snausages2000

MKJR, Dont sweat it if you don't plan every food destination. I found no drop-off between the places I had made a point of going to and the places I just stumbled into because they looked interesting. My general impression in Japan was that the quality of local ingredients - beef, pork, poultry, fowl, vegetables - was so high you could walk into most places and be rewarded with fresh, flavorful food.

Also, I've now captioned most of the photos, so there's a bit more info if you go to the link in my first post.

Colorful Cake: The shop is on one of the main shopping streets in central Kyoto - a street that runs perpindicular to the river. (Maybe Shijo-dori?) It's on the side of the street closer to the Kyoto train station (not that it's close to the train station). I noticed that the store also seems to sell its stuff in the basement pastry section of the Takashiyama department stores. Tempura: I believe it was eel tempura. But I might be wrong. It was ordered in the latter stages of an epic meal. Yes, Gonpachi. About 8 blocks from Roppongi Crossing. Chicken Skin: Yes, chicken skin. In a great little Izikaya on the far end of the Dotombori arcade in Osaka. But chicken skin yakitori seems to be readily available in Japan. Was on the menu in many places and I had it again a couple times in Tokyo.

Yes, 12000 yen for one colorful cake. The picture, happily, was free.

I shared your uncertainty over whether it was food. The first thing I asked was, "Is this food or soap?" Turns out it's a decorative dessert from a fancy little sweets shop in Kyoto. It has a gummy, rubbery, mochi texture. Each color within the cake is a different flavor. It's about 6 inches tall and costs 12,000 yen. I'd say appearance trumps taste. Amazing to look at, but not much flavor. There was also a brick of dense, sweet rainbow gelatin, reminiscent, visually, of Rachel Perlow's rainbow jello.

Thank you to everyone who's contributed to this board. I just spent two weeks in Japan and eGullet, as always, provided much guidance... Here are 132 photos of food from the trip to prove it: Japan Food I didn't caption any of the pictures, but would be happy to answer any questions about them. Though, the catch-all answer is: delicious.

--Spicy & Tasty --Waterfront International Enterprises for the Crispy Lamb with Spices. Delicious. Only Chinese restaurant focusing on cuisine of Liaoning Province that I know of. Just get a plate of the lamb and some beer if you want a snack. But other unique dishes are Country Style Green Bean Sheet, Whole Jellyfish Flower, and Mixed Sweets 40-09 Prince St --I highly recommend dinner at Shanghai Tide. It's an all you can eat (and drink beer) hot pot bonanza for like $20. Throw 100 things in the spicy smoky boiling broth, make your own dipping sauce at the sauce bar, and eat and get drunk. Especially enjoyable in a big group. 13520 40th Rd

Went to Waterfront International Enterprises (40-09 Prince St. Flushing) a couple nights ago. Food is from the northern Chinese Liaoning Province, which borders North Korea. I suspect that the (giant) menu contains dishes from many regions and that a more specifically Liaoningese meal than mine could be orchestrated. The staff was great. Super friendly, though clearly amused by how much food a couple of white kids ordered. After the first round the waitress said, 'you've ordered 7 dishes - you sure you want this much?' Before it was over we'd had 11 dishes. When in Flushing... Country Style Green Bean Sheet Dried Tofu Skin With Peppers Pea Shoots Jellyfish Fried Crispy Pork with Orange Flavor Steamed Buns with Sour Cabbage and Pork Lamb with Spices (Whole Roasted Cumin) Assorted "Sweets" (Banana, Taro, Apple, Pineapple Coated in Hot Sugar. You dip it at the table in cold water and they turn into hard candied nuggets.) Jellyfish Flower with Scallion Waitress (who I fell in love with) cutting up the Jellyfish Fried Eggplant Stuffed With Cabbage and Minced Pork Tendon in Spicy Sichuan Pepper Sauce Consistently good. Definitely worth a repeat visit, though I'd say the success (as in, 'this dish is awesome') rate was only about 50%. But the menu is huge and I think it'd take a few visits to really master it, figure out what the kitchen most excels at. Next time I'd order the Lamb (it was great), the Green Bean Sheet, the Dumplings and the Pea Shoots and then start fresh from there. The Jellyfish Flowers must be tried, but their appearance and texture (crunchy) were a bit too suggestive of...jellyfish. They serve beer by the pitcher, which is fun.

