mascarpone

How would Prince stand up to the other top Dim Sum establishments in Flushing/Manhattan?

I stopped by DeMarco today and had a sausage slice and a plain square. It was good, but it was not the same as DiFara. A difference was the speed. I ordered, and as I was the only one there (at around 12:30) I was eating within ten minutes. As many have pointed out, the difference is Dom. At DiFara, he is the only one who makes the pizza. He has such a long and close relationship with his oven (like fifty years) he knows exactly how long pies should bake for the best result. The quality of the pizza at DeMarco can't approach DiFara because Dom and his oven are not at DeMarco. Perhaps it would be different if I would have been there later when there would have been a faster turn over; or I should go there with a group and order a whole pie instead of geting reheated slices. But in my opinion, it will be very difficult for DeMarco to catch DiFara; they are related, yet very different. DiFara is focused, it is ninety-nine percent about pizza and a master is always at the helm, whereas at DeMarco, they do other dishes, there is a nice space, waiters, a bar I think . . .

The last time I was there was a year and a half ago, therefore my recollection of Saigon Grill is foggy at best. I should refrain from answering do to lack of information. At the time I was avoiding the Pho and other noodle dishes while leaning towards low-carb beef cubes and pork chops (delicious). I do remember that it was very busy as the food was relatively cheap and tasty. How does it compare to other Vietnamese restaurants? Beats me.

Does Saigon Grill (620 Amsterdam Ave @ 90th St., 212-875-9072) fall into the "not authentic" category? I think they also do Sushi. . . .

I went to Rai Rai ken. It was just ok, I thought; not great. I prefer the Midtown West branch of Men Kui Tei (60 West 56 Street; 212-757-1642). There is an East Village Men Kui Tei that I have never been to(63 Cooper Sq., 212-226-4152). I wonder if they are also owned by Bo Yagi.

Here are some places in Nikko: [pricy] Yotaro 0288-54-0198 Ebisuya 0120-180113 [so-so] Masudaya 0288-54-2151 Nikko Yuba Gozen 1-22 Yasukawa-cho Nikko 0288-53-0353 [reasonable] Maruhide 10-24 Yasukawa-cho Nikko 0288-54-0250

I went to Nikko in December of 2003 and was taken to a modest Unagi (Eel) restaurant by my girlfriend's uncle. It was very simple place (four tables), and their main dish was a box of rice covered with Unagi. Delicious! I asked for a business card on the way out, but no luck. Unfortunately, I can't remember the name of the place. But I do have a business card of a Japanese Red bean sweets Store that was a few doors away from the Unagi place. The Sweets store was called Mitsu Yama Yo Kang Houmpo and the number in Nikko is (0288) 54-0068. I didn't buy any sweets as I had never developed a taste taste for them and they were rather expensive. I enjoyed the Unagi, as I have eaten this whenever I have been at Sushi restaurants in New York. It was definitely a step above what I was used to. It was, however, a very small place; small, but good.

I had the opportunity to go to Men Kui Tei @ 60 West 56th Street (212-757-1642) and found that the Shoyu, Kyushu-style, and Miso Ramen to be the best overall Lamen so far in New York. An interesting feature there is you can request the texture of the noodles when you order like you specify a steak order (well, medium or rare; but in this case hard, medium, or soft noodle). I ordered hard and the bowl was in front of me within a minute. And the gyoza are outstanding! A beer, gyoza, and Miso Lamen cost around $17. There is also a branch of Men Kui Tei in the East Villiage @ 63 Cooper Square (212) 228-4125, however, I have not been there. I also went to Aji-sen in china town. It was not good at all.

Thanks, Jason True. This is very helpful.

My girlfriend, a native of Tokyo, will visit Hakata City for the first time. The event she is attending is a friends wedding and she will have a bit of free time while she is there. Please recommend some specific locations with address and contact information for some inexpensive regional quisine of Hakata City. In particular, she is interested in Kyushu Style Lamen, Motsu Nabe, and Udon. Any and all locations (from restaurant establishments to Street Food vendors with food Carts) are welcome. Arigato Gosighmas. mascarpone (New York City)

I've eaten at Eleven Madison Park three times in the last three months. One dinner was fine, restaurant week dinner was Ok, but not two stars, and the last dinner was pretty good. I've eaten there a few more times in the past. I think its a little inconsistant at Eleven Madison Park, and I view it as "Jean Georges" light, meaning its serving a New American/French menu that is a bit similar in concept to Jean Georges, at half the price, and its not as good as Jean Georges. The roughly $20 prix fix lunch at Nougatine (Jean Georges cheaper part) is better done than the restaurant week special at Eleven Madison Park. That being said, Veau D'Or is a very different animal than Eleven Madison Park. For one thing, its about half the price, which puts it real close to restaurant week prices and the food was better than Eleven Madison Park's restaurant week dinner. It doesn't have the same level of service or atmosphere and the cooking is not modern. But the food is good, and well worth the money, which is the topic of this thread. ← Yeah, I can see your point. I have only been to EMP twice, and both meals were outstanding. Perhaps I got lucky both times.

Hey Pan, I knew this was going to come up sooner or later...

Thanks, Todd36, for that detailed review. If Veau D'Or was indeed superior to a meal at Eleven Madison Park during resaurant week, I will have to check it out. I had a great dinner at EMP during RW last June with Pan and another friend that was second only to Union Pacific for all time best restaurant week meals.

