
banquo
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Everything posted by banquo
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Great pictures u.e. I have reservations for next month, but after seeing your pics I'm tempted to make another one for sooner! I can't wait to try the uni from Maine--I hope they have it when I'm there. I had always heard and read that the uni from the Californian Coast demanded the highest prices and hence was of the highest quality. I guess Yasuda believes differently, or did I misunderstand your comments? I've never tried ankimo either. Is it mainly a textural treat or is there a distinct flavor profile (aside from the poaching medium)? Did Yasuda happen to mention what kind of sea salt he uses/prefers?
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Grand Sichan Eastern is one of my favorite restaurants in the city. In my opinion it's the best of the Grand Sichuans, but that is clearly a matter of preference since each one has its own emphasis. Grand Sichuan Eastern emphasizes 'New' Sichuan cuisine. That's the part of the menu you really want to order from, although they recently added a New Year's Menu and the things I've ordered from it are also very good. I usually order the 'live sliced fish' (it comes in a stainless steel 'tub' and swimming in cabbage, chile oil and a bit of stock), dry sauteed baby shrimp, soft shell crab (Chendu or chongquing style, it comes with a mountain of whole dried red chile peppers), Sichuan pickled cabbage, Sichuan sour cabbage soup w/whole fish, sauteed pea shoots. The smoked tea duck is also excellent although there seems to be some inconsistency: sometimes it's the best BBQ ever, and other times it's only very good. Their double cooked pork is not as good as the Hell's Kitchen version, so I'd skip it. I completely agree with the cold spicy rabbit dish recommendation.
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Last night I craved something hearty and spicy, so the search was on for some soup. I recalled a Korean place on 33rd that I tried last year but had since completely forgot about (who goes to 33rd when everything seems to be on 32nd?). The place is called Yangpyung Seoul Haejangguk. The last term, according to my Korean wife, means 'morning after soup', as in morning after a severe bender. This is an apt description of their primary offerings. They do not have a phone book sized menu like many places on 32nd, and I think this is to their advantage. I noticed a handful of BBQ offerings, but no one in the place was ordering any. Everyone I saw, and myself included, ordered some form of soup or stew (excepting one table that got a full sized roasting pan full of something I couldn't see). The soups here are 1st rate and not for the faint of heart. They have various offal soup offerings, some dumpling offereings, and one black goat offering, but we opted for the more mundane pork and beef. The pork stew came out bubbling hot in a slightly-larger-than-usual clay bowl. To say the presentation is rustic here is a gross understatement (I still can't get out of my mind the roasting pan they brought to that one table). The bowl was piled high with pork neck bones and a large potato cut in half. I had to remove most of the bones and the potato to comfortably eat the stew lurking beneath. The stew was incredible. It was rich and deep, hearty and spicy: everything I was craving. I pulled some of the pork meat from the bones and threw them in the stew. Even more delicious. The banchan is also first rate. Fresh and crisp with easily discernible flavors. That is, very much unlike many of the restaurants on 32nd. My wife ordered the spicy beef soup (yuk gye jang). I didn't try it last night but had some this morning. As equally delicious as the pork stew. We also ordered the seafood pancake. This was only ok. Nothing special, but not a failure either. All in all clearly the best Korean soup I've had in Manhattan. The other bonus is that the place seems to be a bit under the radar. There is no wait for a table (unlike Kun Jip--my favorite overall Korean in Manhattan). Perhaps the adult video store and cabaret across the street are keeping people away.
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Please explain how if food was underseasoned, you were steered to a bottle of wine that was a "mistake" and "dull," and "overpriced," this was overall a good experience? ← Regarding the wine, that was our mistake for having gone way over our intended price point. If it had been under $40, it still would have been dull, but I probably wouldn't have given it a second thought. Not all of the food was underseasoned. The octopus, pizza and gnocci were, as I said, fantastic. And when I say underseasoned, I didn't mean to imply that there was no flavor. I just thought that with a bit more agressive seasoning, the existing flavors would have hit their peak. We had an overall good experience because the room was festive, some of the food was excellent, and the conversation was good. Next time we will definitely order more in line with our appetites, and I think that will result in an even finer experience--it's difficult to crave and appreciate a giant steak when one's stomach is about to burst from eating too many gnocci.
