Nathan

no one's forcing you to like or dislike everything. we have every right to say it when we think someone's suggestions are misguided. personally, when I travel a couple thousand miles to eat somewhere I'd prefer to have the best of what they offer edit: and, generally speaking, the baked goods in the Netherlands blow ours out of the water.

of course the DOH shuttering Veniero's for a massive vermin infestation the other week has to add to the adventure.

Peasant is a good idea. I'd say that the Spotted Pig is very London right now.

It opened about a year ago...with mediocre drinks and a semi-preppy crowd. Wasn't a bad bar by any means though. Now it's been revamped with some industry vets behind the cocktails. Went last night (opening night) with a couple of the usual suspects. Decor has more of an M&H feel now....at least upstairs. Serious commitment to ingredients. Sasha was in the house and making some of our drinks. This place seems real and should be an excellent option to M&H. They do seem to be taking a bit of a velvet rope approach. Cocktails were comped.

heh...I think we were there in March. I just assumed that the renovation had already been covered by all the usual suspects...

do you know when this happened? several of us went a couple months ago and noticed the renovation then...we weren't sure when it had been done.

Perhaps I'm naively assuming most people wouldn't fall for that; it was so blatant. ← but even our very light ordering (I'd had a big lunch and my companion is a small eater) still put us at around 150....which I've definitely done as a total for 2 at say Hearth...

I'd say the fritter with the upselling is what sealed the deal for me. the pork wing was just the coup de grace. though it appears that spotted professional critics manage to actually get fillings in the fritter.

I wouldn't go that far, but I agree it is overpriced in relation to the quality. ← if you followed the server's advice you'd spend at least a $100 pp. probably more. one can easily eat at any of those restaurants (Babbo being tight) for that or less....easily.

I come not to praise this restaurant but to bury it. It's a pathetic, cynical attempt to fleece people. I haven't hated a restaurant this much in a long time. If Korean, Asian fusion, Malaysian etc...didn't exist in NY...then it might be a halfway decent restaurant...just cause it'd be innovative. But they do exist. when we walked in my companion said "this looks like a ghetto Bar Blanc"....the decor is pretty sparse and stark but I didn't find it disagreeable. service was pleasant except for an attempt to upsell (I hate that ___.) one palatable drink on the cocktail list...just a julep with some shiso thrown in. wine list looked ok. it was full when we came in at 8:30 but relatively empty by 10. ok, the food: trio of tartares in avocado soup. not a great dish by any means but it at least reflected an upscale restaurant kitchen. mixed greens had a good, tart dressing. unagi and scallion fritter. pure crap. all dough. literally. that was it. not as in the filling was too sparse...as in it didn't appear to exist at all. I'd expect this for $4 from the neighborhood Asian-fusion delivery place...but just because Bar Q passes the napkin test doesn't give them the right to serve this dish...at any price (nevermind the one they do serve it at). ok, I forgot to mention...the best food item we had is the basket of crisps they serve in lieu of bread. those are seriously good. (nevermind that they took them away when we weren't done with them) but credit is due...those are nice. pork "wing".....ugh, this was more crap. a tiny amount (i.e. like a $1 in raw food cost) of overcooked pork on the bone in a one-dimensional, slightly (very slightly) spicy sauce. completely pathetic. a side dish of "fried garlic milk" was somewhat interesting. fine for what it was. I feel like I'm forgetting something else...but obviously it wasn't memorable. at the same price point you can eat at Hearth, Insieme, Perry Street, Bar Blanc, or even Babbo (with care). yes, I understand that their rent at that location must be extraordinary...but places at that price point have to justify it somehow...if you're serving small plates with cheap cuts of meat....at least show serious kitchen skill and layers of flavor...this place makes the $40 short rib at Grayz look like a bargain (it's not). nevermind that Fatty Crab serves similar food (sort of) that's a. better....and b. half the price. but they don't fold your napkins when you go to the bathroom. so maybe Anita figures that justifies the markup and overcooked pork and fillingless fritters. maybe so. what do I know? yes, I realize I'm completely slamming the place based upon one visit (though I've since heard similar accounts from people I trust)....and maybe some days those fritters actually have fillings....but nothing would ever justify that pork "wing" (unless they forgot two-thirds of the dish and how to make the sauce last night).

