Steve R.

Even though their advance p.r. (200 keys given out... no one else gets in...) & their website ( http://www.playearth.jp ) make it seem like a referrals only exclusive place, recent reviews at the yelp site (finally, yelp is useful) show otherwise. http://www.yelp.com/biz/bohemian-restaurant-new-york

I'd second Katja, newly enlarged & reopened. I've also liked (at a somewhat less refined level) Loreley. And, of course, Prime Meats (in Bklyn, from the Frankies) seems to be German-ish in intent if not a full blown ethnic experience. I'm not a Blaue Gans fan, but recognize it may well fit the bill. Unfortunately, Silver Swan closed 4 years ago.

I think Katz' has the best pastrami but there are other places. Here's a link for any of you that want to trek out to the far corner of Brooklyn: http://www.millbasindeli.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=20&Itemid=31 I've been going for many years and it's among the best in all deli meats. And the guy's an art dealer, so the walls are lined with original Erte's, Calders and other great pieces of art.

Not so fast there pardner: http://www.sheepsheadbites.com/2012/10/brightons-mi-international-plans-to-expand-but-community-demands-more-parking/

Henry's End is still there and we go at least monthly for years now (25 or so... we're old). We were just there a couple of nights ago eating soft shells, duck and King Salmon... all good. He (Mark, the owner and chef) has a game menu that starts late fall and runs thru the winter. Once the game menu starts they always have elk chops and rotate other game items in and out depending on availability. I've had kangaroo there several times, as well as ostrich, wild duck and boar. Less exotic but there's usually rabbit, turtle soup and venison on the menu as well. Excellent domestic wine list at very reasonable prices.

Which, I might add, worked very well after a big dinner at Mission Chinese food. Too bad they didn't have mint chip.

And the rest of us were very glad you did. The 6 of us went thru probably 2/3 of the menu and I have to admit, I didn't find just about anything that wasn't very good. Believe it or not, the pastrami was probably my least favorite, but I'd eat it again without hesitation. What I like about this place is that they're churning out inventive, interesting takes that are 10-20degrees off "normal" Chinese food (of any specific region). And they're doing it with a wide variety of styles and tastes. And at a very nice price point. And in a very friendly environment. Genuinely friendly. It will not replace my trips to Flushing for more traditional excellence at Fu Run, Little Pepper, Xi'an, Imperial Palace or the underground malls. But, for interesting somewhat off the wall stuff that works... this is the place. Aside... the beer comes in nice big cups while the glasses of wine are very small. Spend your $7/serving wisely. eta: I can't stop thinking about the brisket w/greens dish. Or the mackerel fried rice. Or even the peanuts.

This is not an upscale place but I admit to being more than an occasional customer. Very large portions of basic red sauce dishes, with eggplant rollatini that is almost perfect. It's the type of place that has more tables filled at 5:30 than at 8pm & where the average age is 40 only because it serves as many 10 year olds as 70 year olds. Not many places left with Keno games on TV screens in the dining rooms. Very old line and worth checking out. Just stick to basics & find a relatively inoffensive wine.

I agree about Tommaso's, but thought it was too far out of the way to mention (I wasn't actually recommending Parkside for this visit, just mentioning that it's the benchmark for red sauce Italian... and, since I'm going tonite, it's on my mind). The owner of Tommaso is an acquired taste but, if you like owners who break out into song (in his case, opera... not bad on some arias, by the way), then this might be perfect. The wine cellar is really good. You remind me that I have to get back there one of these days. Another place that has a great wine cellar is Manducatis (also in Queens). The kitchen is not what these others are but, if/when Ida is in the kitchen and, if she's feeling good (two big maybes these days), it can be the perfect place. By the way, Queen's decor was never actually replaced. The original location, with it's dark old-line furniture and lighting, was one block away (where the big movie theater and Barnes&Noble are now). That whole block was razed (about 15-20 years or so ago?) and Queen moved the restaurant to the current location, without relocating the pizza place it ran next door (the 1st place that Dom DeMarco made pizzas before opening DiFara's 40-something years ago). The new restaurant was furnished in "modern" style to keep up with the needs of the lunchtime lawyers and politicians who flock to the place & pizza was "by request only". Significant dinner business is relatively recent (5 years or so?) and I think that they're still wondering what happened to bring in all these "young 'uns" who like their food.