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Went last Saturday. I'd read that the room is dimly lit, but didn't note that at all. The service was merely ok. Our waiter was basically MIA, but that wasn't unexpected given the informality of the setting. We ordered the sardines, octopus, gnocci, pizza, a leg of lamb special, whole grill sea bass and the bistecca. The sardines were terrible. I'd read very good things about them, and I suspect something went wrong with our particular prep. The sardines were pasty and therefore had an unexpected and unappealing texture. Moreover, they were quite bland. The octopus, on the other hand, were 1st rate. Just a touch of spice and acid, along with perfect texture. Yum. Ditto on the gnocci and pizza as well. Really, really good. The entrees, however, did not fair as well. I ordered my bistecca rare, and it was served raw. Along with an impossibly dull steak 'knife' the raw and giant T-bone proved to be uncuttable and barely edible. I would have sent it back for more cooking but by that time, to be honest, I was too full to eat another bite. The good part was that the next day, I stuck it under the broiler for 5 minutes, added some fleur de sel, olive oil and lemon juice, and the steak was absolutely delicious. It had that intoxicating aroma imparted by their wood-burning oven. The lamb suffered from the same undercooking. I didn't try the fish, but it was said to be delicious, if underseasoned. This seemed to be true about most of their dishes. I take it this is an attempt let the natural flavors come through. I wished I had brought along some fleur de sel. We were too full to even look at a dessert menu. We had a bottle of red wine (can't remember the name) recommended by our waiter. I had asked for a recommendation under $40, and he first pointed to a $56 bottle, and then proceeded to praise a $60 bottle. On the strength of his enthusiasm, we ordered it. This was a mistake. It was good, but in the end, rather dull and, we thought, overpriced. Overall, a good experience and I will definitely be back for their appetizers.
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The conclusion I'm drawing from what I've read is that one should dine in the omakase area, and perhaps avoid the other parts of the restaurant. The pictures and descriptions of the omakase given by the guy who's eaten there 7 times strikes me as compelling. At least I hope that's the right conclusion seeing as I'll be trying to get a reservation there very soon. The price variations noted above gives some pause: the difference between $120 (what their official menu states) and $250 is obviously significant. Can anyone confirm this either way?
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My parents are from the North and as I was growing up they always put charred star anise in our homemade pho. So I always thought that the star anise thing was a Northern addition--that and going to South Vietnamese pho places, they didn't put it in (or if they did, it was undetectable). Of course this does not constitute decisive evidence. Regarding the lime/lemon preference, I grew up using lime, but when I put in the lemon they had at Pho Grand, it was fantastic--it brightened up the broth and alleviated the palette fatigue I often suffer after too many spoonfuls of broth. I believe lemon grows in SE Asia, but it isn't as prominent as lime which is, evidently, a tropical fruit. The fish sauce in the broth is, I think, essential. It cannot be mererly an at-the-table addition. Compare salting pasta water to adding salt at the table: two completely different results. The Korean pho places in LA (at least the ones I used to frequent years back) put no detectable amount of fish sauce in their pho. While it still amounted to a good bowl of soup, I never thought of it as pho.
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Because of the cold and various other reasons, I've eat pho for lunch two days in a row now. I was in Koreatown yesterday for a haircut, so I dropped in on Pho 32, a newish place right on 32nd closer to the 5th Ave end. The tables for two near the entrance leave something to be desired in terms of top space, distance to one's neighbors and leg room. Since each of the tables has a shabu-shabu set up, there is almost no room to to put one's legs underneath, and since the next table over is very close as well, sitting sideways is not comfortable either. At any rate, I've been here twice and both times ordered the large beef pho. The quality of the pho makes up for the uncomfortableness of the setting. There is a nice distinct star anise flavor (a Northern touch I believe) and the broth is robust without being overpowering. The noodles were very expertly prepared--nothing is worse than soggy pho noodles. One gripe would be their preparation of the tendons. The texture is lost because they (on both occasions) have overcooked them. As far as pho goes in New York, I would think this is one of the better options. Needing to shop in Chinatown today, I decided to drop in on Pho Grand (after hearing about the Village Voice rave). I would say, of the 7 or so places I've tried in NYC, this is the best I've had (nothing here compares to Pho Bolsa in Little Saigon, CA). It's a Chinese owned place, I believe (or at least everyone was speaking in Chinese and not Vietnamese). There's a folk village kind of decor inside, and the waitstaff are very attentive. I ordered the same as I got at Pho 32. They give a lot of meat in their version, perhaps overdoing it. They offer purple basil, unlike at Pho 32, and that's a nice touch (and lemon instead of lime). The meat is a star here--the brisket they give is pretty amazing. The broth has an almost buttery rich taste (from the oxtail I presume), and there's that subtle yet distinct star anise taste (this time, toasted, as it should be). Usually I tire of the broth before I'm finished, but I pretty much downed all of it today. I also ordered the spring rolls which were quite delicious, but quite unlike most other spring rolls I've had (they had a lot of Chinese shittake flavor to them), and the wrapper was, if this is possible, too light and crispy. I like a chewier texture which comes with the use of rice paper instead of wonton wrapper. The one 'inauthentic' aspect of both bowls I got was the refusal (?) to use enough fish sauce in the broth. My belief is that the fish sauce component should be distinct. Nevertheless, both bowls are well worth trying out.
