avial's Profile
Late Night Food and Drink on a Wednesday: Suggestions?
Rye House at 17th/5th
Hill Country BBQ has a late night menu, 26/6th
Blue Ribbon (Sullivan St)
Sake Bar Hagi (49th/7th)
Midtown East / Land of Plenty / Yu Mi Zhi Xiang
Walked by and grabbed a menu on the way home, prices are exorbitant but I guess that's what you get for Sichuan by bloomie's. $10 for ox tongue & tripe app but portions are supposed to be large. Manager/owner said that the chef is fresh off the boat from Sichuan. I ended up ordering delivery when the SO didn't feel like cooking:
Got the seafood hot and sour soup, mouth watering chicken and beef chow fun. Soup was not so much hot and sour but more of a egg white drop soup with a balanced white pepper seasoning thing going on, decent amount of tender white fish filets of unknown origin, small shrimp that tasted a bit off, and slices of scallop that tasted and looked fresh. Throw in mushrooms, peas, carrots to round out the soup.
Mouth watering chicken was $10, came in a larger round takeout container - 9" diameter maybe - 10-12 slices of chicken, dark meat I think because pieces were bone-in, the ma la sauce was effective and kept the burn/numbing going for quite some time and made for a great additive to the soup.
Beef chow fun was typical, also $10, take out container was stuffed to the gills, noodles were just a pinch drier than I prefer you could taste maybe such a hint of the cooking wine that was used which I found appealing, gave it an extra dimension and I think is an indication of good wok hay or whatever it's called.
Menu has a good array of fish dishes so will have to muster group of people to try them out at some point.
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Land of Plenty
208 E 58th St, New York, NY 10022
Midtown East / Land of Plenty / Yu Mi Zhi Xiang
Anyone hear about this place taking over the Mia Dona space? Who's the chef, related to any of the other places? Signage and what not just popped up maybe last week. Spoke to one of the construction workers or maybe a boss yesterday on the way home and it's going to be Sichuan restaurant, opens today supposedly.
Opinions on Biricchino and Salumeria Biellese
No experience with Birrichino but I enjoy Biellese's italian combo just about once a week, even a small sandwich divided in half is a decent lunch portion. Good for a working lunch. If you want sit and enjoy, I'd say go to Co. pizza on 24th/9th or Txikito for tapas.
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Txikito
240 9th Ave, New York, NY 10001
Co.
230 9th Ave, New York, NY 10001
Large format meals / seafood oriented?
Meal has been settling for the last 2 hours or so and some thoughts.
Menu as delivered today:
Appetizers:
Oysters (~27 for 9 ppl)
Fried Calamari
Ceviche (unknown fish)
Tartare trio
Main:
Big Bass
Sides:
roasted fingerlings
cauliflower and mushroom sautee
Dessert:
Flourless Chocolate Cake w/berry compote and chocolate sauce on the side
Orange pudding and chocolate pudding lollipops
Overall, an excellent value this time. The bass was 20lbs instead of 6lbs because of procurement issues, which may have been a 50/50 split. The chef (not Ben) presented it on a tray to us and then took it back to cut up into steak portions. Each person was given one steak except for one guy who got two because he paid for two portions.
Fish itself was good, not excellent. A tad overcooked or dry which may have been helped if there was more sauce. Stuffing was nicely balanced and did not overpower the fish - spinach and olives and pine nuts as promised.
Potatoes and cauliflower were decently executed. The former needing a tad more salt but fulfilled the carb component nicely. The latter was a mix of texture and earthiness that contrasted the muted flavors of fish.
For $75/head, it is an excellent value I think that I would do again in a heartbeat for another big occasion if they switched up the stuffing, sides and dessert.
Sadly, we did not get a picture of the bass because we were shocked that it was so big compared to expectations.
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Oceana
120 W 49th St, New York, NY 10020
Large format meals / seafood oriented?
Fair enough, will report back after the meal.
Large format meals / seafood oriented?
For those interested, we're going ahead with Oceana, the 411 on the Big Bass Dinner is as follows. The price isn't too bad either though I get the feeling that 6lbs is a bit on the small side and may even be a bit underwhelming ... I mean, you can get a fish that size in Chinatown without even asking I feel like. I know, different world, different expectations, blah blah.
A large format dinner where we are featuring a whole roast wild striped bass.
Start with freshly shucked oysters from Oceana’s raw bar, ceviches, and fried calamari.
The 6lb striped bass is stuffed with mushrooms, spinach and olives and dressed with chili-fennel vinaigrette accompanied by fingerling potato confit and cauliflower with picholine olives and pinenuts.
For dessert there is a flourless bittersweet chocolate cake accompanied by bowls of warm fruit compote, vanilla ice cream, and crème Chantilly.
Big fish serves 6-12 and is $75 per person.
