Todd36

One of my Japanese friends (who likes very much the sushi at Ushi Wakamaru) says that in Japan, sushi bars tend to store their fish warmer than they do in the US. She observes that Ushi Wakamaru seems to keep its fish warmer than usual for the US. I note that eater.com reports that the DOH issue seemed to involve the fish storage temp. I also note that Ushi Wakamaru seemed to use an unusual fish storage technique, I haven't seen their type of display case elsewhere in NY and it seems to use only ice. Unless you bury the fish in the ice, ice alone doesn't keep fish very cold.

Yuno's, for basically everything she sells, except that her tomatoes are not usually the best. But for Asian cucumbers, lettuces, peppers etc., she is good. Stokes Farm tomatos are OK, but I have never had a really great one. My parents grew very good ones this year. For tomatos, I have no stand loyalty, I run around, look at everything, and buy by smell. Knoll Crest has had problems, quality could be the same, but the line is gone.

Fairway on Broadway has been almost totally rearranged since about 1999. For one thing, its quadrupled in size since then----the right side was a D'Ag (they bought the building and canceled their lease) and upstairs did not exist. In the last few months, the olive arrangement changed, they put cut fruit in front and added a bagged salad display case up front. Changes on the right hand side of the store, the meat and fish side, seem less frequent.

My one experience here was lunch a few months ago and I thought the food was both salty and a little overpriced. The location is probably not a big issue, A Voce is within 2 blocks I believe.

Had lunch there yesterday, the cold strawberry soup and the halibut. The soup was a little disappointing, it needed something to lift the flavor, the strawberries were probably not good enough to do this on their own. The halibut was wonderful.

Mesa Grill has two stars from the NYT, so does Bouley Upstairs. Better call the Times, they got the wrong wavelength again. The other places have three stars. But you are not asking the question of what I think are comprable restaurants to Mesa Grill, you aksed for ones that I like, to establish a frame of reference.

What? Did you shop there years ago? And how has it passed it's prime - they're not selling from push carts any more? Seriously, though, tell me which store in the city has a broader selection of smoked/salted salmons and herring. And better, more knowledgeable fish slicers. Better whitefish salad. Kossar's bialys. H & H minis. The things you go to R & D for. Otherwise, I like your list. ← Yes, I am 39 years old and was born in Brooklyn and my grandfather (born in 1912) grew up around the corner from Russ & Daughters. He first took me there when I was about 6. His father owned a pushcart. When did you first go? Mentioning H&H bagels is not a help, they are not very good. Try Barney Greenglass. ← So how did it pass its prime - because they sell H & H minis? Greengrass and R & D are different types of establishments; they (Greengrass) don't have nearly the selection of salmons that R & D does. As an aside, when you first went at the age of six, I was already driving a cab. ← If you think that selling H&H minis is an example of something good, it is hard for me to take your other points. In terms of selection, Nova (eastern) is what sells, on their own web site Russ & Daughters tells you its their best seller, its also clearly what Zabar's basically sells (I almost never see anyone buy anything else there) and Fairway's counterman says 90% of what they sell is eastern Nova. Greenglass has four kinds I believe. I (like most people) take eastern nova because its less salty. Zabar's does sell six or so kinds of salmon, which is probably what Russ & Daughters has. If you want selection, go to Fairway, they had 15+ kinds tonight. My own theory is that freshness is key---once the packghe is open, all is lost---by selling fewer types, both Barney Greenglass and Zabar's are probably helping. Try buying some of the dust covered dried mushrooms hanging from the ceiling---that's what has kept me from coming back. Or try walking by at night and look very carefully at the dried fruit in the window, bet you'll never eat it again. My parents will not shop there either. The store does not have a good feel to it. If you prefer more objective data, get a NYT select account, they have done not so well in NYT reviews----Fairway may still have one of those hanging up. If nothing else, we've proven that people in NY love to disagree. And when you were driving that cab when I was six, what did you think of Adelman's?

Bouley and Danube. Bouley Upstairs. Perry Street Jean Geogres Sugiyama There was nothing offensive about the fish or salad at Mesa Grill. Some people might have liked the fish. The salad was hard to like I think for anyone.

