Jump to content

Charles Smith

legacy participant
  • Posts

    312
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by Charles Smith

  1. I've had the pleasure of flying a lot of first class long haul and the best, bar none, is Qantas. (no better way to use miles than upgrading from business, which my company paid for, to first) meals designed by a well known Sydney chef (Rockpool) whose name I can't remeber- leather menus, 6-7 choices, fresh eggs, etc. for breakfast- frechly baked bread on board, great aussie wines (although I'm not a big fan of those wines)- lobster, etc. and you can have it at any time during the flight. Breakfast is even better- i tried to buy their muesli and the yogurt is amazing. really first rate stuff. Cathay Pacific is also pretty good, as is Singapore, but none come close to Qantas- It's amazing what you can do when the goal is national pride as opposed to profit. Cheers, Charles
  2. Charles Smith

    Town

    Hi Liza- Thanks! The service wasn't bad, nor was it exceptional- where we were sitting made it feel like the waiters were sneaking up on me from behind and they didn't have a lot of space around me to work, so it seemed like they were invading my space- we were seated at the apex of a curved wall, with my wife facing the room, so I could see nothing but her without turning my head- I did have plenty of space- the only issue was for the servers- hope that explains it- Cheers, Charles
  3. My wife took me to Town for my birthday this past Saturday and we had a wonderful dinner, with exceptional wine service- We started by splitting the poached salmon tartare and the chilled pea soup. The soup had some muddied flavors, and was a little dissappointing, but the salmon was excellent- served with avocado and tomato- the texture was perfect, as was the seasoning- one of the best apps I've had in a while. For mains I had the veal tongue and my wife got the striped bass- each were outstanding- the tongue was rolled, stuffed, boiled and then roasted- delicious with some Basque seasonings. The Bass was roasted perfectly- another winner. Dessert was a trio of raspberry sorbet, vanilla frozen yogurt and chocalate icecream on one plate and sourdough chocolate cake on the other- the "colds" all had very precise flavors and the cake was good, although I have no idea what the sourdough did for it. As for the wine, we started with a great half bottle of Condrieu Les Chaillets 2000 from Cuilleron that went very well with our starters- The mains were a tough match, so we went for a half bottle of a '97 Tuscan, but they had sold out. I went looking for a pinot or another italian bottle and asked about a $70 and an $80 bottle- the sommellier spent a good amount of time with me suggesting a '97 $50 Barbera d'Alba (great vintage for Barberas) and then got very excited about recommending a '99 Valpolicella Ripassa from Zenato. I wasn't convinced that the ripassa would work, so she said we could try it, and switch to the Barbera if it didn't work! BTW, this wine was $38, about average markup, but we had gone from $80 to $38 in a matter of minutes and the wine was excellent- very pinot-like with some strawberry and cola notes- delicious with both entrees and served in Reidel Sommeliers. The regular service was a little strange, but fine- overall, a great meal. Cheers, Charles
  4. Cabrales- I should have been clearer- each time I had it was in a sushi bar. don't know about a chinese presentation Cheers, Charles
  5. Cabrales- I don't have the info on either place I had it, although I could find the place in HK if I had to ;-) As for the dish, a live lobster is pulled from the tack, the tail is cut off, the flesh removed and "run" through ice water, which firms it up a bit I guess, and then served back in the shell, on a platter with the rest of the lobster, which is still moving a bit. It's hard to forget, and it's a unique, delcious taste. Hope that helps, Charles
  6. Cabrales- The "live" uni is uni that's delivered live to the restaurant and then prepared for serving later that night, typically in the original shell of spines. This is the way I've had it at JB- it's significantly better than "boxed" uni and as Mao suggests spoils you for that type in the future. I have seen the process done directly in front of the diner at a place in SF and it is amazing to watch- If you want an amazing live experience look for a place that does live lobster- nothing like it- I've not seen it in NYC, only in Hong Kong and Vancouver. JB does have a less expensive version of omakase, starting at around $70- it also has an extensive a la carte menu where you can have a great meal for a lot less money. Cheers, Charles
  7. I thought they were only closing for the summer as the auctions are shut down as well???
  8. Cabrales- My wife and I have done the omakase a few times- some of the better items have included live uni, a fish that I don't remember the name of that produced 2 pcs of sushi per fish, scottish salmon, a tremendous o-toro dish which was seared with a blow torch (the creme brulee version), an interesting range of mackerals- we've always sat at the bar and been served one piece at a time- eating at the table is a differenet experience- the chef also does all of the "saucing" himself for the sushi portion- you do not have your own dish of soy sauce. Wish I could remember more specifics- Cheers, Charles
  9. I'm a huge fan of Jewel Bako- I can't compare it to Sushi Yasuda b/c I haven't been, but it's the best in the city that I've been to (Yasuda's the only "big" name I've missed)- great diversity, excellent quality and extremely hospitable. The other plus is that you can do an amazing $120 pp omakase or a $35 sushi platter and be very satisfied either way. The owners take great pride in everything about it- it's a real Mom and Pop- they even check the coats in their apartment across the street. Hope that's helpful. Cheers, Charles
  10. although I hate to wade into a London Indian food debate, I've found that for a non-expert, Bombay Brasserie is terrific. Food is good to great (we loved the malabar fish), the rooms are very interesting and the service was good- We had great success with trying the different chutneys at the request of the waiter- I've really enjoyed Tamarind as well, but it's significantly pricier. either are much better than anything here in NYC- Enjoy! Cheers, Charles
  11. Charles Smith

