Nathan

if you read the comments, Levy gets at that...and agrees that the NY Times reviewer is representing the "common diner"...

this is fascinating: http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/food/2008/04/levy_spencer.html

I live four blocks away so I've been in a number of times. the lack of jiggers is a disappointment. the actual liquor collection is pretty decent, nice to see little in the way of vodka but a decent assortment of ryes and rums instead. music is good. food is pretty good bar food. like the chicken liver and bacon sandwich, as well as the razor clams. alas, last night (Tuesday!) was packed with tourists and B&T.

it was about 75% Japanese on Saturday. maybe 10% other Asians. but that was the soft opening.

fwiw, there's more offal at Sripaphai than just the pork stomach dish.

Tony's from the DeGroff school (they're old friends I believe). although they were practically the only ones carrying the torch for many years, the places they consult at now tend not to be up to contemporary standards (using jiggers etc.)...but here's hoping.

Daisy17, can you explain your reaction to this dish a bit more? I liked this dish quite a lot, but I'm not sure why it's not just Momofuku's interpretation of some fairly obvious combos (eggs, caviar, potatoes, onions). I think they've managed to innovate the form of those items in a great way- and the purple vinegar is delicious- but I can't really understand the stumped reaction. Did you like it more than the Jean Georges egg or the L'Arpege egg, for example? ← I thought it was a fairly standard high-haute dish. a very good one but not out of the ordinary. more of a demonstration that they can do that kind of food when they want to. I haven't had the L'Arpege egg but I like the JG egg a little more (though I'd put the Ko egg in the same class in terms of execution).

I'm sure it's not authentically Malaysian but that's hardly the point. it's a terrific restaurant. the pork with watermelon, the sliders are some of the best burgers in NY, the fatty tea sandwiches are terrific, the fatty duck is great....plus the whole dinner party atmosphere is a lot of fun.

you know, in all the times I've eaten here, I've never gotten the skate. that was a mistake.

I was puzzled to read this. Are most foodies looking for a great meal, or for excitement? I like restaurants that have consistent delicious food, things that I can look forward to, or as my wife says, "dishes that I get hungry for". To me, exciting restaurants are by definition inconsistent and unreliable places you wouldn't want to patronize regularly. Nice for a tourist, but not for a local looking for a regular source of pleasure and sustenance. We tried Gusto once when it was fresh and new and once after the name chef left, on neither occasion did it please us, let alone excite us. ← what I specifically meant is that there are now quite a few Italian restaurants serving similar menus...when Gusto opened it was much more of a novelty.

cabbage was the vegetable. agreed there wasn't enough.

just finished a very late lunch here. The pork belly with daikon was quite good and the broth in the akamura modern is something else!

besides the lobster place in Chelsea market, the one on Bleecker usually has a selection. Garden of Eden definitely carries paddlefish, not sure about beluga or sevruga.

Soto might be reasonably hot enough. Jewel Bako was last hot sometime in the Garfield presidency (ok, more like 5 years ago).

yeah, if it's sushi you want...15 East, Yasuda and Soto (though more for the creative cooked dishes) are the way to go.

had a pretty good meal here last night with a bunch of people. all of the chawan mushi's were good.... wagyu tongue was terrific. steaks are good. pork entree wasn't as tender as it could be but flavorful. definitely an overlooked place.

its also on menupages. ippudo/ny.com is up but no menu...(at least in English)

the relevant thread is here: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...8&mode=threaded Jody Williams did get a fair amount of accolades at Gusto over the years...it was always one of the better midrange Italians. she was then brought over to (the somewhat disappointing) Morandi as her mainstay by McNally. and that's where she cooks now. she is behind the menu at Gottino, a new winebar a half block down from Gusto...(it's quite good) Gusto is probably still just fine but it was definitely more exciting years ago.

see, I didn't understand the question then because lunch is ala carte...while dinner is not...so obviously you can order just desserts at lunch. so it followed that you were asking about dinner....and if you can order ala carte at dinner at the bar from the real menu...that's news.

oh sure. but that says nothing about dinner ... which is what I thought the question was about.

to the best of my knowledge, the only bar at JG is the Nougatine bar....which serves the Nougatine menu.

the food and service can be altered (whether comped or not) when a critic is recognized. not so for the wine.

really? this is news to me. you could always order the Nougatine menu at the bar but.....I've never heard of anyone ordering from the real menu.

as someone who lives in the northwest corner of the village...I would certainly claim that the MPD is not my hood! its its own entity.

looks to me like Robert's is still a great idea since it's a nice backdoor way to get them proximate to a striphouse without actually violating one member's wishes... clubs/bars are iffy for that number of guys....I suppose some serious bottle-purchasing would come in handy.