they have a heated/covered garden in the back with picnic tables.

Been a few times for dinner, before and after happy hour started, as well as for lunch on a weekend.

The lamb lengua torta for lunch is excellent in terms of texture and flavor, quite tender but a bit overseasoned perhaps, chimichurri helps. The torta does a decent job of keeping it all in, pre-sliced in half for easy consumption.

As for tacos, I found them to be a bit small for the price - what really shined for me as far as bar snacks go were the pig ears and the chicken feet but the fry job can vary a bit which affects texture. The happy hour special is the other saving grace on the menu in terms of price.

nail on the head in regards to the crepe, makes the other items seem not even worth it.

I wonder if anyone has ever asked them to cook it with extra fish sauce and chili powder or if they'll allow it...

It's just east of 3rd ave not 2nd ave, easy to get to from the 4/5/6/N/R/Q/E/M trains, followed by a M15 bus trip down to the EV for drinks.

Chola is my go to as I dont care much for the dosa thing, avoid Yuva.

Anyone know if Darbar do takeout for lunch buffet?

I wished that these places would post their buffet lineup somewhere as some of the items are just not that great and with a rotating/changing lineup, it can cut both ways. Probably to their disadvantage, but it's all about the customer right?

Personally, start with the cheap stuff and decide if you want to keep going - Er Guo Tou (basically, the 2nd distilling - $20/bottle at Mark's in Chinatown last time I bought one, make sure you have some kind of fatty food to consume it with, like pork belly or hong shao rou, etc.

There's also Wu Liang Ye and various other Chinese white spirits as noted below, they all taste about the same, some are smoother, the flavor profile tends to be the same in general.

I've never found anything at Xi'an to be beyond my spice threshold except for the tiger veggies because you tend to hit a piece of raw pepper that is hotter than normal.

For me, it seems that some sriracha bottles tends to be dry and thicker because of how they are stored I feel and as a result, can be more potent, some are thinner and not as potent.

I find that the vinegar and soy sauce in the mix at Xi'an tends to compliment and placate the heat a lot which is why I always ask for extra spicy, this is the case for either their Golden Mall, E Broadway or EV locations.

eat more spicy foods and eat it more often, how else will you experience the wonderful fruity notes of a habanero without succumbing to the pain first?

I've actually noticed that sriracha is a bit too spicy now and then because I don't eat as much spicy food as I used to.

most definitely, I never learned what it was, just ate a lot of it, to the point that my grandma would dry it out herself and have it ready for my mom to take back to the US every couple of years when we visited.

for me, Shanghainese food is about sweet and sour meats and savory/umami as a 3rd category
other shanghainese essentials:
dong po rou (braised, glazed pork belly)
cong you mian (oiled noodles)
tang cu pai gou (sugar+vinegar riblets, way better than sweet/sour pork)
kao fu (tofu curd, mushrooms, braised in soy sauce served cold)
bai ye - things with bean curd skin
lion's head meatballs
XLB
SJB
tang yuan - sweet rice ball in soup
assortment of rice cake dishes
assortment of thick noodle dishes

and if you can find it, meatballs inside a fried tofu skin, can't remember the name

toss together in a bowl, then eat:

liang pi, extra spicy
lamb leg, extra spicy
tiger veggies, extra spicy

win.

they just opened this week, evolution of Worth Kitchen, website w/video: http://comodonyc.com/

working out of Play Studios by any chance?

These places will deliver to that street for sure, just check seamless then cross-reference:

All 3 of these do Chinese/Thai or Asian Fusion, the last does Viet as well
Mooncake Foods is on 30th b/t 7+8, order via Seamless
Urban Kitchen on 8 b/t 29+30
Chelsea Cottage 23rd+9th

The tacos and tortas/cemita travel well:
Tehuitzingo - great Mexican, 10th b/t 47+48, they should deliver down to 30th
Guelaguetza - great Mexican 47 b/t 10+11 - you may have to cajole a bit or make a bigger order

Rye House at 17th/5th
Hill Country BBQ has a late night menu, 26/6th
Blue Ribbon (Sullivan St)
Sake Bar Hagi (49th/7th)

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

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.

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

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

Fair enough, will report back after the meal.

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

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.

Can't seem to find a large format menu on their website, details?

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!

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.

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? ;)

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).

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

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.

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 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.