    Coffee

    Looking forward to the report- what's the website url?
  12. Man, talk about thread drift- from food to Arsenal football, although obsessions are always closely related ;-) We're going to try for Noura- Thanks for the suggestions- Cheers, Charles
  13. OK, My wife and I are flying in from Rome fairly late (for London- will be in heathrow around 8:30, I figure eating around 10)and need a good dining option- we're staying on Hyde Park, any good middle eastern that fits that bill?? Thanks for any advice!!! Cheers, Charles
  14. I think you nailed it- it's too expensive for down to earth Portugese food (Pao is absolutely a better choice), and not good enough for an expensive high quality adventure I live in the neighborhood and it's not somewhere I consider going- Cheers, Charles
  15. Dylan Prime has always used the pay for sauce system- I like the place but was always pretty confused- I think the crust thing is new-
  16. I love Annisa as a date place (with my wife, of course) as well as both bar Veloce and Il Posto Acconto for friends, I second Les Halles and add the front room at Grammercy Good topic
  17. Yama is a good, but not great, sushi place- expect big pieces of fish and nothing too interesting in terms of special dishes. It's a step above most neighborhood places, but doesn't reach the next level. As for Tomoe, it's a huge, very fresh pieces of fish type place, as opposed to creating a balanced, ordered meal with a number of different tastes type place, which I prefer. Blue Ribbon, and Jewel Bako are my favorites. Iso is terrific, a step below those two, but a step above Tomoe and Yama. Enjoy!! Cheers, Charles
  18. Hi everyone- My wife and I went to Union Pacific this weekend and had an average meal, at least compared to my expectations. I'd been for lunch once before and it was amazing. After a forgettable amuse (jingle bell pepper with pumpkin puree????) our apps were uni and scallops with mustard oil and bluefin tuna. Both were excellent, with a nod to the scallop dish- For a an entree I had roasted pheasant with black truffles, served over parsnip puree. My wife had wild striped bass. The pheasant was very good, but nothing at all was added with the dusting of truffles- not worth the Ů supp. It also came with a dies of fries, which looked great, but were ultimately weak- soggy!! The flavor of the bass was good, but it was over cooked, and had definietly been cooked in caul, which was not mentioned on the menu- no big deal for us, but for anyone avoiding meat, watch out. Desserts were fine, a nice "carpaccio" of mango and papaya and something chocalate- Wine list was great for whites, but I thought the reds were too overpowering for the food- not much older at all- we had the '97 Trimbach Riesling "Emilie" all in all, a good meal, but not great- Rocco sure does spend a lot of time in the dining room- that always makes me wonder a bit about waht's happening in the kitchen. Cheers, Charles
  19. I'm a fan on USC, but only eating at the bar- it's the only place where there's a good vibe in the restaurant. As Mike says, the wine list is great and well priced and I completely agree with his views on the food- Despite any of this, I go there for one reason- comfort. I know what I'm getting. I know the steak will be good and the people will be friendly and I won't be challenged. Sometimes everyone needs that and it provides it very well. Cheers, Charles
×
×
  • Create New...