bpearis

Minca get the $25 and Under treatment. It's more like a description than a review. I"m not sure I like this new person who took over for Azimov.

Bruni reviews V. Amanda Hesser, he is not:

I really like "burger joint", but I have to say that New York Burger company is better in every concievable way and costs only $0.50 more. I haven't tried Shake Shack yet, but I don't know of any other $5.00 burger that comes close in quality to the one I had at New York Burger Co. this afternoon. Thanks for the heads up on this place. I tried both NYBC and Shake Shack today. I got the Chicago Stye at NYBC... it was good but the patty was overcooked. Nice bacon, though. And I liked the brioche roll. Burger Joint's, having been this week, crushes it in my opinion. More burger flavor at BJ. Shake Shack, I got the Shackburger and thought it was great, way better than NYBC and maybe as good as BJ but not sure. If I hadn't just had one from the other place, I would've gotten a second.

We're getting off track here (or I am) from this thread, I know, but I was on my way home tonight and stopped at Blue 9 and had their signature double-patty burger. It was a big pile of whatever. I had one about nine months ago that was much better. Tuesday, actually, I was at Burger Joint in Le Parker Meridian and that was probably the best burger I've had in four or five months. I'd forgotten why burgers could be so good. That said, I'm anxious to try NYBC and also Shake Shack's burger. -bill

My new job is directly across from Chelsea Market so I'm in the neighborhood. A freind and I tried to go to 5 Ninth for lunch but they weren't open, so we opted for Spice Market. I had been by myself a couple weeks ago and was disappointed. The shaved tuna with tapioca peals was good but not great and the shortribs with noodles and pea shoots seemed like the kind of thing I could have easily made at home. So we tried all different things this time. Egg rolls with mushrooms, beef skewers, coconut-crusted monkfish, and the lime noodles. The best dish was probably the beef skewers: ground meat with a nice citrus dipping sauce. But as small as they were, they weren't worth the $15 for an appetizer. The egg rolls were okay but nothing special; the monkfish was overcooked but not bad. The lime noodles were downright bad. My friend and I both had about two bites, overpoweringly sour and the noodles were gummy. I considered sending it back but at that point (it was the last dish to arrive and took quite a while) I didn't want to start something, I just wanted the check and to get out of there. The staff were as dissinterested as Blockbuster clerks. The space is great, fantastic people watching. But three stars? Give me a break. My chopsticks found their way to a lot of mediocre food.

In this week's NY Press, Adam Heimlich say that 10 Pell (across from Joe's Shanghai) has great orange-flavor beef.

The new issue of Time Out NY has a feature on raw food restaurants. The writer goes to Quintessence first and finds it to be, much as I did, horrible. He then goes to a couple other places that are hit and miss before finally visiting Pure Food & Wine, which he said was great and a much different kind of place than the nut meat ball and flax seeds kinds of places NYC has been given before. My skepticism comes from my awful experience at Quintessence, but the more I hear about PF&W the more I'm intrigued. I'm not going to give up oxtail, but this is sounding more appealing...

reading the review on the train this morning, the thing i noticed is that almost all of the reccomended dishes in the little box weren't even mentioned in the review.

I was wondering the same thing. I'm all for sugar snap peas and corn picked that morning and other incredibly fresh food like that, but sprouted rice, flax seeds and some of the other stuff eaten by those who have gone the living foods route does nothing for me. I'll probably give this place a shot, though I wish there was a place that included fish in the raw equation.

Frank Bruni's first Diner's Journal visits 5 Ninth: He sounds like Steingarten there...

from today's NY Times...

I have a feeling that AH's dining experience may not be the one most people get. I think those known to Masa are the only people complaining that it is too much food.

I was there a couple weeks ago. The decor is the best part of the restaurant. The food isn't bad but it's not very good either. Their pea shoots were pale and weedy. The other stuff was too sweet. With Chinatown so close, I wouldn't go back -- except for drinks maybe.

There's lots and lots of parking around the restaurant. You don't need to use their valet system (whatever that is). The neighborhood isn't the scary wasteland it once was.

Drive to Luger's. The subways have been spotty on weekends lately due to service and maintenance.

Wine documentary Mondovino hits Cannes. You can check out a variety of articles on it via Google.

Someone needs to see Tampopo. I want to go to Per Se, especially after seening the FL episode of A Cook's Tour.

Ali's at Kabab Cafe is the best I've ever had.

Moira Hodgson, in Monday's Observer, says Masa is good but maybe not worth the price (to paraphrase):

According to the May 4 edition of New York magazine, there's a new pizza contender: Franny's in Park Slope.

The Japanese KORN was also a musician who recorded for Sony. He also provided the voice of Chef on the Japanese dubbed version of South Park.

No good deed goes unpunished. Robyn she was called a lot worse than winsome. not that i think she's doing a good job as interim restaurant critic...

I grew up about five miles from there and I wouldn't call it the middle of nowhere, though you're not going to find any Thai restaurants nearby. There are good places to eat in Lewisburg (where I'm from) but mostly you're gonna want to eat at the resort. But, for the most part, it's a good place to go to get away from it all, play golf, maybe go fishing, etc. And the scenery is amazing (especially in the fall). I love NYC but I always look forward to going back.

I must admit, the scene sounds annoying. But you're right about the sushi, or at least Yoshida-san. He was the only reason to go to Brasserie 360. I miss him at Jewel Bako even though I think Masato Shimizu is just as amazing with the knife. But Yoshida has a great sense of humor that made eating before him really fun. And his signiture sushi -- chopped jack mackerel with miso and ginger -- is a classic. He's the bomb.

i played this over and over on my tivo. he does shoot his head forward (not back and to the left) and it does sorta look like it but then they cut away really quickly. so who can really tell what happened? i didn't see anything fly out of his mouth. why would anyone spit into the food on tv? there's a question for the director...