Pan

Fengyi, I just realized I asked you a bunch of questions after you had already signed off (I hadn't read all of page 4 before rushing off to work this afternoon). Please feel free not to answer them, and thanks for a most enjoyable blog!

What does M&S stand for? When I was last in Beijing, in 2004, my brother and I walked through most every hutong we could find, using a map that had been published only months earlier to try to find them. Many of the hutong shown on our map were already vacant lots, demolished in preparation for the construction of huge highrise housing developments. We really enjoyed the hutong - they smelled, because of the communal toilets, but they felt like villages, with clear air (not polluted with exhaust like the rest of Beijing), very little except bicycle traffic, and lots of people hanging out on the streets until late at night playing chess, getting haircuts and massages and of course food and drink. Several of the hutong were just full of little restaurants and outdoor vendors. I remember one of them had a row of restaurants specializing in seafood, such as chili crawfish. Outdoor vendors were selling good flatbread they made on griddles, kebabs, and all sorts of other things. How many of these places have escaped the wrecking ball, now that the Olympics are almost upon us? Another question: How concerned are you and other people you encounter with raw foods in particular? I wouldn't eat a raw tomato in China, for example, for fear of e-coli contamination from nightsoil used as fertilizer. Is that overly alarmist? Do people get checked for parasites as part of their regular checkups? Sorry for the unappetizing topic. Also, I'm curious how many Beijing ren are planning on clearing out of the city during the Olympics. When New York Mayor Bloomberg was angling for New York to be considered for the Olympics, New Yorkers were already talking about how we'd make sure to get the hell out during the Olympics. Given Beijing's usual level of traffic, I just can't imagine what gridlock awaits. What, by the way, are Beijingers' favorite vacation destinations? Have their experiences of dining in other parts of China and abroad had a lot of effect on the popularity of different cuisines in Beijing? Sorry for all the questions.

Raji, I really want to thank you for recommending this place. I went with mascarpone. We started by sharing: Dengaku (broiled tofu, konnyaku, eggplant, with dengaku miso) and Nimono of sliced beef tongue. I then had Kabayaki (broiled eel with unagi sauce) over rice (Does that give it a different name? I'm looking at the menupages.com menu right now and don't remember.) mascarpone got 5 yellowtail rolls, some sashimi, and Nabeyaki Udon. I had one of the yellowtail rolls and liked it. The eel was great, the dengaku was delicious, and the beef tongue nimono was really special - made with lean tongue that was very tender and had a wonderful beefy taste. I think this is a terrific restaurant, and since it's so close to my apartment, I will become a regular.

This past Saturday night, I was presented with a tough challenge. What restaurant in the East Village might be able to accommodate 11 (and eventually, 13) people without a reservation? I've been seeing some recommendations for John's on Chowhound, when the subject of family-style or Italian-American cuisine comes up, so I've been wanting to try the place. They were able to give us a long table in the back room in short order. We all really enjoyed the place. I ordered the special plate of antipasti, a house special salad (which turned out to be a caesar or quasi-caesar salad) and an off-menu special of portobello mushrooms, which were fried. These were all fine but not so special, and other things were better. My pasta e fagioli was delicious! It was made with cannelini, plenty of fresh basil, parmigiano, and fettucini, as I recall, and was definitely a soup. I also enjoyed my osso buco, another off-menu special. This was different from the version with gremolata (lemon juice, lemon peel, parsley) that I'm used to. It was instead based on a kind of tomato sauce and long-cooked so that it was like a stew. It also contained carrots and red bell pepper slices (which I discarded because bell peppers are rough on my stomach), among other things. I tried some of my dining partners' dishes and liked them, as they did. I can't remember all of the things they ordered, but I remember parmigiana dishes, rollatini dishes, pollo mimosa, calamari....We also liked their very garlicky garlic bread. Including a couple of bottles of wine and so forth, the total, divided into 12 (one of the diners had his birthday on Saturday) amounted to $40 including the service charge of 18% and a bit extra. I recommend this place. John's 302 E 12th St (just east of 2nd Av.) (212) 475-9531

I hardly think you're boring anyone, and certainly not me! I'm loving this blog, and I'm glad to catch it while it's still active. I'll tell a little story about the last trip I took to China (Beijing, Changchun, Shanghai). Some of you know that I lived in Malaysia for two years as a child and went back for a wonderful 4 1/2-week visit in 2003. Malaysian rambutan are wonderful when you buy them in markets in Terengganu, a state where it's grown, but it can be hard to find really good rambutan at markets in Kuala Lumpur. In New York, forget about it! However, my brother and I bought terrific rambutan on the street in Beijing. The one thing I really liked and had trouble finding was sweetened, preserved yellow haws. We were staying near Wangfujing and went to the Wangfujing Shopping Centre several times. The boxes of sweetened, preserved red haws were always more plentiful than the boxes of mixed red and yellow haws. And I can't find those in New York at all. I just loved the yellow haws! I look forward to catching up with the rest of this blog.

I've never been to Robert's, but in Bruni's review, he talks about strippers coming to his table and offering him lap dances while he ate, so is there really a way to avoid having strippers show up at the table?

