ErinB

Does anyone have any specific recs for Middle Eastern or Northern African in Manhattan?

For fancy, go to Cafe Routier in Westbrook. But I would also echo Lenny and Joe's. I just ate there 3 days ago, and had the Buttered Lobster Roll. It was damn good.

One thing to consider, that hasn't been mentioned. A tasting menu at Bouley is $75. A tasting menu at Per Se is $150. I'm not sure about Jean-Georges and ADNY, and I know that Bouley is in Tribeca, but honestly, if Bouley was aiming for more, I'd think he'd have to raise his prices. Or, maybe I'm wrong. Part of the reason why I'm going is because $75 is a relative bargain .... as long as the meals not off. *fingers crossed*

I agree with Fatguy and above posters who said the review doesn't use enough food related critiques. Yes, he critiques the service, which is valid at a four star restaurant. But, there should have been a more detailed discussion of the food. But, we all know based on peoples' posts on Bouley's inconsistencies, that the three stars is probably valid. I'm going to Bouley tomorrow night. It will be interesting to see how it is.

FYI. I got reservations today (in two months) for a party of 2 and was offered 5:30, 5:45, 9:00. I got through in about 10 minutes. The other interesting thing, is that the person on the phone, was very friendly, but really wanted my work number. She made it seem like they were having trouble with people confirming reservations. What I don't understand is why someone would go to all this trouble to make a reservation and then not show up or confirm. Anyway, I'll be eating here in two months, and I'm very excited

I have reservations in 3 weeks. Does anyone know the tasting menu policy? I know usually the whole table has to get it, but we're going to have a party of 5. Is it realistic for them to ask us all to get the tasting menu or just a few?

True. True. I believe I saw Digweed's last show at Twilo.

This thread is taking me back in time. Twilo was one of my favorite clubs. Also, I'd been to the Wetlands a few times to see Ska shows. Those were the good old days.

I'm going to agree, Al Forno is overrated. The desserts are the best part ... just go there for that.

Specifically, I'm looking for a good place to get Indian ingredients, especially whole spices. I am willing to go anywhere in the Hartford/New Haven area. The only other ethnic market I go to currently is A Dong Supermarket in West Hartford for asian ingredients.

I ate at Bouley about a year and a half ago. We ordered tap water (I always order tap water), the service was still impeccable. The waiters actually screwed up by giving us extra wine (we had the wine tasting with the tasting menu) but we were fine with that. The waiters were extremely friendly, we were cracking jokes with them by the end of the night, so unless something has changed, I can't imagine them discriminating against you because you ordered tap.

It depends what you are looking for. What kind-of cuisine and how much you are looking to spend. In Fairfield, there is a very good french restaurant La Colline Verte. I haven't been there recently, but went a few years ago and it was excellent. There's also MAKO, very good sushi. And then, you're right near Westport with lots of good restaurants as well.

I went there last year -- for dessert only -- in jeans. It was pretty funny. It was a spur of the moment kind-of thing, and we only wanted dessert. My friend and I both got the chocolate souffle. And, it was totally worth it. I have to say, I would never have gone here for a full meal though.

Jo Sho 120 Cedar Grove Lane Somerset, NJ 08873 732-469-8969

Had an excellent meal at JoSho in Somerset the other night. The sushi was very fresh. The highlight of the meal for me were the appetizers we ordered. The agedofu was amazing. The tofu was perfect. We also ordered spicy scallops. For anyone who hasn't been here, they have a whole menu of appetizers. Josho is BYOB.

Ended up going to Helmand and Sabatino's. I was going with people who liked very mainstream food to Sabatino's and it was fine for them, but overall I found it to be pretty average. I love Helmand.

Looking for something in walking distance. I'm staying at the Wyndham. I guess I can do Inner Harbor and stuff in the area. I'm looking for something moderately priced and probably would avoid Italian, American and New American. I've been to Helmand and really liked it. I was thinking maybe sushi or asian if there's anything decent. The most important thing is the food, not the atmosphere. ETA: Another place that looked interesting to me (from Zagat's) was Tapas Teatro. Does anyone know anything about this place?

DAMN You. Just kidding. It is my dream to have a house in Tofino.

Unfortunately, this is the reality of the world today. Employees are being forced to pay more and more for healthcare, because the whole health care system is screwed up. While I do understand that employers cannot be responsible for all of the cost of healthcare, it's sad that the next generation of workers will be essentially making less money than we did. Things are supposed to get better, not worse? Right? As someone who has also been on strike, things are never the same when you go back to work and probably never will be. Especially a strike as tough as this, where the union essentially caved. I definitely agree, the union didn't have a good strategy ... It's all very sad to me.

Madras Cafe on 2nd av. That was what was recommend right?

I had dinner at Madras last week and it was very good. I ordered a cream of wheat crepe with potato, onion and pepper. It was listed as spicy -- but it wasn't. Their mango ice cream was really good. Our total bill was about $50 including tip, but we also each had a glass of wine. On a side note, the waiter was muttering under his breath every time he walked away from a table, which in most places is considered bad service, but I just found it highly amusing.

Sea Harbor Let's see if I can remember ... We did a combination of ordering off of the menu with ordering stuff that they were carrying around. While ordering from carts is probably fun, I like that all of this stuff was pretty fresh. We also had to wait about 1 1/2 hours to get in, even though we got there at 10:30 I loved the bitter melon balls with the black sesame paste. All of the flavors combined perfectly. The eggplant noodle dish was great, with vermicelli noodles and pieces of eggplant, very spicy. (this was not dim sum) We ordered coconut and tarot custard, which basically was coconut and taro jello in squares. I liked the coconut, but not the flavor or texture of the taro. We ordered these green seafood dumpling, which the dumpling on the outside was spinach and bready. The bread was a weird flavor and texture. We ordered a fried tofu dish that was amazing, very crisp on the outside and soft on the inside. Perfectly cooked served with a sweet duck type sauce. Ita-Cho My friends both got soba noodle dishes, which were average, and not really worth giving a description beyond that. I told them to try the other stuff, but they weren't very adventurous and just tried the stuff I ordered. I ordered the lotus root salad, perfectly spicy. Miso marinated eggplant was probably the best eggplant I've had ever, very meaty tasting. I also ordered a fried flounder dish, which was pretty good but ordinary. I think it was supposed to be a japanese version of fish and chips with a vinegar soy sauce to dip in.

I'm going to do a full post on tuesday night or wednesday. Things have been crazy. Only ended up going to Ita-Cho and Sea Harbor. Sea Harbor was amazing. Ita-Cho was good, but exactly what I was looking for.

Anything orange flavored.

Former vegan here. Seitan, IMHO, is the best meat substitute. I like to buy locally made, so depending upon where you live check out the local brands. Sometimes the commercially made can have a tougher texture, in my experience. I have this really good dish from a Lorna Sass cookbook that is udon noodles, scallions, ginger, seitan, sesame oil, dark sesame oil, garlic and a vegetable that you want to add. That's been my favorite dish. Seitan definitely doesn't compare to meat, and tofu can sometimes be a more interesting unique texture, but if you want to lower your calorie intake, seitan has the lowest calorie and fat content of all of the meat protein substitutes.