kobetobiko's Profile
Delicious, casual but pretty Italian, under $100 pp?
You may also consider Convivio. I won't describe it as "fun" but it is more causal than the sister restaurant Alto and defintiely pretty. With their prix-fixed dinner plus drink you can probably stay within your budget.
Scarpetta is another good choice
Quick Gramercy Tavern Review
steakrules.
I don't think the portions at GT is small at all. The dishes are supposed to be eaten by one person, so of course you feel small if you are trying to share an appetizer with 4 people. GT's dishes also tend to be hearty with a lot of filling sides, which is understandable because of GT's approach to fresh seasonal vegetables. So just because the meat alone is small doesn't necessarily make the dishes small.
And you must realize that you do have a bigger appetite than most people...
Best Fresh ricotta in nyc?
The BEST!
Do expect long lines and long waits over weekends! They are so nice they let every customer to sample and ask questions so the waits get really long. If you go at off hours, esp. weekdays, then you won't have to wait for long and can talk to the staff for a long time!
Belcourt in the East Village
I also enjoyed their salt cod hash and lamb burger. Oil poached octopus is good, and grilled whole fish as well.
Don't get their bacon as a side - below average!
Chinatown Cart - Lingo help needed
Nice job lau.
Michele, don't get intimidated by just pointing to the bottles. Body language is the best language in Chinatown.
Sweet sauce (hoisin sauce) in Cantonese: Tim Cheung
Chinatown Cart - Lingo help needed
what language is this? This isn't Cantonese as far as I can tell!
Where Can I Buy Pork Belly?
I won't consider $4.99 / lb of Niman Ranch pork belly as premium price at all!
Best Dim Sum in Hong Kong
West Villa at Lee Gardens, CWB or Manor at CWB are both good for dim sum. In fact Manor belongs to West Villa so they both have great char siu!
Where Can I Buy Pork Belly?
Pork belly at Chinatown is cheap but it isn't the best as they don't have great flavor like Berkshire pork. I was able to get Niman Ranch pork belly at Whole Foods in the past to make Momofuku's pork buns and the result was great!
Looking for a good okonomiyaki/yakitori restaurant
unamuno,
What you said about Yakitori vs robata grill is like saying Burgers and Sandwiches are the same because both have meat tucked inside two pieces of bread. But for most people they are totally different.
As a Japanese I consider yakitori and robata grill two different things and I do care. If they are the same to you, that's fine.
NYC Foodie Vacation (anything missing? Chowhound approved?)
You are right about Yasuda and Seki to be totally different sushi experiences. Perhaps I am not a big fan of the new styled sushi and hence my comments. Of course if you enjoy it then by all means bring your mom there.
It looks like you are set with your choices, good job.
NYC Foodie Vacation (anything missing? Chowhound approved?)
If you are going to Yasuda there is no need to do Seki.
Not sure why you pick Esca esp that you have Marea. IMO there are better restaurants in town to try. How about Italian like Babbo, Scarpetta or Convivio? If price is an issue then Lupa is quite affordable.
I agree with RGR that you should add a steakhouse and Keens is fantastic. Also, no pizza place? There are many to choose from, Joe's, Patsy's, Keste, Co, different styles depending on what you like.
There
Looking for a good okonomiyaki/yakitori restaurant
Agree with Eto that Taisho is not worth going unless you want cheap beer and are ok with mediocre fill-your-stomach japanese food (they do have okonomiyaki, but not good at all). I think Totto should be ok for OP's age group as there are enough meat, rice, and noodle dishes that even people who don't like offals should be able to find something that they like. You do need to reserve in advanced as there is no way to fit party of your size by walking in.
Aburiya Kinnosuke isn't a yakitori-ya and probablyy won't work for your group.
If you are open to the kind of Japanese food you want, you may want to consider Japanese BBQ. Gyukaku may not serve the best food in town but should work well for people of your age and can fit big parties.
Where can I find some bizarre food resturants in New York City/Manhattan?
Hakata Tonton also has a cow's offal hotpot (Motsu hot pot) that is really delicious.
Veal sashimi is available sometimes.
Chinatown walking tour
Don't want to make it too complicated so I will try to work with the suggestions already given by fellow chowmembers.
I think for Big Wong the best are:
- Char Siu (make sure to tell them if you want fatty, half fatty and half lean, or lean(not for me))
- Soy Sauce / Boiled Chicken (ask for more ginger scallion sauce).
- Don't bother with the wonton. If you can handle it get a bowl of pig's liver congee (you can ask for small size), but if you are worried that you will get too full then continue to move on.
Noodletown has good suckling pig (if you give you the good parts, but sometimes it can be too dry or too fatty). Salt and pepper soft shell crabs are much better.
One place not mentioned yet: Bo Ky. Get their boiled pig's kidneys with preseved vegetables. Best in Chinatown!
Home made hot dogs/sausage to buy?
Faicco's Pork Store and Florence Meat Market in West Village have great Italian pork sausage
Japanese restaurants for someone who does not like sushi.
Hi FMH,
For cooked food, I really like their wild salmon 5 ways and duck. They also have fresh made soba noodles, though it is sometimes topped with uni so not sure if your BF will like it. They also have a delicious cooked octopus app (tako yawarakani). The octopus is super tender! Their sushi and sashimi are of course extremely good and of high quality, and sometimes they will have fresh whole uni (in shell).
