Pan

Thanks for that report, oakapple. Can you compare the taste of the food to what's served at other Malaysian places around town?

What else did you make/serve?

Kara, what do you think of Gottlieb's in Williamsburg? I haven't been there but have heard some good reports.

Thanks. Because my life was a whirlwind last week, I got behind on your blog, so I appreciate the link. What an excellent breakfast!!

Ya-Roo, I really admire you for revealing so much of yourself. Thanks for sharing. Needless to say (but I'll say it anyway), I enjoyed it.

Some people wouldn't think that was a bad thing. I take it you weren't in Antarctica at the time?

What was it? OK, perhaps it's too hard to settle on just one. I suppose I would go with the Pumpkin Tortelli at Hearth and the Mushroom Farrotto at Lupa. I have to admit I feel a bit torn about not including any of the great dishes from Spicy & Tasty and Grand Sichuan in such high company, though, and then there was that delicious dish at Seoul Garden... Your reminiscences? By the way, if you want some inspiration, look at this similarly-named thread in the Vancouver, British Columbia, and Western Canada forum.

Update: The mixed-vegetable spicy pickles are back and the chicken shawarma has the nice allspice taste again. Still no sauce from the countermen, but the shawarma has been good the last three or so times I've had it.

From WCBS, News Radio 880: Lease Dispute Shuts Landmark 2nd Ave. Deli

Result of clicking link: V, could you please quote or paraphrase something from the article to let us know what it's about? Overfishing (-shrimping, etc.), I suppose?

That description is very pretentious, making it sound like they harpooned it and then brought it directly to the table. But the most important thing is taste, and your meal obviously had that in abundance.

Another advantage of some eGullet restaurant reports is the number of photos. And actually, some restaurant reports are a good deal more detailed than reviews in paper publications are, because posts here are not restricted to a specific number of lines of text. I do agree with all your points, but what we're left with is this: Some restaurant reports on eGullet include star ratings that posters have chosen to give. Does that make their reports more memorable than those which do not include star ratings? And I think my answer is "No." How that relates to paper publications is something else, and I'm not ready to offer an opinion about that yet.

I don't know the answer, but I'll throw out the following question: Do people remember restaurant reports ("reviews") on eGullet that don't include star ratings?

Post-script to my post of last night: When I showed my post to my companion, she expressed surprise that I was saying such good things about Chennai Garden. She said she didn't like the place, found everything just too salty, and would give it 5 out of 10. She did express interest in trying the utthapam that has paneer in it, though. I ate my leftovers cold, and the rasam did taste really salty when cold, but I though it was fine when it was hot.

I liked Chennai Garden very much. I over-ordered: I had Mulligatawny and a Mushroom/Onion/Garlic Utthapam for a main dish, while my companion had Navratan Kurma for a main dish. We shared Iddly in Sambhar, Medu Vadha in Rasam, and Kachumber. I also had Masala Chai and Salty Lassi. I asked for the Mulligatawny very spicy, and it was really, really spicy (it otherwise seemed a bit thin), so I said they could dial back the spiciness a bit on the Utthapam. My companion enjoyed the Navratan Kurma moderately and liked the Iddly but found them pretty spicy. She found the Rasam just too spicy. She's Israeli and found the Kachumber to be just like a common Israeli salad. I liked the Utthapam a lot (she wouldn't try any of it -- it was the perfect degree of spiciness for me). I thought the Iddly was delicious, and the lassi was great -- a real masala lassi. My companion noted that everything was a bit salty, but I hadn't really noticed that because there was such a nice blend of spices in everything. There are some leftovers, and the meal was $50 including tip. I will be back.

I've a lot of respect for your opinion, Pan, but the New York Times says that one star means "good," and two means "very good." ← One star is apparently the next rating up from "Satisfactory," as well. But did this actually lead him to make the "wrong" dining decision? I mean, is there anybody who is going exclusively to three and four-star restaurants — on the purported guidance of the Times that one and two aren't really that good? ← I did get the impression that he felt a "mere" 1-star rating was a reason to avoid a restaurant, but we didn't get into that level of discussion. No, that doesn't mean he always eats at 3- and 4-star restaurants. As a matter of fact, he owns and manages 6 delis. You did; I certainly didn't.

She seems fine with individual certifications. John S., did you realize the review you linked to was for Udupi Palace in Sunnyvale, CA? I'm not hopping a plane today... So, it looks like Chennai Garden is leading right now (would they make it spicy for us???). I'll try to check this thread again in a few hours.

Hi, everyone. I'm meeting a special person for a kosher Indian dinner tonight (Tuesday, January 3). Please recommend Indian kosher restaurants in Curry Hill. Are we stuck with Madras Mahal, or is there somewhere else that has equally good or better food and better service? Also, feel free to mention other reasonably-priced (<$35/person) kosher restaurants you recommend in that general area (20s/30s). Thank you all very much.

