canoodlers's Profile
Where to eat in San Juan PR at 8:30PM this Tuesday?
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g147320-d1046290-Reviews-Marisqueria_Atlantica-San_Juan_Puerto_Rico.html
http://www.yelp.com/biz/la-parrilla-luquillo
Marisqueria is a little more formal and very close to where you are staying. But if you rent a car for the day, and maybe hit the prettiest beach in PR, Luquillo Beach( - aka. Little Rio) you can go to the food stalls that are right off the highway. La Parrilla is the nicest one in terms of atmosphere and quality of food. We go there many times each trip, even when we aren't staying nearby. It's worth it! It's an open-air deal, with the front of the place facing a parking lot, and the back facing the beach. Locals come riding up on horses. It's very cool!
Foodies in Turks & Caicos
Opus (near the Golf Club and Leeward Marina) has excellent fresh seafood, and live music some nights. Lovely backyard seating. Great ambience. Lovely owner, who was very helpful and informative.
Seaside Cafe, right on the ocean at the Ocean Club West resort, is owned by the same guy, Tony, who owns Opus. Also great food, but a bit different from the Opus restaurant in that the Seaside Cafe is more casual and the prices are lower.
Tried Coco Bistro, but didn't love it. Lovely setting, and pretty good lobster, but not worth the rave reviews I hear from people. Maybe something changed recently, because all the other travelers we met there in Provo had also heard great things about Coco and were disappointed.
The best food we had on our week-long trip was definitely at Bay Bistro at the Sibonne resort. We went there for lunch, and returned that same night for dinner. The coffee rubbed tuna is really unique and delicious, and their curry sauce was phenomenal. Really excellent seafood, picturesque seaside dining and very friendly service. Definitely try the homemade coconut icecream!
If you stay in a place with a kitchenette, the grocery store across from Seven Stars resort is expensive, but has a really nice selection. I spent about a hundred bucks and the beginning of the week there, and managed to save quite a bit of money by making lunches at "home".
Nice dinner spot in or around Port Washington?
Any recommendations for a nice place to take my mother for a birthday dinner in the Port Washington area (with 15 minutes drive)? Atmosphere is important, as is a selection of vegetarian and seafood options.
Wasaga Beach and Collingwood Recommedations?
Thanks for the Ted's tip! I had some Lake Huron Splake (never heard of it before, but it was good) and he had a bison steak he really loved. We had a good meal there, though I have to say it was the atmosphere that really made the experience. If there were an option to upload video I would show what I shot of the great local musicians who showed up to play for Wednesday night's jam night. We drove a bit to get to Ted's from where we were staying, but I'm glad we did, because the culinary offerings in our immediate area were kind of sad. We did go to the Georgian Circle Family Diner for breakfast a couple of times and enjoyed it, for dinerish food.
One place which was a big disappointment was Three Guys and a Stove in Blue Mountain. Modestly glorified TGIF to be honest. Unfortunately, that was the restaurant I chose for my birthday.
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Blue Mountain Cafe
1587 Bank St, Ottawa, ON K1H7Z3, CA
Can anyone help me?
What area will you be staying in? There's so much good food in NY, it would be great if you could narrow the playing field a bit.
Great Mediterranean Food near Port Washington, Long Island
My mother is living temporarily in the Port Washington area, and her birthday is coming up soon. It doesn't have to be Italian, but that would be great. If you know of a place with nice atmosphere and good seafood options, I'd love to hear about it.
Italian in NYC!
In Brooklyn, we like Locanda Vini e Olii for occasions. http://www.locandavinieolii.com/
We also just tried Olio, which was recently opened (in Manhattan on Greenwich Ave just off Sixth Ave) by pizzaiolo Guilio Adriani. http://www.adrianigiulio.com/
Can anyone help me?
Where will you be staying, and can you be more specific about what kinds of foods and experiences you're looking for?
Wasaga Beach and Collingwood Recommedations?
We are looking for some great bites in the area. Any recommendations?
Couple of new names - BINO and VERDE on Smith Street?
After many enjoyable dinners and brunches at Po, we went to try Bino tonight. Maybe they're working out the kinks because they just opened the doors quite recently under new ownership. The salad with calamari was overdressed and disappointing. The calamari was rubbery, and the dressing was way too sweet and citrusy, and there was way too much of it (the dressing). The brodetto app was delicious. But the mains were totally overplayed, with copious amounts of sundried tomatoes and kalamata olives. A little goes a long way with these strong, salty tastes, but I'm sure they will figure that out. The service was welcoming and wonderful per the Po standard.
