bpearis

In the 1/15 NY Times, Ed Levine calls the $41 monstrosity "genuinely lousy, a mushy, gray thing of loose consistency and little flavor."

i guess the lack of response answered my question.

A year and a half ago Town was the talk of the, uh, city. But now you don't hear about it much at all and I can't remember when the last time I read about it on this site. I never went during the hype and then sorta forgot about it. Is this what everyone else did too?

Mars 2112 is a restaurant for kids. You have to "ride" in a spaceship to get to the dining room (not before passing the gift shop) to eat "galaxy fries" and other samey theme-restaurant fare. Meanwhile, I had a somewhat quick dinner at Otto on Monday night. I think I agree with Yvonne in that the gelato was the best thing I had. I too wasn't impressed with the crust -- it was a little tough for me. The toppings were impeccable, though. I didn't get to sample many of the appetizer/antipasti as we were trying to make a film screening. I'll definitely go back, though.

As for pizza, you'd be remiss to, uh, miss Totonno's in Coney Island. It really is my favorite pizza in all of NYC, even if the midde gets a little soggy. I'd also like to put a vote in for the Miss Williamsburg Diner, in the WB. Italian Italian (as opposed to old-school Brooklyn Italian), pretty much everything is great there. Also Locanda Vini & Olii in Clinton Hill is a one-of-a-kind place, Tuscan, really good too.

was this originally posted on aintitcoolnews.com? it reads that way.

Just order omakase and you'll be fine, especially if you're sitting at the sushi bar. By the way, does anyone know what happened to chef Kazuo Yoshida? Is he at another restaurant now?

this past weekend, some friends and i played beer pong with a czech smoked beer that i found to be pretty hideous. "smoked" and "drink" don't really go together in my book.

There's a blurb in the new New York about Bruno's opening, and says the fee is $7000.

i should say that our server wasn't unpleasant or rude or anything of that sort, but not overly helpfull. and dissapeared for about fifteen minutes before taking our order. i was expecting a little more i guess.

i didn't mention it actually. our server wasn't super-chatty and, despite cabrales' excellent suggestions on how to do so, i couldn't find a comfortable place to drop it in. i wasn't crazy about the service, to be honest. the hostesses were both extremely nice, though. our server, not so much.

so the whole garden room thing ended up being a non-issue as we were seated in the main dining room (the restaurant was busy but maybe not quite full). we did the tasting menu... i didn't take notes, and after a g&t and half a bottle of wine (and not much to eat during the day) my memory is slightly fuzzy, but i'll try and recap. The amuse was a shotglass of delicious chesnut soup. very rich, if i'd had any more of it i probably would've gotten full. fluke with some sort of cream and herring roe. this was really nice and had a slight smoky flavor. i think i would have liked it better if it had been a citrus-based sauce, though. seared toro with chick peas. this was really, really good. there was a cinamony/cuminy flavor to this that matched the fattiness of the toro quite well. the little bits of califlower were nice but perhaps unnecessary. lamb chops. i started to get loopy from the booze and can't now remember what accompianied the chops, but the meat was just excellent -- rare and delicious. two deserts followed. one was an apple tart and a chocolate somethingorother (again, the booze. i have a copy of the menu, but it's at home). both were good but i'm am not a sweets person. here was my only beef with the meal -- i would have prefered another savory course instead of two desert courses. maybe next time i'll ask for that. in the meantime, a very nice meal indeed. -bill

i confirmed yesterday, natch, but will try to gracefully slip it into the conversation. i know dan and michael are big egullet fans. give a report tomorrow at some point. thanks again for all the advice/clarification. -bill

how does one bring that up without sounding like a ninny? secret handshake? i'm all for preferential treatment.

well the food is the important thing and as long as it's not out in the cold i can live with feeling cut off. thanks for the info.

I'm going to Blue Hill tonight and have reservations in the Garden Room. Is this the outside patio. With the weather turning the way it is, will it be too cold? Is it heated? Am I wrong about this? I didn't think about what garden room might mean until today... -bill

I'm partial to the infomercial touting a line of flexible-blade cutlery. They keep saying "Do you realize how much money you waste every year buying pre-cut and pre-sliced food?"

I'm going there for the first time on Tuesday. Any reccomendations -- tasting menu or not? Anything I *must* have? -bill

A friend of mine asked me if I knew of any really good bakeries in Brooklyn near him -- he lives in Gowanus (sort of outer Park Slope). I said I didn't know, but knew people who would. Don't let me down...

I think the single hottest thing I have ever eaten is the braised beef fillets with chili sauce at GSIM. Great, but I had to keep taking breaks to let my mouth cool off.

i too don't really like it. the major problem with uni sushi for me is it's too big. you put this giant custardy thing in your mouth and it's just too much. (no jokes please!) and you can't really take two bites because it just falls apart. the only time i've liked sea urchin was as a crudo tasting at esca. it came in the shell with a little lemon oil drizzled on top (i think). what i strongly remember is the tiny spoon you were given to eat it with. small bites i liked it, but i don't want a gigantic mouthful all at once.

I must admit I still enjoy the Chef Boyardee Pizza kit in a box -- the bag of dough mix, the can of sauce and the can of bad "romano" cheese. It doesn't really taste like pizza, but I like it. Gustatorily speaking, anyone else have a secret shame?

They had more British-y sandwiches when the first Pret opened in the financial district, but changed around quickly when they weren't flying off the shelves. Poached salmon sounds good, though.

I can't speak for the parrot fish, but i think that getting the toro tartare is pretty certain. it's been part of the omakase the three times i've been.

While I haven't been to every restaurant on this list (but have been to Sripraphai a few times), I can easily say that Pam Real Thai is the best I've been to in Manhattan. I probably eat lunch there once a week. The definition of "spicy" changes a bit depending on your server, but it's usually pretty damn hot, especially if you aren't just ordering the standard stuff. The jungle curry is great, as are most of the salads (I like the Larb and the Yum Nam Sod"). It's also one of the few Thai places in Manhattan that offers pork as an option for most dishes. It doesn't have the scope of Sripraphai, but it's real good nonetheless.