Ochowie

Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but I was wondering if anyone has been to Fleur De Lys recently and if it's still worth going to. I've always seen Keller on Top Chef and they did the first episode of the show there so I've always wanted to check it out but I don't want to waste a night on it.

I have debated posting anything about this restaurant. I enjoyed the meal, but I think it was a bit one note. I felt that every dish had a heavy citrus component that got really repetitive. That and the endless desserts made the meal not up to my memory of Alinea, but still very good.

You can get an idea of what to expect from my review of e' here from last year when I was at Vegas Uncork'd. It's truly a unique experience and I felt it was worth the time and cost. Due to the intimacy of the setting, I chose not to take any photos. David, thanks for pointing me to your review. I will report back here as well when I come back and can only hope it is a fraction as interesting to read as your review is.

I haven't seen a thread about this on here so I thought I'd start one. I've managed to score a reservation for next Sunday and I was wondering what to expect. Has anyone been yet? I will be sure to post details when I get back.

Honestly, I only booked a reservation at Arbutus and figured I would be able to get into Les Deux Salon based on the availability on the web site. Reading my post it certainly did seem that I made reservations at both places and I apologize for the miscommunication. Anyway, ended up at Arbutus. Man, that Eel...!!!

So this is a really short notice post but I thought I'd give it a shot. I have reservations at both Arbutus and Les Deux Salons tonight and I am wondering which one to hit tonight. I'm thinking that whichever one I don't go to I will go to the other one on Sunday (provided I like tonight's meal). So any thoughts, which one should be first? Thanks.

Just a quick question. Should I hit the St. John's Hotel near Leicester or the original? Both are available and I am wondering if one is better than the other?

Thanks for the advice. Also, maybe I should spell the man's name correctly. So between Petrus and Claridges is it a toss-up or does one stand out?

I'm going to be in London in a week and I have already booked The Wolseley and Quo Vadis based on reading these forums and the recently posted trip reports. I was hoping to do one night at a Gordon Ramsay restaurant. Currently RHR isn't showing any availability online but both Claridges and Maze are available. I was hoping to get an outside opinion on which is better between the two. They seem pretty different but does either restaurant operate at a consistently higher quality than the other? Thanks.

Personally, I would cancel EMP for lunch and see if I could get in there for dinner.

Richard had immunity from winning the quickfire didn't he? That could explain why it didn't really matter whether his dish went out on time. Am I the only person that finds Fabio incredibly annoying this season? He was funny and refreshing during the terrible blandness that was season 5 but really his whole schtick is growing old. His comments about the mustard gelato during the quickfire especially annoyed me. And while maybe Bourdain crossed the line, Fabio has gotten into similar arguments in that past (Scott Conant) and needs to get it through his head that his dishes aren't perfect all the time.

It was nice, but I feel he could have really spent less time talking about how difficult the place was to get to and spent more time talking about the food. Almost the full first page of the internet version of the review was spent on coming up with witty ways to describe how difficult it was to get there (eg. "If you haven’t been in the area since your child had ear surgery or after your aunt had that episode on the bus, Riverpark is a fine adventure to take."). It just seems like he's trying too hard.

If you don't have the time to play with the Momofuku Ko reservation system, I highly recommend Ma Peche (one of the other David Chang restaurants). I go there very often (I also go to Ko very often too). The food at Ma Peche is very creative and delicious. The restaurant is open for both lunch and dinner, with the dinner menu being more expansive. I would second the Ma Peche recommendation. I've had some great stuff on their lunch menu. I particularly remember the fried chicken they had as being really good. Also, for dinner the pork chop for two was terrific with a great side of peas (when I had it).

Alas, I don't have 5 other friends in NYC who are all available on the same night when I visiting in a week and a half. I think I will try to plan ahead for another time when their schedules are not as blocked up. Thanks for the comments and suggestions all! Jake For a nominal fee, I will supply you enough hungry friends to fill the remaining spaces. This is giving me an idea, except with the noodle bar fried chicken.

I'm curious about the guy that mentioned that Sushi Yasuda lacked excitement? Not everything should be "exciting" fusion sushi rolls and the simplicity and quality of the fish can be exciting in its own right. I can't think of many sushi restaurants anywhere I have enjoyed more than Sushi Yasuda.

