Gastro888

Regardless, a train ride from the city to Flushing isn't that long or that bad. Heck, people do it for the US Open and for Mets games. Oh well, their loss. More food for me. Anyways, I think you'd have a better experience with some advance planning and the help of a friend who speaks either Cantonese or Mandarin. Get everything all set up before you go. Even at Chinese wedding banquets, there really isn't that much service.

Oh c'mon. Seriously? Even for some awesome food? Wow. That's sad.

I understand what you're saying, Peter. But it's all in the context. 'Sides, you're on their turf (bike). I can top your experience. At the first strategic planning meeting I had with the consultants for our company, one of the senior consultants asked me point blank where I was from fifteen minutes into the meeting. Anyways, I don't want to get off topic - it is FG's thread. Just wanted to shed a bit of light on the infamous question.

Nightclub pickup line...nice! It's rather direct and for me, it's just a question you don't ask unless you actually care. Most people ask that question because they're trying to catagorize individuals. I'm not the only one who shares this view on the question. I would suggest people to try and figure it out on your own or try to ask after establishing yourself as a loyal patron.

Wow! Sounds lovely! Thank you for the interesting tip, dfunghi! Wow. That sounds wonderful. Oh man. Good thing you posted before I made my reservation. Or good thing that I procrastinate. Oh man. Hmm. OK. Let's see what the +1 says.... PS: I heart mushrooms big time. You're lucky to be in the business.

Thanks, LPShanet! After learning that the Striphouse is "loud", I'm not too keen on going there for a date. Maybe by myself for those 'taters everyone's talking about. I walked by BLT Steak last night and the menu's about the same as BLT Prime. The space seemed more geared towards a lounge than a cozy restaurant like BLT Prime. Maybe that's just my impression.

I've seen it spelled remus and rebus so I don't know which is the correct way of spelling the word. Thanks for the tip.

Well done! I'm glad that things went well. Sounds like you had a great dinner!

Oh hells yes. I love me some fat. I'll put in my request for a two-top and hopefully I'll remember to bring the camera and take pictures. To be honest, I thought about this: if I'm going to pay $200+ for a meal, I want to have a nice experience in a nice atmosphere. PL is what it is and for this particular dinner, I want a bit more. Also, I heard the cheese popovers were beast. I am a sucker for a good popover. Haven't had a decent one in years!

Bottom line - is the mom worth all this b.s. from the daughter? If so, then proceed to accomodate the daughter. And get ready to do it for the rest of the relationship. If not, make sure the meat's extra rare so that it oozes blood when you're cutting it in from of the 23 YO brat. Not like I have an evil streak or anything.

I walked by BLT Prime the other day and they have Waygu on the menu as well as mashed. The environment looks comfortable and inviting and I think I'm going to give it a whirl. We'll save PL for another time; since this is more of a date night for us, I think BLT Prime might fit the bill. (OK, honestly it was the Waygu Rib eye that tipped the scale...)

She's 23 years old and on a friggin' power trip. It would be one thing if she was polite and nice about it but she's not. Don't change anything and tell your partner that I love you, I understand where you're coming from but NO. Give this girl and inch and she's plow you over. Don't give in.

Re: riding a bike around the city. It is alot of fun if you are prepared. NYC is lovely on a bike. I didn't like the Penang on Prince, either. They probably gave you the 3rd degree about the Asam Laksa because they were afraid you might not like it and complain. How was it? (I've yet to find a decent asam laksa myself) The Elmhurst location doesn't have the best service but I do like their mee remus and their chow kwey tow. But to each their own. Try it and let me know what you think. Of course, as always, it's cash only.

If you are going to Flushing, stop by Penang in Elmhurst (near the Elmhurst train station) and try their bowl of Mee Remus and let me know what you think. I miss hawker food from Malaysia! Only 45 minutes? Ya gotta walk an hour minimum TO your food in order to worship at the temple of gluttony. j/k Keep it up! Walking does help.

I'm sure you know this but for those who may not, ho fun and chow fun mean the same thing. Ho fun is the wide, flat, fat noodle itself and chow fun means that said noodle is stir fried. But depending on where you're from you could use them interchangeably a la my momma. And we all know mommas are never wrong! LOL! Try going to Great NY Noodletown, Congee Village, Big Wong's, or Hsien Wong in the city. I've been told that all the "Wong" restaurants are run by the same da sifu (big boss) so their recipe for cooking and roasted meats are the same. Whether this is true or not, I'm not so sure. Me, I'd hit up Big Wong (69 Mott) or Hsien Wong (72 Bayard). People are "nicer" at Hsien Wong. All things being relative in Chinatown, of course. I enjoyed my meal at Nyonya. I usually eat Malaysian in Queens or Brooklyn as I'm a B&T person. (Hey, it's all good!) I do Nyonya in Brooklyn and Penang, CoCo Leaf or Curry Leaf in Queens. The Java Mee at Penang in Queens is the closest I've come to eating mee remus here in America. Granted it's still a ways off but it's pretty damn close without the plane ticket. I usually compare the nasi lemak and the choy kwey tow comparison when I go to various Malaysian places. The Penang in Queens puts pieces of crispy pork fat in their verison. Hello, dolly! PS: re: gaining weight in NYC. Here's a great tip - WALK! NYC is one of the best cities to walk around and a good way to counteract all those calories is to walk to your destination, walk afterwards and walk back home. Example: this weekend when I came in for my grub fest, I walked from 20th and 1st to Mott and Canal. I know that's crazy but it works for me.