East Village Often: San Loco Chickpea The Malted Guy (Ray) on Ave A. and 7th St. Less Often: Punjabi Angon B&H Moonstruck Diner I would, but I just end up eating there instead: Momofuku Klong Grand Sichuan Kenka Katz's What's Missing: Pizza. The East Village may be the city's worst neighborhood for slices. Actually, Penn Station is terrible too. Haven't found a neighborhood slice that I'm into. A couple borderline options on 1st. and A, but the places themselves are all unappealing to sit in, which is a hindrance. I was spoiled by Fascati in Brooklyn Heights. I used to like Five Roses, but it's 2 blocks too far. Don't believe in delivery.

Oops, I meant to say whole SARDINES. No anchovies.

Yeah, it's a bit steep for me as well - if it was cheaper I'd be there more often. Then again, the food compares pretty favorably with restaurants in its price range, such as Babbo, so I don't begrudge them for my difficulty with the tab (I begrudge my boss).

Oh, and I'm hoping this hasn't changed since I was last there, but they have the most reasonably priced oysters I've found in the city in an upscale restaurant. $1.25-$1.50 each. Seems lots of places are comfortable charging $3.00+ per oyster.

Has anyone been to Della Rovere yet, down on W. Broadway, a block below Canal? I've been a few times since they opened (a couple months ago) and they've been churning out great food. My two favorite dishes: Veal Cheeks (sort of a stew) Whole Anchovies served on Bread with a poached egg on top. Also, the desserts are pretty special. Instead of a rote list of Italian standards, there's a real selection of unique, inspired sweets. The chief creative forces in the kitchen recently worked at Le Cirque and Per Se. My only complaint, and I suppose this is to be somewhat expected at a new restaurant, has been the service. It's been clumsy and amateurish. Oh, and the two-top tables in the front room, though totally attractive, are way too heavy and thick. You need like two people to help you move it so you or your date can slide into the booth. But, those issues are easily forgotton - the food is hearty, both refined and soulful and totally worth checking out. (And they have like 100 wines by the glass) Entrees ($25-$30) Crudi ($6-$10) Della Rovere 250 W. Broadway, at Beach St.; 212-334-3470

You could make a case for Ivo & Lulu in this category. It's not a French bistro, but it's a bistro with French Caribbean cooks. It's BYOB, with a very limited menu. You won't be getting traditional French dishes, but it certainly feels like French cooking and $30 will get you 3 courses, including tax and tip.

But, JJ what did you really have for dinner? Surely you weren't full from your $25 slice and soda. You must have eaten something else, later that same night. I'm hungry just thinking about how hungry I was after I ate at UPN...

I thoroughly enjoyed my dessert at Cru, Will. I hope that you're not leaving the restaurant feeling discouraged. I imagine the blandness of mainstream American culture leaves the most creative people feeling like misfits. If you're going to remove your talents from the public sphere, would you consider mailing me a homemade dessert sometime? Kind of like mom sending a care package to sleepaway camp...

Una Pizza is absurdly over-priced. No matter how refined your pizza-palette. Any chance the guy will drop his prices? Have the grumblings been heard?

Toto - As mentioned earlier, Murray's is great, but it's very expensive. Not that it won't be fun to check out, but Cheese options in Montreal are better than anything here, especially if you factor in price. Coming to NYC from Montreal for cheese is kind of like going from NYC to Montreal for pizza. Since Montreal's got French food and cheese covered, I'd focus on the kind of things that Montreal might offer less of - Indian (Angon on E. 6th St), Thai (Sripriphai in Queens), Sichuan (Grand Sichuan on 9th Ave & 24th St or Spicy and Tasty in Flushing), Italian (too many to list), NY Delis (Katz's for pastrami/Russ&Daughters for smoked fish), Sushi (too many to list, but I like Blue Ribbon, Hasaki, Jewel Bako), Middle Eastern, Ramen (Momofuku on 1st Ave. & 12th), steak (Peter Lugers or the more well-rounded BLT Steak) and pizza. Sahadi's on Atlantic Ave in Brooklyn Heights between Clinton and Court St. is an excellent Middle Eastern market with a wide selection. While you're in that general neighborhood, you can check out Jacques Torres Chocolate in Dumbo, Grimaldi's pizza, near-by, under the Brooklyn Bridge and the ice cream right on the pier. If you have a car, or are willing to invest some time on subways, go to Flushing for Dim Sum or Sichuan - go to Shanghai Tide's (40th Rd off of Main St.) delicious $20 all-you-can-eat and drink (Budweiser) shabu shabu hot pot. Or go to Sripriphai in Woodside. Or China 46 across the George Washington Bridge. Whatever, there're a million places to go. Look through all the past threads. (I don't think your recent, more general question about interesting places to go will get many answers. That question could apply to almost every post ever made on this site!) Read. Soak it up. That's where your answers are...