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Bino
276 Smith St, Brooklyn, NY 11231
Breakfast Condado Area of Puerto Rico
There's another interesting place on the way from Ocean Park to Isla Verde called Atlantica Marisceria (pardon my spelling). That's a good dinner option. Old school decor and good seafood.
Breakfast Condado Area of Puerto Rico
There's also a place called Pure and Natural on Ashford that has excellent healthy food. It opens at 11am. There's not a ton of great food in Condado, unfortunately. But this place is great! Whatever you do, don't go to JAM. It's a vanity project started by someone who, as far as I know, used to bartend at the Ritz Carlton, but knows nothing about food. My mother and I had a disgusting meal there. I ordered a piece of fish that came with a bizarre sludge of hummus, covered in golden raisins. The owner looked at it and admitted it was improperly prepared but still charged me close to $20 for it. It was inedible.
Anyone been to the new Montreal Smoked Meat deli in Brooklyn, called "MILE END" ????
The carnivorous, Canadian half of the Canoodlers appreciates this place a lot; the poutine and the smoked meat got thumbs up. I like it here too, as I have a serious love on for Montreal style bagels with nova and cream cheese. Great spot!
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Mile End
97 Hoyt St, Brooklyn, NY 11217
Must eats in Cobble Hill?
Lucali is the best for pizza. Recently went to DiFara's expecting it to bump Lucali off the top of my list, but no. Lucali.
Recs for Humacao (Southeast Puerto Rico) area?
There's a lovely tapas spot at the Marina in Palmas Del Mar.
Breakfast Condado Area of Puerto Rico
Did you try the coffee at Euforia on Ashford Ave? It's an interesting spot (combo coffee bar/high end spa products retailer) with very lovely, helpful owners. They serve locally produced coffee that is of very high quality, neither too heavy, nor too acidic.
(Urgent!) BK - Takeout lunches around Borough Hall
You should go to Sahadis on Atlantic Ave, or the Damascus bakery next door. GREAT middle eastern options, but you can only take out. There is no place to sit down.
http://www.sahadis.com/
http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/11/18/travel/18weekend.html
Best slices in that area are at My Little Pizzeria on Court near the movie theater and the Barnes and Noble.
If you can walk down Court to Wyckoff (a block past Bergen), you'll find a great place for very nice takeout, Cobblestone Foods. Again, no seating. There is a lovely park where you can go in nice weather though right at the corner of Congress and Clinton. They even have tables.
Also Ted and Honey is wonderful, right next to that park. http://tedandhoney.com/
The General Greene or the Good Fork?
We have had terrible service at the General Greene, and our impression was backed up when an acquaintance of mine told me the General Greene was the first place in his LIFE that he couldn't bear to leave ANY tip.
One time I went to buy some of their delicious homemade ice cream cones. The ice cream is amazing. Anyway, the woman who scooped the cone used the very end of the tub for the first flavor, and most of the ice cream was totally melted. She put that on the cone first, and then the harder, more solid chocolate scoop on top of the melted stuff. Obviously it caused the melted stuff to spill down the cone when she pressed the second scoop on top. I politely said "Maybe it would be better to put the more solid one underneath." And she just stared at me blankly and handed it to me, saying, "You'll figure it out". We bought two double scoop ice cream cones, and it wasn't cheap. I'm not asking for special treatment, but she was just rude. We never went back. The food's ok, but there are so many comparable places within a few blocks where people are actually happy to see you, and try to make you as comfortable and satisfied as possible. One example is Stone Home Wine Cellar, and another is Olea.
aurora soho... thoughts about it. anyone been?
We just went tonight for their $45 four-course Thanksgiving prix-fixe and it was really enjoyable. I'm always wary of holiday prix-fixe menus, but this was really nice; both the food and the ambience.
I want to point out that even though this was a holiday prix-fixe, everything was cooked well, ie. didn't taste like huge amounts had been pre-made and re-warmed. The decor is simple, a mix of modern and rustic, with good lighting and music. I don't agree with CobblerNYC (we're Cobble Hillers, too) that the crowd is the worst of Soho at all. It was a good mix of friends, couples, and families with well-attended young children.
We met my mother at the cozy bar area, where the bartender was really patient letting us try different wines before settling on a bottle of Pratello Rebo ($60, and worth every penny, about $28-30 retail when we checked online, not terrible in terms of mark-up).
