also, recommendations for places to eat in Bay Ridge?
Tanoreen
― dan selzer, Monday, 30 April 2012 13:08 (twelve years ago) link
have not been to Mercado on Kent. slightly curious but reviews have been mixed-to-negative (but you probably knew that already).
― dmr, Monday, 30 April 2012 16:20 (twelve years ago) link
Had some great meals in NYC over the past week. A couple of unexpected standouts: Egg (Williamsburg) for brunch and Brucie (Cobble Hill) for dinner -- both excelled at simple, fresh, and delicious fare.
(At Egg, I had a plate of scrambled eggs, creamy grits, and nicely seasoned kale. Good coffee, too. At Brucie, I had tagliatelle with house-made burrata, brussels sprouts, and tomato butter, and my wife and I split a Caesar salad that incorporated pickled cherries and roasted radishes without seeming gratuitous.)
Some individual dishes I liked (NB: I'm a pescatarian, hence all the seafood):
*Catfish banh mi at Baoguette (West Village).
*Asparagus salad and mixed olives at Roberta's (Bushwick). (The pizza was decent, too, but I was more impressed by the one I had at Franny's in 2010.)
*Happy hour special at John Dory Oyster Bar (Midtown): $15 for a half-dozen oysters and a glass of cava. Can't beat it.
*Shrimp bun at Momofuku Noodle Bar (East Village).
*Grilled prawns at Kin Shop (West Village).
Both of these last two dishes were small bites that outshone the larger courses I tried. Kin Shop, incidentally, was maybe the biggest disappointment for me. I don't necessarily ascribe to the belief that good Thai food has to be cheap and/or "authentic' -- Grant Achatz's take on Thai for Next in was one of the best meals I ate in 2011 -- but it did occur to me that a place like Jitlada in L.A. would've made a more intensely flavorful jungle curry for less than half of what I paid. Ah well.
― sockless in moccasins (jaymc), Tuesday, 1 May 2012 12:53 (twelve years ago) link
Oh, I nearly forgot:
*the "Gilly" falafel sandwich at Kulushkat (Park Slope).
― sockless in moccasins (jaymc), Tuesday, 1 May 2012 12:59 (twelve years ago) link
pizza, brooklyn - rank the following
di faraRoberta'sTotonnos'sFranny'sSaraghinaOwn Suggestion
― Mad Christmassy, Saturday, 5 May 2012 18:07 (twelve years ago) link
di fara is best but kinda far out and a madhouse with lines usually. I haven't been in years.
Lucali is my next favorite, but not on your list. Show up early to avoid lines.
Roberta's is really good but to be honest their kitchen is even better. Also a madhouse. Go right when it opens on saturday or sunday. Split a pizza and get some sticky buns or whatever weird pork and grits thing they're doing or something.
Totonnos is great and oldstyle and you can visit coney island too.
I found Saraghina really dissapointing.
Franny's is loved by all but I think expensive and crowded as well. I've never been.
― dan selzer, Saturday, 5 May 2012 18:33 (twelve years ago) link
franny's other dishes are really excellent too. di fara maybe the best pizza. i also really liked giussepina's, lucali's sister restaurant which is much easier to get in to.
― mizzell, Saturday, 5 May 2012 18:43 (twelve years ago) link
di fara is great pizza but HEAVY - that xtra dose of olive oil on top is a killer. tastes great, tho
i prefer totonnos pizza. the place itself is more manageable, what I imagine di fara was like before the foodies discovered. as dan said, you can tie in a coney island visit.
― (REAL NAME) (m coleman), Saturday, 5 May 2012 19:10 (twelve years ago) link
Why the disappointment at saraghina? Im very fond of that place.I enjoy di fara too, and it's even close, but I hate the crowd there. It's nice to just settle in at saraghina.
― lou reed scott walker monks niagra (chinavision!), Saturday, 5 May 2012 19:49 (twelve years ago) link
i love saraghina, also (imo) the best space of all these restaurants
frannys is much, much less crowded at lunchtime, and they serve the same menu
― max, Saturday, 5 May 2012 21:43 (twelve years ago) link
I don't know, I went once and none of us liked the pizza. It was packed and late, maybe an off night.
