larrylee
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Posts posted by larrylee
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Just got back from Ippudo with Al and our respective better halves.
The service seems to have improved greatly since Raji's visit. :-D What really surprises me about Ippudo is the friendliness exuded by all the staff. You feel like you're in San Francisco or something.
There are about 83 seats inside. Only six at the bar. A series of banquettes that seat six (but could easily sit up to nine), a few communal tables and a central table that's ideal for single diners. Bar in the front (completely packed by the time we left at 8 PM or so). Given the crowd, we were surprised that we weren't rushed out. For the time being, the hostess said they were not taking reservations, but they might in the future depending on how things go.
We had the Shiomaru and Akamaru Modern bowls, along with the chicken kara-age, the pork belly, crab croquettes, and a bottle of Miyasaka "Yawaraka" junmai sake.
The broth is indeed really good - a deep, rich pork flavor. There's definitely a time and place for this type of broth, but for me it's sort of a one-note wonder. I'll be back to try the two other ramen types. Even if the broth were enough on its own, I would have liked to have had at least some options for toppings.
The ramen portions are quite managable. The broth is really, really hot. You'll either love the thinner Hakata-style noodles or you won't. I like thicker noodles. The noodles in our bowls all four orders) seemed to be overcooked, with no chew.
The pork belly dish was good, albeit very small and, at $9, rather expensive for the portions. It was accompanied by some rather nicely stewed daikon (but let's admit it, daikon is not a luxury item) that reminds me of Lan's foie gras/daikon dish.
The crab croquettes (with some sort of bechamel sauce, as they put it) were nicely fried, but with very little crab flavor and the bechamel seemed to be more like mayonnaise.
The sake was on the sweet side, a good foil for the pork.
The open kitchen and music (mostly Rage Against the Machine when we were eating) seemed very Ssam Bar-esque.
Post-meal questions:
1) Can you ask for your noodles to be of a particular done-ness?
2) Can you ask for your broth to be more or less salty? If so, how do they accommodate a less salty broth? Do they have two stocks, or water down the base stock? Or something else?
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Don't downplay vinegar in a drink - when I was in a Korean bath house they were serving a vinegar drink that, on principle, really shocked me, but had a nice little tang to it that I really crave now!
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paula dean was also in the house. she walked by my table when my boyfriend and i were up to the cheese cart ,and she said, "i don't know how y'all can eat that stinky cheese" in the most beautiful exadurated southern drawl i have ever heard.
Just pour some butter on it!
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I didn't get to attend this year, so read this as peering-in-from-the-outside grousing.
NPR ran a very unfortunate fluff piece in which they marveled over the serving of oxtail. *slaps face*
Having eaten very regularly at both Super Tacos (and still do) and Kwik Meal (I work too far away now), I'm very glad both were finalists. Personally, I'm not as taken with the Dosa cart. Nothing against the Dosa Man, I wish him the best.
The one thing that irks me about the Super Tacos truck is that their new menu shows a spit, presumably representing their al pastor. At least compared to the al pastor tacos in California (haven't made it to Mexico), I'm really saddened by this because it seems pretty clear to me that they don't use a spit for their al pastor. I've tried peering into their truck on many occasions and if they have one it's not readily visible. I wish I knew enough Spanish to ask.
Regardless, I still happily eat there. The best way to enjoy it is to eat at the metal counter beside the truck.
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Oh, side note: for our wedding, we had Doughnut Plant doughnuts in lieu of a cake. We think it worked out better than any cake (note: Little Pie Company does not do custom cakes, at least for the proletariat).
Mark made us an additional heart shaped doughnut. :-D (all together now... awwwwww!) He came out from the kitchen to chat for a few minutes and walked us across the street where we loaded the doughnut boxes into a taxi. Very cool guy, I'm glad he beat Bobby Flay in the doughnut Throwdown.
Doughnut Plant does not franchise in the US, but does have multiple locations in Tokyo. We saw the stand in Shinjuku station but unfortunately didn't have time to sample them.
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379 Grand Street, New York, NY 10002
Mass transit:
M14A bus stops right in front, though a bit of a long ride.
B/D at Grand
We're big fans of Doughnut Plant. I thought I'd start this thread so people can post new flavors and things they like.
Today we had:
peanut butter and blueberry jam
sweet basil
white peach
coconut cream (perennial favorite)
The jam is now made on-site. The sweet basil was really enjoyable. White peach... very subtle. Almost too subtle, I don't think I would have been able to identify the flavor without knowing it in advance. Having said that, it was pleasantly sweet.