Is Fleur de Sel overrated? After a lunch there a few days ago, I wonder.

It seems to me there are quite a few fallacies in this comment. It presumes that readers will be confused. Well, it's clear that Sneakeater won't be confused, since he's just pointed out the hazard of selecting a restaurant solely by its star rating. I am quite sure that I won't be confused. So, who are these confused people? I would be much more sympathetic to this argument if someone who actually got confused were posting here. As it is, we might be arguing about confused people who don't exist.[...] ← Not so, oakapple. The reason most eGullet Society members are not "confused" is that we have already read explanations by people like Fat Guy on what the stars really mean -- as opposed to what the New York Times et al. say they mean. Contrast that with a friend of mine, who said a couple of days ago that Pylos just got "only one of four stars, just above `Satisfactory,'" with a review that includes the following key sentence: It's clear to me that this is a good review, but it is not clear to my friend, and my effort to explain that a restaurant serving slightly upscale rustic Greek food in a nice but fairly informal setting could never get 4 stars was dismissed as convoluted bullshit.

Additional remarks as a member of Syre's party for that dinner: Our waitress was great, and gave us her frank opinions about everything. She also recommended a lovely white wine that I called a "happy wine." It was a still wine that sparkled on the tongue and included tastes of passion fruit and peach. It went very well with the food we had ordered. (Sorry, I can't remember the name of the wine, but it was a white wine by the glass and I think it cost about $10, probably $9.50.) They definitely need to reduce the amount of salt in the blue-foot chicken dish, but Hearth is a really good restaurant. I came in with high expectations, and they were met and perhaps exceeded. That parsnip soup amuse bouche and the appetizers were wonderful, the duck pappardelle was delicious, the desserts were really good (I didn't love the goat milk panna cotta, but probably because goat milk has a buttermilk-like bite that I don't like, not because of anything wrong with the dessert). I look forward to the next time, whenever that may be. It probably won't be soon, because of the cost, but I certainly felt we got a fair value for the price.

As a member of Syre's party for that lunch, I can corroborate his statements, except for the one about his fish dish (which I wouldn't have wanted to try after he determined it to be too fishy). I did not feel as negatively about the restaurant as he did, but I would generally summarize my reaction as having come in with very high expectations because of previous comments in this thread and coming away underwhelmed and with no desire to return. Our other dining partner felt she had a great lunch, and it did turn out that she had ordered by far the best of the three of us, but there was no way we could have known that in advance. The lobster salad was as Syre described, but I liked the taste. I understand that using vanilla in such dishes is now treated as standard by some, but I think it's a risk and will result in dishes that please some and displease others. But the size of the dish was more like that of an amuse bouche than an appetizer, let alone salad. It's fair to add, though, that the entire lunch was certainly large enough to fill my stomach. I thought our other dining partner's crab crepe was excellent. I don't know whether that means I didn't mind a bit of maillard effect from some burning or whether I got a piece that wasn't carbonized. That starter (which was much larger than the lobster salad) was really appreciated by the one who ordered it. What I found definitely carbonized was some of the crust of the bread, which was otherwise a good sourdough. My main dish was veal cheeks, and it was a great dish. The meat was tender, and it was cooked in a rich reduction sauce. Our other dining partner got a different cut of veal, and her dish was also excellent, and had a different sauce and taste. What I remember most of my dessert was an excellent buttercream that tasted like dulce de leche -- which I've reminded myself was listed as a "white chocolate caramel ganache." But actually, I didn't even remember the dessert at all before looking at the Fleur de Sel website. The things I really remember most about the meal are the veal cheeks and the other veal dish. (Certainly not the cheese course, which was as forgettable as Syre indicated. Don't get me wrong: I could describe it if pressed, but it certainly was not memorable.) And one main dish plus a taste of another diner's main dish do not make a meal. With all the other dining options in New York, I see no need to return to Fleur de Sel, and I can only say that if the quality of our meal was due to crucial personnel taking vacations during the holiday season, this restaurant has really missed the boat, because our first meal at Lupa, last Dec. 26, was great and helped make us repeat customers. The other possibility is that, unless you order a limited number of items, Fleur de Sel just isn't that good.

Chag sameach! Enjoy your week, and thanks for blogging.

I had Chinese food today, but more because I was a bit under the weather (Are people ever "over the weather"? But that discussion is for another site, I suppose...) and it hit the spot. Delivery from Congee Village: Squid/Ginger Congee, 1/2 House Special Chicken, Lotus Root in Red (called "Special") Bean Sauce. With 1 rice, enough for 3 meals.

I'm guessing all those other ingredients are cheaper than the mushrooms. The dish looks great; I'll have a look at the step-by-step pictorial now.