I can't figure out why people think most food in Manhattan is delivered. I wish that were true. I live within 10 blocks of 4 or 5 full size supermarkets, several large delis, many speciality stores, not to mention Fairway. Someone sure as heck is shopping in these places. What I do think is true is that Manhattan has more of the small speciality stores that are gone elsewhere. Between 96th Street and Houston Street for example there are probably at least 50 bread bakeries and 20 plus meat markets. Not to mention at least a dozen large speciality markets and quite a few cheese stores... You like Chocolate? We have at least 10 high end chocololate stores where you can spend $50 plus a pound, heck, we can do $100 plus a pound if you want. There are also quite a few independent health food stores. Like to buy fresh coffee? Try Porto Rico Coffee or McNulty's or or. Ten plus fresh pasta stores. Its true that real estate is rather expensive around here, which means we don't have giant supermarkets. But most people don't do one stop shopping either, they buy what is best at different places.

Grand Central market is interesting, the only two top shelf things in there in my opinion are Murry's and the "bakery" near the street exit (not really a bakery, they sell good stuff other people make). The main Murry's is well worth a trip, probably best cheese shop in town. A branch of Amy's bread is next door (everything they make seems to be good, including better cupcakes than Magnola and the other tourist places). Zito's across the street alas is gone, famous for bread. Also very close is Facco's (not spelled right), famous Italian pork store, famous for uncooked sausages. Di Palo's is great for Italian cheeses and ham and sausages and the like. Its also basically in Chinatown and I think there is a branch of a decent Maylasian restaurant, not Penang but same owner, down the street, further east. Despana has sold me stuff past its prime, I think they lack sufficient turnover. Jefferson Market is interesting, was at one time famous for its meats. Probably no longer a top market, but still worth a trip. The nearby Citerallia was for many years the location of Balducci's. There is a another current thread in which people are discussing their favorite meat markets.

What? Did you shop there years ago? And how has it passed it's prime - they're not selling from push carts any more? Seriously, though, tell me which store in the city has a broader selection of smoked/salted salmons and herring. And better, more knowledgeable fish slicers. Better whitefish salad. Kossar's bialys. H & H minis. The things you go to R & D for. Otherwise, I like your list. ← Yes, I am 39 years old and was born in Brooklyn and my grandfather (born in 1912) grew up around the corner from Russ & Daughters. He first took me there when I was about 6. His father owned a pushcart. When did you first go? Mentioning H&H bagels is not a help, they are not very good. Try Barney Greenglass.

