Hoc's Profile
Cuenca Recommendations?
Thank you. This year's trip is Madrid, Cuenca, San Sebastian and Bilbao. So, it should be fun from a food and art perspective.
Cuenca Recommendations?
I did a search, and there is only one post referencing Cuenca, so I thought I'd ask. From what I can tell, it looks like Casa Colgada and La Bodeguilla de Basilio are the places, and Churros con Chocolate in the Plaza Espana for breakfast. Any other recommendations?
2012 Hale Aina awards from Honolulu Magazine
That may be true. I kept returning to Ryan's Park Place repeatedly, hoping it was a shadow of what it had been in 1984, but I finally gave up on it a few years ago.
2012 Hale Aina awards from Honolulu Magazine
I was more surprised by Million getting #2. That restaurant was just horrible. The Banchan sucked, the main food was just OK, and it was overpriced. Better than Million was Young's Kal Bi and Y'Kele, a Korean plate lunch place at the Waikele Shopping Center.
Veal Parmigiana in Huntington Beach [split from SF]
There was just nothing special about the food. To paraphrase Bill Bryson, it has everything you would want in a Veal Parmigiana, so long as what you want is neither quality nor taste.
Veal Parmigiana in Huntington Beach [split from SF]
I've tried Mangia Mangia. Don't like it.
Best Veal Parmigiana In SF?
Well, the price for VP is about double what it was at Little Joe's, but if it's great, I'll certainly try it.
Best Veal Parmigiana In SF?
Just FYI -- I don't care about the portion size. Most US Restaurants serve too much food as a portion, anyway. What I care about is the quality and taste. Rather have a thimbleful of good soup than a bucket full of slop.
Best Veal Parmigiana In SF?
I generally don't take cabs when in SF. I walk, BART or Muni.
Best Veal Parmigiana In SF?
Not an expert, just a lover. Original Joe's VP was just adequate when it was in the tenderloin. I don't suspect that it changed just because it moved to North Beach.
Best Veal Parmigiana In SF?
I heard that it relocated to 7th and Market, and then that location closed.
Best Veal Parmigiana In SF?
Up until a couple of months ago, if anyone asked me, I could say that Little Joe's has the best Veal Parmigiana in San Francisco. I've been eating it since 1983, when I lived there. After that, I moved to Orange County, where we have not a single decent Italian restaurant I've found. So, I would travel to SF every couple of months, and without fail, always have at least one meal of Veal Parmigiana at Little Joe's on the trip.
Now, I've heard that the restaurant has closed for good. I've heard that many times in the past, when they had just moved. But now, it looks like it truly is gone for good (Franco looked sick when I was there a few months ago, and last time I was there, he was conspicuously missing from the restaurant -- very unusual for him).
So, given that there are still no decent Italian places down in Orange County, I will still need to go up to SF for my Veal Parmigiana. However, with Little Joe's closed, does anyone have any recommendations on where to go for the best? Not merely good, but outstanding Veal Parmigiana?
TIA
Excellent pastrami and/or corned beef sandwich in OC?
Except that there are people on this board talking about how great Tommy Pastrami's is, or Arnie's Manhattan Deli. Their Pastrami is dry, peppery, salty and otherwise tasteless. So, if that is referred to as good Pastrami, then it's a taste problem, not a purveyor problem.
Excellent pastrami and/or corned beef sandwich in OC?
In light of the replies here, I just tried Tommy Pastrami. Potato salad was good. Pastrami was horrible. Dry, and sliced waaay too thin. Pickle was eh.
I don't know why people in OC seem to think that good pastrami is dry, peppery, salty and otherwise tasteless.
Excellent pastrami and/or corned beef sandwich in OC?
I would agree that Langer's or Katz's are the only ones you discuss when talking about excellent pastrami. In fact, Langer's #19 won a competition over Katz's as the best pastrami sandwich in the world.
Katz's has better quality pastrami, though. Katella is passable, but not excellent (though their potato pancakes are about the best I've had). Arnie's is crap. The Hat is crap. Benjie's is barely passable. Carnegie has good corned beef, but I never go there for pastrami, since Katz's is so close.
Mexican-style Grilled Corn in Orange County?
We just got back from New York City where we had the best Mexican-style grilled corn. It was essentially corn on the cob covered with Cotija Cheese, ground chiles, lime juice and perhaps some mayonaise.
But I was thinking, we have some of the best Mexican food in the world in Southern California. Does anyone know any restaurants, particularly in Orange County, that makes a mexican grilled corn similar to what I just described above? TIA.
Recommendations: Caracas Arepa Bar, or Arepera Guacuco?