Either of the Momofukus will work well for both of them. Lupa. Bar Room at the Modern. Perry Street for lunch. standard picks but they should make both of them happy. alas, serious cocktail bars are out....(though he can get decent drinks at Grayz after Bar Room at the Modern...its a restaurant so she can come in)

opening night was last night. this place kind of snuck up on us a bit...taking over the old Gin Lane/Village Idiot space. Dining room was full. the long bar remained full (mostly with diners) the entire time though I was able to secure a seat after a few minutes. there are also a number of walk-in (I assume) tables in the front bar area...these were never full. wine by the glass list had some interesting selections, along with others that looked pretty familiar. ordered the Conant trademarked tuna "susci", the calamarata pasta with sea urchin and tagliatelle with lamb and peas. the bread service showed a semi-deft touch...accompaniments included olive oil, a too cold butter and good caponata...the latter is a great idea. the susci was quite good....albeit it probably stood out more a few years ago....a lot of dishes kind of like this on NY menus now. the calamarata was very good. really, really liked this dish. tagliatelle was good...though not with quite as many layers of flavor as some of its competitors elsewhere. the only real sour note was the guy living upstairs who was standing next to me and being incredibly obnoxious (despite the best efforts of his friend)...I think he was completely hammered (hope he was...shudder to think if that was sober behavior). the kitchen had fallen behind of course (opening night) but the offered drink on the house was exactly the right thing to do. the front of the house in general seemed very efficient and friendly. impressive for opening night. prices? not cheap but not at all out of line with its genre competition around town...by today's NY standard. crowd seemed to be pretty much entirely from the city. which, of course, leads to the big "but".....it's in the MPD. this could be a really good restaurant...Conant can cook. but in the MPD restaurants inevitably decline as they stop caring. now one difference is that this is his main (or even sole) gig now. you would think that would keep the kitchen in line. but what about the FOH? we'll see. I certainly wish them well....as I live within a couple blocks I would love to have it so.

there aren't any. it's midtown. Grayz is it. in the very southern part of Murray Hill you have Bar Milano...where the house drinks are serious....I can't say whether you'd want to go off-menu or not. then you've got Flatiron Lounge. that's it above 14th.

there is none. you come to a mutual agreement over what you want the pairing to cost.

ate here on Saturday night. its impressive how quickly they renovated the space... none of the food is revelatory but most of it's pretty good. the signature cabrito, alas, was overcooked and dry. decent attempt at a cocktail list with some good ideas...and the usual tendency toward sweetness. crowd was a bit strange...it was packed (unlike Barfry)....and not a neighborhood or dailycandy crowd either. felt sort of like all of Tortilla Flats had come a few blocks over (without the birthday parties)...apparently Cabrito was previewed in Time Out....I guess Mexican is a crowd pleaser...

there's some pretty good stuff happening at Flatiron Lounge right now (and at Pegu...that Aperol Sunset is dreamy).

while trying the akamura modern last night (my friend was a ramen virgin so that was fun...), I sampled a couple starters, of which the standout was the tofu in a meaty broth cooked very hot in a stone bowl.

I actually read the review as an explanation as to why it wasn't four stars. I read it as saying that considering the price, the lack of formal trappings didn't matter...rather the issue was with a set menu with no options......every single course would have to be flawless and thrilling....and that some courses were while others weren't. thus the three stars.

you did very well...

congratulations to Serpico, Chang, et al. it is well-deserved.

my experiences with the service at Ko have all been good. some of the cooks can be a little taciturn, yes, but I'm not there to banter.

Which was my point. (at least one person on this thread is on the record as stating that "the kitchen sent out" means "I was comped")

I wasn't talking about Ko so much as Ssam and Noodlebar. As I said, I think the service at Ko suffers because the chefs are not comfortable talking much, so it fails to have sushi bar style service, which is what great service there would entail. I've never heard anyone say that service at the Yasuda sushi bar is inferior to other places in its price range. (I have heard complaints about table service there). But I think comparing Ssam to other restaurants in its price range makes little sense unless you compare it to other no-reservations restaurants of similar demand. I can't think of any others in that price range with that demand where you can't reserve. ← good point. Blaue Gans was the closest until they started taking reservations...(and they never reached that demand level)

point retracted. but a special is not normally referred to as an "off-menu" dish...at least on these threads...where others use it to refer to a free dish.

um: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...dpost&p=1564363 ← what does that mean? ← You said that you're not VIP'd at either Ssam or Noodle Bar. but in that other post you described getting extra dishes at Noodle Bar.