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Coming from Manhattan and going to Queens for Thai food will always conjure up thoughts of Sripraphai, but after having read the positive word on Zabb, we decided to go and give it a try (this was about a 2 months ago) and forgo a meal at the former. I wanted to love Zabb because Thai salads, evidently their specialty, are my favorite part of a Thai meal. They did not have their Thai sausage dish. From other accounts, this absence seems to be close to the norm, so I wouldn't go their longing for it (as I did). This sausage sounds like a Vietnamese sausage called nem chua which is delicious and unlocatable anywhere (except perhaps in Vietnamese households, although I know of none which continue to make it). At any rate, we ordered a couple of their salads, the papaya salad and a catfish one. For those who can appreciate fermented fish paste (not the liquid brownish fish sauce) and the distinctive taste of white peppercorn, the papaya salad is your dish. As for me, I have 2 pints of the fish paste in my fridge, and for any one dish I can't stand using more than a teaspoon (if that). That is, I didn't love Zaab's papaya salad. Incidently, that salad is very spicy. I can't remember if we ordered it that way or not. The catfish salad was complex in flavor, as it should be. However, it lacked punch and the flavors weren't, to my palette, integrated. I don't think they broil their catfish, as Sripraphai does, and this makes a vast difference (incidently, we went to Sri last Friday and their catfish salad remains outstanding). This was a good dish, but not great, and in the context of great expectations, something of a disappointment. I can't remember what else we ordered. The service is casual, to say the least, and the place is tiny. We arrived early (on a Friday) in anticipation of a crowd, but none materialized even after we left around 8pm. This might be a late night sort of spot. It is BYO, at least when we went. Overall, I don't foresee going back any time soon, given the option of going to Sripraphai instead.
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I agree with the suggestion that NYC Vietnamese restaurants are generally run by ethnic Chinese owners. In fact, I don't think I've been in a NYC Viet restaurant in which Chinese wasn't spoken. I also agree that this at least partially explains the distinctiveness of Vietnamese cuisine in NYC. As far as I know, cilantro is not widely used in Vietnamese cuisine, at least not as widely as one would think from eating at most Vietnamese restaurants. I think the availability of cilantro explains its overuse. One serious shortcoming of Vietnamese food in NYC is the lack of a variety of herbs. Grocery stores in OC, California (where Little Saigon is) regularly stock about a half dozen herbs that I've yet to see here in NYC. As a side note: I just spent a couple of weeks over there and the pho I got has no comparison over here--not even close. I can't explain what the difference, but there is definitely a difference.
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Thank God for the Bubba Fast Pass. Basically no lines and, for all of time I was there(12-2; 5-6), no paying either. Card is fully loaded, minus the cost of 2 beers. Of the places I tried, Salt Lick was best. Their brisket was very good. I was disappointed by their sausage as well as by the sausage at Elgin's (Elgin's brisket, at least the plate I got, was not good--oversmoked and bone dry). For the sausage, perhaps I was just expecting something else (think Black's in Lockhart or even our very own RUB). My favorite last year was Mitchell's and so of course I got a sandwich from them. This was a service inconsistency, but none of the sandwiches we got, three of them, had chopped/minced pork in it or any cracklins (the pictures above bear little resemblance to what we got). For tomorrow, I'll definitely wait/ask for the sandwiches as they are pictured above. The ribs at 17th St BBQ were also inconsistent, I thought. Our first order was pretty dried out and unpleasant; my second order, almost at the end of the day, was very good. Their beans were top notch both times. Does anyone have opinions on the other vendors I didn't mention? How did the folks from Mississippi and Arkansas do? I'll have to try their stuff out tomorrow. The folks from Dinosaur were pulling out a bunch of brisket as I was about to leave for the day. Even after having eaten 5 plates of food, they looked damn good.
