Pan

That's interesting. I guess in that context, tomatoes would be considered a wet ingredient, which they are: They contain lots of water.

The ubiquity of bell peppers really bugs me. I don't have a deathly allergy to them, but they are tough on my stomach, without a sufficient payoff. I don't even LIKE the taste of green peppers (ripe peppers taste OK but are still somewhat of a problem for me). Yet I often forget that so many dishes whose descriptions don't mention bell peppers put them in as filler just because they're cheap. And you know what else bugs me? When restaurants that can serve good food won't serve it to me just because I'm not Chinese/Thai/whatever. And when I get a big warning about how "spicy" something is and it's tasteless. And I'm also very disappointed that Kozy Shack discontinued their Dulce de Leche pudding. I thought that by constantly maxing out the supplies in my local supermarkets, I would justify the continued purchase of the item, but I guess not enough people were buying it in Iowa or something. (Nothing personal to Iowans, and I know there's a significant Mexican population there, but probably few Dominicans.) And another thing that bothers me is when I get delivery and there is a lot of sauce on the bottom of the bag and all over the outside of the food containers. I had to wash out my pants and long-sleeved shirt today, along with my chair, my floor, my desk, and my keyboard, all because of such carelessness by the restaurant staff. My other alternative, which in retrospect would have been smarter, would have been to send the delivery back. So now I have to check the sauciness of the delivery before paying...

Who ya callin' perverse? (Note to readers: I was born and for the most part grew up on the Upper West Side.) I enjoyed reading that report. For the record, I've never been to Barney Greengrass because it always seemed too expensive to me -- no doubt, the same reason why my parents never took the family there.

I should add something more about the ambiance. This place is a bar/restaurant, and the music playing on the sound system is a mix of classic rock and disco, sometimes at a loud volume, sometimes not (there was also a loud table for the first part of our visit tonight). I believe the target audience of this establishment is people around my age (40) and younger. If you would be really disturbed by listening to songs like "Fly, Robin, Fly" (which is running through my head right now, after having heard it twice in my first visit and once in my second), you might not want to go to Bao. On the other hand, if you like classic rock (60s, 70s) and disco, that might make a trip to Bao more pleasurable for you. A friend suggested that they may be deliberately playing what are more or less Vietnam War-era songs -- a thought that hadn't occurred to me and may or may not be an accurate perception of the motivation behind their music choices.

Nice article. Congratulations, JJ!

My mother and I went back to Bao for dinner tonight. Everything was very good. We started with the papaya salad. It might have been a bit sweeter this time, but the cilantro was OK today. We followed with Da Nang Style Crab Meat Noodle Soup, which was very soothing and smooth -- good both with and without hot sauce. We then shared Salt & Pepper Tiger Shrimp (a waitress recommendation), which was really nicely grilled and accompanied by a tasty sort of shallot slaw. The only criticism I could make was that the tomato slices were a bit mealy. For dessert, we had a molten chocolate cake with little pieces of pineapple, that I decided are soaked in a non-alcoholic punch, and black sesame ice cream. At first, I felt like I would be bored with yet another molten chocolate cake, but this was darker and more bitter than usual and met with my approval. The black sesame ice cream was excellent, and seemed to have been made with coconut milk instead of (or conceivably in addition to) cream. Including jasmine tea for me, the bill was just over $44 plus tip. I like this place.

8/11. I got the Chinese, German, and Scottish ones wrong. I won't comment on the questions, so as not to give anyone any hints as to the tricks involved. I found it amusing.

Pan, have you ever tried making kuih??[...] ← Can't say I have. I make it a practice never to underestimate the expertise of the cooks here, though.

Pan - I am sorry I had missed giving you the link. Here is the link - Chilli chicken recipe details ← Very good-looking chicken dish! One thing that stood out in your ingredient list was the soy sauce. Please talk about your use of soy sauce in the dish. Is that unusual in your cooking?

Not this guy! That was pretty damned funny! I liked the photo of the rooster looking at you, too. I know, though, that his next move was to jerk his head to a couple of other positions, as that's just what chickens do... OK, now to read page 5...

Sounds like some rendang would be just the thing. If you don't get much response here, you might start threads about specific dishes in the Elswhere in Asia/Pacific forum. One thing not to overlook is Indonesian-style salads, like gado-gado. For dessert, perhaps you'd like to try your hand at some kuih.

Of course anything not eaten in a restaurant. I am trying to find peoples best food experience disattached from the service aspect of dining. Recipe???[...] ← Sorry, I don't have her recipe. Given what I now realize about the breadth of your question, I'd say that my best eating outside a restaurant would include takeout or delivery from Grand Sichuan St. Marks and Congee Village and a banh mi gai from Banh Mi Saigon Bakery.

