foodgeek

I ate at the Grand Sichuan location in Chelsea a couple of weeks ago, and wasn't crazy about the food. The soup dumplings were great, but all the other dishes I had (pumpkin soup, dan dan noodles, king pao chicken) had both good and bad elements to them. I was comparing them to Lion Pavillion (when it was good.) Saturday night I brought a small group to the 51st Street location since I have often heard on chowhound.com that it is the better Grand Sichuan location. The food was much better that the 24th Street location, with the exception of the soup dumplings which were soupless. Some higlights: The beef in chile sauce was excellent and very spicey (yay). The shredded duck w/string beans was good. The soup dumplings were very tasty even if they were soupless. The scallion pancakes were interesting. I even liked the seseme chicken although it wasn't an item I chose. I will definitely be going back to try more dishes.

Thanks Steven, I actually purchased a sparkling alsation at the same time. I guess that bottle is another option. -Jayask

Thanks Jason. Picked up some Alsation on the way home. The guy in Crossroad liquors made the same suggestion. :)

It wasn't that Pipa was bad. There was one dish I really didn't like, but everything else was good. It just wasn't good enough for an upscale restaurant, or one that charges what Pipa does. I was more inpressed with the food at N~. Too bad the lack of sufficient tables and smoke will keep me from frequenting N~. In truth, I had heard a lot of people say that Pipa isn't that good, but I tried it anyway. That's what I get for being stubborn. :) -Jayask

What wine would you recommend for an assortment of Thai dishes? Some will be spicey, some not. NYC people, We are talking about Sripraphai.

I like N~ on Crosby Street for tapas, but it has two bars, and only a couple of tables. It also tends to be smoke filled. The tapas are good though,a nd they have good mixed drinks, a sherry list, and a wine list. I recently tried Pipa, but was not impressed. I used to like the tapas at Meson Asturias, a Galician restaurant in Queens, but haven't been there in a year or so. I particularly remember the garlic shrimp. It is a restaurant with a small bar.

I am extremely lactose interant. I have to check labels of anything i eat ebcause I will react regardless of how little lactose is in something. I don't feel like defending my lactose intolerance, so let's leave it at that. :) I do notice that a lot of people think that they are, but aren't. When they tell me that they can drink skim milk I usually smirk. :) Anyway, if you really are lactose intolerant I recommend goats cheese, since goats milk no lactose. Sheeps milk cheeses have less than cows milk cheeses, but enough to bother me. You might want to try yogurt with live cultures since it practically digests itself. My best suggestion is to know whatingredients are in what you are eating. You would be surprised by what contains dairy.