chetlemon

Same disclaimer for myself, and I'll also say that I loved Setagaya. The flavor of the broth seemed distinctly better to the broth at Momofuku Noodle Bar.

That's the average of the places that made it into Zagat, which (presumably) tend to be the better places in the city. It sounds reasonable to me that the average place found in their guide would be at the bottom end of the "very good" range. Not that I disagree with the larger point ... Zagat's "very good to excellent" (20-25) clearly something very different from NYT's "very good to excellent (2-3 stars).

If eater.com sets the lines, then count me in. On the Bruni betting, they typically use huge negative vig, so that you can lock in 50%+ profit.

Tried Di Fara's for the first time last night, so they're obviously back in business (I think that's been said in some other thread, but not this one). The main thing I have to add to this thread is that the expected wait time can be even more ridiculous than has been conveyed. I got there when there were only a few others there, and still had to wait about 45 minutes for the two slices I ordered. It seems Dom was only cooking two pies at a time, one round, one square .. and sometimes when I'd think I had a claim to the round one coming out of the oven, it would turn out to be for a phone order. The scary thing is that it appeared there were people that had to wait even longer than me ... when I left, there must have been a dozen people waiting, many of them for multiple pies, and Dom was still cooking them two at a time. As for the food, it's unquestionably the best by-the-slice place I've ever been to, and by a huge margin. Still, it hardly seems like a fair comparison to compare a slice you have to wait 45 minutes for (and comes right out of the oven) to a slice from a place that you can count on to get you a slice within a minute or two. The crust was thicker than most other NYC style places, sort of similar to Arturo's I guess. The excess oil and cheese makes a mess, as others have noted, but that's nothing I can't handle.

Prosperity Dumpling at 46 Eldridge, is a few blocks south of Dumpling House. It seems like it's roughly on par with Dumpling House, but less crowded ... which means that if you order fried dumplings, you're more likely to get stuck with something that's been sitting around for a while. I've been to Tasty Dumpling on Mulberry as well and got stuck with fried dumplings that had been sitting around for too long (I was indeed there at dinner, sounds like that may have been a factor). But the vegetable dumplings, which they cooked on the spot, were also pretty flavorless, so I haven't bothered going back.

I've eaten here about a dozen times over the last few months, most recently this past weekend for dinner. While there have not been a lot of posts in the last year or so, many of the older comments still apply. Several of the dishes are great, but others are average or worse ... while this is my favorite Chinatown restaurant, I definitely would not recommend Noodletown to someone without giving them specific advice on what to order. (For instance, despite the name, the noodles are actually not the highlight in my opinion.) Roast baby pig is outstanding, just like others have described with the thin layers of crispy skin and fat to go with the tender meat. They didn't have it the last time I was there, and in my opinion, the roast pork is not worth getting as a substitute (although I'll admit that what I tried didn't look as good as the roast pork in Daniel's picture, so maybe there's some variability here). Roast duck is also great, better than any of the other places I've tried in Chinatown; I think it's best with either the flowering chives or pea shoots instead of as a stand-alone. I've also tried the pea shoots with other meats a couple of times (once chicken and once scallops), and these disesh were nowhere near the same level. Most of the salt-baked seafood is great as well, except for the scallops, which are no good. So get the shrimp or soft-shell crab. Finally, I tried the congee last time and thought it was very good, but I'm ashamed to admit that's the first time I've had congee, so I don't have much basis for comparison.