Pan

Just a warning on Setagaya: You may have to wait a long time to get in.

I agree with Klary. Like your other travelogues, that was a terrific read! You are so entertaining, while being informative!

I just realized I never posted the name Madangsui in this thread. It's my favorite Manhattan Korean restaurant now. Really great barbecue, plus an excellent 8-dish banchan and a delicious complimentary bowl of dwenjang jigae. 35th St. between 5th and 6th Avs., north side of the street. Try it!

Eric, thanks for recommending Christine's. I'll walk up there and try it. I have to admit, I always found Teresa's blintzes too oily. I still haven't found any blintzes as satisfying as the ones I used to eat in the dimly-remembered milchiks restaurants of my childhood (probably Ratners, I imagine).

I think DUMBO is really too far. I don't have a bike and if I'm walking that far, I'd sooner go to Chinatown and walk home from there. I'll check out some of the other recommendations in this thread, though, and thanks, everyone.

I did recently go to the Brooklyn Heights location three times, and did say Hi to Teresa, who seemed happy to see me. So far, I think that that location is at least as good as, if not better than the former East Village location. By the way, I have gone to Ukrainian East Village a good deal in the last few months, and it's pretty good, but more expensive than Teresa's and not as good as Teresa's.

Where is it? Anything else you'd like to say about the food?

I can walk to Junior's. I work at MetroTech Center. I haven't ruled out Atlantic Av., Steve; I just want to change things up. But what kind of food is at Waterfront Ale House? That's on Atlantic between what and what? I really prefer not to spend more than $25 including tip most of the time, occasionally up to $35. I'll have to feel very self-indulgent or celebratory to treat myself to a $60 solo dinner after work. agentmule, I haven't been to Queen in a long time. How late are they open and what would dinner cost? I remember the place being kind of pricey but good a few years ago.

I'll bet you, one is un bombolono.

Well, I'd take Henry St. recommendations, too, but preferably pretty close to Borough Hall and the Post Office, because I already have to walk from Jay St. to get there. I like at least one restaurant on 14th St., Crispo.

I've been going out for dinner in Brooklyn more often lately, after work in Downtown Brooklyn. I've been happy to go to Teresa's on Montague and Hicks, but I'd like to change it up sometimes. What other restaurants have any of you been to lately on Montague that are worth trying?

I liked their Curry Mee, their Satay, and their Laksa was also good, as I recall.

I really enjoyed reading that! A few years ago, when I used to get to Flushing more often, I liked to patronize a Malaysian restaurant called Satay on the corner of Holly and Kissena, which I found consistently pretty good, authentic to my taste, and better than the restaurants on 40th Road (of which I much preferred Restaurant Malaysia to the other one). I haven't tried Banana Leaf, though. Honestly, I probably won't, because I go to Flushing strictly for leisure (most often, to go to Spicy and Tasty), and I'm perfectly satisfied with Skyway in Chinatown. But it might be worth your while to check out Satay if you're in the area. Superpages results: Satay Corporation 4601 Kissena Boulevard, Flushing, NY 11355 (718) 888-1868

Jing Fong is a really good thought. Actually, any of the big Chinatown eating halls are a good thought - Harmony Palace, etc. Which one of them is best for a dinner banquet at this point? One wrinkle is that some folks in this group are vegetarians or don't eat various things (pork, seafood, etc.).

I seem to remember that Congee Village had rooms for 20, 50, or 100, but it doesn't look like this group is going for Chinese food this time. I think Congee Village is a great idea, if we could get the reservation, but they require a presumably non-refundable deposit, which could be a complicating factor, what with logistics and so forth (not sure how the organizer is handling that). As things stand, we are having prix fixe dinners plus cash bar at Trattoria Trecolori one night (I've never been there, but it gets a lot of love on Chowhound) and Trattoria Dopo Teatro the other night (I've been there once a few years ago and was underwhelmed by both their food and service). It looks like he won't change unless the group gets a lot bigger, which could happen, so do keep the suggestions coming.

