raji

Don't forget about DUMBO..... I still consider Grimaldi's under the Brooklyn bridge Top 3 non-bytheslice pizza in NYC - when the oven is at it's hottest - next door is Pete's downtown, great view but you don't have to pay River Cafe prices...... SuperFine has the best sliced steak sandwich in the zip code at lunch, and a great bar.... there's also a Rice right there.... it's been a few years since I lived there so someone else might have more recent info

Everytime I see it's name I think of the soap...

Fortunately I live a few blocks from the most highly discounted beef in the city so I can support the habit. Can't imagine buying cuts from Whole Foods only to pulverize them. Needles to say I'm a convert and if I see one of those cheap hand-crank clip on to your tabletop jobs, I'm all over it... Where's Mr. Cutlets when you need him?

I have many fond memories of Carvel ice cream... we ate it because that's what there was. If our little league team won, it was carvel ice cream. If we lost, I'm pretty sure it was Carvel Ice Cream, especially during the hottest months. And what's better than an ice cream birthday cake? PS thanks for the tips Larry

I hacked the Shake Shack burger last year - I don't have a meat grinder so I feverishly chopped the sirloin and brisket small enough so it would at least stay together. I think beef ground up just then makes most of the difference, like the difference between fresh ground pepper and the pre-ground powder... You're not going to have it medium rare because then the brisket is just too tough on the rare side, so the fat and connective tissue dissolving must also help the flavor... anyway, it's not rocket science and I do suggest you try it. Now I'm nearly swearing off the ground beef at the market because it just seems to lose most of it's flavor and if anything inherits the flavor of the foam. I'll be grinding fresh if I can from now on!

I just had my first Cold Stone on Sunday, @ the one at 42nd and 8th (are there others?) It's kind of confusing and overwhelming in there and I couldn't find a definitive list of the "mix-ins". I think I got a "like" which is a small and that was plenty. The staff engaged in group cheers and call-and-return military calls, and that's a big positive to me... I wasn't alive in the 50s but I assume during the 50s and 60s, more or less you'd get cheery service and team spirit most anywhere you went. Now it is truly the exception to the rule. The ice cream was very creamy and delicious but I really don't see the point of the cold stone. Miracle Gelato, they're making the ice cream right in front of you. At CSC I assume the granite stone is there to help keep your ice cream cold while they assault your waistline by mixing in all sorts of candies and fruits, joining the many fast food and dessert franchises obsessed with increasing the caloric density of their menu... I was in a fruity mood so I ordered a strawberry like it with spongecake, strawberries and walnuts. With tax it was about $6.50 and I'm sorry, I still don't get what the big deal is about this place. Next time I'm craving ice cream with all sorts of crap in it, I'll go to Chinatown Ice Cream Factory or Ciao Bella, and then hit up a duane reade for cheap candy to mix in. I think if I pedal fast enough, the airflow created will keep my icecream sufficiently cold... And from what I've heard, I really must try this Pinkberry but at this point could it possibly live up to the hype?

Seems like Cold Stone Creamery is a similar if not the same concept. There's one right by me. It's warm out. I'm gonna go try one.

What's the texture like? ← I had a "Strawberry Fields" (pronounced STROBERI- FEERUZU) ストロベリーフィールズ［バニラアイス＋ヨーグルトドリンク＋ストロベリー＋ホイップクリーム Which is apparently "Vanilla Ice + Yogurt Drink + Strawberry + Whip Cream) So I think it's half creme half yogurt. It was ¥450 so $3.76 for a small 2-scoop cup. I got home and exclaimed to my mate that I don't get what the miracle is and it just tasted like good ice cream to me, when he told me it was mostly frozen yogurt ... felt like I was in the Seinfeld episode Right and the texture is basically just like ice cream. The girl uses a big spatula drawing out the liquid on the ice teppan in thin sheets which freezes it quickly, they violently scrapes it up

Gourmet hormones? or..... Offal?

