Todd36

Went there again tonight, probably the 10th time I've been there. Very good as usual, although only the uni was really outstanding. Spent $70 per person on fish. They served that same salmon with tomato combo that Gari serves (I had it there several months ago). Seki used to work for Gari..... The version at Seki was better, partly becuase the tomato was better (now in season) but also because Seki included marnated onion. Seki still has one of the best Sake lsists arounnd, although if you're having a party you can get the same stuff at a good liquor store for about 1/3-1/2 the price.

One of my Japanese friends ate there and came away with a favorable impression.

I have not been impressed by Jacques. For what its worth, a couple of months ago TONY did a taste taste and they were not impressed either. Kee's Chocolate makes some very tasty chocolates. Ditto for Christopher Norman. Varsano's for things like nut patties. Mondel for butter crunch. Everyone has their own likes and dislikes for Chocolate. People also swear by Martine's.

The guy who these days owns Luiza's on Amsterdam around 83rd recently told me that in his opinion, there was no decent Cuban place in Manhattan and perhaps not in all of NYC. He's Cuban.

Eisenberg's been sold fairly recently and the current incarnation is nothing memorable.

Hizen is an Izakaya, a Japanese pub. Last time I was there, their menu was scattered across several different pieces of paper and most of it was in Japanese. They might have given you a basic English language menu. Hanami was famous in the NY Japanese community for homemade curry. As far as I know, there is no other such place in NYC.

No longer exists, owner got hit by a van, broke some ribs, retired. I don't know of a place in Manhattan that serves notable curry.

This place was on Spadina and was in an area loaded with Pho serving places. At first glance, Toronto has a larger Vietnamese population than NY.

I've been to Nha Trang a bunch of times as well as more upscale places of the Cyclo and Hue type (and I found Hue to be pretty poor). I've been to a pretty famous pho place in East Hartford, CT. And of course there is always Monsoon on the upper west side. I figure I've eaten in at least 15 Vietnamese places in the last 3 years, and this was different from any of them, both the fancy and less fancy ones. For example, in the old stand-by of summer rolls, much more mint and basil, more shrimp and less noodle than usual, wrapper not as sticky, dipping sauce much thinner. Bo luc lac was largish cubes of chewy and quite rare meat, with a very small amount of thin sauce on the meat. These are all standard, Americanized dishes, but these versions were different. Coffee was strong enough to burn a hole. Rice pancake was sweeter than most, less beansprouts and more pork. Well, it was different food.

Yes, I did prefer it to what I've had in NY.

Had about six dishes at a modest Vietnamese place in Toronto. Probably run of the mill by Toronto standards. I noticed a couple of interesting things, at least compared to my US east coast Vietnamese experiences (mostly in NY). 1. A general lack of Cilantro. A tiny bit in the Pho, none in anything else. 2. More Basil than usual. 3. Not very salty. 4. No use of soy sauce. 5. No use of a thickening agent in the sauces. 6. Sauces were thin, and used sparingly. I'm wondering if this restaurant is an aberration or? Anyone know of a place on NY that sounds like this?

They cook the lobster in a water bath that is kept at 138-140? It would seem doubtful if that is true that the internal temp of the lobster exceeds the 130's. That's not a cooked lobster. Ignoring any potential health issues that customers would be unaware of, that means you're basically eating sashimi. That may explain why it can be chewy---something that many people say about their lobster at Per Se. Lobster sashimi can be chewey....

Bar Masa is a mostly non-resevation kind of place, in fact, I don't know if they even take reservations. I've stopped in at least 6 times, its usually half empty. I've been a walk in at Cafe Gray and I suspect V often does walk-ins. Per Se now says in small letters on their kiosk outside reservations only.

I would disagree with Todd36 (that's ok, I disagree with him about the Silver Moon, too...I frequently go out of my way to stop there) and say that the Hungarian Pastry Shop IS worth a pilgrimage, if only to eat some unusual (and delicious, did I mention that?) pastries while looking over at St. John the Divine and enjoying the bustling, college-town atmosphere. K ← Taste is of course a matter of individuals. If you're looking for Hungarian type things like Dobos, you're much better off at Cafe Sabreky's in the Neue Gallary. Hungarian Pastry shop is very standard, right down to the giant cans of pre-made fruit fillings (not even Hero brand) visible in their kitchen as you walk by. Silver Moon is better than that, but I think a number of bakeries are better, Financier on Stone Street for example. The US really isn't a fine pastry kind of place. I think a strong bakery in Paris blows away anything in New York. The best baked goods I've ever had in NYC were by far at ADNY. On the other hand, I didn't really like the Sachertorte when I was at the Hotel Sacher in Vienna, but that was a long time ago and perhaps my taste buds are more refined. And you thought I only babeled about Japanese restaurants....