We are going to be trying out some Venezuelan food in a couple of weeks, and have narrowed our choices down to Caracas Arepa Bar in the Village, or Arepera Guacuco in Brooklyn.
I just wanted to get your guys' thoughts on the two places, if one is decidedly better, or what the strong points and weak points of each are.
Any comments?
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Caracas Arepa Bar
93 1/2 E 7th St, New York, NY 10009
A surprising disappointment-Second Ave Deli
I have to agree with you. I've been there twice -- once because people here were raving about it, and once to see if I just hit a bad night. Both times, the pastrami was salty, fairly flavorless and dry. I have to say that Katz's is so much better, and even Langer's in LA is better. Don't think I'll ever go back to 2nd Ave.
Bangkok Banyon Tree Hotel
We just tried Somboon based on the recommendations here. I liked it, but there are two things I wish someone had told me:
1. It's cash only, no credit cards; and
2. Both the curry crab and the stir fried morning glory are very greasy. As I said, I liked it, but my wife did not, as she was very turned off by the grease slick on both plates.
Good Value Recommendations In Sydney, Melbourne, Cairns and Brisbane?
Thank you all for your suggestions. Please keep discussing. We leave for Australia on Wednesday night, and I plan on printing this out just before we leave for the airport.
BTW, any comments on Brushfire Flame Grill in Cairns? It seems to get some pretty good reviews on Tripadvisor, and we like Brazilian BBQs here in the USA.
Good Value Recommendations In Sydney, Melbourne, Cairns and Brisbane?
We are going to be at the Sebel Suites, and we will be going to the Gallery of Modern Art. So, anything near either of those places is good. We arrive on Wednesday afternoon, go to the Gallery on Thursday, and leave Thursday evening.
Good Value Recommendations In Sydney, Melbourne, Cairns and Brisbane?
Thanks for the suggestions, Phil. No iphone here. I have a droid, but it probably won't work in Australia, so I'm leaving it home. I bought a Let's Go Australia book, and a separate book on cheap things in Sydney.
Good Value Recommendations In Sydney, Melbourne, Cairns and Brisbane?
Thanks. We'll be in Melbourne from the 14th to the 16th, so Victoria Market is definitely a go. As to Asian, we do like Asian, but I don't want all Asian food. If we do go, it will probably be in Melbourne, as I hear their Chinese food is particularly good there.
Good Value Recommendations In Sydney, Melbourne, Cairns and Brisbane?
Thanks. Any more recommendations you might have will be helpful. Money's never been tight before, but $6k for meals alone on a trip is a lot.
Good Value Recommendations In Sydney, Melbourne, Cairns and Brisbane?
We're leaving in about a week for Australia, and will be spending 4 nights in Sydney, 4 in Melbourne, 4 in Cairns and 1 in Brisbane. We have been looking at the recommendations and lots of food sites and books.
Frankly, the pricing on many restaurants scares us. Most of the recs are looking at $50+ per person for a meal (even lunch), and they are referring to $40 a person as "bargain" pricing. Here at home, unless we're splurging, our average meal out is around $15 to $25 a person.
So, are there any good restaurants in the cities to which we're going that could be called good values? Yeah, we'll probably have one or two $100 meals, but we're not looking to spend that every day at every meal. On a 20-day trip, $50pp a meal would be$6,000 for food alone! Where would we look for meals around $25 each or so? Or better? Are there some good farmer's markets with dining areas? Some good street food? Hole in the wall restaurants with amazing food?
We're good with almost every kind of cuisine (except for Ethiopian or insect cuisine), but (while we like Asian food) we would like to avoid having every meal be Asian food.
Looking For Spectacular In LA For Under $30-$50 A Person
I really like the Father's Office Burger (and their pimientos de padron are great, too), and was going to suggest that. I have not tried Umami Burger and have not heard of the others. What's good there?
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Umami Burger
850 S La Brea Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90036
Father's Office Bar
1618 Montana Ave, Santa Monica, CA
Looking For Spectacular In LA For Under $30-$50 A Person
It's easy to get amazing food if you are willing to spend a fortune. However, I really don't like the pretentious places or folks to which "foodies" tend to gravitate. For example, Cut or L'Orange just don't do it for me. What I am looking for is someplace where the "wow" factor is in the quality of the food for the price.
Places that come to mind immediately are the original Versailles, Langer's, Pink's or Jinky's, all of whom have really great food for a really great price.
With that said, my brother is in town for a couple of days and I'd like to take him someplace for dinner where we're not spending more (or much more) than about $30-$50 a person.
Oh, yeah. He's from Hawaii, so I'd prefer something other than Asian food.
Anywhere in the LA area is fine. Any ideas?