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On the official BigApple BBQ site list of pitmasters, there is no Kreuz Market. By contrast, the eGullet calendar lists them as coming. Does anyone know which one it is? I was very much looking forward to trying their brisket. FYI: the Bubba Fast pass can be picked up at 'will call' tent during the event; so, no worries about getting it shipped to you on time.
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Yes, your memory serves you right: the Southern curry is a dry curry and yes it is beige in color with an orange/red fringe (from the oil). I don't know whether the addition of stock or coconut cream would have made it much less spicy, but for my taste it needed somthing else for balance. I've learned now that pure heat is not for me. It wasn't, however, served with pea eggplants, but rather those golf ball sized green tiger-striped eggplants. I suspect they just got a fresh shipment of those eggplants in because I was seeing them everywhere. Our fried catfish and chile sauce dish had them and the curries of the people around us had them as well.
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I finally got what I (thought I) wanted--and I couldn't take it. We went tonight and I decided to order a curry I hadn't had before, so I opted for the 'southern curry' with prawns. There was no description of what a southern curry is on the menu, so I asked the waiter. He asserted only that it is a 'very spicy' curry. I've eaten here many times and 'very spicy' can mean many things, and it certainly doesn't always mean very spicy. After ordering the other usuals, e.g., fried watercress salad (in my opinion one of their best dishes), I went through my standard set of pleas for preparing the dishes very spicy. The waiter didn't hesitate, no arched eyebrows, no secret assessment of worthiness, so I thought I would get what I asked for (the one male waiter with glasses seems more open to giving you spice than most of the females are). It turns out I didn't really want what I asked for. After nibbling on the watercress salad (unfortunately, a touch too much batter this time), we got the southern curry and I ladled the sauce over my coconut rice and ate a couple of the prawns. Within a couple of minutes I was suffering. My lips swelled, my mouth caught fire, my stomach burned, and sweat rained down from every pore on my head. And something happened that has never happened in my life: I stopped eating a dish because I simply couldn't take the degree of spice. I'm no chilihead, you won't see me snacking on habaneros, but I've eaten my fair share of Sichuan, Indian, Thai, Vietnamese, Laotian, etc., and never had an incident like tonight. Not only could I not finish the curry, I had to stop eating altogether for about 10 minutes. I drank so much water in the interim that by the time my delirium subsided, I didn't even feel hungry. That part was a bummer. From what I could tell, a southern curry is basically a heap of fresh cut chilis thrown on top of a paste (made, I suppose, out of white peppercorns, red bird chilis, shallots, and perhaps galangal) thinned out by chili oil (no coconut milk). I'm sure there's more to it than that, but I had only about a 45 second window before my tastebuds were obliterated. I brought the curry specimen home just so I could pick through it tomorrow. I wonder if some lab could test a curry for scofield units. Incidentally, they still do not have their liquor license, although I overheard the waiter state that they were expecting it in a month or so. The place was absolutely bustling tonight. I like the remodel, except for the tv's. I hope they will still be seating people in the back outdoor area when the temperature rises. It's very pleasant back there.
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We went last Saturday around 9pm or so. From the outside you can glimpse into the kitchen and watch the guys slicing brisket. That got us very excited. The crowd had thinned out a bit and it was only half full, if that. I didn't pay much attention at all to the decor, but it did feel a little cold and minimalist. The menu is divided in typical mannner: sides, sandwiches, combo platters, and meat by the pound (16.95/lb). They have a specialty in Sechuan duck, half and whole. That looked quite intriguing but they were out of it by the time we arrived. The food arrived very quickly, which can be either a good or a bad sign (given they claim to slice your meats to order). We ordered a half pound each of the brisket, the pastrami and the sausage, and sides of coleslaw and baked beans. The sides were incredible. I mean it, really incredible. I love coleslaw and what we got that night was quite possibly the best I've ever had. There's about a million coleslaw recipes roaming around and, at least for me, they've hit on the perfect one. The beans were almost as good, just the right balance of meat to bean and smoke to sweet. Now on to the bad news. It's early to render any judgment but the brisket was wildly disappointing. I was lucky enough to have gotten a taste of their brisket last summer at the Apple City BBQ, but reading all the eGullet praises had sent my expectations to the stratosphere. I was looking for a taste of Lockhart but, alas, it was not meant to be. Firstly, the brisket was sliced too thinly and next time we will be sure to ask for it differently. But, to be honest, the meat was so dry that if it were sliced as it should be, it might have been inedible. One could see a slight smoke ring, and could definitely smell the smoke, but the taste itself was very bland. The pastrami suffered from the same dryness and thin slicing, but it was mitigated by the fact that it tasted very good. Once that defect is rectified, if it ever is, I suspect the pastrami will rank in the same league as Katz's. We got to our sausage last and in fact ordered it as a salve for our wounded expectations. That turned out to be a good decision. The sausages were amazing. Perhaps there is some wishful thinking and self-deception but while we were eating them, we couldn't help but think back to the outstanding sausages we enjoyed at Black's and Smitty's in Lockhart last summer. They were very spicy and smoky and the texture we enjoyed very much. A slight dryness was the only defect. We concluded that any place that could make such a fine sausage could make a fine brisket, so we will definitely be back. We spoke to one of the owners for a bit (they were making their rounds). She was very hospitable, as were the rest of the staff. We offered our assessment of the food and she apologized for the brisket. Best of all, she offered a viable solution: the brisket smokes for 12 hours, and so the ideal time to order it is when they come out, which happens to be, and she was notably precise about this, 6:45pm. So, if you want the best brisket they offer, I suggest being in ordering position by 7pm. When they open for lunch in the future, she told us the pitmaster will have to wake up even earlier to fire up the rig. It should be noted as well that they are currently BYO.
