ladydisdain

I'll be in Copenhagen for a week starting Friday with my husband and 3 1/2 year old daughter. We're staying in an apartment, so we'll be self-catering some of the meals, but we'll all go nuts if we do that all the time. We can't do fancy. We can't do Noma, or anything remotely like it; we don't do multiple courses (unless there's an appetizer for us all to share or something). We usually get an hour if we're lucky in any restaurant so we can't do leisurely service. I'm hoping for some very casual recommendations for lunch and dinner (breakfast is usually fruit/eggs/pastry at home). We pretty much eat anything except Indian, which doesn't agree with me. So any kind of food at all - sandwiches, seafood, any sort of ethnic dining, good street food, excellent takeaway, and the foodstuff we're all obsessed with - ice cream. We've sighed and come to the conclusion that fine dining is not possible right now, and neither is getting a babysitter in Copenhagen. But anything - and I really do mean anything - else that you might have an idea about would be super - even if it's another site to check. (I already checked Chowhound; totally useless.) We're already bracing ourselves for the cost - we're in Stockholm this week and the sticker shock has been considerable. We're staying near...the Round Tower? but are happy to go anywhere as long as it's walkable or accessible by public transportation.

Having no high chairs is not a dealbreaker, and we do plan on spending at least half our time downtown - if we have to hold her, we hold her. Also, high chairs are often hidden in a corner, and parents with small ones (including us) usually eat early, so it wouldn't surprise me if you'd never noticed any - I never noticed stuff like that until I had to!

These are all excellent ideas, but they're almost all various types of Asian - any non-Asian suggestions? We'll be eating three meals a day together for three and a half days and would definitely like some variety. Our child is very well-behaved (for 15 months) and as long as we have a high chair she will sit for a good long while - lap sitting I usually have to hoover my food and trying to have her sit by herself in a booth would be disastrous. We will be eating early, and we definitely tend to the falafel/arepa/burger/dumpling type of eating in NY rather than the higher end stuff. We also tend to spend a good deal of our time in the Village (both W and E so anything there or between the two would be good (although it's much easier to wander around and find stuff there) and we'll also be up in the Grand Central neighborhood at some point as well as going to see the Tree (we're moving to St. Louis this summer so it's our last year for awhile) so ideas for those areas as well would be super. I definitely think we'll be hitting SG (unless I just can't face the hoovering) and one of the Momufukus, probably Ssam as bowls of hot soup are probably not a good idea. She wants to eat what we're eating and is nowhere near ready for soup!

I always forget about the Korean places - great idea, and we all love it. My husband will be thrilled by that suggestion. Is there any one favored over the others these days? Barbecue doesn't matter because baby+barbecue does not likely equal crazy delicious. And Szechuan Gourmet sounds great! Walking up 9th is another good idea (and one we've employed successfully many times); do you have any specific suggestions there? Best for us to be heading somewhere particular if the peckish feelings start to set in. I know there's about eleventy billion Thai places along there now. Sadly, having been in not one but two NYC cab accidents, they are absolutely required by us. But good to know for when she's older.

We are coming to NY for four days (husband attending a conference part of the time) and bringing our 14 month old. Until we had her we spent a lot of time in the city (we're from Philly) but since have only been on a couple of day trips without her. We have no idea where to eat now. Our usual haunts are places like Caracas Arepa Bar and Pomme Frites and Dumpling House and tiny little Middle Eastern places, and I cannot see getting a (relatively small) stroller into any of those nor will there be high chairs. Dumplings can of course be enjoyed on the sidewalk as can things like the Dessert Truck or, frankly, anything we can get from a cart, but we'd prefer not to eat ALL our meals that way. We're staying at the Marriott Marquis (which should be JOY - Times Square with a stroller. uh, yay?) but don't plan on spending much time there. We eat all cuisines (except Indian, which hates me). The baby can eat anywhere (seriously - you should see this child eat Ethiopian). They need to be subway accessible (or subway/walking) because we won't have a car seat for cabs. We just want some good food in places that A. can fit our folded-up stroller B. will preferably have a high chair although I can do lap if I have to and C. are not so nice and silent that if she occasionally gets a little loud we won't be Those Parents. She doesn't throw food and eats relatively neatly for a toddler, but there's not much I can do about an occasional yell and I really hate to be Those Parents. I did do a bunch of searches, but "baby friendly" brought me up over 20 pages, most of which were individual restaurant threads. Help?

