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I really have no idea what would constitute authenticity in Peru, as I've never been there. I've also never been to Coco Rico. Rinconcito Peruano is a favorite of mine. The atmosphere is different at Mancora, in keeping with its East Village location (a little "cooler," with less light (but still plenty bright enough to see your food, the menu, and other people) and a small bar, as compared to the spartan cheap diner plus some Peruvian tsatskes atmosphere of Rinconcito Peruano. I really can't say more, based on only one visit.

No kidding! I was going to say you shouldn't go to Grand Sichuan, in that case. Maybe you shouldn't, at that, but you do like the food there, don't you?

I've passed this restaurant on the southwest corner of 6 St. and 1st Av. many times, but had yet to order any of their food until tonight. I got a half pollo a la brasa (they don't sell quarters) with platanos maduros. A small salad was also provided. The chicken was very nicely cooked with a tasty spice rub, and the cilantro salsa verde that was provided in a small plastic container was a nice accompaniment. The platanos maduros were perhaps unusually good (partly a function of the size of the slices) and seem to have been fried with a black syrup (molasses?). The salad could have been fresher, as some lettuce leaves had little brown parts. Preliminary verdict: Worth checking out if you're in the neighborhood. Probably not worth a special trip. But they also have a bar that, of course, serves mojitos, caipirinhas, margaritas, et al., so you could always get some drinks and try a little food. I didn't drink any alcohol tonight. Oh, the price: $7.60 total, including tax.

Thanks for the report, Foodguy! Did you ask them if they'd make up a tasting menu for you at lunch, even though it wasn't on the menu?

No food at the bar in a tapas bar??? Heck, there are loads of restaurants where you can order dinner at the bar.

Thanks for your gracious words, Suvir. I'm glad your father's health is improving. My parents are fine and looking forward to their next visit. Daniel, do go, and do get reservations.

Thanks. One more question: Do you have a feeling about how many stars you would have given it if you were the New York Times $25-and-over restaurant reviewer?

How did you find the food at Spice Market, madziast?

madziast, as I pointed out, I have usually liked Sifton's writing, though I did have problems with the article you reference. I don't want to slam all of his work or the New York Times Dining Section on the basis of a few raised eyebrows, though. The Times has plenty of drawbacks and - without prejudice to the article at hand - the newspaper deserves criticism every time they print something that a fair-minded reader finds to be misleading, error-laden, poorly written, ignorant, distorted by bias, otherwise needing better editing, etc. But when one travels around the U.S., one discovers just how much more content the Times has than every other newspaper in this country - without exception, I think (though the L.A. Times and Washington Post probably come closest). Did your Japanese friends get any letters back from Sifton? Also, are you dead sure about the buffalo? Have a look at these Wikipedia articles and see if you disagree with them: "Water Buffalo" "Bovinae" "Mozzarella cheese" If you do disagree, perhaps we could have a separate thread about buffaloes and mozzarella cheese on General Food Topics.

Yes, because in humoral terms, durian is considered the hottest (or heatiest) fruit, and alcohol, the hottest drink. Welcome to the site, Gul_Dekar.

To me, that sums up this thread. We could all say the same thing Ellen just said, and so could the Germans who wouldn't try the brownies. I'm sure they didn't think they were being rude, just as Americans who walk into boulangeries in Paris without saying "Bonjour, Messieurs-Dames" don't realize they are acting rude from a French perspective. And just as there are some places where not burping after a meal is taken as an insult, while at others, burping loudly is a sign of boorishness. Etc., etc.

Around 181 from Broadway to St. Nicholas Av. if not Amsterdam, there are several vendors selling empanadas de queso and de carne. Both varities are good, for $1 apiece. I also got some pleasant though not earthshattering majarete (corn pudding) from a vendor on 181 St. She sells it for $2 a container for the type with bits of cornmeal and $3 for the type with whole grains of corn. Next time, maybe I'll try the latter variety. My favorite stall in Flushing was the sesame bun stall on the corner of 40th Road and Main St., but it was connected to a restaurant. Actually, it still is and moved to an address (I forget what, exactly) on 40th Road between Main and Prince. The food is inside and no longer purchasable through an open window, and the space is larger. Now, I walk inside to purchase the Fuzhou-style fried sesame buns, and they thus no longer qualify as street food. The place is very good and cheap, and I will post its address one of these days.

"Spam, sausage and spam. Spam, spam, spam, and spam," etc. (Tana, I don't think we can define what "foreign" means on the "General Topics" board of an international website. If people in France, China, South Africa, and Australia want to bring up their favorite domestic TV series, it would be on topic.)