How much did it set you back, DCMark? How many people eating, courses, drinks?

I looked up Veau D'Or on Yahoo. It looks as though it is still kicking. The review specified it as Alsatian and rec. sweetbreads, tripe, and kidney's, escargots in garlic butter to cassoulet, coq au vin and rack of lamb. Le Veau D'Or (212) 838-8133 Address: 129 E 60th St New York, NY 10022 Cross Street: Park & Lexington Aves.

Hiroyuki, I appreciate your posting this link to the very interesting thread on Japanese cheesecake. The recipes look great and the pictures make me hungry. Arigato gosighmas!

El Malecon. I don't particularly like FDM. I do enjoy Coco Roco, however, I went there 16 months ago and I had the pescado a lo macho so I can't comment on the pollo ala brasa.

I'm flattered, but why?

Good point. I would say the clientele was 80% caucasian.

I did a dumpling tour last night with my girlfriend. We took the F to Delancy and went to Fried Dumpling on the west side of Allen just south of Delancy and ordered 10 pork/chive fried for $2. The wrapper was thin and crispy and it was well browned. The dumplings were somewhat clumped together, but came apart easily after a bit of teasing. Next we walked two blocks to Dumpling House on Eldrige between Grand and Broome. There was a mob of people there ordering and we were edged out by several other customers and ended up having to wait for a new batch of fried Pork/chive to be made. I ordered 10 for $2. Although crispy on the underside--and despite the wrapper being quite thin, the dumpling seemed somewhat doughy and undercooked as the cooks were hastily churning out the product. The contents of each dumpling were very juicy and tasted better than those at Fried dumpling. I made the mistake of popping an entire dumpling in my mouth after it had come out of the oil fryer and got burned. We then made our way to Excellent Dumplingjust south of Canal on the east side of Lafayette. This was a restaurant and the Pork/Chive fried dumplings there were inferior to those at the two establishments that we had previously visited. The main complaint is that they were thick and doughy and the contents were tasteless. We ended up paying close to six dollars for eight substandard dumplings. Last but not least we went to Tasty Dumpling south of Bayard Street on Mulberry near Columbus Park. There the dumplings were comparable to Dumpling House, yet they were completely cooked and there was more variety. I ordered five Pork/Cabbage fried for a dollar as our tummys were exploding at this point. The Cabbage gave the dumpling a sweeter taste, not nearly as dramatic a taste as the chive. The wrapper was thin and was more completely cooked than at Dumpling house, however they were not nearly as busy. Personaly, I like the chive better than the cabbage, however she prefers cabbage. The best wrapper was at Fried Dumpling and the best contents at Dumpling House. Best overall dumpling at Tasty Dumpling. The menu designs/decor at Dumpling House and Tasty Dumpling were so similar (I thought we were in a chain franchise) that I asked at Tasty Dumpling if they were at all affiliated. The woman at the counter said Dumpling house was owned by her sister. When I proceeded to ask her name to post in the review, a very large Chinese man with a menacing look came out from the kitchen and I muttered that it wasn't important and we quickly exited.

My guess is that recipes vary from household to household and from pastry chef to pastry chef. Carmen Aboy Valldejuli, who wrote the book on Puerto Rican cooking (Cocina Criolla is the name of the book) offers several recipes for plan. Flan de Leche uses milk and whole eggs. The recipe with evaporated milk also calls for whole eggs. Nevertheless, all of the flans I've ever had in Puerto Rico were far more eggier than any creme caramel in France. I'm sure they all had a surplus of yolks in addition to any whole eggs. ← Thanks for the tip on the cookbook, Bux. As flan is my current obsession, this is a more economical option.

I could not have said it better myself. Rai Rai Ken got a thumbs down because mainly because of the noodle texture issue. Also, although off the subject, the qyoza were terribly greasy and were falling apart.

Perhaps recipes vary from country to country. Triana is a Dominican bakery...

I had an interesting chat with Maria, the main baker at Triana Bakery-Cafeteria. She said that there are similarities between quesillo and flan--sugar, egg (yolk and whites), liquid vanilla. The differences, according to Maria the baker, are that quesillo is made with condensed milk, evaporated milk, and regular milk while flan has powdered milk and water. Maria, who was very impressed that I had posted a review of her bakery on the internet, said she would be interested in giving cooking classes on Domincan pasteries to anyone who was interested. Triana Bakery/Cafeteria 1493-95 St. Nicholas Avenue (184 & 185 St.) Tel. 212-740-6198, 212-740-2583 Todas Clases de Sandwich, Bizcocho Dominicano, para Cumpleanos, Bodas, Bautizo, etc. NB. Milagros, the voluptuous baker at the counter, may try to seduce any unsuspecting men with a sweet tooth.

I have to disagree about Momofuku. I was dissapointed with the Ramen there. Namely, the texture is soft (it should be more al dente) and, face it... real egg noodles should have a yellow color. These noodles are white and the bowl/ingedient presentation is totally unbalanced. I was much more satisfied with Minca six months ago before it slipped. Rai-Rai Ken is somewhat better than Momofuku, although not by a substantial margin. Momofuku is more of a general noodle soup bar than a serious Japanese Ramen joint.