Thanks, looks Kusumoto looks very good.

What do you think of Kigawa?

One thing that seems somewhat distinctive about Nakamura and Kigawa is that they offer extensive a la carte menus. Seems like a lot of the other counter kappo places are prix-fixe only, no?

Thanks for the Geppa rec anarcist--really enjoyed that place. Very nice guy too.

Any recs for kappo that do more than just traditional Japanese cuisine? I loved Nakamura. I guess Kahala fits the bill.

What are your opinions on who offers the best quality/price for sushi at lunch in midtown? Willing to spend up to say $25 for the lunch special. Or a bit more if there's something amazing.

I go often to Aburiya and I think their lunch deal is great. But obviously no sushi.

Came up with Sushiden and Shimizu as possibilities from this board. Are those the best for lunch? Which of the two? Anywhere else?

Thanks for the help.

So I ran by this place a week or so ago and I thought it looked kind of weird/bad from the outside. But I noted the positive reviews posted on the door. Read a few of them online and figured I had to check it out. Thy got two stars from the Times a few months ago. It's a nice space in the back--they open the roof and it's semi-outdoors but warmed by a fireplace. It's not a terrible place at all. It's just not good. And the idea that they got two stars from the Times is frankly ridiculous.

First big problem: the markup on their wine list is completely out of control. They're selling some of the cheapest wines Spain exports, that retail in stores in the USA for $7-$9, for a minimum of $47 a bottle. I know 3 or 4 times the price is standard, but this is really really pushing it. The weird thing is that some of the more expensive bottles have a much lower markup and some have the same outrageous 6 or 7 times retail markup. I would prefer that they just sell expensive bottles that are good value rather than fleecing people on the cheapest wines available from Spain. I was insulted. I guess the assumption is that American wine consumers are not sophisticated enough to observe and/or protest against this kind of BS. The whole thing left a very bad taste in my mouth. Though I must say that the $62 Priorat we eventually chose was pretty decent--and only marked up 3 times over retail.

The food was just okay. I liked the Patatas Bravas a lot, though the potato cubes were way too small. The anchovy/avocado montadito combo was tasty, if lifted from Pinotxo in Barcelona. The pulpo was a bit tough but not bad tasting. The pan con tomate, which they called, strangely, in Catalan pa amb oli, which means bread with oil, when it was obviously meant to be pa amb tomaquet, bread with tomatoes. Nomenclature aside, it was no good. Basically the Spanish and Catalan bread with tomatoes uses a light coating of tomato, usually rubbed on the bread, accompnaied by olive oil and salt. This version was basically grilled bread covered in pureed tomatoes which were not, themselves, very ripe or tasty. The charcuterie trio was mediocre. Meats were too cold and I don't think they were freshly sliced for the plate. There was not enough bread to eat them with. The crujiente was also kind of blah. The dessert was okay: torrijas. I think it would have been better warm. We opted to wait to order mains until we tasted the tapas. The waiter kept pressing us for the mains order. No wonder: he knew after we had the tapas that we'd probably be reluctant to drop $30 - $40 on an entree.

I know there is supposed to be some Basque chef behind this place, but stuff like the pan con tomate makes me really wonder. I can't believe anyone from Spain, or the Basque country, would serve something like that.

I saw this place recommended on this board as an alternative to Casa Mono. It's not even close to Casa Mono by any metric except maybe party people ambience.

I got the feeling that my initial suspicion was correct: it's a place that's much more about the atmosphere and crowd than about the food or wine. Too bad.

Wondering which cafes in Naples are considered to have the best espresso. I think the overall average quality here is amazing, maybe the best in the world for me. I've enjoyed Bar Mexico opposite Piazza Dante, and also Cafe Dei Professori near to Gambrinus, as well as countless smaller places. But I'm wondering what other places in this city make truly exceptional espresso.

True, but not the kind of place I'm after. Looking for Modern Catalan, menu degustacion type of places. I know that the idea of those kinds of places having a bar counter to eat at is a bit unusual, but I'm betting some do anyway.

Taking a friend out tonight for dinner and was considering the usual suspects recommended on this board: Gelonch, Gresca, Coure, Sauc, Alkimia.