I would get a copy of Zagat's New York City Gourmet Shopping & Entertaining 2008. While people can disagree about the ratings in Zagat's guides, probably all of the major markets are listed, which makes it a very useful guide. NYC probably has more high end markets than any other American city, I'll mention a few. And I am sure people will disagree with what I say!! I hope you husband is kidding re we all get our food delivered. In no particular order. 1. Union Square Greenmarket. This is a large, open air greenmarket at Union Square (Broadway and 17th street, the market is at the north end of the park). Open Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Probably close to a 100 stands. Fruits. vegetables, local meat (tends to be expensive), jam, honey, bread cheeese etc. Some is very, very good. This is a direct from the farmer or maker to you concept. There are quite a few other green markets, but this is by far the largest. See http://www.cenyc.org/site/ for additional information. 2. Dean & Deluca. 560 Broadway (at Prince Street). This is fairly far downtown. When they opened, yikes, must be over 30 years ago, they were the high end market in NY. Probably not what it once was, went corporate. Interesting to visit. They have several passable coffee bar branches and a nice store at Madison and 65th. 3. Whole Foods. http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/ Several in Manhattan. This is a national chain that people love to hate and its not cheap. Still, everyone seems to shop there. 4. Trader Joe's, 14th Street near third avenue. A national chain, part of the German Aldi company. An odd discounter that focuses on packaged goods, a cult favorite for people. 5. Balducci's. For years, this was the high end market, several ownership changes, now corporate, no longer owned by the family. Getting better, it had slid. Store at 14th Street and 8th Avenue is worth a visit. 6. Grace's Market Place. 1237 Third Avenue (71st Street). Still owned by the Balducci's family (there was a fight, and the namesake store was sold). Italian focus. Well worth a visit. 7. Agata & Valentina. 1505 first avenue at 79th street. Partly owned by a Balducci (they seem to like to fight, he also was kicked out of #5). Southern Italian focus. Well worth a visit. 8. Russ & Daughters, 179 E. Houston St. Not my favorite, but a classic smoked fish and appetzing store, eastern European Jewish style. Worth seeing, although I am of the view that it passed its prime years ago. Still owned by the same family. Near Katz's deli (205 E. Houston), a very famous and very old sit-down deli famous for pastrimi sandwiches. well worth a visit. Katz's may be one of the oldest restaurants still in old form in NYC (has probably not changed in 50+ years, although my late grandfather I believe went to it vintage 1920 when it was across the street). Also near Yonah Schimmel Knish Bakery. A knish is a starch, such as potato or buckwheay groats, wrapped in pastry. Another classic eastern European food. The bad news is that while Yonah Schimmel dates to 1910, it probably hasn't been edibile since WWII. My grandparents compare their stuff to dog food, literally. I am sure people will disagree with me on this. You can get a decent knish at Zabar's, but this seems to be a product that must be made at home. 9. Eli's Manhattan 1411 third avenue, at 80th street. Same ownership at the Vunger Factory, 431 East 91st street. Very. very expensive. A large store. They have a large wholesale business selling baked goods such as bread and cookies, widely sold and very good. Owned by a member of the Zabar's family (yet another fight). See #10. 10. Zabar's. Ok, its a zoo and crazy and not known for its customer service. Broadway and 80th. Most famous for smoked fish. Family owns the building and other choice area real estate, which probably explains why its not going anywhere fast. Worth a visit, world famous actuallly. Actually more or less a discount operation, at least it used to be, still is in the cheese department. Very good olives. Prepared foods can be good for the money. It's interesting that many (perhaps most) of Manhattan's high end markets have either a Jewish or Italian focus. 11. Citarella, Broadway and 75th street. Probably NY's best known large fish market. high qualitity at high prices. Also pretty good meat and produce. Rest of the store can be iffy. Several other locations. 12. Fairway, Broadway and 75th steet. Literally next to Citerella. Other locations as well, this is the one to visit. Begain life as a produce store and also owns its own real estate. Quite large, crazy, crazy zoo. Large upstairs organic section. They are a discount operation actually. Good produce, if you select carefully, unusual deli type meats, rare hams and sausages. decent prepared foods, good cheese, passable fish, decent meat. Fairway and Citeralla and Zabar's make a good trip, Zabar's is less than a ten minute walk from the other two. 13. Barney Greenglass. Amsterdam Avenue and 86th street. Walkable from 10, 11, 12. Both a cash only sit down restaurant (eggs and smoked fish) and a smoked fish store. Actually, pretty much most things here are good. Still owned by the family. 14. Butterfield Market. Lexingtom Avenue and 77th street. Old and serves a very wealthy area. Pretty good and interesting if you want to see how people who don't care about prices shop. Manhattan has a large Chinatown with other Asian subsections, all kinds of stores there. There are a few people who can probably provide Malysian or Singapore recomendations, although there are not really any very good such restaurants in town. Queens, a roughly 20 minute subway ride from midtown Manhattan, has giant Korean and Chinese areas, ariund Flushing and other areas. Good bread is easy to find in NY, I like Amy's and Sullian Street, other baked goods like pastries are more iffy. There are several decent Japanese markets, Sunrise Mart and JAS Mart are good choices near third avenue and St. Marks Place. I'm sure you'll get a few hundred other suggestions.

I'm partial to Grouper, from my Florida trips, and this grouper was very mild, and didn't taste like much (it said Florida grouper on the menu). The salad really didn't taste like much, the Romane had little flavor and the dressing seemed to be missing something.

Sugiyama doesn't do sushi, I wish they did. I was talking about interesting fish, not the tomato on top, with respect to Gari. The selection of fish at Sugiyama is small, usually yellowtail, toro, uni, snapper and squid. But its all good. Other than the eel at Yasuda, nothing seemed very interesting. Standard, good quality stuff, but standard. Not like the fresh killed flat fish at Ushiwakamaru (which last time I heard was Mr. Sugiyama's favorite place in NY) or for that matter the live uni at Tsuki on the upper east side (best thing they have).