LAN is also a reliable choice, and cooked food like red wine braised ox-tongue and chawan mushi are very good! I found their cooked food better than their sushi which is still decent.
Japanese restaurants for someone who does not like sushi.
I have recomended Kanoyama for sushi many times, but their cooked food is very good as well, especially their fried food like tempura and grilled items like hamachi kama shioyaki.
LAN on third Ave has very good French influenced Japanese cooked food and decent sushi and sashimi. 15 East is excellent in both sushi and cooked food department though more expensive than the two mentioned.
Jean Georges or Gramercy Tavern?
While I think the food at JG is superior, based on my understanding of your appetizer, I think the standard tasting menu is not going to be enough to make you feel full. GT has bigger portion size.
Just want to make sure that you are aware of that.
Boston Hound needs ChinaTown help...
Big Wong on 67 Mott is going to be my pick for BBQ pork, boiled chicken and soy sauce chicken. If you like offals, Bo Ky (Chiu Chow styled) has amazing boiled pig's kidney's and pig's small intestines, and you can also order a platter of mix pig's offals (but it doesn't come with pig's kidneys)
Boston Hound needs ChinaTown help...
Is the soy sauce chicken the kind that they hang up with the BBQ pork with no sauce?
I haven't tried the one at Wing Shoon but my favorite is Big Wong. The Best!
Peter Luger vs. Keens
I personally would just go with Keens instead of traveling all the way to Peter Luger. But is your husband going with you? I don't know if any non-beef items on the menu that's really organic at either place.
Yasuda Sushi~reservations essential?
By the way, I never mentioned anything about restaurants not wanting you to order fixed price menu at the bar. Why would they? As long as you order something and pay, I don't think they care where you order it.
Yasuda Sushi~reservations essential?
Hi FoodWine,
I think you have completely misunderstood my statement. When I said I never ordered set menu at the bar, I was just saying that's my practice. Never did I say it's a rule or it's something that others need to follow. That's just me not wanting to take up the sushi bar place when I order set menu. I have seen many customers ordering from the menu (at Kanoyama, 15 East, you name it) and a lot of them may do a mix or chef's suggested items + menu items.
I also never said anything about less experienced or Yasuda not being interactive. Where did you get that?
As a Japanese, I have been eating sushi all my life, so perhaps I am just more picky on the details, or may be I am just a picky eater in general. But if there is anything that you don't agree, I certainly wasn't directing anything to you (in fact, my whole post was responding to my good friend cimiu). I mean no harm.
Yasuda Sushi~reservations essential?
Hi cimui,
I have been traveling for business a lot and have half of time spending in Asia now. That's why I only get to post on CH occassionally. I still read most of the posts, just didn't have time to post my thoughts.
I hope I didn't come off as offensive or rude in my previous post. I have never ordered set menu at the sushi bar as I feel that I should give the space to people who want to interact with the chefs. While I very rarely order any set sushi platters or any set meal, if I do, I will definitely sit at the table.
I need to emphasize that I am not saying Chef Yasuda is a cheating or giving subpar products to his customers. All I believe is that besides being an experienced sushi chef, he is business savvy, and he knows how to handle his products and customers to make his work easier or to generate the most for his business. There are chefs who rather earn less money and provide the best possible to his customers. But that's not always possible in the competitive environment in NYC.
Of course, with Chef Yasuda being a veteran, he knows who can do those "repeats" of similar types of fish, or who he should provide more personalized meals. If he thinks you are familiar with Japanese food or sushi or a regular customer, by nature he is going to be more cautious about what he picks for you for your omakase. I don't think I need to explain what happens if you act like a novice in eating sushi.
Hong Kong: TOP END Chinese Food, price not an issue
Just saw this thread get revived and I will post some of my recent favorites in Hong Kong as I have been traveling there almost every month!
Hoi King Heen - Definitely an underrated restaurant located inside InterContinental Grand Stanford hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui. I was invited to a few dinners there cooked personally by Chef Leung and almost in every occassion, every dish was beautifully executed, not a single letdown in the whole meal, which was very rare in Chinese feasts. However, I have heard that if Chef Leung isn't cooking the quality drops substantially, and the dim sum there is not really that good. But so far my dinners there were top-notch.
- Fu Sing is now having yellow-oil crabs and theirs were incredibly full of aromatic roes! Their dim sum is always quite reliable though the service tends to be spotty.
- Manor (or Fu Yiu) at CWB is wonderful for dinner (but not dim sum). It's a more "private label" of West Villa but better. Their seafood and abalone claypot are enjoyable.
- I saw Fu Tong which was opened by 'Ah Yut''s pupil but my dim sum experience that was just so-so. Haven't tried their dinner and supposingly the abalone there is as good as Fu Lam but cheaper in price. May consider going there next time when I am in HK.
No longer on my radar are:
- Cuisine Cuisine: Inconsistent dinners (mentioned below), still ok dim sum
- Ming Court: Had very average dim sum and dinner. No more plan to revisit
- Tong Lai Shun: Horrible dinner there. Blacklisted
- Lei Garden: I don't go there as often now as food is getting too boring for me
I have been to BO Innovation, but perhaps I am biased as after visiting WD 50, Alinea, and other gastro. molecular restaurants in the US, the gap between BO Innovation's food and the American is just too big. I thought the flavor was fine but from a gastro molecular food perspective, it hardly excited me.