Katie Loeb, SJEpicure, two of Katie's offline friends and I had an absolute orgy of food and drink at Amma tonight. All five of us got tasting menus, with one graciously accomodated change: A subtraction of shrimp and addition of more chicken for one member of our party who does not eat shellfish. The women in our party also ordered the wine pairings, which Katie will no doubt elaborate on. I chose not to try the wines but stuck to the excellent salty lassi and had two of those with the meal. We were first given an amuse bouche that seemed like a sort of potato (or otherwise starchy) finger (fried, with a crisp outside and tender middle) with various other things in it (I recall that cashews were mentioned). This is the dinner tasting menu, courtesy of www.menupages.com: Bombay Bhel Puri rice puffs, cilantro, red onions, mint and tamarind chutneys, potatoes Crispy Fried Spinach mung beans, potatoes, onions, tamarind and mint chutneys Pea Stuffed Samosa & Stuffed Mushroom Ginger-cilantro peas in pastry, cheese-chile stuffed mushrooms Tandoori Shrimp Sri Lankan jumbo shrimp, hung yogurt marinade, crispy okra Tandoori Stuffed Chicken chicken breasts, spicy chicken stuffing Manchurian Cauliflower garlic marinated cauliflower, Indo-Chinese style Choice Of: Malabar Salmon (spicy tomato chutney, Southern Indian potatoes) OR Parsi Halibut "Paatra Ni Machi" (mint coconut chutney, lemon rice) Tandoor Grilled Lamb Chops sweet & sour pear chutney, curry leaf potatoes [those were not included and are probably not on this tasting menu anymore], jackfruit biryaani Mango Cheesecake OR Kulfi (Indian ice cream) with Citrus Soup I've had the Bhel Puri before and raved about it before. Suffice it to say that it was as before, and met with a chorus of amazed oohs and aahs from across the table. Ditto for the tempura-like fried spinach with the wonderfully earthy mung bean sprouts. The Mushroom Samosa was a standout, since the quality of the mushrooms was so high and they were moist - somewhat reminiscent of some excellent tortellini I've had, but different in texture. From the plate of Tandoori Shrimp, Tandoori Stuffed Chicken Breasts, and Crispy Okra, it's tough to pick the winner; all three dishes are great. But I think I may have been most impressed by the chicken breasts this time. They have excellent but still somewhat subtle smoky taste from the tandoor and the spicy chicken stuffing is tender and delicious. Following that, we were all given both the halibut and salmon, and the Manchurian Cauliflower, along with some lemon rice. Again, all the dishes were outstanding. The salmon tasted perfectly fresh and came with a somewhat caramelized tomato and onion sauce, delicately spiced. The mint coconut chutney atop the halibut was fantastic! The lemon rice had a cayenne kick and plenty of black mustard seeds. It was almost unbelievable that more food remained. Not only had we eaten all that I mentioned above, but we had also had pieces of tandoori-baked naan with extra helpings of sambhars in between courses! However, we all made room for the fabulous lamb chops, which came with a biriyani which, if anything, is perhaps just a tad superior to the lemon rice, and a delicious little helping of pear/fennel seed chutney. The biriyani deserves special mention because it struck me this time that my piece of jackfruit tasted pickled. In any event, it was great stuff! Following that course, the staff brought out, seemingly, every dessert the restaurant makes!!! We had the fantastic mango cheesecake; the kulfi with citrus soup, a combination which shows great subtlety and imagination (this is no ordinary citrus soup but one infused with interesting spices); some very good rasmalai; rice pudding that really amounted to some grains of rice in a sauce strongly tasting of saffron; and a plate that contained a fabulous combination of little desserts: chai pot de creme, banana custard [edit: No, not custard, but what word am I looking for? a sort of dense little cake], and rosewater panna cotta. All of the staff were kind, very friendly, and professional. Hemant Mathur came out of the kitchen to speak with us during the meal and received our thanks. Suvir was out today, but of course the food was at the same level as it was the last time I went, when he was at the restaurant. See you next time, Suvir!

btw - which is the one you love? Loved, in one visit: Grand Vefour. I don't know whether the fact that it's so far the only Michelin 3-star I've been to is relevant, but it might be. I will say that my mother got that lobster salad, and it was good, but the lobster salad she got in our first visit to 1-star Michel Vignaud in Chablis was better. (Unfortunately, the 2nd time at Vignaud was a big disappointment.)

My mother made an almond angel food cake (made with almond extract as almonds weren't available) for me for one of my birthdays in Terengganu, Malaysia in the mid 70s. I told her not to try to give any to any of our Malay neighbors, but she didn't listen. Of course, they didn't like it. They found it weird as hell and otherwise tawar (tasteless). The moral of the story? What's normal for one people sucks for another.

BLH, I'm kind of shocked that you had such bad experiences in two 3-stars, one of which I loved. I will be quite interested in anyplace you really enjoy on your trip.

Water chestnut flour may not be in common use in India but it is in common use in Chinese cuisine (or perhaps I should write "some Chinese cuisines" ).

I always thought macedoine (French) and macedonia (Italian and Spanish) meant simply fruit salad. It has to have syrup?

It's not necessarily a favorite scene, but I remember the MASH episode when they were going to slaughter a lamb and cook it for visiting Greek servicemen, but Radar released the lamb, so they made a "spam lamb." Hmmm...Does the Hass und Pfeffer episode of Bugs Bunny count? What about the one with the young buzzard who can't hunt?

The impression that I got from reading the post is that certain people at least entertained the idea I hope they're not serious. Anyone want to confess to armed robbery, too?

What does the failure to mention Kunz have to do with eating at the restaurant? What does pointing out the sycophantic, obsequious tone of the review have to do with eating at the restaurant? To review a restaurant or make substantive comments about the quality of the food served there, you need to go to the restaurant. To critique a piece of writing, you need to read that piece of writing and evaluate it on its own terms and in its media context. We're engaging in media criticism here. Indeed. And what does questioning whether Hesser explained what makes the food at Spice Market special compared to seemingly similar items I've had at inexpensive restaurants have to do with whether I've eaten at Spice Market?

You first, Gaston. Seriously, I'll be happy to start it. [Edit: Here it is: Cuisine designations: Regional vs. national]

Mongo, in Malaysia, people eat the hearts of coconut palms when they have to be felled or are felled by wind. They're called "ombok" in Malay (I'm not sure if my spelling is standard).

Thanks, Soba. I definitely plan on going there. Table for 4 next time?