Hungarian Pastry Shop is not worth a trip I think, it's a local place. Bruno Bakery is fine, but not that good and not that special. I don't think there realy is a good Italian pastry bakery in Manhattan. La Maison du Chocolat is good but the selection of pastry is small. Damascus Bread & Pastries is good, above average for that sort of thing, but not worth a long trip, its not that much better than average.

Patisserre Claude is an interesting place in the village, but not worth a big trip. Cafe Sabarsky is worth a trip, and an interesting room to eat in as well. Chikalicious is very good, but its not really a bakery (neither is Cafe Sabarsky I guess). If you want Japanese desserts, Cha An at 230 east 9th is a good bet, its a cafe, not a bakery. Cafe Zaya is fine for what it is, which is basically one step up from a good supermarket bakery, its interesting culturally but not fine pastry. Same for Panya Bakery on east 9th (both are Japanese). Chinatown is a whole world of bakeries onto itself, someone should give some suggestions. I haven't tried Williams Greenburg, Jr. in a long time, but they've been sold several times and have not been in their prime for more than 10 years. You have to watch for freshness, but the bakery counter at Dean & Delucca (the real ones, not the cafes), have been known to have some good stuff.

Until the 12th, they are having a herring festival buffet in the cafe, for $35. It's a good deal. About 8 kinds of herring, smoked salmon, gravlox, calfs liver pate, meatballls, a very interesting deviled egg dish and a couple of other things. Also includes choice of two $9 desserts (found on regular menu). It's an all you can eat, so well worth the money. The only thing that wasn't quite there was the meatballs.

Bread is a different world, not talking about that in this post. Probably Coronodo Pastery (not spelled quite right) at Grand Central Market is what they are thinking of. They have some pretty good stuff, but they are a consolidator (meaning they sell things made by other people), not a bakery. Not sure they are that special. Financier Patisserie is better than most places, but a little out of the way for most people. Petrossian, although not thought of as a bakery, is quite good for that sort of thing, and has a significant wholesale business to better places. Might be best crossisant in NYC. The newest incarnation of Bouley Bakery (I have not yet been there) is a good bet as a place worth a trip. The Upper West Side has Silver Moon and Georgia's Bakeshop (related ownership), both of which are pretty good, but not worth a long trip. Upper East Side has Two Little Red Hens, which is worth a trip if you like things like blackout cake. Lady M on the upper east side is very good and different from the usual. Lots of heavy whipped cream with fruit type things. In my opinion, none of the Italian style places in Manhattan are noteable except for bread type items at places like Sullivan Sttreet. Payard is OK. Ceci-Cela is OK. Amy's bread makes some pretty good other things in the sweets catagory. Better cake I think than say Magnolia Bakery. Donut Plant for great donuts, but out of the way location. Little Pie Company makes some pretty good pies. People have strong preferences as to their favorite bakeries....

They kept almost all of the decor from Morrell's, the prior occupent of the space----thus all of the wine storage racks. They changed the color scheme a bit. can't blame them for reusing a well built space in good condition---must be saved them quite a bit of money.

Ate there last night, probably have eaten there at least three times since they've moved. It's a good place, in my opinion in NYT high two star range, not so far from three. We had soft shell crab, which was very meaty and very good, duck (which they do very well), loup de mer (very good) and a flan for dessert. Pretty good. Only miscue was a salty Mache salad. My main problem in the 6 or so times I've easten there in the last 6 months is that most of the time, one dish each meal doesn't work well. This time it was the salad, another time it was the pretty tasteless pasta with Uni (there's uni in there????)

I think they fired their original chef, the name was different on the most recent menu I saw.

I've eaten their stuff three times now, including a close to $1000 catering order. I think the sausage and the brisket are their two best dishes. The ribs can be very good, but sometimes they just put too much salt on them. We had 10 racks of ribs in that catering order, and there was strong variation from rack to rack. And they were salty last time I ate there too (not as salty as the worst from the catering order). The deep fried ribs are best avoided I think, and the duck and chicken, while fine, are nothing special. Not too impressed with the pulled pork either. The sausuage and brisket are first class, and the ribs can be.

That is very serious...as is the rest of the story. ← Historically, Fuleen has done poorly with the health inspector, according to the cities web site.

Real salty, not my speed. Anyone been there recently?

Don't know anything about the branch, I've always liked their food better than Teresa's, although it's not always the cleanest place around. The fried pork cutlet is as big as your head and quite good. I'm also partial to the Borscht, the summer version they have now is nice, with bits of chunky cucumbers.