I agree that, whether you like the food or not, Frankies' on Court St in Bklyn is most definitely not old school NY Eyetalian. And I really don't think that either Roberta's or Franny's are either... not by a long shot. Additionally, I am hesitant to agree that you can order right in Bamonte's, as the last 3-4 meals I've had there were not good at all but, since I stopped going many years ago, I really can't provide any recent confirmation that it should be avoided. So, if you're going to stay in Manhattan and/or close-by Bklyn locations, I think that Piccolo Angolo really does the best job of it, with gigantic meatballs and a great variety of old time favorites, including slices of fresh garlic bread in the basket, gratis. And an owner (Renato) right out of the old school handbook. I love this place and have been going for over 15 years. Then there's Queen in Downtown Bklyn, which can hit the mark (although less so, in my opinion), but you have to put up with plastic flower ambience and a waitstaff that sometimes is old time friendly and other times seems not interested in you at all. Il Mulino is definitely in the category but the Manhattan location is tough to get into, is merciless with the upsell and price non-disclosure, and the food can be uneven. Of course, when this long time Brooklynite wants an old time red sauce place, I'm just as likely to get in the car and hit Park Side in Corona (as I'm doing with friends from this board on Friday) as I am to walk the 3 blocks from my home to Queen. Just saying'.

"Oh, if you like beer, there is a place called Open Baladin that has hundreds of beers. I know you can get that in the US, but they'll have a ton of artisanal beers made in Italy. another huge rage here now". That reminds me that we lucked into a really interesting place across from the Testaccio market that had 20-30 pages of beers. A lot were out of stock, but many were available and worth a shot. Wine list was also incredibly good, as they are a retail food and wine store and sell everything from the shelves to those at the tables.

Mitch - Eliz. Minchilli's blog last week has a great lead on hamburgers in Rome... that got people talking More seriously, in that article, she references the place that the sous chef from Arco went to and that sounds hot right now. And, just a reminder that Ginny and I went to Perilli twice last month when we were there. Think pajata (or carbonara). Hanging out in Testaccio a bit, it seemed to us that a # of new places seem to be opening in that area. There's also a wine bar right on the square in Campo de Fiore that has a great listing by the glass and tables outside. In the middle of tourist central but it looked genuine. Remind me to give you the name... it's been there, looks like forever.

It's been 20 years since I've been there, dragged by a vegetarian friend who lives in Vermont and meditates quite often (at the direction (suggestion?) of his spiritual master of course). Not that I'm biased against places like this but they're not the big, bold red sauce eyetalian haunts that I so cherish for my own meditative practice. At any rate, I found the meal exactly as Will describes and I really liked it. Except for sitting in a very uncomfortable position, that is. Twenty years later, I have fond memories of how many types of seaweed I now know I can enjoy without feeling in need of therapy. And I'd go back. But my Vt. friend wont visit this amoral, corrupt big city again so there goes my excuse (and he, like Bernie Sanders and Ben/Jerry, is from Bklyn... sheesh).

Hell, send them to Arturo's and be done with it. The back room is relatively quiet, the pizza is more than good and the wine list... well, it's drinkable.

Yes, they are still good. But everything has gone downhill in the last ten years, hasn't it? I'll have to be the dissenting voice then. YS's knishes are now uneven, at best (& I think I'm being kind). I have not had a really good one in years, but I've had many bad ones. If nothing else, I am a persistent creature and just cant admit that something's over. Maybe, given your opinion, I'll try again? Sometimes the persistence pays off, however... I had an above mediocre meal at Jackson Diner (the one still in J.Hts.) this past weekend (talk about going against the odds, huh?).

Ginny and I enjoyed it as well. Always nice to see weinoo again (or whatever his other names are) but missed Ms. Weinoo. And, of course, our regular eating companions Rich and Peg. At any rate, for a Monday night, this place was on. Okay, so there werent any 1950's type "cigarette girls" giving out samples of beer the way there were another time we were there, but there was a magician going table to table doing card tricks. Really. Weinoo pretty much named the dishes so I wont belabor the point(s). I remain convinced that this is the best of its ilk and it reminds me of some of the old Little Italy places I used to like years ago (Da Nico for one, but that was 20 years ago, when the backyard tables faced apartments where old Italian ladies were hanging out their wet wash and.... well, I digress). It has an Italian-American charm to it, doesnt do too much upsell and the food is above what is usually the case in these type places at a better than average price point. And the lit bocce court just outside the door and the valet parking and Lemon Ice King across the street... well, its a one block Arthur Ave. Worth going.

You should. We're going back tonite and taking a couple of others who've never been. It's across the street from bocce courts and one block from Lemon Ice King. By the way, if you want to downscale it and see old Bklyn as it used to be (Keno boards in the dining rooms and all), go to Colandra's New Corner in the 70s (8th Ave). Get the eggplant rollatine app. and the lasagne. Look around at the customer base... 70 and 80 year olds finished by 5:30pm, families then arriving and leaving around 7-7:30pm, and some tables (like us) arriving at 7pm or so and just about closing it down by 9pm. The food is better than our local red sauce places (Red Rose, Sam's, Marco Polo) but not up to Queen. Worth the trip though. I think even Sneakeater liked it when we took him.