Are there any good cupcakes in Cleveland? How about locally made ice cream/frozen custard?

This week I bought blueberries, raspberries, black raspberries, strawberries and green beans from Blueberry Hill, cherries and huge yellow squash from Fruitwood Orchards, and snap peas, broccoli, tomatoes and more cherries from North Star. The raspberries were gone by Wednesday evening, eaten one by one out of the container by my husband and I until they were gone. I'll miss the strawberries, but these were perfectly ripe and lovely. The green beans were roasted last night and eaten with hummus and tomato wraps. Snap peas for tonight, with buffalo burgers from the meat I bought two weeks ago. I bought both kinds of cherries to do a taste test and North Star's are better, although Fruitwood's are perfectly good. This farmer's market is the best thing to happen to this area in...oh, who knows? Since I've lived here (seven years), definitely.

That link takes me to the main forum index and I've not been able to get the thread come up by searching. My friends now would like to have brunch or lunch instead; does a pre-theatre meal change the recommendations any?

We're seeing Cymbeline at BAM on Saturday afternoon and would like to have dinner in Brooklyn after. The only place I've ever eaten in the entire borough is that Viennese place across the street and I didn't like it. We are happy to walk a ways, take a cab somewhere, or hop on the subway if necessary (although walking distance is preferable). Nothing really spicy, no Indian food, nothing seafood-heavy; other than that we pretty much eat everything - Japanese, Thai, Chinese, pizza, Greek, Ethiopian, Venezuelan, Mexican, gastropub, pubby-pub, sandwiches, whatever. We'll be dressed neatly but not fancily, and would prefer in the $20 and under per entree range. Suggestions, please? Tell me what I've been missing by never leaving Manhattan when I visit.

Bumping this up to see if anyone's been recently. I've never been, and my husband loves decent buffets. I am not the world's biggest fan of the buffet but am willing to go if it doesn't completely suck. Opinions?

My husband is dying to try this place, but I have zero spicy food tolerance. I mean, zero. Are there any dishes on the menu that are not hot?

That one is the same family, as far as I know, but if I'm going to drive from Ardmore to Cherry Hill I'm just going to drive back to Blackwood. The Macdade Blvd one would be a lot closer, if it's owned by the same people.

I'm a South Jersey girl, and one of the things I miss the most about living on the Main Line rather than in Gloucester Township is Cacia's in Blackwood. I love their tomato pie, their pizza, their rolls...everything. A couple of nights ago we were driving on Macdade Blvd in Folsom and I spotted a sign that said Cacia's Bakery. Is this owned by the same family, does anyone know? And if it is, does it have my beloved tomato pie and pizza?

I live in the Carlino's neighborhood and we tried it several times when we first lived here. The prepared foods are...okay. They're not worth what they're charging, I think; at least they weren't a few years ago. Their tomato pie is fantastic and we actually bought several and served them as part of the appetizer table at our (held at home) wedding reception. I did find the employees unfriendly.

How about the Irish Coffee Shop in Upper Darby? I've never actually eaten there (we just stop in for Lilt and digestives and Jaffa Cakes), but the food has always looked decent.

I've been to Ray's several times for both lunch and dinner and never found the service to be slow. They also have, hands down, the very best milkshake I've had in the area.

On the 5th we had dinner at Amada for our last big meal pre-baby. I'm so glad we chose it, because we were both thrilled with the whole experience. The server was friendly and knowledgeable and answered stupid questions like "what's a croquette again?" without looking at us like we were morons. It was a fantastic meal; the only false note we found was in the gratis tuna dip with flatbreads that was brought to the table. It was free, so I feel a little odd complaining about it, but it really stood out as not so great. Tuna with too much mayo and some capers - it was about as unremarkable as deli tuna salad could possibly be. It seemed an odd choice. Anyway, a little photo essay of what we ate. I kept forgetting to take pictures until we'd already started certain dishes, so that's why the presentation doesn't look so hot in a number of them: First, three kinds of cheese - the manchego, the goat cheese, and a Spanish bleu - all delicious: The apparently ubiquitous (and delicious) spicy potatoes: Absolutely unbelievable seared scallops in crab cream over white asparagus - they looked prettier before I started to inhale them: Goat cheese stuffed lamb chops. I didn't try these as I don't eat lamb, but my lamb-loving husband devoured them in about 3.4 seconds: Possibly my favorite part of the entire meal - the utterly dreamy duck flatbread: One of two fantastic nonalcoholic drinks I enjoyed, both of which were all fancied up like real cocktails which went a long way toward soothing my wine-missing self - this one's a mango colada, and the other was a nonalcoholic mojito: We forewent dessert in order to split a chocolate mint sundae at the Franklin Fountain, because we'd never been, but we agreed we need to return to Amada just to try the chocolate five ways. It's the only thing we regret about the night (although the sundae was awesome).

