daiquiri ice's Profile
How do I use this Portuguese Douro stovetop expresso pot?
Thanks Rudy!
I'm trying it now. I'll be interested to see how strong the brew is.
Is what comes out supposed to be expresso or should I just expect drip strength?
How do I use this Portuguese Douro stovetop expresso pot?
Hello everyone! I know how to use a Cafe Moka pot, but this is different. The spout is down below and I'm not sure how to tell when the expresso is ready..
Here's a link to an ebay listing for this pot:
http://cgi.ebay.com/DOURO-COPPER-EXPRESSO-MAKER-WOOD-HANDLE-POT-/260726598706
As you can see, it's made very differently.
Can anyone explain?
And yes, "expresso" is how you would say "espresso" in Portuguese.
Cambodian Cuisine (UES) to close
buttertart and thew, what did you order that was so bad?
Cambodian Cuisine (UES) to close
PS - plastic containers of amazing homemade yellow curry base can be bought at the SEA grocery in the Bronx across from the Poe cottage. I believe the proprieters are Cambodian.
For those who need a fix now and again.
Cambodian Cuisine (UES) to close
Ha! I would meet them halfway...
Like many SEA restaurants, I believe they suffered from customers who sent food back for being too funky and/or spicy. However, if the kitchen knew you, and you asked for true SEA style, and they knew you understood the flavors - i.e. the fermented, the sweet, the herbal - they would not scrimp on fish sauce, lime leaves, galangal. Specific dishes I recall include homemade fishballs with pickles, anything that was described as 'samlor' - sliced meats and greens in savory herbal broths, a fantastic congee for those sick days; a huge funky salad with sliced veg, holy basil, roasted garlic, fried onions, and peanutsauce, a mild, peppery yellow curry, rice noodle soups with a deeply flavored broth. Good quality ingredients (noodles were not always so great, and chinese takeout dishes were to be avoided).
I lived half a block from this place, when it was in BK - right next door to Video Box. That's a while ago, guys. Perhaps the kitchen changed. I don't know about now because I couldn't be arsed to schlep to the UES, but honestly, this place was fine for what it was. And the staff and owners were downright lovely.
Cambodian Cuisine (UES) to close
I agree, many of their dishes were average, but even average Cambodian is incredibly delicious, and at least while they were in Ft Greene, their soups were great and special dishes were sometimes fantastic. Damn, I've really missed them, ever since they left Brooklyn. Now there's a lame barbecue place there. But I suppose this is the 21st Century, and in the new Ft Greene would rather eat incompetent barbecue than homestyle Cambodian (I was raised on KC barbecue, understand).
I'd love to see them come back to BK, but perhaps there just aren't enough friendly palates in Kings County for them to stay afloat.
Five Leaves
It's exactly what it looks like: extraordinarily good.
I've been there a few times and sat at the bar; grilled sardines, wild boar with polenta, great soup, decent wine list. I can't put my finger on what else sets it apart from every other cute little restaurant in Brooklyn, but there's something there.
Ka Wah – My Favorite Bakery in Chinatown
I guess what I really miss about Maria's is the smoking section. And the elephant ears.
Sigh.
Ka Wah – My Favorite Bakery in Chinatown
Fay Da usually has beautiful custard-filled buns in their steamed bun cabinet; dough quality depends on how long they've been in there. But all the Fay Das I've ever been to do a brisk business, so they're usually pretty fresh. I used to spend a lot of time chilling in Fay Da until they started blasting Z100... but still stop in as often as possible for their treats. They are on the fancier end of Ctown bakeries, but have most of the standards.
If only they'd bring back their HK milk tea.
Looking forward to trying Ka wah. Maybe it will fill the void in my heart once occupied by Maria's.
Aquavit?
Accompanying a friend there for a small celebration. I can hardly find anything on the Manhattan board about this place - thoughts anyone?
Thx in advance.
Cornucopia of baked goods at D'Vine Taste (Park Slope)
I second that - their croissants are top notch.
