small tingling sensation if prepared correctly.

Please correct me if I am wrong.

Did you order the same dishes as me?
- I was disappointed with some (fried langostines, vegetarian dumplings) so I could understand how ordering differently could've changed how much we liked our meal.

I should also mention that asian/southeast-asian food tends to be my favorite.

We went to Kuma Inn recently for a birthday dinner, were able to get a table for 7 the day of on a Sunday. That said, their seemed to be a long wait for walk-ins, but it kind of surprised me that they took reservations as it seems atypical for the kind of restaurant it is.

We had a wide variety of eaters, some more conservative, one vegetarian, and all were very pleased. Bill, including tax, tip, and corkage ($1 per beer, BYO) was less than $200, not bad.

We ordered: (*Favorites)

-Wasabi Pork Shumai was what you'd expect, but very good.
-The shrimp shumai, pork spring rolls, vegetarian summer rolls were surprisingly good, considering they are something I would never order. I did not like the vegetarian dumplings.
-Edamame were soft, citrusy, very good.
-Fried langostines- a bit too greasy, not great.
*-Assorted vegetable pickles- all very good, not overbearingly salty as I usually associate with pickling. Bitter melon was standout, Japanese eggplant was freaking awesome-very crunchy.
*-Adobong PAL Chicken Wings- the wings are braised and in a awesomely delicious sauce.
*-Sauteed tofu- excellent use of a soy base, as this were not too salty and the tofu soaked up the flavors really well.
*-Chinese sausage- think of roast pork in terms of sweetness, leans towards the greasy side, but overall amazing, The chili sauce it is served with is great and very spicy.
-Arroz Valencia was unexpected on the menu, but really good. At this point I was a little too full to enjoy it as much as the others.

The garlic rice is delicious and a good deal at $3 for a huge portion. However, they brought it out late which was kind of a disappointment as we couldn't dump other stuff on top of it.

Some other things i didn't taste (drunken shrimp, tuna tartare) were well liked.

I think this restaurant, at this point probably five years old, is seriously underrated. Small, open kitchen, relatively cheap, byo, delicious food, what's not to like?

It's interesting to note how dated a couple things on the menu seem (tuna tartare, shumais, in a Thai/Filipino restaurant) but if anything they will please those who have become familiar with them over the past couple years. The rest of the menu (and there is a lot to order, plus a bunch of specials which all sounded or tasted good) is inventive, exciting, and tasty.

Sorry for the long winded post, but I can't stop thinking about that meal.

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Kuma Inn
113 Ludlow St, New York, NY 10002

veloce for the squares is probably your best bet for something slightly different but very good.

or if your willing to drop some money, inoteca (i think) had truffle pizzas ($50) mentioned in the nyt on wednesday.

the last time i was at Sushi Yasuda (spring), Fried Fugu (i am not sure what part) was on the appetizer special menu.

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Sushi Yasuda
204 E 43rd St, New York, NY 10017

I am looking for a birthday dinner place for a mixed group of eaters. One vegetarian (birthday girl so we want to please her the most) who eats fish, some very adventurous (me), some in the middle.

The hard part for me is the specifics, not too expensive but relatively upscale. Saravaanas would be my choice, but too low-brow. At the other end, the good sushi places are too expensive. We don't really want Chinese food.

We currently have a resy at Hangawi, but I am worried that it will be very underwhelming esp considering the high prices. I am thinking its sister restaurant, Franchia, would be better in this regards.

Also considering Bar Bao, Tabla, outer buroughs (esp korean near flushing), Alta or Caracas (two random no-Asian options), but none of these stand out to me.

Help please!

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Bar Bao
100 West 82nd Street, New York, NY 10024

Hangawi
12 E 32nd St Ste Frnt, New York, NY 10016

Franchia
12 E 32nd St Fl 2, New York, NY 10016

I have mentioned this before, but we had a delicious meal at the sushi bar at Yasuda for $75 per person, including tax and tip. We started with the $34 set (12 pieces + half roll I think), which allows you to get up to 2 of each kind. So, for $17 each, we had our first 6 pieces, which included uni, squid legs, kuchiko (described as sea scallop guts, amazing!), and warasa (adult yellowtail).

So quite a good selection for the price; I would say we probably would have received 5 of those pieces anyway. We then proceeded to order two kinds of eel, peace passage oyster, etc. and left with room for dessert. I imagine $100 per person, even with tax and tip, will leave you very satisfied if you go this route.

Is the food really not as good for lunch?
I had the pork on fire (not on the lunch menu) a while ago and it may have not been as good as at dinner, but all I could taste was spice. I don't think it is really supposed to have nuanced flavors, at least for my non-thai taste-buds (tho this improving), so I could not tell.

This looks awesome, but I am having trouble with the site. Do you know times/prices or any other important info? Thanks

Wow, three pizza meals in two days.. what did you think of them?

It is for a British friend who is flying back Sunday so Saturday night is the only option. I was hoping for a more "classic" ny pizza place, but Patsy's, L&B, DiFara seem too far of a treck for this night. I am not sure if I want to try my luck with Co., the other options would be Keste or any others that you guys recommend (considering Luzzo's or more traditional John's and Lombardi's but it seems that they are not as good).

Are the weights still ridiculous at Co.? I have plans to go but am afraid that trying it on a Saturday night will be a mistake...

I assume you are talking about the Bouley Bakery/Market? It is basically a take out lunch place for the area now. They do have itzhapan (sp?) macarons which are delicious and I'm sure some other baked goods but it basically caters to the lunch working crowd. Bouley moved a block over, and is very different looking (probably less gaudy) but still beautiful.

Awesome, thank you! My only other concern is, will it take forever to get a table for 7 on a Sunday?

I want to go with adventurous eaters who, nevertheless, will not want to eat in a restaurant that they perceive as dirty and dingy. Places like spicy & tasty and imperial palace have been absolutely fine, though i would hesitate to take them into the Golden Shopping Mall. What do you guys think? I am also considering Golden Palace and Waterfront International.

Co.

It is important to know what you think of as expensive, but these are what I think of as good-value, unique restaurants for NYC.

Jean-George ($28 pp at lunch is a steal)
Perry St ($24 pp at lunch is a steal)
Lupa (less crowded at lunch)
The Spotted Pig (also better for lunch, but maybe too British/familiar in atmosphere)
Red Egg (recent raves, long dim sum happy hour)
Sushi Yasuda (a splurge, but phenomenal and I hear sushi is way overpriced in the UK)
Degustation (only open for dinner)
Momofuku Ssam or Noodle (sometimes long waits)
Ippudo (better than Momofuku for ramen, at Momofuku Noodle order other stuff)
Co. (new style NY pizza)

I'd call these destination value restaurants, some more casual/cheap include Saigon Banh Mi, Taim, Moustache... many more

I went there a while back and had a fabulous meal... that said we ordered about $120 pp a la carte, but I didn't even see let alone pay the bill.

And, it was not as good as my meal at Sushi Yasuda, where we sat at the bar and ordered carefully (no toro) but extensively (just about everything else) for $120 for 2.

But only for dinner... I think. Last summer when I called to see if they had soba for lunch they said no.

Clinton St. Baking Company is famous for their pancakes and brunch. The restaurant is nice but I have heard it is absolutely mobbed for brunch. I was just their for dinner and the pancakes (available on the dinner menu) were amazing, but everything else coming out of the kitchen looked great as well. I think most of the entrees were in the 15-20 range (pancakes were $13, huge portion).

All of the Blue Ribbons...

Locanda Verde
Blue Fin, Blue Water Grill