I have to agree with Fat Guy with respect to the comments about how often portion size and price factored into the review. From what I understand the NY magazine reviews aren't supposed to be a guide to eating in Manhattan on the cheap (don't they have a specific section for that?), but rather serious reviews of important restaurants. From my perspective I found the prices (with the exception of maybe the rib eye) to be consistent with other restaurants in a similar category. Also, I agree the restaurant shows tremendous promise, I really enjoyed the lasagna and was surprised at the level of criticism of it in the review, and also enjoyed the chicken main course dish. In addition to that, the cocktail I had to start the meal as well as a by-the-glass wine selection (I was with a non-drinker) were excellent.

I went back to Noodle bar on Saturday for the first time in a while and I was really blown away by the food. I had the special ham buns which were excellent and a great change up to their traditional steamed buns, the roasted corn which might have been the best corn I've ever eaten and I'm still thinking about it, and the pork scrap(?) ramen which was terrific. All in all this was one of my favorite meals that I've had in the Momo franchise and I can't wait to go back again.

Yeah, maybe you're right. I think the biggest thing that soured me to this season was how unlikeable everyone was (especially Ed and his stupid "head games" in the penultimate episode). I think Angelo, who was billed as the "villain" at the start of the season, ended up being the most likeable contestant in the last part of the season.

So is Kevin Hosea 2.0 or is he better than he really seemed throughout most of the season?

Even non-serious, non-news organizations are likely to find the story problematic, not least on account of the lack of disclosure. Beyond that failing, though, one has to bear in mind that it's a blog. It's a Time.com blog, but still fundamentally a blog and not a magazine column (throughout the discussion here and elsewhere I think there has been some confusion on this point). Blogs by their nature tend to have heavy doses of autobiography. I think the supervisor of blogs at most publications would say yes, go ahead and blog about the food at your wedding. It's just that this particular approach was quite flawed. I've had some comments before regarding Ozersky and I'll refrain from making more here. However, regarding the blogging issue, shouldn't there be some kind of difference between the blogs that appear on the Times web site and something that would appear on Josh Ozersky's Livejournal(or whatever personal blogging platform) page? I think that using the fact that it is a blog as a defense for this, is a slippery slope as more and more content is pushed through the medium.

I went to Dos Cielos last night and I was very impressed. I walked in and my jaw dropped at the view and I didn't think the food would live up to that. However, the food was excellent as was the service and I will definitely be back. The three dishes that stuck out to me were the Gazpacho with prawns was excellent. Even though it was on the border of being too spicy for me, I couldn't stop eating it. The next dish was the black rice with sea cucumber and I loved the combination of the sea cucumber with the very well cooked rice. I was worried the dish would be to fishy in flavor but it was nothing of the sort. Finally the dish that really blew me away was the salt cooked fish (I believe it was Cod? Will update later). I was amazed by how soft and delicate the fish was and how well it went with the small vegetables that it was served with. Overall my main impression of the restaurant was that everything was incredibly well seasoned and very flavorful. I would go back again and again and I need to make sure not to stay in the ME hotel so my bank account doesn't get depleted too quickly.

I've recently been staying in this hotel a lot and I have been ordering room service specifically from the actual restaurant menu rather than the room service menu (with a slight surcharge). I have really enjoyed everything I've tried from there with my favorite being the Cod Wrapped in Porchetta. Also I have had the chicken mentioned above as well as the short rib and tuna.

I wasn't going for an eater blurb at all and in fact wish they hadn't used that. I was simply floating the idea that the restaurant wasn't successful because of delays or overpublicity, but because people who ate their didn't like the food. The comment about Alinea was related to the fact that people kept saying that this type of restaurant was too adventurous for New York diners and I tried to qualify that by saying that I enjoy that specific style of cuisine. There is no reason to attack me personally based on my opinion which is just as valid as yours about why it closed. Ultimately the reason for closure is that they couldn't fill the restaurant with enough people to pay their bills. Given that it's just as likely that a lot of people didn't like the food as the other opinions in this thread.

You know I've said this before and I'll say it again even though I seem to be in the minority, what if Tailor failed because the food just wasn't that good? I am a huge fan of the "Molecular Gastronomy" movement and have enjoyed WD-50 on several occasions as well as Alinea being my favorite restaurant I've been to, but while I found the descriptions of the menu items interesting and exciting the food I received was very bland. I remember in particular, the Miso-Butterscotch Pork Belly being exactly like any other pork belly that I've had in New York with no discernible hint of the promised butterscotch. Maybe I went on an off-night, but based on my experience I could hazard a guess that at least some people were excited by the menu, went to the restaurant, and discovered that the food did not live up to the description. Once again, it seems that I am in the minority on this, but that is my take on the restaurant.

How much of an object is money? I know Per Se has a room with, if I remember correctly, a nice view for about 10-12 people. I couldn't think of a better wedding dinner for a small family ceremony.