Also, their 'specialty' items are very high quality and reasonably priced. In their olive bar they have the most incredible preserved lemons I've ever used. Every time I step into this family-owned store, my love for it grows more and more and I thank the Coop for suspending me indefinitely.
Best Burger in Park slope?
Great suggestions - thank you!
Good fries seemed almost like too much to ask for.
Best Burger in Park slope?
Hey - just to address one of the above comments by TBird - I don't mind one or even several "tatoo'd lesbians" with my burger. Homophobes, I'll pass on.
Anyway my tatooed lesbian and I need a good place for burgers in Park Slope or Prospect Heights. Went to Stone Park Cafe last night and the burger AND fries were so salty as to be inedible. This thread has been dead for 2 years -- anyone care to make an update?
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Stone Park Cafe
324 5th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11215
Tom ZAP.
This is just to state for the record that the tom zap with cornish hen isn't anywhere near as good as the cow tom zap. But it's still good. Just not as deeply flavored.
I wonder if any of the people who've enjoyed this at Ayada would care to weigh in on why they liked it, compared to Sri or Chao Thai~
Chao Thai
Ha.. not chicken offal. When i ordered the tom zap at Chao, I was asked pork or beef? I blanked and replied pork, and got a bowl full of crudely sliced ear, foot, and something dark and meaty i could not ID (in addition to small slices of tenderloin). If pig's offal is your thing, this is for you.. the broth was good, and red-opaque with chili.
At Srip the default tom zap comes with 'beef's offal', in which they dispense delicate slices of tripe and tendon along with brisket. Sometimes they have tom zap with spare ribs, which is even better. I'm sure the tz with cornish hen is good too...
Chao Thai
Dropped by last night and have to agree, the chicken larb is the best -- savory and herbal, crunchy, sour and so fresh! They do have tom zap (it's listed on the menu as 'thai sour soup' or something) and it is good, but more crudely assembled than sripraphai's, heavier on the offal and lacking the mushroom, and not anywhere near as complex. I asked for thai spicy and that's what I got! If I'd not been by myself, I would have ordered the whole fish smothered in chili - it looked incredible.
Almost as incredible as the collection of sock bunnies presiding over the restaurant.
What about the Bronx?
Picked up lunch at World of Taste/Pho Mien Tay today -- they were not serving Pho, so ordered Bun Bo Hue. It would have been fabulous, but instead of sliced pate it was loaded with some pretty raggedy looking (and not exactly well-scrubbed) tripe, and a few slices of beef so gristly it was inedible. And I'm not someone who balks at rough cuts...
Just a heads-up. Meantime, the dishes over rice they were serving looked great.
Oysters in Bklyn (.) ?
$1 happy hour. and drinks!! Thank you sam1 and other oyster lovers!
Can anyone weigh in on whether BFC is nice enough for a birthday, and whether it gets crowded (we're going on Saturday eve.), if they run out, etc.
They say the New York harbor once had bedfuls of oysters the size of dinner plates... who isn't a size queen, when it comes to them?
Oysters in Bklyn (.) ?
And now I'm wondering about the oysters at Buttermilk Channel.
Oysters in Bklyn (.) ?
It's been awhile since anyone had something to say about them, aside from Marlow and Sons. I'm wondering if there's something nice(r) to be had, closer to Prospect Park, for a very special birthday treat.
Or is Marlow and Sons just the ne plus ultra?
Tom ZAP.
Shared a bowl of it tonite at Sripraphai -- a light yet flavorful, aromatic broth, steaming with lime leaf, lemongrass, shallot, red onion, citrus, herbs and -- pepper and coriander seed? and a healthy assortment of cow parts. A little sour, a lot of savory, and a big roasted chili pepper floating on top. Complex. It was fabulous.
Where else can this be found?
(Not so much the Kao Soi, at least tonite. perhaps it's me).
Trendy/Cozy Date for 25 year olds - newly dating!
Boqueria is fantastic. The closest thing in town to the kind of haute tapas you find everywhere in Spain (the most authentic greasy bar tapas being at Xunta)., and a great date.
Don't order paella.