Finally got the pictures off my camera from our last overnight pre-baby in Philly; we went to the cafe on the 6th to get the official lowdown on the cupcakes for my 'blog. The verdict: excellent. Completely different from the cupcakes at Flying Monkey, and the last thing you'll ever find me complaining about is more than one place in Philly (finally) to get a great cupcake. We tried the chocolate/chocolate and the vanilla/vanilla and, of course, the drinking chocolate. The drinking chocolate is like the marriage of chocolate milk and chocolate mousse...on crack. I don't know how anyone finishes one alone, and the combination of the drink and the cupcakes pretty much did us both in. The cupcakes are rich and moist without being overly sweet; the frosting is more sugary than a typical buttercream. The combination is absolutely delicious. They were exceptionally fresh and very pretty, both of which I appreciate. The frosting to cake ratio (a very important thing with me): very good. Some pictures:

We had dinner there tonight, and thought it was pretty good. It's not Vietnam good, but it's certainly good enough to go back to. We started with charbroiled beef skewers. When they came out I wondered why there was no dipping sauce of any kind, but it turns out the meat didn't need any - it was very tender and had a delicate thin glaze of some sort on it that was perfect. We both had bun; lamb, beef and spring roll for him, and pork, shrimp and spring roll for me. Very good. The pho we saw delivered to another table looked very good, as did all of the other dishes we watched come out. It's a small place, nicely painted and simply decorated, casual but well done. Service was very attentive and they're BYOB. The menu is enormous and they have lunch specials and delivery. We're going to go back in a few days to try the pho, we think.

I'm almost at the end of my pregnancy (a little less than six weeks to go) and I'd like to have dinner at Amada for our last night out pre-baby, probably sometime in the first half of September. I have a couple of friends that have had to wait for their tables despite reservations and I can neither stand for long periods of time nor wait in a bar. What would be the best night/time to go to avoid a wait?

So there's this supposed Vietnamese restaurant opening in Bryn Mawr on Rt 30, in the same block as the Bryn Mawr Film Institute. There have been letters stuck to the window saying it's "coming soon" for a year. At least. Maybe a year and a half. Months would go by with no activity. It seemed to sit for the entire winter; we figured it would never happen. Suddenly about six weeks ago or so a table and chairs appeared in the window. Activity! Huzzah! Today I drove by and the sign now says "... Vietnamese Restaurant Opening Soon - August 6th." I think they're trying to see how much we can take. Anyone have any other information? I'd love to know how they could afford the rent in Bryn Mawr for over a year with no income, but mostly, I'd just love to know if they're ever actually going to open.

Okay, I gotta ask - what makes this pizza so special? What kind of pizza is it? Thin? Thick? Round? Square? Sweeter sauce? Bitter sauce? White? Description please!

I think the quality of a Nifty Fifty's shake depends on who makes it, because we've had one very good one there and two that were thinner than Nicole Richie. Haven't tried Zwahlen's shakes yet because the prospect of not being able to dump the dark hot fudge over the top keeps us from ordering one. A number of these other places sound promising. I knew this would be the right place to ask - asking our coworkers led to an almost unanimous suggestion of Ruby's. Where the shakes are made with soft serve. The other common suggestion has been Cold Stone, where the shakes are runny and overpriced.

My husband and I are nuts for milkshakes, and it's really hard to find a good one around here. So far the best we've found is at Ray's Restaurant and Malt Shop in East Norriton. The shakes are exactly the right thickness - that is, so thick it's almost impossible to get the shake up through the straw. The size is good and you get the extra in the metal cup and the ice cream is of good quality. Where else in the area can we get a great non-thin shake?

They do have a great selection, but heaven forbid if you catch the owner on a bad day. He once cursed a friend of mine out for politely asking for her purchases to be put in two separate bags so she and her husband could share the weight on their walk home. A bizarre reason to go off the deep end, but one that has me no longer shopping there.