I was wondering which of these, or other similar, good-value Modern Catalan tasting menu type of places have a good bar counter to eat at. As I recall Gresca and Alkimia do not, though I could be wrong.

Any suggestions? Thanks for the help.

I don't mean cheap. I mean an amazing price to quality relationship.

I'll start the list with a couple of places I tried and liked:

-Gresca
-Hisop

I have had these recommended for the lunch menu but have yet to try them:

-TOC
-Gelonch

Others to add to the list of must-try lunch places?

I saw a stray mention of this place on this board and wandered in tonight because I'm staying nearby. It's located just opposite Estacio del Franca in Born. The place really gets going at about 8:45, though it opens earlier, and they bring out a nearly continuous stream of fresh and inventive hot pintxos that is, I think, the most varied in Barcelona. Taktika Berri might have an edge on overall quality, but this place offers more variety. I highly recommend trying their pintxos if you're down this way at around 9pm.

Thanks Bugsey. I ended up shopping at a place called Cibus on E. Amari, which had a wide selection of stuff and good prices.

Pretty self-evident. Traveling to Spain next and need to bring some good gifts for friends. Any suggestions on where to find this stuff and what might be best to bring? Thanks for the help.

Yeah, I read all his posts. I think almost all of the restaurants he spoke of positively recently were of a different type than what I'm after, with the exception of Zia Pina. Hence the post...

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Zia Pina
Via Argenteria,67, Palermo, Sicily 90133, IT

Thanks, vinoroma, had a look--great suggestion. Excellent guide.

Visiting Palermo for a few days. Searched the boards, headed to Zia Pina for my first meal and thought it was great. I want to stick to that kind of home-cooked food and, of course, found this useful Times article from four years ago: http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/07/15/...

It mentions Zia Pina, Rosso Nero, and Padre Aldo. Anyone have more recent experiences with these places or other similar ones? Are there any of these type of restaurants that are open for dinner? Thanks in advance for the help.

Thanks for the suggestion. Ended up at a place called Cricketers--pleasant enough pub with inoffensive food.

After a night of hospital food at the hotel in Enfield in search of something...edible. Any ideas? Pub with good food would be perfect. Seen a few on a run through the town but hard to know which of them might be good. Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

There are a lot of great places open for lunch that do a brisk busines between, say, 1pm and 2:30pm and then essentially wind down to closing before reopening for dinner. Then there are restaurants that either stay open all day, even between lunch and dinner, or that have a lingering lunch crowd and so stay buzzing through to the evening. If I'm in search of a later lunch, I want the second type of place so that my lunch companions and I do not feel like the last diners standing. I wonder if others might add to this list of Manhattan lunch places with good food and good buzz, where you can eat and drink late into a Tuesday or Thursday afternoon and feel right at home.

I'll start the list with a few favorites in this category and would very much appreciate other suggestions:

-Balthazar
-Lupa
-Otto
-Casa Mono, sometimes, although other days I've been there it got completely dead in the later afternoon

Thanks, monchique, I enjoyed that place too.

Vinhtinto (and monchique, and anyone else): where do you love in Rio? I'm here now and trying to find some great places after two weeks of superb eating in Sao Paulo.

Oh well, thanks anyway. And thanks again for all the Portugal info--it was incredibly helpful and helped make the trip. Man, Brazil is expensive compared to Portugal.

Apologies in advance as I couldn't figure out how to send a PM (is there a way?) on this site.

Anyway, vinhotinto, loved your recs for Lisbon so much that I wondered if I might trouble you to provide some favorites for Sao Paulo, since you indicated you spend time in Brazil too. I'm over here now and trying to find the kinds of places you so easily ID'd in Lisbon.

I know this is Spain/Portugal but I couldn't figure out any other way to do this, as you don't seem to post in the Brazil sections.

Welcome to New York. You'll find that we have very little in the way of Armenian food, especially compared to LA. The one place I can think of that probably sells basturma, though, is Kalustyan's over in Curry Hill in Manhattan.

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Kalustyan's
123 Lexington Ave, New York, NY 10016

Nothing annoys me more than the annual obligatory shafting of customers at most of the city's nicer restaurants tonight. There must be a post about this, but I didn't find it. And so my question is: Where do you go tonight for a great restaurant experience where they still willingly serve their normal fare, not some overpriced VD menu?