Based on what I've seen of Jane, I couldn't imagine it would take that large a reservation. Do they have a big private room I didn't see? Thanks for your replies, and I will continue to read and pass on suggestions. CraftBar is a great idea, if they'll keep things within our budget.

Hi, everyone. I have a friend who's scrambling to find a room in Manhattan for an ever-increasing number of people at short notice. It looks like it'll be around 75-80 people, and he wants to keep the cost for dinner at $60/person or less (extra charge for an open bar is OK, if necessary). Most of the people involved aren't foodies, but some are (I'm one of the people involved). We want good service, of course, and to be able to hang out and socialize for as long as we like, within reason. Which restaurants or other kinds of places do you know of who could fit that bill? This is for dinner on Friday, March 7 and Saturday, March 8.

Great article on BBC News, dateline Ayacucho, Peru. Here's an excerpt: The article talks a great deal about the place of the potato in Peruvian history and society, the fact that in the Peruvian diet, it's been eclipsed by rice and bread, and the fact that the government is trying to help it come back, for several reasons.

Not Singaporean, but many regulars here know that I tout Skyway as a good Malaysian restaurant. How are the Korean restaurants in Philly?

OK, a few comments: Skyway is good Malaysian food, but if you frequent Singapore, I can't understand why you'd want to go there. If you DO go there, get seafood or fish dishes (I really like their Curry Asam Fish Head Casserole), Ipoh Chicken, Nasi Lemak, etc. I think their best noodle soup is, believe it or not, Java Mee. Instead of Grand Sichuan, go to Szechuan Gourmet on 39th St. between 5th and 6th, or if going to Flushing is no big deal, go to Spicy & Tasty. Those are my two favorite Sichuan-style restaurants in New York, now, though I've been to Szechuan Gourmet only one so far and to Spicy & Tasty easily 60 times. If you want to go for Korean food in Manhattan, go for barbecue at Madangsui, 35th St. between 5th and 6th. It's great. Excellent 8-dish banchan, too, plus a freebie bowl of excellent dwenjang gijae. Mandoo Bar and Han Bat are both fine, but Madangsui is special. I'm a regular at Soba Koh 5th St. just east of 2nd Av., but I went to Soba-Ya recently for the first time in several years, and it was great. Its menu is more extensive than Soba Koh's and the atmosphere is different. You may have to wait for a table at Soba-Ya. I like both places. I like Ramen Setagaya but have grown impatient with long lines even at off hours and haven't been back for a few weeks. I haven't been out to Mitsuwa to try Ramen Santouka. If you do go to Setagaya, I like their Oshinko when I get a side dish with Ramen. I haven't been to any of the Momofuku places, so I can't say anything about them.

All of it looks and sounds pretty intriguing to me.

I got reservations for a large group at their sister restaurant, Congee Bowery, on a Saturday night on Chinese New Year's week last year, and an hour after our 8 o'clock reservations, we were still at least 30 minutes from being seated, probably more. We cut out and went to Katz's. This is a sucky time of year to have reservations anywhere in Chinatown, I should think. Good luck!

That's interesting, I've never seen scooped gelato in Italy, only paddles. ← OK, I think I understand. I was thinking scoop = metal and paddle = wooden. But I gather it's a shape question. So no, the ball-shaped scoop doesn't exist in Italy, from what I've seen. I suppose the shape is called a paddle.

I remember gelato being scooped in Italy all the time.

They did NOT! You were apparently lied to. Look here: Vanilla Swiss Almond ← sadly, they did.... it was chocolate swiss almond- a chocolate ice cream version. been gone a very long time. still not quite over it ← Sorry for misreading that. I had Vanilla Swiss Almond again fairly recently and no longer like the flavor much. I find it rather insipid and do believe I'd prefer Chocolate Swiss Almond, if they still made it.