Dryden

I don't understand this place at all... We went a few weeks back and while it was passable, it was nowhere near as good as Honmura An used to be, where we had certainly eaten enough times to know what good soba ought to taste like. Now, maybe we mis-ordered, I don't know, but the kamo seiro and kamo nanban are nowhere in the ballpark of what they were doing at Honmura An, and the rave reviews that everyone seems to be giving it are completely mystifying to me. I might call it a two star place, maybe a one, but to give it a strong three/almost four when many people used to call out the Honmura An 3 as being too high strikes me as completely ridiculous. Someone, please tell me I'm not nuts here.

We ended up going to TW Food and I have to say, it was wonderful. Highly recommend it.

So sad to hear that.

Happened to stop by the garden on the way back on the water taxi a few weeks back and remembered what a lovely place it used to be, but no clue on the current state of the food. Can anyone comment?

Menu up at JGV's website... Has no one actually been?

And have anything good or bad to say? Visiting from New York for Sunday July 6th... Which is a tough day to find anything open. Appreciate any suggestions...

Went both days. Thought Ed Mitchell and Mike Mills were the best, as usual, and the banana pudding from Wildwood was exceptional as well. The hush puppies were quite tasty, and once they cooled off (we brought some home), could actually taste the crawfish in there. The next group would probably be Big Bob Gibson and the Checkered Pig. Wasn't impressed by Baker's, Blackjack, Ubon's or Wilson's, particularly. And then there is Mr. Cecil... Apparently, on Saturday, they forgot to screw the leg onto one of the grills, and so they "lost a grill" early. Later, they couldn't manage to plan the order timing well, so kept running out of sausage when they had ribs and vice versa. Total time spent waiting in the fast pass lane: over 1 hour. I wish I was making that up. The quality did not even come close to making up for it.

Looking forward to seeing everyone there, as usual.

More info here... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sapodilla I know I've seen them before, I just can't remember where...

If they can somehow do Bresse poulet, they will be the coolest thing ever.

Went yesterday with our baby for lunch. 95% of the place was Asian, and there were probably 15 groups with little ones. This is clearly the lunchtime spot for Japanese couples with kids... The group next to us came in all the way from Westchester. Also, somewhat surprised no one has mentioned the awesome ramen spoons they are using... Anyone know where to get some?

DoSirak (in the village) is really good.

Better this than at La Merenda in Nice - there, you have to make the reservation in person!

No.

Yes. He's labeled with a name - he is "Lard Lad"... From the Simpsons Movie! http://www.kollectablekaos.com.au/images/S...ns-Lard-Lad.jpg

Wanted to echo another point Nathan made earlier, which I don't think anyone has repeated - it is hot in Ko. Much, much warmer than even the warmest restaurant, since you are sitting less than 6 feet from the entire kitchen. No idea what this will feel like in June, but definitely important to not dress overly wrapped up. The front door is interesting too (I hadn't popped by to look until we ate there) - it almost looks like a gate is down and the restaurant isn't there. We walked by twice until we looked more carefully...

We were there Friday night for the last seating. Same story on Chang, and they were doing the banyuls instead of the sherry. No tea available, by the way. They do also have a couple of non-alcoholic drinks in the beverage list. And the hooks are still there under the counter for purses. The changes on the dishes from the pictures on page 1: The caviar was hackleback, and the onions were soubise, as noted by many. The scallops now have a mushroom paste to go with the nori. The foie has a pine nut brittle, as noted earlier. The funniest moment came at the end of the night. My wife asked the wine steward if we could buy all of the chefs a round of beer, to which she replied, "They have too much beer as is, but I'll let them know." Oh, and at $85 +$50 for the wine, this is a phenomenal deal.

We went two weekends ago. It's excellent, or at least the more authentic end of the menu is. Second what nathan said - the lamb kitfo is excellent. The breads are also super top notch, and the doro wat was the best I've had. One slight disappointment was that the injera was not as sour (or as thick) as everywhere else I've ever had it - don't know if that's to make it more accessible to those unfamiliar with the cuisine, or just a stylistic choice, but didn't find it quite made the cut. The crowd definitely broke into 2 groups - those who were there for the food, and those who were there since it's in MePa. I'd call it the best african I've had in NY in a while, definitely since Caffe Adulis closed.

Any good places that do meat?

So, obviously, there's Devi (which doesn't deliver) and Tamarind (which does, for a small fortune). Our go-to place used to be Curry Leaf but the last few times have been deeply disappointing... Any suggestions?

Craftbar is not in the least bit asian.

From the way you describe her, I think a lot of places could work very well, assuming you plan to eat early. We've found with our now 17 month old (who is very well behaved and used to being in restaurants) that the more serene and "adult" the restaurant is, the better he will behave as a result. Booths help tremendously, too (we don't do the high chair thing). Some places we've had a lot of success with are craftbar, chinatown brasserie (more for early dim sum), and both momofukus (the noodle bar gets tons of kids and both aren't quiet, but the food more than makes up for it).

Go hungry... :-)

Just got some of the bellota @ dean & deluca. It's better than the stuff at Despana (and cheaper, too!), though probably not sliced as expertly... The "regular" iberico at Despana has a nuttiness to the fat that is delicious. The bellota tastes like an entire toasted hazelnut forest is hiding in the fat. When they start importing this regularly, I may end up broke eating it... but I'll be really, really happy.

It isn't the bellota, it's just the straight iberico. They say the bellota will be available around March-April.