Don't overmix. My mom mixes her doughs for dumpling skins just so. You don't want to kill it, just bring it together. Add some rice flour for a go. Good luck & let us know your results.

Did you speak to the manager?

Nyonya was good! We had the roti, satay, popiah (thank goodness they made it with the real skins and not the rice papers), nasi lemak, java mee and chow kwey tow. The chow kwey tow didn't have the chunks of pork fat that I like but it was tasty. The Java Mee is better at the Penang in Elmhurst, Queens. Nyonya's verison was too sweet and goopy and lacked the complex spicy/sweet/seafood taste that I like in a Java Mee. (Actually, it should be called mee remus but it's too soupy, I suppose) We had dessert at il lab. Yum.

We can get really good tofu in Japan. I was never big on tofu until we tried tofu in Japan! I haven't seen flat rice noodles, so perhaps I could stock up on them to bring back to Japan.. ← Ho fun (the wide flat rice noodles made fresh by these stores) does NOT travel well. It's a same-day food product. You should try and make the trek out there, it's worth it. Lucky you to get the big baos! Maybe we were in line at the same time? I can tell you, I was bitter after waiting and then hearing the person in front of me order 35 buns in total. In regards to Egg Custard King, you can get them fresh out of the oven if you keep an eye out for them and if you firmly request (politely, of course) for the fresh ones. Sheer heaven. Glad to hear you had a good time in C-town! We went to Nyonya for Malaysian food. I would've gone to Skyway had I remembered the address...oops!

^Considering you're going to Flushing to eat, any bit of additional exercise is always good for you. It's not that terribly bad. Granted, you could do the transfer in the city and take the 7 train from 42nd street and do it express to Flushing. I went to Mei Lai Wah yesterday at 5:45pm to get *1* cha siu bao and the butthead in front of me cleared the tray with his order of 20 cha siu bao (baked) and 15 cha siu bao (steamed). Ahhhh, no bao for me. Damn! I comforted my lack of baos with some roast duck 4 doors down at Hsien Wong. Excellent roast duck! Try getting some fresh tofu or wide rice noodles on at the stores Mott or on Division & Broadway. Do you get those in Japan? It would be nice to have some fresh tofu or rice noodles in your home kitchen. I don't know the name but PM me if you want details. I don't want to bore anyone with my messed up directions!

Unless you're willing to front my ticket, it'll be a while before I head to Japan. No one's been to Rothman's or heard anything about it? That's not a good sign...uh oh....

Mei Lah Wah should open by 7-7:30am on Saturdays. Be prepared. They get alot of people coming in for their cha siu baos and you'll be waiting in line, thinking you're going to get one b/c you're only #2 in line and the dufus in front of you buys the whole tray and you're stuck waiting 20 minutes for the next round. Yeap, this had happened to me and my friends on various separate visits. Bleah. Flushing's only about 1 hour away via train from downtown Manhattan. It's at the end of the 7 line. Totally worth the trip out. Go to Tung Yi Fung near 37th and Main Street. Best dim sum in Flushing. Gum Fung should reopen sometime in September. They're good plus they're bigger so more seats are available. Tung Yi Fung is small so you have to be there before primetime dim sum or suffer waiting with the throngs of annoying people. (I sound so antisocial!)

Just my 0.02 cents: Careful how you ask the, "So, where are you from?" question. I am often asked that question out of context (ie, in a business situation where my ethnicity has no bearing on discussion at hand) and quite honestly, it irritates me to no end. Not that any eG'er would need this tip but please engage in polite small talk before jumping straight to that, "So, where are you from?" question. Regardless, you might get the smart ass like me who might say, "From my mother's womb."

What type of flour did you use? Regular wheat? Cake flour? I think the noodles in jjajjang myeon aren't all wheat - there's gotta be some rice flour or mung bean flour or sweet potato flour in there. My mom makes dumpling skins with boiling water, not regular cold water. It's not like pasta where you use plain old water. Stirring in boiling water does something to the gluten in whear flour. What, I forgot. Not much help, I'm sorry.

That explains why the choy was so nasty tasting. These were rather big leaves on a woody steam. Blargh, so gross.