Chengdu Heaven -- the best Sichuan food in a tiny basement stall at the 41-28 Main St Mall, Flushing
Stopped in around 12:30 today (Friday) and, although every other stall was packed, Chengdu Heaven's four tables were empty. Behind the counter were two women and an older man, who seemed to be managing the stovetop operation. Thanks to everyone's great translations and and instructions, I simply pointed at fish with tofu and said please and to stay, and managed to communicate otherwise without any stammering or embarrassing hand gestures. "Five minutes," I was told, and so I sat down in front of the countertop refrigerator. Whose doors are made of glass -- so I was also able to observe the chef's final "layering" process at the end of the preparation.
He began with the do fu - mounds of it went into the plastic bowl - which had already been cooked in a light brown sauce that seemed to have some thickener in it. The slightly crispy, slightly chewy whole soybeans were in with the do fu, I think. Then chili oil and peppercorns and a few other aromatics - vinegar and wine? - and then more chili oil and peppercorns. Then the battered and fried fish. Lots of it. Next he minced some pickled greens - tossed them in - then sliced some pickled chives? - tossed them in - sliced some green onion - tossed it in - chopped some cilantro -- and tossed it in. .. Then. I'd give anything to know exactly what was in the little packet this guy pulled out from the refrigerator. He pulled from this little packet a few pieces of something, minced it, and sprinkled it over everything. Little brownish flecks in the bowl - perhaps they were dried fish? Not sure. But they were delicious, and their slighly funky, salty tang plus the slow heat of the peppercorns, the vinegary pickles, savory chives and onions, cilantro, and the soft, subtle do fu and fish combined in my mouth in a slightly different way every bite - sometimes I'd taste the tang of the vinegar first, the bite of the onion, and then my mouth would glow with ma la. Other times I'd taste everything in succession, one sensation after the next, glowing, glowing, ma la, each bite unfolding in my mouth like falling in love feels...
Half an hour went by. Chengdu Heaven was getting crowded, and I still had almost half a cup of rice plus a giant full bowl of fish and bean, . And I mean GIANT. The dish is $9.99, but it seems meant to serve 3 or 4 people. I got a lid for the bowl, paid up, and as I was turning to leave was offered a hot wonton in oil by a nice guy sitting at the table behind me -- pretty good, and covered with peppercorns. I asked him and his friend what else they were eating: both, the hot and sour cellophane noodle soup, which had seaweed, cabbage, a few other vegetables in broth, as well as a giant plate of ma la tripe between them, which they were having a hard time describing to me because it was apparently so indescribably delicious.
This place really is exquisite. and that fish and bean was (and will be later tonight probably) one of the most delicious things I ever ate. Thanks, as ever, for the heads-up.
Also - regarding the type of fish: I saw it before he battered it, and from the fillet's shape and color I'd be hard pressed to say today's catch was anything other than whiting.
Red Velvet cake from Cake Man Raven
Wandered in tonite on a friend's birthday for a few slices. What's happened to their cake? It still has a lovely texture, but doesn't taste like anything anymore, other than food coloring.
$6, for a XXL piece that left my mouth feeling strange.
HK Manpolo - what happened?!
One of my favorite Chinatown groceries - HK Manpolo, on Grand and Eldridge - has been grate down for a few weeks now...
WHY.
does anyone care.
Peter Luger- Steak for 2 for 1 person
wow. you guys have really redefined the term 'meathead.'
Drinks after (and during) Sripraphai
Not sure if Chang beer is listed on Sripraphai's menu, but they have it, bottles. Chang is DELICIOUS, almost as delicious as ... (*sob*)... BeerLao --.
(they also have Heinekin, Singha, something like Coors Light, but why would you do that, when there's Chang..).
Also, on their 'specials,' they have an excellent seafood dish with 'rhizome' and whole green peppercorns. phenomenal.
Argand Oil [moved from Manhattan board]
At $30 for an 8.5 ounce bottle (3 years ago..)....argan oil is delicious! but for my money, not appreciably different from walnut oil. i used half the bottle making a big fattoush-style salad, and though it did feel very fancy, it tasted only a little nutty, and slightly musty.