We moved to the main dining area, and sat in a sweet corner table with a comfortable padded bench. We started off the meal with a delicious butternut squash soup and a very nice wild mushroom and chestnut salad with crispy polenta and tallegio fondue. Then moved onto chestnut-flavored pappardelle with Bolognese ragu (him) and butternut squash ricotta dumplings with walnuts, radicchio and pecorino (me). Then he got the free-range turkey with pork and apple stuffing with cranberry sauce and I got the roasted bass, which was perfectly-cooked moist, but crispy on top, over melted leeks. The sides were maple-glazed sweet potatoes, roasted brussel sprouts and spinach with garlic, pine nuts and raisins. Dessert was tiramisu (pretty good) and a really yummy apple and pecan pie with a dollop of vanilla ice cream.
Everyone we dealt with was genuinely friendly, helpful and well-informed; from the hostess who checked our coats, to the bartender (who stood attentively polishing glasses when not helping us with the wine list) to the bussers and waiters who didn't exude any of the attitude you might expect on a busy holiday night. We will definitely go back.
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Aurora Soho
510 Broome Street, New York, NY 10013
Are you freaking kidding me? Another Thai place opens in Cobble Hill/ Carroll Gardens.
We really enjoyed Nine-D for a while but stopped going there after we had two bad experiences with take-out. In both instances, the main dishes were good, but the rice smelled strongly of mildew. Maybe they are storing the plastic take-out containers near a water source.
Dinner tonight--Marigold Kitchen or Caffe Casta Diva?
Thanks, Boognish! Good to know they can accommodate pescatarians. I wanted to post my assessment of the offerings to give a heads up to other people, like myself, who might be interested in that info. As far as the thread being old, it's sort of irrelevant. In the interest of keeping things organized on here, I would always rather continue a thread than start a new one on a topic that others have already established. Makes searching and navigating easier.
Sue Perette (on Smith between DeGraw and Sackett)
We've had very nice brunch there. The baked eggs were great. We went back for a nice dinner another night. The place is very pleasant and the service is very sweet and attentive. The wine selections are spare but good. I can highly suggest the polenta fries with aioli, which were really inventive and delicious. The duck was deemed excellent by my fiancee. I found the trout a bit slimy, but that may just be the nature of the fish. Didn't enjoy it that much. But I would welcome the addition of some other seafood items to the menu, and definitely go back.
La Petite Provence
We had hopes for this tiny BYOB spot in the old Patois location on Smith Street, and decided to give it a shot for dinner. We ordered, respectively, the gnocchi with mushrooms and the half-chicken. The chicken was served very wet, possibly boiled, and compared poorly to the same offering at nearby Robin des Bois, where the chicken is always served with a nice crispy skin. The gnocchi arrived overcooked to the point of being mush. I spoke to them about it, and they claimed they serve their gnocchi "soft", but offered to throw it into a sautee pan to brown it. When it was brought back, it was even more overcooked, and smelled much less flavorful than even the original. In short, it was inedible.
Not sure what's going on there, because the table behind us had ordered quiche, and the aforementioned chicken dish, and their dishes were served cold. Two out of three of those diners also sent theirs back to be reheated. We saw the chef apologizing to another table for something, and another pair came in and left within ten minutes without ordering.
The lighting was a bit bright, there was no music, and the door slams loudly everytime anyone enters or leaves the space. This place definitely needs to work out some kinks to make a showing in a neighborhood that includes some truly wonderful restaurants.
We ended up paying for the chicken, and going elsewhere for a decent meal.
Dinner tonight--Marigold Kitchen or Caffe Casta Diva?
I just looked at the Marigold Kitchen menu. Even the dishes that would be pescatarian-friendly have touches of bacon or sausage to them, so I wouldn't say this is that veg friendly.
Madison, NJ suggestions?
I'm glad someone opened this thread more recently than 2002. I live in NYC, but my mother lives out in Madison, and I just spent a week or so there this past month. Two great places with very warm and accomodating staff are Garlic Rose and David's Rumba cafe.
Garlic Rose is on Main Street. The dishes all put an emphasis on garlic, but this is not just a schtick. The food is very well prepared and not overdone at all. The chowder was excellent, and the cod oreganata was perfectly cooked. I almost avoided this dish because I find many places serve it sitting in too much oil. I specified that I didn't want it very oily, and it was perfect. The fish was moist and succulent, as cod should be!
David's Rumba cafe is a great casual, Salvadoran family-run spot, one block off Main Street serving Latin fare - a rarity in these parts. The menu is not strictly Salvadoran, in fact you will also find burgers, burritos and fajitas on the menu if you don't feel like trying something different. You can turn off Main Street and walk through Elmer Alley (across the street from the restaurant called Terra Mare) and it is straight ahead, at 6 Elmer Street.