That's a pretty narrow view of the world. I think a fairly standard New York breakfast for many people means running down to your local coffee and doughnut cart. If you're there often enough (which I'm not), the guy remembers your preferences and chats you up for the thirty seconds it takes to pull your order together. Others might choose to go to their local kitchenette (like Sucelt down on 14th) for ranchos huevos or the like, or their corner bodega to get a breakfast sandwich-type thing to go. Having said that, I suppose people don't get worked up about weekday breakfasts as much as, say, weekend brunch... but that's probably more because of today's modern societal pressures than a New York phenomenon. ← I can't think of another city I've been to that has the collection of carts and corner delis that really function as cheap restaurants as NY. I wasn't thinking of carts, but you're right, many people get their breakfast that way. Places such as Pax have I think taken the place of coffee shops----self-service seems to be the rule in NYC, I suspect that Pax or Cafe Europa (same ownership) and such places have lower costs than a coffee shop. The independent corner deli with no seating also seems to have done well. I live on the upper west side, and if you want a hot breakfast on a weekday, your choices are limited if you don't want self-service.

Had dinner there last night with two friends. Pretty good, but a little bit of a mixed bag. Three apps: chopped salad (did not taste like much), fried green tomato topped with crab (excellent and probably the lighest fried green tomato I have ever had) and a duck filled soft tortia (good). Three mains: fried softshelled crabs (excellent, well made and very good flavor in the crabs), grouper (fine, but not very interesting) and twelve spice chicken (fine, but not that interesting, served with a very good tamale). Two excellent additional sides, roast corn with lime and caulfflower baked with a sharp blue cheese. Two excellent desserts, coconut cake and white peach shortcake (excellent and light biscut). Nothing was bad, at worst, not interesting. They have a light touch, from the soft shell cracb to the tamale to the desserts, everything was lighter than I would have expected.

Had the prix fix lunch last week, it's pretty good and well worth the $25. White gazpacho and a chicken dish (Flay seems to like frenched chicken breasts). The slice of chocolate and fruit cake at the end (I think apricot) was both good and very large.

Barney Greengrass on Amsterdam and 86th is the gold standard if you are looking for smoked fish and eggs, as matter of fact, most of they serve is quite good. Its a zoo on weekends, much nicer during the week. Upstairs at Fairway is also pretty good now that Mitchel London is back, he was there yesterday. Pancakes are among the best in NYC. That's Broadway around 75th. And of course there are the various branches of Sarabeth's, which invented the modern NYC brunch. Not my favorite place, but part of NYC culture. NYC is not really a breakfast kind of town. Quite a few people work at large companies that have their own cafeterias, I do. We have 10,000 staff in our NYC campus with a large and high end caferteria. It's tough to argue when they cook eggs to order and have high qualtity bagels and coffee, all at less than market prices. It's run by Flik, the high end cafeteria service of the same people who own Restaurant Associates. Flik runs cafeterias at most of the top end law firms, many investment banks and executive headquarters. I would bet that close to 25% of the people who work in Manhattan have access to a cafeteria. And caferterias tend to have breakfast as their best meal. As has been pointed out over the years in other threads, many people around here tend to eat and run. Every block seems to have at least one deli that makes eggs on a roll to go. That is probably the real classic NYC breakfest, along with a bagel. In fact, I said that in 2005 in this thread!!! There are coffee shops/diners as well, some are good. It's kind of random. I don't like Viand myself, there are several of them, but many people do.

It's always been inconsistent and I think it was better in the smaller space before it moved.

You may be confusing this place with J'Adore, which is on 23rd and 5th. They sell sandwiches and were recently closed for a while by DOH. Madeleine is between 6th and 7th and does not seem to have sandwiches, at least they didn't have any at noon today. It's cute, with tables to hang out. Baked goods look fine. I tried their chocolate amond crossient, not a standard combo. Chocolate was nice, not too sweet. Over all qualtity seemed good but not remarkable. Worth stopping in.

Reviews in Japanese community are generally good, although not universelly good.

