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My sentiments exactly. It also doesn't bother me to tell the waiter/waitress who ordered what, as long as they bring out the stuff we ordered. Some people are really hard to please.

I vote for Starwich, too. Their locations are inconvenient for me, so I have yet to patronize them and would enjoy seeing what your sandwich looks like.

Indonesian krupuk (shrimp toasts aka shrimp chips).

I'm not familiar with this place. Maybe you could post either here or in a separate thread in the New York forum about what dishes are their specialties, how many of them you figure are needed for a meal, etc.

Todd, also please keep in mind that you are always free to use the "!report" button to report any post you feel constitutes an ad hominem or just generally over-the-top attack on Mr. Bruni. The style and content of Bruni's writing is grist for the mill, but posts must stay within the bounds of the Member Agreement and just plain decency.

When I saw this topic, I thought you had paired wines with Swanson's frozen dinners! Please tell us more about Clarke Swanson or point us to a thread where ignorant people like me can find out more about him.

Of course you know that there's Joe's Restaurant in Venice, California. I was overjoyed to eat at Joe's last summer! (See post #8 in that thread.) There's also a Joe's in Ridgewood, Queens, New York. I have not eaten at that Joe's. And there's Joe's Shanghai, with branches in Manhattan's Chinatown, Midtown Manhattan, Flushing, and Elmhurst (the last two neighborhoods are in Queens). I have eaten only at the Chinatown branch, but not recently. My story is that it may still be worth going to, but only late at night when there's no wait, and then only to get interesting dishes like eel, never the xiao long bao that they were initially famous for.

Isn't calcium chloride the salt they put on roads to prevent icing?

Megan, I'm impressed that you're cooking an elaborate dinner after waking up with a wicked hangover. You did drink a lot last night. I didn't realize that Citarella had an East Side branch. I know Citarella from their location on 75 St. and Broadway. So, you used to live on 99 St. and Amsterdam. Was El Malecon a regular source of dinner for you in those days? Have you been back to the area to have Indian food at Indus Valley, on Broadway and 99th? That's a really good place.

Hi, Megan. I'm glad you're feeling better! Having blogged myself, I know how time-consuming it is to edit and upload photos, so I'm quite amazed at how many photos you're inserting into this blog! I also noticed your night photo. I have such trouble getting night photos to come out without glare that makes them unusable. What kind of camera do you use, and do you carry a tripod? I have to say, I'd never heard of "SoHa," and I'm sorry I now have. I still think "NoLiTa" is a ridiculous name and don't accept it, especially as there really is no Little Italy to speak of for it to be north of. But it just goes to show how things change in New York, with nomenclature not the least of them. I relatively recently found out that York Avenue used to be called Avenue A (you can see the evidence in the form of street signs on a public junior high school on York in the 70s or so). My father still refers to Park Avenue South as Fourth Avenue, which is what it was called in his childhood. Lots of avenue names were changed to aid in real estate promotion, and the real estate promotions changed the neighborhoods. Those changes were of course reflected in the nature of the restaurants and food shops that serve those neighborhoods. It's an interesting process, and the longer one lives in New York, the more one observes seemingly unimaginable things taking place, like the gentrification of the South Bronx, a once-chic neighborhood that was more recently synonymous with urban decay, neglect, and building-torching. But if you ask me, rich or/and poor, Harlem is still Harlem! Hmmm...speaking of East Harlem, do you go up to Patsy's from time to time?

Rinsewind, any good bakeries near you? Bringing in good cookies or cupcakes or whatever from a bakery can be a really nice (if perhaps expensive) thing to do for a birthday party, et al.

I understand what you mean now, Sneakeater. But does anyone feel like the pasta tasting menu has deteriorated at all?

I'd like those of you who feel the food isn't subtle enough at Babbo to please tell me whether you're referring to oversalting, because if that isn't the problem, I'll probably like the "excess" of taste. I certainly like Lupa! An excess of subtlety is more likely to annoy me than tastes that sock me right in the kisser, as long as those tastes are good.

Petai really does a number on your urine, too. It's very strong, but I can enjoy it, just not too often.

Two Little Red Hens' flagship store is in Park Slope. Marlene, for your spice-loving son, you definitely have to go to Grand Sichuan, though if you have plans to go out to Flushing, I'll give you some other recommendations. One or more trips to Korean restaurants are also a good idea, if you like that cuisine. There are several good Korean restaurants in the West 30s. If you want an inexpensive diner-style place, go to Han Bat. Otherwise, consider Kang Suh, Seoul Garden, Woo Chon, and Cho Dang Gol. And then there are Indian restaurants. My standby is an East Village Madrasi vegetarian place called Madras Cafe, and I recommend it. But it depends what you're looking for. At the high end, there are two places I haven't been to: Devi and Tabla, both extensively covered on the New York forum. And in Jackson Heights, Queens, there's the Jackson Diner (don't get the buffet if you go on a weekend) and various other places. And then, for Thai food, Sripraphai in Woodside, Queens is most recommended. [Edit: I left out Malaysian. So far, in two trips, I'm liking Skyway, on Allen St. just south of Canal.]

How does yin and yang relate to the humors, if at all?

Feel better soon, Megan! Lots of colds going around; I have some symptoms, too, though I can taste fine (but my flute playing is suffering). Megan, do you like Two Little Red Hens? I love to go there whenever I'm in the area. Great bakery specializing in American sweets (New York cheesecake, brownies, lemon squares, etc.), and I don't think out-of-towners know much about it. The only drawback is that it's small and it might be hard to take photos without getting in the way. Enjoy your blogging! I'll be following along.

This place passes the laksa test. I dared to order asam laksa today, and it was tasty. The mackeral was good and not fishy. The other thing I ordered was poh piah, which was OK, not special but satisfactory. A complimentary cup-sized bowl of bubur cha cha was provided for dessert, and it was good. Dinner cost $10.59 plus tip.

Pille, sorry if my reaction seemed rude. Maybe the canned cod liver in oil really tastes different from cod liver oil itself.

Bargaining, eh? So the marked prices aren't set?

Everyone I know from my parents' generation who was forced to drink cod liver oil to stave off vitamin D deficiency hated the taste, and I don't even like the residual taste in much of the chicken farmed in the US, so I can't imagine volunteering to eat seared cod liver. What's next, artisanal castor oil?

I see where that brownie bakery has a headquarters and three branches in Bandung already. Do you know when they set up shop in the headquarters?

That would really tick me off! I hate that corn syrup garbage! When I get pancakes in my local Polish diner, I pay extra to have real maple syrup. It's classy of them to carry it. If someone served sorghum syrup or some kind of syrup from palm sugar or even some kind of light molasses instead of maple syrup, it wouldn't be so bad, but that isn't what they do.

Seems to me, no-one could really ensure that his/her customers leave happier than when they came in. As long as you do your best and get good results (i.e., a majority of your customers are pleased and no-one wants to deck you or something), a lack of perfection in getting the reaction you want is fine. You're not them and can't make them react the way you want them to. But all that points out is the near-impossibility of your challenge, to state in a single sentence what a bartender's job is. I think a bartender's most important sentence, though, is "What are you having?"

Are you buying? But seriously, at those prices, any negative reports would carry a lot of weight with me.