The 1828 Webster's dictionary defines offal as: "Waste meat; the parts of an animal butchered which are unfit for use or rejected." The current (10th) edition of Webster's has it as: "1 : the waste or by-product of a process: as a : trimmings of a hide b : the by-products of milling used especially for stock feeds c : the viscera and trimmings of a butchered animal removed in dressing : VARIETY MEAT" The Online Etymology Dictionary gives the word origins as: "1398, "waste parts, refuse," from off + fall; the notion being that which "falls off" the butcher's block; perhaps a translation of M.Du. afval." ← According to these definitions, offal is what goes into hot dogs, mortadella and the like.... Meanwhile I think what most people seek out on offal is organs. I just got back from a few weeks from Japan so I'll relay this: in Japan, the organs are a very popular part of the cow and very readily served and ordered at most Yakiniku (Japanified restaurants of which there is at least one per train stop. They are collectively referred to as HORUMON... hormones. Here's a handy guide. http://www2.health.ne.jp/images/LVL3/3000653/hormone_man.gif The the stomach, intestines, heart, liver, kidneys, and more are all served up sauced and ready to grill by yourself. They're usually pretty delicious. So add another country where organs are not offal...

FWIW not only does Nha Trang have loads of dishes other than Pho that are great and cheap and delicious (and be sure to ask for the red menu not the green menu), but I don't judge a Vietnamese restaurant by their Pho either... I judge a Pho restaurant by their Pho!

I've had other vietnamese tell me that it is very authentic, hence I mention it here, but the closest i've been to vietnam is thailand, so i'll stfu

I have gone to the Nha Trang on Baxter going on 14 years now (oy) and it hasn't changed a bit ... meaning, I guess, that it hasn't gotten worse and is still relatively very good...?

I was waiting for the inevitable it's great it's great buuuuuuuuuuuuuut it's in Flushing Which means I'm waiting for the next Mets 1:10PM game, which has been tough since they've had a good team, they're picked up by FOX or ESPN for an 8pm game...

Despite your recommendations and living a hop-skip-and a jump away, I still have not been to Becco. Recently it was finally it discussed on Lidia's PBS show... in no deference to you, now I really want to try it out... I guess the next time I have to run a race, I'll be there...

That's too bad...as it becomes less and less about the food... served in a sugar-glass test-tube or not...

Well, I don't concur that Wylie Dufresne is the ONLY one. At the same time, I don't worry about it too much because a lot of the modern cooking is happening at what would be considered "ethnic" restaurants. What Seki and Gari do would be considered very very haute in the world of sushi.... devi and tabla for that matter... i guess this also goes back to the definition of "haute', does it have to invovle spherification and fancy machinery...?

If the red label, (Japanese name shokoshu) is the FANCY stuff, I sure as hell don't wanna try the cheap stuff! That stuff would strip a '56 chevy!!!

Addy?

So the NY DOES have plenty of avante garde restaurants, but none on the scale of Alinea? If I want to get foams, spheres, smokes, and all sorts of mixtures of savory and dessert ingredients, I feel like I have plenty of places I can go...

bizarro benihana. I got pictures on my nikon, been too lazy/jetlagged to up them, plus my Japan thread was relegated to here: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=101568

It's got nothing on Miracle Gelato!!!!!!! http://www.miraclegelato.net/ I went and I'll post pictures later. I grilled the poor shop girl about what exactly the Miracle is. They have a -30C teppan in front of you and make it right in front of you. It's very low calorie and tastes great. But you don't get a lot for $4....

Is that the stuff with the red label? Shoukosho or shoukoshu, something like that?

Man I gotta update that thing. Likewise, I got a TON of tasty pictures yet to post. The posting procedure on here is a major pain in the ass. You have to bulk upload, then cut paste, etc. etc. And this after processing all the RAW files. MENDOKUSE!

Great! Sounds like you've got your finger on the pulse. While I'm not reading any newspapers or listening to the evening news in Japanese, in a restaurant situation my Japanese is pretty much fluent and nearly native. Also in sales meetings and talking to strange women at bars. I'm bouncing around friend's houses and working out of them during the day. I'm based in Shimo-kitazawa until tomorrow, then Naka-Meguro. I'll also be over to Akebonobashi which is basically Yotsuya-sanchome/Ichigaya. Looking to eat outstanding lunches for under ¥1000 or a sushi lunch for not much more, and dinners around ¥5000. I'm a NY-native so no need for any recommendations which would be eclipsed by the international community there. Mostly looking for standout Japanese traditional, nouveau, fusion, etc. - the types of places you see covered on TV programming.... I'm here until Monday. Thank you so much for your help!