Err no I was just being an a-hole about your spelling, I don't think I've seen "Ushiwakamaru" butchered quite that badly before, but surely your Waseda friend has corrected your "sashami" by now.... Likewise, I don't care if she was born at Tsukiji fish market, how can she possibly call herself Japanese and judge a sushi bar by a table order? Why hasn't she dragged you to the counter yet? An "omakase" on the menu is just a chef's "catch of the day" selection. Ordering omakase in front of a sushi chef adds a whole additional dimension to eating sushi that you haven't even tried at Yasuda. ← I have a learning disability when it comes to spelling. Thank you for pointing that out. Its interesting, I have known that since I was five years old and yet people have a need to keep pointing it out. Sitting at the counter should not make a supreme difference when it comes to the food, in particular when you are greeted by name when you walk into the restaurant. If it did, many people are being overcharged, I don't believe Yasuda gives a discount for table service. I've eaten at the counter and at tables at places such Seki, Gari and Ushiwakamaru and have not noticed a material difference. In addition, the two recent times I've been at Yasuda we've been a four-top, which doesn't work at the counter. Given that four-tops tend to spend serious money, we are talking expense account dinners, do you think Yasuda gives them intentionally lessor treatment? I think Yasuda is fine sushi, and the eel is among the best eel in town. However, some of the fish is ordinary, good quality that can be found at many places around town. Some of my last Yasuda dinner was their choice, some of it was things we specifially asked for (for example, every kind of eel they had available and all of their mackerel type fish they had available). I just can't figure out the hype. But I couldn't figure out the hype at Per Se either, and my business boss just had dinner there two days ago and he can't figure out the hype either. It's good but......

Whoah maybe lay off the large sake selection before posting I don't think you'd be able to figure out the hype unless you had a similarly unremarkable omakase... the hype is mostly over at-the-sushi-bar, omakase experiences with Yasuda or one of his cohorts. If there is such a serious dropoff at the tables at Yasuda, that would be another subject of conversation, but that hasn't been my experience From what I recall one of the Sushiden has a very nice room, you could also include Nobu; the hype is not over the decor... Japanese zen minimalism is not going to leave a lot to comment about in that category, unless you are really into that sort of thing.... Rating Yasuda and Ebisu the same will certainly turn a lot of heads, I can't imagine them on the same level. The Japanese customer came back from fishing and had them prepare it for him? Or what he had was better than the sushi bar? wow I would only worry about Yasuda's authenticity as over the past few years they've gone from a mostly Japanese to a mostly non-Japanese clientele, but I haven't seen any dropoff because of this... he's seemed to keep it incredibly consistent over the past several years... It seems like you are craving more variety? ← Better cut-out the sake before you post---I said Sugiyama had better fish in the sashami selection. I didn't taste what the guy brought into Ebisu, it was a flat fish. I can't vouch how good it was----haven't seen someone drag their own fish in before, I suspect he caught it. The yellowtail, kanpachi and two types of salmon served this week at Yasuda were standard, better qualtity stuff, I've had the same exact stuff at a number of places, including Ebisu. I often eat sushi with my very Japanese Waseda grad Tokyo born and raised very food oriented friend of ten years---she can't figure out the hype behind Yasuda either. This was a omakase dinner served at a table, I've had that twice. Still don't get it. It's fine, but....I think the decor and the difficulty of obtaining a counter seat have something to do with the hype. Its like when I had dinner at Per Se, it has to be the best restaurant in town, right?

No, we didn't, we were at a table close to Yasuda and the person paying the bill is well-known to the restaurant. This is the second time I've had large at the table sushi meals in the last three months at Yasuda, and while they were fine, I still can't figure out the hype. The sake selection is also not so great. I've had more interesting stuff at Uwiskamaru (, not the sake though, no one seems to have mentioned their recent one star NYT review), west side Gari and Seki. Sugiyama in the sashami selection has better fish. The only thing I can figure out about Yasuda is that its the only high end sushi place (and I'm not including Masa) that has an expensive looking room. Its fine, but not better (and perhaps not as interesting as), several other places. Heck, I'm not sure Yasuda (except for eel) was better than my last meal at Eibsu on east 9th, eaten while I watched a Japanese guy bring in a cooler with his own very fresh fish......

Had dinner there Tuesday night---this was a business dinner so we probably spent a bit more than I would on my own. Twenty pieces of sushi each, including 4 pieces of various types of eel and 2 pieces of uni. Two types of yellowtail and salmon, four types of mackeral type fish. A scallop. And a few other assorted things. Maybe we had more than 20 pieces each. It's all very good, nothing was bad, but nothing really struck me.