Paid in advance. Please place order 24 hours in advance or by Thursday for Friday-Sunday.
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Oceana
120 W 49th St, New York, NY 10020
Large format meals / seafood oriented?
We did try Resto but they stuck to their one week requirement as we're aiming for Saturday night and only started planning on Tuesday. Thanks though.
Large format meals / seafood oriented?
Can't seem to find a large format menu on their website, details?
Large format meals / seafood oriented?
What's your experience of their large format? multiple courses or is it just the whole fish presented? Do they serve it up table side or let you go at it (based on Sifton's review in 2009, I assume the latter).
Going to give them another call this morning as the manager had already left last night when I called. Thanks for the rec!
Num Pang Midtown b/w Steve's Ice Cream
The grilled asparagus and scallions are excellent, good balance of texture and flavor with the salting and the grill char but more importantly the chimichurri or whatever sauce they dash on contrasts the asparagus with the right amount of oil and acidity. Also, grilled large scallions are always awesome. $6 is a bit much but you can almost make a meal out of it if they'd throw you a piece of bread or something.
Large format meals / seafood oriented?
A friend took a job offer in China and is coming down on Saturday to NYC for a hearty send off. Looking for a fish/seafood oriented large format feast that can be booked on short notice.
If it weren't for the one pescetarian in the group, we would have settled for the numerous other excellent options out there.
I've ruled out the following for either of the above reasons:
Breslin
Resto
Ma Peche
DBGB
Back Forty
M. Wells
Nuela
Peter Luger
In a word, we need something 'epic'.
Thoughts? Anyone know if Yuba does sushi boats? ;)
Best Bibimbap in Manhattan
For a totally cheap, totally watered down steam table version, Cafe au Gout on the SW corner of 30th + 5th, 6.95 feeds 3-4 people at lunch. Bonus is that they have the awesome mushroom stems and a healthy portion of protein (at least when choose the beef option).
Duvel Beer
See http://www.beermenus.com/beers/duvel based on this thread: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/620946
I had it in the bottle at Cask a month ago.
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Cask
167 E 33rd St, New York, NY 10016
Evening Food Carts?
Some carts open only at night. My favorite among the small set that I'm aware of is the tacos truck, El Idolo, at the corner of 14th and 8th Ave, right outside the E train entrance. I think they run another truck at 8th and 6th Ave that I saw once but not totally sure.
Thai in the East 50's
I order from Luscious Thai on 60th/1st. Not amazing but considerably better than the other Thai options I've tried in the area. Beef Fried Rice done extra spicy has nice balance of sweet, sour and spicy.
Avoid the larb like the plague however, no one in Manhattan seems to want to make it out of ground chicken and just makes it with minced/diced chicken, utterly terrible tasting. Someone prove me terribly wrong please on that one.
I Love NA (New Amsterdam)! Dutch Treats.
I think Haru was the first restaurant in the area to introduce sechuan/sansho buttons - as part of a roll and on two specialty cocktails. They were definitely the first in Boston to do so, but that's not much of an accomplishment. Originally from Africa I think despite the name being something Chinese.
Flavor Tripping
You really have to get the real fresh fruit, the pills just don't cut it.
Also, for a different type of sensory adjustment, go to Haru and try one of the 'Electric' drinks with sansho flower buttons.
El Porron: 1st Ave betw. 61st and 62nd. General review
I went with 4 friends on Saturday night and feel about the same way that you do. It's decent for the neighborhood but nothing amazing. However, we did feel it was expensive for the portion sizes, even given the neighborhood.
Skip the paella, not crusty and not well flavored, plenty of pieces of protein whether it be chicken, fish, chorizo or seafood, though.
They also actually can serve your wine in a porron if you would like.
Favorite Pork Chop
Pork chop & clams special @ Neptune Oyster (Saturdays only I think).
Dorado opens tomorrow! (7/29)
Having recently moved down to NYC and had some tacos at the taco truck outside of Bloomingdales, I am truly saddended by what I ate at Dorado the week before I moved down. The fact that two guys in a taco truck can serve better tortillas (and they actually grill the tortillas), I can't bend my mind around the fact that a succesful 'chef' can't replicate or manage the same level of execution on tortillas.
Wa Jeal -New Sichuan Restaurant 83rd/2nd Ave
Ordered delivery from Wa Jeal last night:
A1 - hand shredded chicken - very tender chicken but the sauce could have used more heat, whether it was meant to be spicy or not, I also wish they would leave the skin on to really accentuate the flavor of chicken you get when they make the chicken this way (like Hainan chicken prep, forgot chinese, 白鸡?)
A2 - ox tongue & tripe - the most impressive heat of any Sichuan restaurant I've eaten between NYC and Boston, everywhere else seems so timid. Wa Jeal's version really piled on the chilis and hua jiao.
