Gastro888

Try using the instant coffee powder. The additional water could make it too wet to flake up. Just my guess from what I learned second hand from my culinary/pastry schoolmate. I dislike ping pei because they're so friggin DRY! (Well, to me at least). I have in my hands a 4 yolk white lotus mooncake tin from Wing Wah. I was going to give it to my Dai Goo but my mom tells me not to overwhelm her with something so darn rich. Then she tells me not to eat it because 4 yolks is a bit much. I suppose I could give Dai Goo a 2 yolk white lotus tin but isn't it pass the season? I won't be able to see her until two weeks from now so would it be tacky for me to give it to her then? I think it would be, but maybe I'm overthinking things.

I'm not one for fawning service; I don't need any ego-stroking. But I do find it funny other people want it! Good service to me means someone who's effective, efficient, knowledgeable, approachable and a wee bit friendly. As I mentioned upthread, PL gives me the impression that if you did complain, they probably wouldn't care.

(Well, it wasn't a date per se. Not like a first date or anything; it was a date night. But I digress. I'd be happy going to a steakhouse on a date but maybe that's just me.) It was American Wagyu that wasn't graded so perhaps $92 is considered low for those who are in the know about Wagyu. This was our first experience with the meat and quite frankly, we weren't impressed. Then again, it may have been the pounding music in our ears that could've hindered our enjoyment. (I suppose I drove the point home about the music, huh?) I stand by my decision to go to BLT Prime even though I had an okay experience overall. In the end, I had good service, great popovers and sides and a good strip steak and a okay Wagyu. I would prefer that than take a chance and go to PL and have the same experience with horrid service. Hey, at least BLT's servers took care of me.

Not really. No one said BLT Prime was bad or that the steaks weren't good. People are saying that PL's inconsistent (hey, look at Bruni's review) and to be frank, at these prices, I expect a certain level of service and I don't want to deal with surly waitstaff unless I *KNOW* the food's worth it in the end. Based on what I've read, it seems that the steaks are PL aren't always a homerun. I'd rather deal with a restaurant that provides me good service to make sure if that happens, they'll take care of the situation. Sounds like PL would give you the evil eye if you were to make a complaint. Goosefat potatoes or not, I'm not going to Strip House and dealing with the loud music. (I swear, I'm not 80 years old...) Blast BLT Prime and the siren jazz music on their website. In regards to the wagyu, I expect a restaurant to be able to serve it properly if they put it on the menu. Honestly, the whole steakhouse thing makes me wonder if I can't just do it better myself at home. I think we're done for steakhouses on our own dime. Our money's better spent on other restaurants. PS: The popovers were the bomb, though. God, I love me a good popover and these were gloriously eggy and rich. I should've eaten 6 and called it a night.

I got the Wagyu. To be fair, it was $92 and not $100 but... I wouldn't have mind if they played jazz music loudly, some Bach or Beethoven but modern dance music? Give me a friggin break. And their website plays jazz music when you open it! @#$!

I understand up-tempo music to turn tables but dance music while I'm eating a $100 steak? Ugh. Now I have to try PL.

I'll post my pictures later when I find my @#$! cable to upload. Suffice it to say that BLT Prime has awesome popovers and okay steaks. Sides were good, service was pretty good. One major problem: the place was friggin LOUD! Ugh. I'd go to a lounge if I wanted to listen to Hoobastank. Ugh, I thought from the website and the decor, they'd be playing "softer" music. What the @#$! is up with restaurants playing dance music? I know Momofuku does it but people are made aware of this fact. I don't want to walk into a place that looks classy and then get loud dance music. (Gah, I sound so friggin' old! Durn kids these days!)

Hell, it's the Chinatowns in NYC. We've got fake EVERYTHING here. Well, I think the bakeries here in NYC use hen eggs instead of duck eggs. I would like to think they use duck eggs but fat chance. Fake egg yolks are quite common, from what my parents tell me. My father warns me to be on the watch for it. Take your (room temperature) mooncake, cut it and look at the yolk. It should have a uniform appearance & color and be somewhat oily. Taste the yolk alone and try to identify any off flavors. When I brought home my 4-yolk mooncake, he saw that TWO of the @#$! yolks were fake. The colors were off and it was like a crumbly paste instead of a smooth and oily, well, YOLK!

