Pan

Is McSorley's up there for bars?

I don't recall where Schielke is, but in my experience, rambutan are good only in the countries where they grow. Even the rambutan I got in Hong Kong were terrible. That's just a fruit that doesn't export well at all. I have on rare occasions found some mediocre mangosteens for sale in New York, and a mediocre little mangosteen is still pretty damned good, as mangosteen is (along with lychee, of course, but also peach and nectarine) one of the very best fruits.

Re: Tomorrow: I'll be back in Manhattan around 7 P.M. (or I could be). Do you all know where you're likely to be around then?

My take on lychees is that the ones from southern China are by far the best. I've had Israeli ones, and they're clearly inferior to the Chinese ones. The ones I've had from Florida were terrible or, at best, not worth eating. (All of these opinions are based on what's available from street vendors and fruit stores in Manhattan's Chinatown.) Really good lychees that are sweet, perfumy, and juicy with a tart aftertaste are second to no other fruit, in my opinion.

I read the link to the study, but I wonder whether the problem is a recent one. When I lived in rural Malaysia in the 70s, there were very few fat people, indeed. The people in the village I lived in were mostly poor and engaged in a lot of manual labor. They tended to be slim and muscular. There was enough food to go around, by the way, and almost no-one was malnourished (an exception was a young girl who refused to eat anything but cake ). Post-script: Malaysia is a much more affluent society today, and obesity-associated problems like diabetes, heart disease, and so forth are major health problems there today.

Seriously? What nutrients are in white bread and not in whole wheat bread? And could you please elaborate on the instances of malnutrition due to a changeover from white bread to whole wheat bread? Times and places would be most welcome.

All I wrote was something like "Wow! Yes, everyone should read this article. Real life is sometimes at least as suspenseful as fiction." I don't think I have much to add, except that I hope the stage ends up being rewarding, in the end.

That's a misspelling. Courtesy of www.superpages.com (which you should bookmark, if you haven't already done so): MEI LAI Wah Coffee House 64 Bayard Street, New York, NY 10013 (212) 925-5435

Where? There are several branches of Pongsri Thai.

Is that a jazz trio?

Oh, I see your point. If you buy them in a package, that might change things. But check with the USDA to be sure. I do recall that I was allowed to bring in Chinese herbal medicines from Hong Kong in 1987, probably because they were either bought in packages or dried powders.

Check with the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, but it sounds illegal to me. They want to prevent agricultural diseases from spreading unchecked.

This looks like the bias toward innovation and away from classic cuisine that others have detected in Michelin.

If the same people are working there 5 years later, why would they have necessarily forgotten what the Michelin inspector looks like? Thanks for posting that interesting article. I admit I was too lazy to read the French yesterday.

Friday, I figure to be busy all afternoon into some time in the evening. When were you thinking of hanging out on Friday?

Hmmm...Nouvelle Malaysian, perhaps? I know that Tom Yam soup has long since been adopted as a "Malaysian" dish (it wasn't so considered in the 70s, and was not normally available in the restaurants I went to in Malaysia), so perhaps this really is a Thai-influenced Malaysian dish. I'd love some comments by people more current with food trends in Malaysia nowadays. Where did you get the recipe, Kris? It does sound good, but it sounds Thai to me. I don't remember much use of ripe mangos in cooked food in Malaysia.

Are you sure? I think several of us voted "no," including me. Please consider rereading the whole thread.

I'm no expert on cocktails, but I've had good ones at the Temple Bar on Lafayette just north of Houston and Mooza, on Orchard St. between Houston and Stanton, both in Manhattan, NY.

I hope you enjoy your job, Kate. Somehow, I can't figure out what JWU is. I keep thinking John Wayne University.

Andy: Have a great trip! Thursday is touch and go for me because a friend of mine is coming in from San Francisco and I presume I may be hanging out with him. But especially if you all are going to be in the East Village at some point, I'd be happy to join you if I am free when you're around here.

Where does one keep such a grill in NYC?

Do any of you have any views as to which guidebook (or, for that matter, web site) would have the most coverage of economical hotels in Malaysia? I looked at Lonely Planet's paper guide and was very dissatisfied; they seem to have really concentrated on Thailand and given Malaysia short shrift, yet I haven't found a more complete guide yet.

I did pretty well on that. I obviously knew somewhat more about Japanese eating etiquette than I did about Korean eating etiquette before the link for that website that explained all the rules of Korean eating etiquette was posted to eGullet, I think by torakris.

Google asks "Did you mean ganja?" I suspect you already know ganja and that it's not on the menu at WD-50. Not if they want to remain legally open for a while.