I find Madangsui's meat to be of very high quality.

And my post on Madangsui is currently last on that thread. Great barbecue.

I gave up on this place after having a thoroughly mediocre, overpriced dinner there several months ago. I have no plans to return.

He grabbed the meat from the steamer. It's been fun vicariously taking this journey with you.

Just to make clear, the ginger was the flavor I found really special. I liked the mocha chip and the hazelnut was good. So you can rank those in order from 1-3.

This is another place I've passed by many times without going in. They make very good ice cream. I had a triple cone of excellent ginger, mocha chip, and hazelnut on an unusually tasty sugar cone that seemed to me to have some coconut in its batter. (Word of warning: If you order 3 flavors, they'll give you three scoops, so either be really hungry or talk to them about dividing a scoop three ways, which is what I'll do next time.) All three other people I was with enjoyed their ice cream, too, which comprised black sesame, green tea, and corn. I recommend this place. Sundaes & Cones 95 E 10th St (between 3rd and 4th) New York, NY 10003 (212) 979-9398

If there's a topic about this restaurant already, I couldn't find it. I suspect there isn't. In any case, I think there should be. I've passed Lan many times but never knew anything much about the place until tonight. I was part of a party of four for dinner. We shared the following: Simmered Berkshire Pork Cheek with potato puree Organic Chicken & Scallions, Skewered & Grilled, with spicy yuzu pepper paste Shabu - Shabu with Berkshire Pork Belly and Prime Rib Eye Beef The pork cheek was deliciously smoky, very tender, and had apparently been marinated in a very tasty marinade. The chicken was very tender high-quality yakitori, and the paste had green chili in it. The shabu-shabu was again made with good meat, accompanied by various vegetables (Napa cabbage, shiitake slices, very good kombu, tofu, etc.) and we were given excellent sesame sauce and ponzu sauce for dipping. Our dinner was thoroughly pleasant and at $30/person, a good value. Lan 56 3rd Av. (between 10th & 11th Sts.) New York, NY 10003 212 254-1959

Two questions: A star anise petal? You mean from a flower, or just a section of the star itself? Also, can anyone point me to somewhere where I can find a good definition of IPA?

That sucks! Next time call me up I'll chew them out in Japanese. ano baka . I find the ramen much more consistent in midtown. FWIW most of my Japanese dining cohorts who were not Setagaya fans in Japan, which is most of them, would much rather go to Menkuitei, or even Minca, Menchankotei rairaiken. Conversely, EVERYONE seems to rave over Santouka's. I guess go try it out, and enter the great ramen debate. Please report back! ← I've been to Setagaya several times and liked it very much, but I won't go anymore, because the lines are too long.

I agree with him, but New York is not part of New England.

You're leaning on RUB because after a week of HAUTE cuisine, you'd like some down home Americana. That said, I'd recommend going to Daisy Mae's over Rub. Their Memphis dry-rubs are amazing as are all their sides. Get a mini-ramen at Setagaya and try out Menkuitei on the Bowery just south of St. Marks. Setagaya was always way overrated and has since gone downhill fast.... Prepare to be disappointed! ← I'm not happy with Menkui Tei lately, though. The last time I went, there was raw ground pork in clumps, and they didn't offer to comp the meal. I paid and didn't make an issue of it, but the right thing for them to do would have been to comp the meal, since I had already eaten too much of the ramen for it to have been reasonable for them to replace it. Menkui Tei is on Cooper Square (the part that's an extension of 3rd Av.), by the way. Anthony, you're going to school in North Carolina, aren't you? Isn't it a bit strange to go from Carolina to New York for barbecue?

That's Chelsea and Flatiron, not Midtown. 24th and 9th - Grand Sichuan. Get only Sichuan or Hunan dishes and avoid lunch specials (except for the Gong Bao Chicken, but the rest of the stuff you get with the lunch specials isn't worth getting, really). Are you willing to go further north to Koreatown (32nd-36th Sts. between Broadway and Madison)? What about a bit further, to 39th Sts. between 5th and 6th for much more compelling Sichuan food than Grand Sichuan?

For $4 apiece for tapas-sized portions? That's fucking amazing! I have to go there soon with a friend.

Anthony, I'm enjoying your photos and reportage very much. Rock on!

Where exactly is this place? Does it have a website?

I really appreciate the recommendation. I just looked the place up on menupages, and the prices look very fair. Are they open for dinner only, or also for lunch?

Just an FYI for anyone else who has a reason to be in or around NYU Medical Center: I've been enjoying the aroma from the cart for some time and had a chance to get lunch from it today - chicken shawarma sandwich ($4). It was very good, with a lot of the fragrance suggested by the smell, and the man and woman (father and daughter?) working the cart were friendly. The location is near the entrance to the garage, close to 31 St.

Toby, do you prefer Nyonya to Skyway? As many eGulleters know, I prefer Skyway.

Anthony, I was thinking that a visit to Soba-Ya might be more interesting for you that a visit to a narrow ramen specialist like Setagaya. Now, I'm thinking there may be another reason for you to skip Setagaya. Look at this thread on Chowhound: Setagaya Ramen "Blues"