― dan selzer, Sunday, 6 May 2012 00:14 (twelve years ago) link
went to roberta's and di fara in the end - both midweek. liked both - found the people on the street around the morgan ave stop kind of annoying but inside it was actually really nice and pizzas good. di fara was good too, no line! mad expensive tho
― coal, Saturday, 19 May 2012 14:36 (twelve years ago) link
not sure if anyone cares, but Mama's in the EV closed after 15 years, tho the mashed potatoes just weren't the same under the second owner.
http://mamasfoodshop.com/
― Pangborn to be Wilde (Dr Morbius), Sunday, 12 August 2012 17:43 (twelve years ago) link
Pete Wells has been on a tear. Brutal review of Eleven Madison's new "storytelling" format (which sounds awful) and knocked Le Cirque down from three stars to one. I would never go to Le Cirque (have been to 11 Madison, it's great) but just an entertaining week for high-profile food reviews. I'd be shocked if Eleven Madison didn't make some changes based on that writeup. It made eating there sound painful.
― dmr, Thursday, 20 September 2012 19:24 (twelve years ago) link
IDK, his writing makes me kind of half-laugh, half-wince
― look at this quarterstaff (Hurting 2), Thursday, 20 September 2012 20:39 (twelve years ago) link
But truth be told I don't have that much interest in going to places like that. H and I kind of decided that we never enjoy the experience to the same degree as the pain we feel in our wallets.
― look at this quarterstaff (Hurting 2), Thursday, 20 September 2012 20:53 (twelve years ago) link
fwiw, this is a great uninentionally funny food photograph imo:
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2012/09/19/dining/19NOTEBOOK2/19JPNOTEBOOK-popup.jpg
― look at this quarterstaff (Hurting 2), Thursday, 20 September 2012 20:54 (twelve years ago) link
Eleven Madison thing I just found interesting from a "what would it be like to hold that much power" angle, publish a takedown on Monday and a four-star restaurant implements your requested changes by Thursday
http://ny.eater.com/archives/2012/09/has_eleven_madison_park_nixed_the_narration.php
― dmr, Thursday, 20 September 2012 21:05 (twelve years ago) link
those narrations sound pretty excrutiating though. I feel embarassed enough when waiters launch into overlong spiels about how the food is prepared.
― look at this quarterstaff (Hurting 2), Thursday, 20 September 2012 21:53 (twelve years ago) link
Ok, so does anyone have any go-to recommendations when they get an extremely broad "HEY WHAT'S A GOOD RESTAURANT IN NYC" requests from people not that familiar with the city?
To be more specific, this is a couple who recently moved from another country and are not that familiar with NYC or the states at all, and the guy's parents are visiting and they want to go somewhere nice with his parents, somewhere "downtown" (I have asked her to be more specific but she hasn't gotten back to me). I also assume it should be a place where it's not ridiculously hard to get a reservation (or a no-reservation place that tends to have two hour lines). TBH I don't even go to Manhattan restaurants very much anyway, so I'm not much help other than looking through Zagat. I just want them to get good food, and maybe ideally an experience that is somehow New York and American without being, like, Patsy's or something obvious like that.
― Knut Horowitz, Able-Bodied Investment Banker and Ladies Man (Hurting 2), Friday, 26 October 2012 02:43 (eleven years ago) link
i dunno, my aunt was in town last night & we had a great time at la nacional on 14th street. great paella and tapas. the ladies loved the sangria.
― i guess i'd just rather listen to canned heat? (ian), Friday, 26 October 2012 02:47 (eleven years ago) link
my go to for stuff like that is always otto which is a) run by a Famous Chef but is b) pretty good and is c) crowded/"happening" but is still d) easy to get a table as a walk in and finally is e) decently priced
― max, Friday, 26 October 2012 03:03 (eleven years ago) link
also its PIZZA which is like how much more new york/american can you get
― max, Friday, 26 October 2012 03:04 (eleven years ago) link
my OTHER recommendation which goes in the other direction is great ny noodle town which is also cheap and easy to get a table and pretty good but not at all "downtown" more like "'authentic' chinatown chinese flourescent lights no windows super crowded hurried waiters"
― max, Friday, 26 October 2012 03:06 (eleven years ago) link
lol Otto was actually the first place I thought of, but I haven't been there in a few years and I thought maybe it wasn't the best option
― Knut Horowitz, Able-Bodied Investment Banker and Ladies Man (Hurting 2), Friday, 26 October 2012 16:26 (eleven years ago) link
Maybe Otto is the answer
obv getting wasted then going to noodle town in the middle of the night is the way to go
― --bob marley (lag∞n), Friday, 26 October 2012 16:28 (eleven years ago) link
btw it totally 'has window' dont listen to yelp user maxbrooklynfoodie10
― --bob marley (lag∞n), Friday, 26 October 2012 16:34 (eleven years ago) link
I suggested that and Union Square Cafe if they want to spend more.