Grabbed a couple slices at DeMarco's on Saturday afternoon. The restaurant has two entrances: the Houston side looks like your standard neighborhood slice joint and the MacDougal entrance opens into a small, waiter-service, sit-down area plus a full bar (I can't imagine this bar serving much purpose, but who knows). Tried one square plain ($2.50) and one round plain ($2.50). Both took twenty minutes to arrive, as if to prove the connection to DiFara. The Sicilian slice was heavily sauced. A couple slabs of cheese on it, but it was mostly about the rich, tangy sauce and the crispy crust. The round-pie slice was nicely charred - it's so rare to get a crispy slice of pizza in the city that comes from a fresh pie. The crisp usually comes from reheating. The cheese wasn't as sharp as on a typical DiFara slice. To me, that's the defining quality at DiFara's, so I hope DeMarco's doesn't hold back on the sharp cheese. I spoke to one of the owners (not part of the DeMarco family - just a guy "who's been eating DiFara pizza for 30 years") and he said that DiFara's has an extremely hot electric oven that can't be bought anymore. He was saying that they're still working to get the temperatures in their new gas oven to match those at the mothership.

Went to Prune last night for dinner, but was stuck with the table closest to the kitchen, next to the bussing trays and the bathroom. I'm a big fan of Prune, especially for brunch, but wasn't feeling it last night (Prune might be the only French Bistro in town that should turn Down their dining room lights), so I skipped out after excellent plates of Anchovies with lemon, celery and Brazil nuts and country pate served between thick slices of bread patted with mustard. Headed over to Cru at 9:30 and was seated in the main dining room by 9:45. The food was great. All the same Amuse tastings Bond Girl described were trotted out. Cru seemed to me fairly generous with its Amuse offerings - about 8 items per person, including dessert. Is this higher than average in a 3 star NY restaurant? Tried the Arctic Char in Vanilla Oil which was basically fish candy. Maybe just a bit too sweet. Kinda overwhelmed the fish. Had little rabbit sausages served with lentils that tasted of anise. Had the excellent, buttery lobster. Also, count me in the minority - I actually enjoyed dessert. Ordered the Spontaneous. I can't tell you what the hell it was, but it was foamy and kinda lemony sweet, with a light salty cheese cube. I couldn't quite bankroll it last night, but they're offering an incredible looking White Truffle Tasting Menu right now. I forget the exact prices, but I believe there are $125, $175, and $225 dollar menus, probably 5, 7, and 9 courses respectively. Each course comes with fresh shaved white truffles. Everyone at the table has to order the tasting menu together. They said this menu would likely last through November. Oh, my only criticism, and it's completely insubstantial: the "Cru" logo is terrible. It looks like a 6th grader's first dabblings on Microsoft Word and it makes the menu look silly.