A36 - wok tossed calamari - 椒盐鱿鱼 - not meant for take out and the salt & pepper was a bit weak, though it didn't like it was coated in MSG, which I don't mind either.
C20/C32 - cumin lamb, I asked for '自然羊肉' or lamb cooked naturally, which is typically lamb stir-fried in a lot of cumin and cilantro with maybe some hua jiao. I don't really see it specifically on the menu as C20 is lamb ribs in cumin, c32 is lamb filets with hua jiao. FYI, dish is priced at
$18.95 like C20. It came as a lamb with cumin and cilantro but also with onions and bell peppers, much like 葱爆羊肉 would. Thankfully, the onions and peppers did not get in the way of the cumin lamb. Probably still needs some more cumin and a bit more hua jiao. The last time I had a great dish of cumin lamb was at the Zoe's in Brookline, MA.
Killer Lobster Tail Pastry From Antoine's in Newton
I've always liked Antoine's primarily because I lived in Newton and hated going to the North End and paying 2x for something that's marginally better. They have chocolate dipped chocolate cake with creme fraiche that is awesome because it probably uses the same creme that's in the lobster tails. Also dig their hermits - the molasses cookies.
Dorado opens tomorrow! (7/29)
Thanks for reminding me about a few things:
1. I did get a rice plate with 2 of the tacos. The rice was reasonably flavored but was undercooked not to the point where it might be mealy but significantly 'al dente'.
2. Beans had excellent flavor, no faulting them here.
3. Elote was tasty though my DCs immediately noticed upon their first bite that it lacked lime flavor for some reason and had to go up to the counter to ask for some and was given a single measly wedge.
4. Later on when I ordered two additional tacos, I was only given one lime wedge, nay, lime slice, with a Ensenada taco but not the chorizo taco which I found odd given that limes are a table-side staple in taco joints. I suppose the economics of the restaurant biz here in the Boston area and in the US in general is bit a rough but going cheap on the lime wedges just seems lame and backwards when you run a taco joint.
5. Lastly, I went around 1:30pm today with 2 friends and when we got there, there were about 10 patrons in various stages of their consumer experience - just ordered, eating and ordering. For those that had just ordered, it took about 10 minutes to get food out and it consisted as others have noted, just tacos. Our order took about 20 minutes to get out - 2 elote ears, 1 dorados taco plate, 2 steak tacos, 1 milanesa cemita.
Dorado opens tomorrow! (7/29)
I concur with some of the points that have already been made and have some observations of my own:
1. The fish in the fish taco is great (tried Ensenada and Dorado)
2. Tortillas need to be heated longer so that they are softer and more pliable, or they need to make thinner tortillas. As they are served now, they are rubbery and hard to chew threw unless you've let them soak in juices/sauce.
3. The accompanying fillings in the tacos need a boost, more pico de gallo, more slaw, more guac, whatever. (tried steak, chorizo)
4. Cemita (milanesa/pork) was a huge disappointment and a mere shadow of cemitas that I've had in Puebla. Very little amount of quesillo cheese, no pickled veggies on the sandwich (you can get them as a side for $1.49 or $1.59 I think) and I could only taste the bun, the pork loin and the guac. The pork loin was way too thick and a bit overfried and thus a bit dried out. The bun is probably the one change I like in that it is not as thick and dense as the cemita buns that I have had in Mexico and thus a lot easier to eat. At the end of the day though, just the fillings in a proper cemita in Puebla when squished down as much as it can be is still taller than an unsquished cemita at Dorado. This change in the proportions of the fillings ruins the cemita and turns it into something mundane.
Help! Can't Miss Finale of Nxt Food Network Star!! (moved from Boston board)
Marliave will put on Food Network during slow times instead of ESPN before the after work crowd moves in. They may be more willing to do so on a dead Sunday night.
Dorado opens tomorrow! (7/29)
I'm almost hoping they don't get their license today (their Facebook page says that they're still waiting on the final permits apparently) as I've got a KO Prime Rib dinner planned tonight and just had a pastrami sub from Speed's. That way, I won't feel like I missed out.
Sichuan Cuisine at Thailand Cafe near MIT
have I missed something all these years or is a korean joint serving an authentic or quasi-authentic Chinese zha jiang mian or is it just the korean jya jya myung?
Food Court in Chinatown
In case anyone was wondering what happened to the lady that ran the egg waffle/pancake cart, she's now in the back of the jewelry store on the 1st floor of the Avana Lofts building, Beach St. side. I was walking back from Bubor Cha Cha the other day when I looked in and spied her familiar uninviting gaze.
Sichuan Cuisine at Thailand Cafe near MIT
While I was there yesterday, I heard the owner (middle-aged Chinese man with big hair) talking to someone who looked like an account in Cantonese. He later spoke Mandarin to our waiter (it was just the two of them serving the place) who wore glasses and had a much neater, much more compact haircut. So I guess you'll have to roll the dice.