I don't know. I have had mooncakes from my local bakery and I bought this tin of mooncakes ($31!!!! ) from the local Chinese grocery store. It says imported from HK. I hope, given the price that I paid, that it's all white lotus root and real egg yolks. I'd be mighty pissed if it's fake. One time I bought a 4-yolk mooncake last year from a local bakery and it turned out to be 50% fake yolk! I was ticked!

Nah. That's just how I refer to myself.

My parents will be doing it this year and I will give it a go with my friend, once the north wind starts kicking in. My mom taught me that one should only make lap yuk when the north wind is blowing hard and fast - like late Nov/early Dec. I'll probably start curing in late Oct. My dad does soy, cooking wine, rock sugar and salt. I think. It's some magical potion that makes pork belly oh so tasty.

Elaborate, please! How did you order your steak? Medium rare? And it was overcooked? Did you mentioned this to the waitstaff? Did they offer another steak? Just curious...

It's still Chinatown in Manhattan which is predominately Cantonese. 8th Ave or Flushing is a whole different story. ← I'm only basing this on eating in Chinatown with Mandarin-speaking friends...who found that often (not the majority of the time) the servers are actually Mandarin speakers from Taiwan or elsewhere....there's definitely a new recent wave of immigration. ← I'm not disputing the fact that there are Taiwanese or Fuijanese immigrants in Chinatown. I'm only citing fact that Manhattan's Chinatown is predominately Cantonese relative to 8th Ave and/or Flushing. Either Mandarin or Cantonese will get you around in any of the three Chinatowns. Also, the "recent wave" of immigration of mainland Chinese begain in the 90's. The wave of Taiwanese immigrants started in the 70's/80's. But I digress! Onto the food! Good to hear that you made your res. without any problems, markk! So raji, have you booked your table yet? Make sure you get some noodles for your birthday dinner. I'm sure they could do a really good lobster e-fu mein for you.

Thanks for the article, FG. We'll try the PL steak one day soon. I suppose it's like going to Katz's - ya gotta do it if you're living here and are into food. Hopefully I'll have enough sense to remember the camera and post a report after our dinner this weekend. Unless I OD on the popovers.

Aw, I'm sorry that happened to you aprilmei. =( Yes, our mooncakes are the WMDs that they have been looking for, they're just that deadly to our national security that they must be thrown out. Blargh, don't they have anything better to do? Speaking of mooncakes, I'm eating my last Tai Wing Wah double yolk white lotus mooncake today. Saving 1/2 for my +1, though. Gotta be fair.

It's still Chinatown in Manhattan which is predominately Cantonese. 8th Ave or Flushing is a whole different story.

Try opentable.com, they will be able to help you find a table in your specified time range. Gotham Bar and Grill is a v. good restaurant to have an event. Good luck!

Thank you for your help, everyone. I've passed along the rec's to the organizer. They can figure it out for themselves. Gah, there goes my anti-social button again!

Oh, are you KIDDING ME? Those idiot agents made you do that? Nice. Knives slip through our security but they won't let you bring back mooncakes. I would've parked my butt on the floor and just started eating them one by one. aprilmei, where did you fly into? LAX? SFO? JFK? I find that Dulles airport in VA has very reasonable customs agents.

Hi all, Got a request to find a restaurant in the city that serves 'roo meat. Anyone know what restaurant serves this? Supposedly there is one. It's for a surprise bday meal for a friend. This Friday. (Nice to see at even at this age, people still do the last minute @#$!) Thanks for your help!

It'll be interesting to see what happens. Chef Craig is quite the talented chef and I understand the owners are very interested in turning things around. Let's give it a go and see what happens. Who knows, maybe a year from now we'll be dying to get a table.

Wow. Unless you're the big cheese, you're not making crap for the hours. Bless the chefs, man. Ya gotta love the line to work it that hard!

OK, we made a decision and our reservations are for BLT Prime. We decided on this place because they have the Kobe, Wagyu, and porterhouse available, a good selection of sides (blue cheese tater tots...interesting!), a cozy space, and of course...the cheese popovers. I will make sure I have my camera so that I can provide y'all with a report. Thanks to everyone who provided hints, tips and comments. I really appreciate it. One day we'll go to PL but maybe after they get rid of the rat that's been scampering around.

Holy smokes. Wow! Amazing! So where did you get the patio wok thing? I have never seen that before! I want to get one for my momma. Is it pricey?

Oh raji, you disappoint me! (I kid, I kid!) You'd be better off going in person and trying to speak to someone there instead of doing this over the phone. Odd, I know. But that's how it's usually done. PS: It's HK'er, not honger. Honger makes me think of the noise a goose makes.