The interior is warm and welcoming. Parents, I saw some nicely behaved young kids there eating with their dad, plus they have a small kids menu for $8, so I would say kid-friendly. Though others should not let that scare them off.
We started with the Ensalada de Camarones Picantes - Fried buffalo shrimp seved over mixed greens, onions, avocado, mango slices, tossed with a cilantro, lime vinaigrette. It was very fresh and lovely, with the right amount of each element to not overpower the palate with too many competing flavors. Followed by some of the tastiest (not greasy) jalapeno poppers I've had at a restaurant. Then we had the Rumba Pescado, poached red snapper with potatoes, tomatoes, onions, garlic, yucca and chopped celery with a touch of lime juice and cilantro. I should mention the fish is served in a delicious sort of broth. It is not dry on the plate. Definitely do not skip the Smoothies! We had both the Lulo and the Mora and loved both.
Would love to hear recent impressions of restaurants in Madison.
Center City--2 nights in April
I'm not sure where the Westin is, but Caffe Casta Diva in the Rittenhouse area is where I've made dinner reservations the last two times I was in Philadelphia. The food is great contemporary Italian; nothing pretentious, but much more tasteful and sophistcated than average.
Its BYOB, so you can bring in your favorite wine, which also keeps the bill down. The interior is nicely appointed in a comfortable, understated way, with very accomodating and friendly staff.
There is a great table all the way toward the back that I like, in a sort of alcove next to the kitchen, but its also nice to sit next the windows if its not too chilly.
All four of us loved our food both times we went there. Another plus is that it's in Rittenhouse Square, so if it's nice after dinner you can walk around the park. Usually people are sitting out. Or you can just walk around the lovely historic neighborhood enjoying the architecture. Love this place.
Check out what other hounds have said. http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/339016
"Romantic BYO in Rittenhouse "
Madison, NJ suggestions?
Years after these original postings, we ate at Garlic Rose and loved it! We had an arugula salad which was fresh and not overly dressed, a savory chowder that they were kind enough to divide into two separate bowls for us, and cod oreganato. All were perfectly prepared. The service was very attentive without being uptight. A great experience!
Buttermilk Channel in CG
The place looks great and the menu concept is right on, but the execution left a lot to be desired.
The popovers they bring out to start were very odd; hard, hollow and tasteless. I'm pretty sure we got an off batch, because I can't imagine anyone enjoying them the way they were served to us.
next we shared the endive and kale salad with soft-boiled egg and warm anchovy dressing. i had to ask for more dressing because the salad was totally dry which you dont really want with bitter stuff like kale, especially when you are expecting the zing of an anchovy dressing.
I ordered the hake with cranberry beans, but dumb me, I didn't realize Linguica was sausage until it arrived. I told them I would keep the fish and switch out the beans which had the sausage mixed in, but I guess they don't adjust the recipe for taste after taking the meat out. It was a bit bland and I thought the fish and beans were both about two minutes undercooked. i like a lot of fish cooked medium rare, but hake is the kind of fish that looks a little gelatinous and grey inside if its not cooked just right. so I didn't really enjoy the entree. I would note that the server who switched out the beans was very nice and accomodating.
Our friend had the bratwurst, which he said was 'just ok'. The server didn't mention the bratwurst came with fries, so he also ordered a side of mashed potatoes. I used to wait tables and I would definitely have told the person they were doubling up on the taters. My bf had the pork cheek schnitzel which he said was passable, not great.
I really hope they can get it together in the kitchen, because we love the ambience, menu and convenient location. There are just too many other great places nearby that offer a great experience and wonderful food everytime, ie. Good Fork, Chestnut, Saul...
Great Inexpensive Food in DC
Ben's Chili Bowl on U Street was highly recommended to us for the half-smoke dog. The line was deep on a Saturday night but moved quickly. They have a large menu with some vegetarian options. Lively atmosphere. It seems Bill Cosby is a fan of Ben's also and has been vocal about it. There was a sign behind the counter which read, "List of Who Eats Free at Ben's : Bill Cosby. No One Else"
http://www.benschilibowl.com/menuredirect.html
Also, Mobys Falafel in Georgetown was great. They make the bread right in front of you and all the ingredients were very fresh and tasty. We were there on Saturday afternoon for lunch and had a great experience. Once we had our food, we had to stand next to the counter waiting for lingerers to vacate one of eight small tables pushed together in a corner of this tiny space. There are other options besides falafel, though we didn't try any of them. Looked and smelled good though!
http://www.mobysonline.com/