Made a return trip to China 46 this last Friday night. Another really good meal, though not quite the knockout experience of my first time there. Granted a sub-par China 46 meal still ranks it in the top percentile of NY Metro Chinese. I took a white Chinese speaking friend of mine with me who noted, as we were driving up, that the Chinese characters on the big sign out front say "9 Fish", which apparently is a play on words in the Chinese language - 9 Fish sounds similar to Good Fortune, or something to that effect. Cold Beef Slices - About 20 slices of cold beef with I think 5 spice flavoring. Simple, nice, but probably wouldn't order again. Aromatic Gluten Puffs - Served cold. Really good. The Braised Pork Dish They Serve When They Don't Have Ruby Pork - Hey, braised pork is delicious. But I can get the same thing at Joe's Shanghai. It's no Ruby Pork. Guess I should have called ahead to check. Whole Flounder In Cilantro Sauce - Drowning in not so flavorful oil. Not big on this one. My friend who'd spent time in China was like, 'yeah, this is authentic Shanghainese - bland and oily.' Soupy Shrimp Balls - The group thought they were too greasy, but I thought they were really good. What's not to like? Crispy and soupy at the same time! Capsicum Noodles - Always good, though not much sichuan peppercorn taste. Watercress Steamed With Garlic - Fresh and crunchy. Very nice. Ma Po Tofu - Solid, but a little bit one-dimensionally sweet. The smoky, rich Grand Sichuan St. Mark's version blows this one away. A big, viscous soup with weeds and tofu in it. Oh, and little bugs. Really good soup, but here's the question I have about this soup and about similar findings in lots of Chinese places: Where do the tiny bugs that show up dead in Chinese dishes come from? I see them mostly in white rice, but could they be from fresh vegetables that aren't cleaned thorougly? They look like fleas basically. I ate the soup undisturbed, but I'm curious...what's the story with these little insects? Note - Anyone reading this post who hasn't been to China 46 and would think twice about not going based on this comment, would be totally misguided. This is a great restaurant and I'm not questioning their sanitary quality.

Based on a visit yesterday afternoon, a couple thoughts about Una Pizza Napoletana: 1) They're serving one of the best pies in New York. A case could be made that it's the best crust in New York. 2) They're serving the most expensive pizza in New York. $16.95 for a 12", thin crust pie with a couple dollups of tomato and mozzarella. Since take-out isn't really a viable option with a whole pie, you're actually looking at $21.50 for a single serving, including tax and 15% tip. I believe that's significantly more than even Franny's in Park Slope which, to this point, held the high-price throne. I split the pie with another person, probably the equivalent of a single typical NY slice each, and was left so hungry we went out and got a second lunch immediately afterwards. I think I'd have to spend $30 on their pizza to get enough food. I'm sure the ingredients in U.P.N.'s pie are superior to most places and the fact that they're all crafted according to exacting standards by the owner is certainly worth a premium, but I have a hard time imagining that people will be willing to pay this much for pizza when there are abundant alternatives in town that are 90% as good, but 10% the price. Melampo and Momofuku are two examples of NYC vendors serving high-quality versions of traditionally affordable food, namely sandwiches and ramen soup, at higher than average prices within their genre. Yet their mark-up has always seemed reasonable, maybe 10-15% higher than the category average. I'd say U.P.N. is 50-75% higher than average. Is a small serving of dough, cheese, tomato, olive oil, and salt worth $21.50?

Pan, thanks for recommending Yemen Cafe. I live two blocks from it, but had never been before last night. Past Middle Eastern cravings had been satisfied by Fatoosh, Waterfall Cafe and Sahadi's. Also, a cowardly streak kept me from stepping through the all-Arabic speaking crowd that gathers there. It feels more like a community center than a restaurant. But I guess that's part of the charm. Lamb Soup - At first I thought they'd mistaken my order because there was no lamb in the soup. Then I realized it was a lamb stock. A rich broth, a sort of lamb tea. Lamb Louybia - A stew of chopped lamb and okra. Pretty good, but made really good by combining with the house hot sauce. Pan, you said you missed out on the hot sauce. It's too bad. It really made the dish come to life. The hot sauce looks a bit like Pico de Gallo and I believe includes minced tomato and cilantro. Salta w/o Lamb - Realizing I didn't want to spend too much (entrees are generally $13), the guy offered me the Salta stew, minus the lamb, for half-price. It was all right, good for dipping the flat bread in, but nothing too exciting. Overall a nice change of pace from the falafal, kibbeh, kebab standards on the rest of the block. The hot sauce really stole the show. The guy taking my order said the soups were on the house, threw in a free salad, told us to take some tea. According to the menu our dishes totaled $23. He charged $18. Now that's service. Very accomodating, especially given the reality that most of the 12 men eating and the staff all know each other and that non-Muslim locals rarely venture inside, at least at night. And Yemen Cafe has my favorite unintentionally self-deprecating restaurant slogan in the city: "All You Need Is Once"

I too have been underwhelmed by Ciao Bella. It may be the individual franchise's that're to blame (rather than the gelato itself), but I prefer, by a lot, Il Laboratorio Del Gelato.

Economy all the way! Never been on the other side of the curtain...