No, these days you get a valet ticket/stub Obviously (since we've been there together several times and are going again next week), I agree that Parkside is a very good place for the old style Eyetalian-American (well Bklyn/Queens/Bronx) type of food. It's certainly better than any of the others of its ilk (Don Peppe, Piccolo Venezia, Marco Polo, Michaels...), although Queen can give it a run for the money (on just the food... certainly not on atmosphere or service) most of the time. But, even though Queen is 2 blocks from me, I'll drive to Corona for Parkside almost any time I want this experience. Last of its kind at this level.

I guess that when you dont cook at home much and go out as regularly as we do, the answer to questions like this can be long. We're regulars at La Mancha (a Spanish place around the corner from where we live), Henry's End (a really nice upscale American food place in our neighborhood that has a game menu in winter and great soft shells at peak time), at Otto, at Chestnut, at Redhead (well, we've slipped a bit on this) & at Ali's Kebab Cafe. And, to a lesser extent (but where we're immediately recognized and greeted), at at least another 6-10 places (like at Devi/Tulsi, or anywhere that Hemant goes). Honestly, I'm not sure what we get out of each... some comped drinks and a better chance at a bar seat at Otto, some comped drinks/dishes at the others... but what we love getting out of each is the feeling of comfort that goes with being known and, therefore, feeling more at ease & being able to engage in conversations with others. Guess we gotta get back to Locanda V. and finally get to Purple Yam, huh?

Most of the time when we're in the mood for that kind of interaction, we sit at the bar to eat. But, if a communal table is available and we're in the mood, we're fine with it. There are plenty of good places in NYC where communal tables can be enjoyable and, when it's not, we know how to shut off our interactions. Given how close together some places put individual tables, you might as well be dining communally anyway.

Not that anyone asked, but my current favorite places in Flushing are Imperial Palace, several of the stalls in Golden Mall and Fu Run (used to be Waterfront) on Prince St. I've personally never found a dim sum out there that is worth going out of my way for but the mall's stalls are better for snacking anyway.

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/699803?tag=boards;topic-699803 Based on Fat Guy's ordering, I'm sure he's seen the above thread but thought it might be useful to anyone else who might be considering a meal there. I've been to dinners with "erica" at Fu Run & other Chinese places and with "Lau" elsewhere as well... they're both very knowledgable and credible.

Sorry I just got to this thread, since I've been to Fu Run more than most and its become one of my favorite places to go in Flushing (Hunan House, Imperial, the Malls and S&T being the others). The waitstaff can definitely be told to skip or go lightly on the wasabi based dressing for the bean sheet dish & agree that, when they're heavy handed, it ruins the dish. The tofu skin dish is also variable, with incendiary peppers making their presence known once in awhile. But, by and large, spicyness is not this place's forte. This dish, however, is excellent. I have a list of other dishes that should be tried & I'll look for it. There are some real gems at this place and some dogs as well (like the popular dish with the lead weighted "pancakes" lining the sides of the serving pot. It's a place worth exploring and, as they get to know you, their English gets better.

You said: "I'm going to hedge and say that Pastrami and Smoked Meat are actually different things - the smokiness of this meat was quite awesome, lending a distinctive flavor that's quite different from the typical NY deli style pastrami. The smaller slices from the thinner end, obscured in this photo, had both impressive smoke flavor and a strong spice component that was very impressive. If I only had time to go either Katz's or here: OK, it's probably still Katz's for me, but I'd pause and consider this place." I couldnt agree more. Exactly how I felt. Not quite apples and oranges but maybe tangerines and oranges. I still prefer Katz' but I'll eat here any day.

First of all, just to be picky, Little Pepper is in Flushing, not Jackson Hts. Its on Roosevelt, 2 or 3 blocks short of Main St. (dive joint, downstairs). If you go to Main St, make a left, go 3 blocks and make a right onto 37th (5minute walk...short blocks), there's a very large Asian supermarket which is equidistant & I like better. Its almost right across the street from Imperial Palace, a Cantonese restaurant I also like. Besides having a great selection of foods, the supermarket also carries (as do many) Cafe du Monde coffee for prices substantially lower than even ordering direct from the company. If you love N.Orleans chicory coffee, get it here. And Asian supermarket food of course. Not that you asked but, although L.Pepper is highly touted, I like Spicy & Tasty and Fu Run better. Both on Prince, a block from Little Pepper... S&T to the left of Roosevelt, Fu Run to the right (across from the schoolyard). Just sayin'