The sweet basil doughnut is also available in cake doughnut form.
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Some of the links to flickr photosets are already linked in this thread :-P
I think the discussion of dishes is still highly relevant... just be sure to take into account the new dishes recently mentioned.
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I haven't ordered from Lobel's just given what I've heard about the price. However, I go to Ottomanelli's as often as I can when cooking meat and I've always been happy. Recently they've had aged certified angus beef on sale (ridiculously low $15 a pound) and it was fantastic. Just cooked it up in my cast iron skillet with some kosher salt... heaven on a plate.
I went once asking for bones to make a beef stock and they pulled out an entire leg bone for me.
"Would you like it cut?"
"Ummm, please. My band saw is at the shop."
And it was really cheap, too... just over a buck a pound.
More recently I went back for some oxtail and ended taking an entire oxtail with me. Great guys, but they've been cutting their hours back over the years. No longer open on Sunday and I think they close at 6 PM everyday now.
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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.
Having said all this, I'm not even much of a breakfast person, but I suspect you're right about limited sit-down hot breakfasts. Diners come to mind. Eh.
For some reason, I always consider sit down breakfasts to be a bigger waste of money than lunch or dinner. There's something in my mind that says "Eggs! You can make these at home!" Sure, I can make a sandwich, too, but I'm more willing to pay for a sandwich than eggs. The percentage mark-up on granola makes me think of saffron.
Speaking of which, time for my own breakfast. :-D
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This is marginally off-topic but do people go to Sugiyama just for sushi? I guess they do have a bar. I've only been twice. Each time we sat at a table near the windows and we ordered the kaiseki. The sushi course was quite decent but was a rather standard selection of fish. Perhaps that is to be expected during a meal of that type. I recall, way back when, the sushi course during a tasting menu at Nobu and thinking, "what's the fuss?" And no, I've never eaten at the sushi bar of Nobu.
Gari, as I recall, really offers two versions of sushi. More traditional sushi preparations and then Gari's Choice. Todd, by saying that Gari has more interesting selections available, which are you referring to?
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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.
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.
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I think I can speak for us both in saying that neither of us (nor you) would mind going to dinner with Frank Bruni. We're just responding to the idea that some people may very well not like to.
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Gee, I really feel for the poor dining companions who are going out on the dime of the NY Times. They don't get to eat every bite of the food they order. It's almost like...dining with my friends. Are these answers for real? Also, shouldn't you want someone with the expertise of a NY Times food critic choosing the dishes?
I think that depends on who you're accustomed to dining with. You know, the person who wants to order dessert first, doesn't want half the items that come in the fish dish, etc.
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Ony closed quite some time ago. Just saying. I liked their summer noodle dishes.
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Hoping for neighbourhood eats at Kefi or Celeste and lots and lots of gelato.
If you're looking to eat at Kefi or Celeste, go early or be prepared for a long wait.
Gelato - you could try Grom on the Upper West Side. Also long lines.
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No problem!
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This was also discussed in aother topic:
http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=99765
The reason why produce may go bad faster is because it may be picked much closer to its peak freshness. Anyway, it's all in the other topic.
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For $6 and under go down to the Trini-Pak cart on the SE corner of 43rd and 6th. The cart has a man/wife team and it's usually next to a fruit cart. When in doubt, you can always ask "is this the Trini-Pak cart?" You can get a medium chicken and rice (get the basmati) and a soda for $5.
I'd recommend the Kwik-Meal cart but that's a little more than $6.
If you want to go down for a farther walk you can go to the trio of Japanese places on 41st between Fifth and Sixth aves.
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BLAH... "in New York City."
*slinks away*
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Sam Choy?
Also, I think we should be careful about how we define the average non-foodie.
Far From the Big Cities, and Not Missing Them
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This is not not on-topic but I believe the color from red velvet cake used to originate from the type of cocoa powder used. It's referenced in this slashfood article and I think it was mentioned once in a Good Eats episode, but I'm having trouble locating it.
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We tried the tong-po pork. The preparation was very different from New Yeah Shanghai across the street. New Green Bo's version was almost candy-apple red and cloyingly sweet. The layer of fat on top was very unappetizing. We ate less than half the dish and we didn't take the leftovers home. The xiao long bao seemed "okay" and some other wonton soup we ordered was also unremarkable. Perhaps we ordered all the wrong items off the menu.
Incredibly greasy! 
THE BEST: Manhattan Korean
in New York: Dining
Posted
I've only been once but I'd agree.