New York Restaurants

i've been three times- twice to noodle bar and once to ssam when they just sold burritos. all was awesome.

that would be Ramen Setagaya (1st ave btw 8&9).

i realize my palate is probably quite different than their frequent customers though.

mmmm, setagaya! i really liked the ssam bar, but not for the ssams (in fact, i thought lunch was pretty bad). shasta and phil-two both gave the noodle bar a big thumbs-down, and that was enough to put me off.

^^^their = momofuku's

to me momofuku and setagaya are about equal taste-wise but I'm far from a ramen connoisseur. setagaya's a little cheaper too.

horray i will go to setagaya!

i want to go too!

it's been a while.

do you want to go this week?

sure. i kind of like doing ramen brunch, if that works for you.

i emailed you!

Lauren is such a brunch tart. She'll eat with anyone!

PS: I am totally going to Santana soooooooooon.

it's true.

As someone who doesn't eat eggs (although I eat eggs cooked in stuff), it is very very annoying that most brunch places have such crap options for me (and vegetarians & vegans). Never a fan of brunch, especially in N. Brooklyn.

most places do a really half-assed job. eggs are cheap and fast, so you get pretty ill-considered variations on 2 served any style with potatoes and toast.

Deee lishus.

Wait, you forgot pork form.

i go to sushi gen in pspect heights for brunch almost every weekend now. they do an amazing job with everything. and the only eggs are a tamago patty usually with eel or crab.

and i am so over potatoes in the morning, they just put me to sleep!

i really hate the paprika-heavy home fries with green/red pepper and onion that have become the standard at a lot of places trying to class things up. it doesn't help that they're almost always lukewarm.

god i love eggs and breakfast meats but would gladly go back to santana sooooon. mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

I think home fries are better than potatoes cut up as far as this xpost to b_l

The blueberry pancakes at Clinton Street Baking Company are really good.

Peppers in home fries are gross. Home fries: day-old cooked potatoes, onions, fried in butter/olive oil mix with shitloads of pepper. A dusting of paprika is fine to give veggies a smokey taste but in other circs the paprika ought to come via the tiny pieces of chorizo you fry off with the onions. Simply put, do not embellish HF recipe until you can make it with only onions, pepper and the cooking fat of your choice.

Lauren is also correct in that HF should be HOT.

My best experience with day-old potato usage is (attn Londoners) the chips from the Fryer's Delight, which are chunky and fried in beef tallow.

I want brunch. Is the Greenpoint ramen open yet?

that place is never opening, as far as i can tell.

Ah, well I'm working this Sat. but could do a Sun. ramen/brunch if it goes done.

Alan Richman slams Les Halles after receiving Douchebag Award from Anthony Bourdain at Golden Clogs.

Oh, Astroland opens this Sun.--maybe a C.I. brunch?

oh, re: ramen - someone on c.hound posted that ippudo should be open next week (person has apparently received the friends & family invite).

they have help wanted signs in japanese as well.

ippudo's specialty is tonkotsu, right?

To be really technical, their specialty is "hakata" ramen which usually features a tonkotsu broth.

i don't know what any of that is but WANT.

the richman/bourdain beef is fucking fantastic, and makes me like AB even more

I think les halles kinda sucks, but don't see what responsibility Bourdain has for the place these days.

I am saving up my quarters to play racecar games at C.I. this Summer

i'm reading a bourdain book (a cook's tour) and it is making me hungry all the time. though the guy is totally corny.

bourdain is not a very good writer.
even if his anecdotes themselves are sometimes illuminating, and definitely hunger-inspiring.

i want to see his show.

the one episode i saw was so awesome that i priced airfare to hong kong the next day, but it kinda depends on your acceptance of him as some kind of bad-ass rebel rock star persona.
he also recreated sequences from kung fu movies

his show is good TV, last season especially was great, but it's still good. I mostly find him annoying but then he says something really OTM, or suprisingly poetic, or something really funny or crazy happens, or you just see some awesome food in an awesome locale, and that's enough to make me watch.

the only part I don't like is his once per episode "my producers made me do this / I'm too good for TV" schtick

when he's sincere it's usually really good

hungover and craving ramen, i tried to go to setagaya yesterday afternoon but got there just as they stopped the afternoon service. heartbreaking. went to m0m0fuku noodle bar instead and had the pork neck ramen. eh. not great, not bad. the noodles are good, but i didn't care much for the broth. a liberal dose of sriracha helped out. the pork was tasty, but there was so much of it that it was kind of overwhelming - more like meat with noodles instead of the other way around. it's certainly a generous portion, as i ate until i was stuffed and still had about a third of the bowl left over. the other menu items sounded delicious, but sadly the ramen was all that my budget could accommodate. 3 of the dishes i had my eye on would have set me back about $45.

yeah the ramen is really the least interesting thing on the menu at m0m0fuku - the best thing I've had there was a big plate of schezuan crayfish.

i really wanted rice cakes with oxtail ragu.

also the grilled beef tongue, and the sweetbreads. /glutton

Lauren, I ordered in brunch from Taco 5antana last weekend, just to relive the deliciousness. Next stop: their enchiladas. I can hardly wait!