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I was very impressed with Anita Lo tonight. I haven't tried Anissa yet, but it's high on the list now that I've seen her in action. That show made me like ICA for the first time. It didn't last long, since the subsequent Alex Lee v. Cat Cora battle made me angry all over again. I'm no consequentialist, but there's something wrong with a game which allows such outrageous and entirely incredible outcomes. I think they should change the scoring system so that instead of tallying up numbers, the winner is determined by whoever wins over 2 of the 3 judges. That way any judge who scores one of the competitors very low (or very high) won't unduly influence the outcome.
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The one, and only, time I've been to Grimaldi's we were one of the first customers through the door. Even so, I found the pizza much less appealing than what many have said it would and should be. The crust was excellent, but the one problem we all had with the pizza was the fact that the cheese congealed and became unpleasantly hard and chewy after about the first 5 minutes of its arrival. So, while the first slice was decent enough, the remaining slices were not good (this happened when I went to Arturo's as well; and, come to think of it, at Lombardi's too). Is it the mozz. cheese used or what is going on? By contrast, this has never happend in the many times I've been to DiFara's. Again, what's the difference? Incidentally, I was at DiFara's last week and had an incredible porcini mushroom and artichoke pie. He puts the porcinis (which he keeps sitting--along with olive oil?--in a huge glass jar) on the pie after baking. Anybody venture a guess as to why he would put the mushrooms on after as opposed to prior to baking?
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My favorites: best overall: DiFara's; what's left to say about this place other than to reiterate that it's magical. best crust: Totonno's on Coney Island; very pleasantly surprised 2nd best crust: Patsy's (Harlem); however, sauce was terrible and 'fresh' basil suspect ok in a pinch: Lombardi's I've had Arturo's only once, but thought it was terrible. Will try again, since many have praised it here. I think Grimaldi's is very good as well, especially the sausage, but not first rate. Also liked the pizza at Numero 28, but that is a different beast. Want to try Franny's in Brooklyn. Anyone recommend this place?
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Right off the subway stop at Grand (B,D) there is a Vietnamese grocer (South side of Grand between the large fish market and the Viet restaurant Nam Son). They sell a 5L plastic container for $14.50.
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Chinatown definitely has peanut oil in a 1.8 L plastic container. I haven't seen any larger, and I've looked. It costs around $8 for that size. I've found it at several different grocers including the large supermarket (sorry, can't recall the name) a couple blocks South of Grand on Mott. The market sports red awnings and is conspicuously large. I'm confident that the Hong Kong Market mentioned above also carries it, but ask them for the precise shelf location because I simply could not find it on my own. Incidentally, if you don't already know, the Steingarten 'method' for preparing french fries works very well. It's discussed in his first book. I believe he recommends using goose fat, but since that is prohibitively expensive, I like to use a mixture of peanut oil and lard.
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There are two fish shops on Grand right off the B/D line that are good. I've purchased lobster from both and they've been fine, although the one on the South side is better (if only because the guy who helped me knew how to pick out female lobsters). Just make sure when they take them out of the tanks that the lobsters are alive and kicking. They sometimes tend to throw them into bags quickly, but do demand to inspect them. Last time I got them, both had specials--3 for $21 or 1 for $7.50.
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Williams-Sonoma sells Fleur de sel from the Ile de re. It's also cheaper ($9.50) than online sources--the ones I've seen at any rate.