In the past we have gone to Bar Pitti. Other suggestions? Downtownish preferably, meaning Soho, Tribeca, and Village, would be best. Thanks in advance for the assistance.

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Bar Pitti
268 6th Ave, New York, NY 10014

A little more research yielded reports of a Sushi Saito set for 5k. Anyone know if that's still going on and/or have thoughts on Saito vs. Dai San Harumi for lunch?

Where do you reckon we can have the best sushi experience at this price point? With a Japanese speaker so language is not an issue. Already going to Tsukiji so looking for good additional options at this price. Figuring lunch will be better bang for the buck. Thanks for the help.

I'm staying out in Futakotamagawa for a couple of weeks and wonder if anyone can share some recs for places nearby. I know there is this very useful post about Futakotamagawa: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/695849 and will definitely check out those recommendations.

I'm specifically wondering if people have more recs for not just Futakotamagawa but also nearby Sangenjaya, Ikejiri-Ohashi, and Jiyugaoka.

I'm open to most things Japanese and non-Japanese, though probably will dine more in the budget and mid-range than at very expensive places. I will be with a Japanese speaker so language is not an issue.

I've been to Akaoni in Sangenjaya a number of years ago and liked that place. I've also been to what I remember as a pretty good Neapolitan pizzeria in Ikejiri-Ohashi, but that too was a number of years back.

In Futakotamagawa probably my standout place so far is a cocktail bar called Maruume. I've hit a lot of the places in Takeshimaya, of course, as one does for ease, but it's been hard for me to distinguish between good and bad places in the surrounding neighborhood by just looking at them from outside.

Sushi Saji in Jiyugaoka seemed to get some good feedback--anyone recommend that place?

Thanks in advance for the assistance.

AJ Liebling's Between Meals. Awesome. Will make you very hungry.

I really like the lunch deal at Perry St.: $26 I think for two dishes, plus an amuse bouche and a dessert. They used to also offer a bottle of wine for $20 but that's gone.

If you're looking to drink a lot at lunch (and who isn't?) SHO has a "bottomless" glass of wine at lunch for $10. Not the best wine but you can't beat the price. The average age of the customers at lunch is about 74, if that's a concern.

True enough about the crowds, though the poster did say breakfast/brunch and I think that almost everywhere in the neighborhood, if it is open for breakfast, doesn't get really busy until brunch time, even on a Saturday.

I Like Mogador, on St. Marks.

I've stayed a lot at the Dai-Ichi, technically in Shinbashi but just a block from Ginza. My go-to strip, nearby the hotel is basically the couple of blocks just alongside the JR tracks on the Ginza side. So, coming from Shinbashi you go under the tracks and turn left. Along this strip there is an oyster specialty place--think it's Maimon. There's a Korean place. There's a very cheap, locally famous, and often crowded branch of a sushi chain called Midori sushi. Next to there is a quite raucous (for Ginza) stand-up bar type place with yakitori, etc. Then an excellent Belgian beer bar. If you turn right and go one block right around where the Belgian beer bar is, there's a sit-down takoyaki/beer bar open late. Additionally if you're jetlagged and want to eat at, say 4am, there's an Italian place next to the Belgian beer bar (downstairs) that serves until 5, I think. In the early morning walk or catch a cab to Tsukiji, of course. Anyway, that's one itinerary, which I admit I often follow out of convenience rather than because any of these places are the absolute best of type. For more exotic fare, late at night, there's a bar that mostly serves pickled fish intestines and the like--I think the stuff is called shirokane--and is quite well-designed and open very late. it's on the small street behind the Ito-ya main store, and downstairs. For ramen there is a very good miso ramen specialty place just outside of Shinbashi JR station, on the Shinbashi side, near the old steam engine. I can try and dig up the name if you're interested. For street carts really the only food i see much is oden, and that's only in winter. There's usually an oden stand set up under one of the two bridges that go under the JR line bracketing the strip of restaurants I mentioned above. Haven't been there but it seems popular. Oh yeah one can't miss place in Ginza, I think, is this place called Sankame. They serve a kind of very simple yet very Japanese lunch set of grilled fish, rice, pickles, sashimi to start if you want it, that is just perfect and well-priced.