Pan

I am in all likelihood going to CB for dinner on Friday, as part of a party of 5 or 6. I plan on suggesting that we get mostly dim sum items, but if any non-dim sum items are desired, what do you all suggest as the creme de la creme of those? Also, is there any reason to be concerned about the number of Chowhounds panning this place? In the past, I've tried to call them on possible reverse snobbery, but some have maintained that they really find the food -- including dim sum -- mediocre or worse, irrespective of price. I find that hard to believe, given that Joe Ng is still chef, but I wouldn't mind a bit of reassurance.

Why sad? Why not funny?

Yes, I see they've opened! These are friends of mine (particularly Hiroko, who is also eGullet member ankomochi, but hasn't posted lately). This is a place dedicated to sake only. These folks are very serious. Do contact them if you're not finding the sake you're looking for elsewhere.

Welcome back! Great thread. I look forward to more installments.

Thanks, Russell. And no, 15 minutes isn't much at all.

Hi, everyone! A friend of mine is looking for a good Cantonese or Mandarin-style restaurant in Pasadena. Short of going to the San Gabriel Valley, do you have any suggestions?

Although I don't necessarily believe it's a critical point, as a matter of fact Jains are and seem to have been affluent (Wiki, but you can also google "jain affluent"). ← The community may be relatively affluent for India now, but I don't think that it could really be claimed that this was always the case.

Raji, this is Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center we're talking about, not Columbia University. 103 St. is nowhere near Columbia-Presbyterian.

I would think it is. Its name is now Dual.

I was in Bensonhurst yesterday afternoon for a rehearsal, and decided to walk to World Tong afterwards and get takeout to bring up to my parents for dinner. We don't hear so much about this restaurant since Joe Ng left to go to Chinatown Brasserie, but I'm here to tell you, my takeout dinner from there was one of the best Cantonese dinners I've had in New York. I was pleasantly surprised that it was still warm after the hour-long trip to the Upper West Side. I ordered Fish Congee for my father (I didn't have any, but he liked it and described it as being made with a very lean whitefish, just perfect for settling his stomach). The other items I ordered were: Fillet Steak w. Chinese Broccoli, made with very tasty beef and delicious! Soy Sauce Chicken (whole), which was a very good one Jumbo Shrimp w. Garlic Sauce, which was outstanding and probably the best dish I got. It was a complex mix of tastes and included some great preserved vegetables. Seafood Eggplant w. Spicy Sauce, another really superior dish. The eggplant, in long strips, had a great texture - tender without getting to the point of disintegration - the sauce was lovely, and the seafood was good. It was indeed fairly spicy, with bits of dried red pepper on top. The total cost was $62.15 I can't wait to go back and have dinner at the restaurant.

Strangely, a lot of people like the shmura. It's got more of a burnt . . I mean toasted flavour.[...] ← Exactly. And yes, they're more expensive than Streit's and Manischewitz.

Mitch, I think the shmura matzos that the Chassidim make in Brooklyn are a lot better than "bad crackers." What do you think of those?

Do you mean their barbecued items? Salt-baked items? For the record, I think their noodle soups are very good, and also like their Ginger-Scallion Lo Mein.

I would have suggested South Indian, and they will use vegetable ghee if you ask. But the "no salt" requirement is difficult. That said, while I don't think a place with poor service would accommodate you, a place like Madras Cafe in the East Village would probably use more spices for taste in order to compensate for the lack of salt and could make a good utthapam or masala dosa that way.

Yes indeed. The travel time from midtown to Flushing and midtown to Metropark is about the same, but the cost of traveling to New Jersey MUCH higher.[...] ← The 7 train also runs a lot more frequently. And I have to disagree with you about the subway, Sam. Unlike the DC area and Boston, for example, New York really makes a bright line between the Five Boroughs and the suburbs, such that there is no subway connection to the nearest parts of Westchester or Nassau Counties. New Jersey is over a big river, so if anything, it would be a bigger deal to extend the subway there than to places like Yonkers, Mount Vernon, New Rochelle, or Great Neck. (Of course, it's been mentioned previously in this thread that PATH is a subway, but it's not integrated into the NYCTA subway system.)

Stephanie, how does wine get figured in to the total carb intake on your diet?

Are you going to Princeton Junction, which is in fact on the Northeast Corridor Line to Trenton, or Princeton, which -- unless they've suddenly changed things recently -- requires a change of trains in Princeton Junction?

I hope the blog will be recontinued. Some of you know that I live in Manhattan but work in Brooklyn 4 days a week. I like the borough and am eager to get more tips on interesting, worthwhile eateries I might be able to go to after work in Downtown Brooklyn, Flatbush/Midwood, or places reasonably accessible from those two neighborhoods. Nina, did you get to try carbonated maple sap when you were in Vermont? I got little bottles of it at small roadside supermarkets (really, just markets, I guess) on I think Route 100 the last time I was in that beautiful state (1996). I loved it! Maple sap is 97% water and only 3% sugar, so when it's carbonated, it's like seltzer with a wonderful maple-syrup overtaste. And for my money, there's no sugar that's as good as maple sugar. At its best, palm sugar comes close, and sorghum is also nicely fragrant, but maple is #1!

Oooh, how could I forget Penang in East Hanover? It's worth the Jersey trip for sure. It's not Nyonya, but they're the best (if not only) serious Malaysian restaurant in Jersey. The char kuey tiow brings tears to my eyes, it reminds me of the little noodle joint in Brisbane I went to while I was studying there for a semester. ← Hold it. It's not even as good as Nyonya? Nyonya is not that good. And Skyway is much better. Do you still think it's worth a trip for me? I doubt it. How do you suggest a carless, driver's licenseless person get from the East Village to East Hanover, and why, if the restaurant is inferior to Nyonya? Rather, it sounds like a place I might try if I have any reason to be in East Hanover, wherever that is.

Sam, thanks for expressing my views much better than I could have. I think I would consider it a great idea to go to Moksha once as a special trip, if I feel like it on a given day and have someone who wants to go with me (and that isn't likely to happen soon). Otherwise, since I have yet to even make it to Saravanaas, what with Madras Cafe being a few blocks from my apartment, I think it would make more sense for me to walk a mile and a quarter or so than make a big excursion to Edison. But I'll keep in mind the existence of this great restaurant, in case I happen to be in the area. Just as I'll remember that I should visit the Cathedral if I have the chance to travel to Cologne. No way am I gonna go back and forth to Edison to explore the menu of a place. And that doesn't make me "lazy," just someone who prefers to eat good food closer to home and work most of the time and has access to excellent restaurants in those areas. Remember that I have no professional obligations to travel for food, and think of me as someone who prefers to eat well wherever I am, not usually to make big trips just for food.

Korean food, lightly seasoned? It looks good, but I usually have Korean food because I want spicy, robust-tasting stuff. Unless I stop off at Mandoo Bar and have the vegetable mandoo soup. Melissa, I love your reports! You never did show us your thighs, though; it was pretty much all drumsticks, wasn't it?

Is it related to Wondee's in Hell's Kitchen?

So Brasserie 8 1/2 it is. I'll report back on my experience afterwards. Thanks, everyone!

Too bad I work every Saturday. Have fun!

Yes, if you have neither a car nor a license. I'm not that unusual among Manhattanites in those respects.