― Knut Horowitz, Able-Bodied Investment Banker and Ladies Man (Hurting 2), Friday, 26 October 2012 16:42 (eleven years ago) link
it has like 1 window
i had a kind of meh meal at usq cafe but its def very NEW YORK
― max, Friday, 26 October 2012 17:09 (eleven years ago) link
four people need to eat a yummy meal right by the Met around 6 pm/6:15 if we're going to make it to the opera on time
Cafe Luxembourg can't seat us, they are booked
we currently have a reservation at a nearby place (Arpeggio) but I have heard that it is meh and I'm hoping that y'all can recommend something a little better- anybody wanna make a suggestion?
where do we go?
help me ILX you're my only hope
― the tune was space, Friday, 26 October 2012 21:46 (eleven years ago) link
I was also thinking maybe Blue Hill if pricey is ok? Although I felt weirdly uncomfortable in the NYC one, like there was a very subtle snobbery to the place.
― Knut Horowitz, Able-Bodied Investment Banker and Ladies Man (Hurting 2), Friday, 26 October 2012 21:48 (eleven years ago) link
i dont really know anything up where that is, drew. salumeria rosi? ive never been but a friend likes it
― max, Friday, 26 October 2012 22:13 (eleven years ago) link
ive had 1 amazing and 1 okay meal at blue hill. its a solid price range above otto & usc though isnt it?
― max, Friday, 26 October 2012 22:14 (eleven years ago) link
blue hill is pricey and the farm/table thing though unique can be underwhelming but worth experiencing at least once
tune was space - Gabriel's on 60th may be out of the way but it's v dependable hearty tuscan fare. slighty $$ w/some great mid-priced wines
― (REAL NAME) (m coleman), Saturday, 27 October 2012 10:51 (eleven years ago) link
epic pan of Guy Fieri's Times Square restaurant.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/14/dining/reviews/restaurant-review-guys-american-kitchen-bar-in-times-square.html
fish, barrel, etc but made me laugh out loud for reals
― dmr, Wednesday, 14 November 2012 15:41 (eleven years ago) link
Hey, did you try that blue drink, the one that glows like nuclear waste? The watermelon margarita? Any idea why it tastes like some combination of radiator fluid and formaldehyde?
Is this how you roll in Flavor Town?
― dmr, Wednesday, 14 November 2012 15:43 (eleven years ago) link
curious how many restaurants have ever been rated POOR in the Times. lower than zero stars. has to be a pretty short list, most places that shitty probably aren't notable enough to warrant a review.
― dmr, Wednesday, 14 November 2012 15:44 (eleven years ago) link
oh damn I just saw the other Guy thread. oh well. late to the game.
― dmr, Wednesday, 14 November 2012 15:46 (eleven years ago) link
Nocello on West 55th, anyone? Family coming down from CT to have holiday dinner there.
― saltwater incursion (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 14 November 2012 15:52 (eleven years ago) link
The review in the Observer from a few weeks ago was as good/brutal.
― dan selzer, Wednesday, 14 November 2012 15:56 (eleven years ago) link
about 200 post about that in here worst sounding sushi roll at guy fieri's southern bbq & california style sushi restaurant tex wasabi's
― carne asada, Wednesday, 14 November 2012 15:59 (eleven years ago) link
xp[ost Quite the surprise that a TV personality's restaurant in a tourist trap district would turn out to be shit.
― Manfred Mann meets Man Parrish (ithappens), Wednesday, 14 November 2012 16:01 (eleven years ago) link
yeah, kind of panko-encrusted tilapia in a maple-glazed barrel imo
― drunk 'n' white's elements of style (Hurting 2), Wednesday, 14 November 2012 16:42 (eleven years ago) link
not familiar w/ Nocello. the review sites seem to like it pretty well.
― dmr, Wednesday, 14 November 2012 16:49 (eleven years ago) link
Fieri can be the new Mamma Leone
― saltwater incursion (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 14 November 2012 16:52 (eleven years ago) link
Also I feel like DFW set the gold standard for snarky reviews of bloated, overpriced american attractions, and this is pretty weak in comparison. I like Wells a little better when he takes down silly 1%er restaurants like Eleven Madison Park, because at least that's something that doesn't get done that often.
― drunk 'n' white's elements of style (Hurting 2), Wednesday, 14 November 2012 16:56 (eleven years ago) link
wd try Moti Mahal Delux for lunch this month (on a non-workday, NYEve?)
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/05/dining/reviews/restaurant-review-moti-mahal-delux-in-manhattan.html
― saltwater incursion (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 6 December 2012 02:04 (eleven years ago) link
Can anyone recommend a place for a special lunch for a birthday somewhere downtown preferably in the lower east side, soho, tribeca, maybe village?
― i don't even have an internet (Hurting 2), Saturday, 8 June 2013 00:44 (eleven years ago) link
torrisi?
― max, Saturday, 8 June 2013 11:55 (eleven years ago) link