Of course! But how do you make your version?

You get around. Thank you. I look forward to more reports from you.

Pan, with all due respect (truly!!!), I believe what Austin is talking about is eating outside of the urban centers. I've eaten like a queen in New York and San Francisco, at ethnic restaurants that cost very little as well as at the high end of the spectrum. Where I'm currently staying, I have to drive 40-50 miles to either of two cities if I want to eat at a place that isn't a chain or a greasy spoon - with the exception of the local prime rib house.[...] ← Isn't Austin in Bangkok? (Are you, Austin?) I think the main point is that the Chao Phraya Valley (the valley in which Bangkok is situated) is a prime agricultural region with no winter frosts to interrupt the growing season. Therefore, it seems to me most apt to compare the quality of food there with the quality of food in prime agricultural regions in the US that have mild enough weather never to be frosted over. That would include much of California, though not the northernmost part, and -- not coincidentally -- Louisiana. It would not include Western New York, North Dakota, or Iowa. I strongly suspect that you can find good food at affordable prices throughout most of the year-round growing areas in California.

Some restaurants are shut solid in this strike. I noticed that the Pongsri Thai on 2nd Av. near 18 St. was closed yesterday and today. Unless they're on vacation or closed for good, that may be strike-related. Cacio e Pepe on 2nd Av. between 11th and 12th was full last night, though. It seems to me that most of the restaurants in the East Village and Gramercy are open.

Does takeout and delivery count? If not, I guess it would be the seder at my cousin's house. The turkey was excellent, but that moist brisket with ginger/raisin chutney was really nice stuff. Tamar always does a great job.

I appreciate the report. Just out of curiosity, which of the other Michelin one-star restaurants have you been to in New York?

Austin, I think you need to spend more time in California. Go to a place like Chow in San Francisco. Good, healthy, creative food available at a price that normal people can afford? Yep, I think they've got that covered. High end and ritsy, it ain't. Good and a bargain, it sure is.

A love of pierogies is something we have in common. For lunch, I had a small cup of red borsht and a half-portion of boiled sweet potato pierogies (4 of them) with a bit of sour cream and some fried onions at a place a few blocks north of me called Little Poland. Topped off with some caraway-studded pumpernickel and an iced tea with lemon, that meal hit the spot. One question (totally unrelated to pierogies): Is the Aboriginal Downtown East Side Community Kitchen in fact run by First Nations people?

I don't think I can do a top-10 list. Best meal: Joe's in Venice, California (nothing came close). Best meal in a taqueria: Three meals at La Super-Rica in Santa Barbara, California (nothing came close). Best dim sum: CBS Seafood in LA (again, nothing came close). Best non-dim sum Chinese: Spicy & Tasty in Flushing, NY (Grand Sichuan, both the 50 St. and St. Marks locations, came close). Best non-dim-sum meal at a Cantonese restaurant: Congee Village, New York, NY. My best meal at Lupa (New York, NY) was probably my first one, which was just barely in 2004 (Dec. 26), but I have had two very fine meals there since. I'm trying to remember whether my excellent meal at L'Impero was in 2004 or 2005 (too lazy to search for the thread right now [Edit: It was in 2004]). I'm concerned that I'm taking my proximity to great pastrami at Katz's for granted. I was there several times this year and had great pastrami every time. In terms of Indian food, my best meals in 2005 have probably been at Indus Valley and Madras Cafe, with honorable mention for Angon (all in Manhattan). If you're asking me to rank these meals, that's where I run into difficulty. Joe's is #1, but what's #2? To pick between La Super-Rica, CBS, Lupa, Spicy & Tasty...how to do that? [Edit: I left out the best Korean category, which I had intended to include. That would have to be my dinner at Seoul Garden, a restaurant which I very much plan on returning to in 2006. Also, best sandwich hands down goes to Banh Mi Saigon Bakery, the banh mi gai.]

We need to get comments by Pim in this thread. She can discuss the draw of high-end restaurants in Bangkok and why wealthy Thais choose to go there, rather than going to a stall. We also need comments from people who live in parts of the US like Louisiana. I don't think you need to be rich or pay a lot of money to get delicious food there. (Actually, you can get tasty food very cheaply in New York, too, if you know where to go [like Chinatown and Flushing].)

What's in those rolls, Yetty? Rice, plain omelette, nori, and perhaps salmon eggs?

Abra, I've never heard of banana squash. What other kind of squash is it most similar to? I love the smoked turkey mole picture!

Elie, that tart looks great! Is there cheese in it? If so, what kind? Emmenthaler?