sacre_bleu

I don't think I'd tip. At a buffet restaurant where I filled my own plate, and then couldn't eat more than a couple mouthfuls because it was so wretched? Please. I would drop the loaded plate in the bus bin myself, though, to relieve the busser of the burden. If I did put food on a plate, I would pay the buffet charge. If I wised up before food hit plate, I would wave on my way to the door.

That's a lot more ambitious than the average "Mexican" place in Buffalo. Thanks.

Also, has anyone been to the Ethiopian places in Rochester? Care to share a report? Here's one entry on another site. http://rocwiki.org/Abyssinia#

Can you supply addresses, possibly? Would this be good for a family driving by on the Thruway? How far off the highway are they? Do they have any unusual Mexican stuff or just the usual? Thanks for the info.

For reliable Chinese in WNY I think you have to go to Amherst, where there are a sizeable number of Chinese, mostly around UB. Gin Gin, hidden in the northeast corner plaza at Sheridan and Bailey, has a huge menu including congee, chicken feet, beef tripe, etc. It's uneven but delivers tons of dishes that Cookie-cutter Chinese places don't have. (I like their roast pork and tofu, and their "spare ribs in wine sauce.") Great cold noodle with a dose of fish sauce. No table service. Chang's Garden, on Maple just east of North Forest, does the best sitdown Chinese in the area that I know of. That's where I see tables of a dozen Chinese people for special banquets. Ja jiang mien ("saucy noodles") and other "Northern Chinese specialties" are on a seperate menu that they don't hand the "lo fan" unless you ask for it. Do get the cold sliced duck breast appetizer (hacked bone-in) with amazing sauce. One thing WNY does have is a great-for-outside-Koreatown Korean resto (barbecue grills right in the table) at Korea House, in Amherst on Evans near Sheridan. One order of bulgoki, one of dwaeji bulgoki (spicy pork) and my wife and I are set. One last can't miss: really solid blue-collar Vietnamese at 99, 3396 Bailey Ave., Buffalo (just south of UB Main St campus). Pho and grilled pork are top notch.

You'd think the Lexington Co-op would have a handle on those. Has everyone been to the Somali takeout joint on Grant St.? (Somali Star, 195 Grant St.) 100 percent takeout but tasty goat curry (more tender at dinnertime), wonderful fragrant rice pilaf and super beef-stuffed pastries with hot but delicious fresh hot sauce.

This is utter BS. That chef must have been at the end of a very bad day. They don't have a leg to stand on. A posted no-photograzphs zone would give them a figleaf of legal argument, but the assertion is ridiculous on its face and would be laughed out of any court it was filed in. Are birthday/wedding/anniversary dinner photos banned too? Crazy. Chef meltdowns are never pretty.

And that sauce would be what exactly?

You need to mop, my friend. PS. Regarding brining spare ribs: Certainly it wouldn't hurt if you have the time and the energy. But I smoke about 250 lbs of spares a year for various things and never brined one yet. There's enough moisture in my ribs at the end of the 6-hour cook that you can: 1. tug gently on a bone and it will come out clean 2. wrap in foil and reheat and the meat will fall off the bone (not my thing, but some people like it) To be sure, YMMV.

So, phaelon56, which Syracuse Thai resto are you thinking of?

I had to turn it off, even though I'm interested in resto kitchens and Gordon Ramsey. Too much abuse, too little content. And those kids were set up to fail. It would be more fun watching a Great White Hunter use a 10-gauge shotgun loaded with elephant slugs on tethered gazelles.

Another Weber fan here. If you're interested in an entry-level "smoker," for barbecue and the like, the Weber Smoky Mountain Cooker is all the rig you need, for about $500 less than the BGE and company. If you want something that'll do blowtorch temperatures, OK, the Weber isn't it. (Although a good pile of lump hardwood charcoal in a regular Weber grill will get you to seriously searing temperatures). That BGE sure does look good, though.

I was surprised to find LAURA CHENEL GOAT CHEESE in the cheese cooler at Sam's Club. $5.85 a pound. No WAY. Bought some. Took it home, tasted it. Yup, goat cheese, not distinguished at all, but goat cheese. Started looking at the label more closely. Aha. It was LAURA CHENEL "SELECT," which I'm guessing means they sold the NAME to be slapped on production goat cheese. Made in Canada, the fine print said. Mystery solved.

We prefer to have people over, so we don't count on reciprocation. Most regulars at my table know that if I want them to bring something, I'll ask. Wine, cheeses, drinks, particular vegetables or ingredients, a nice green salad all arrive that way. No problem. Of course, more wine and such is always appreciated. You gotta train your guests, and give them a push. Don't be shy and expect people to read your mind. Usually all it takes to get help with the dishes is for me to stand up after we're done eating and start washing them.

Blue-collar New England diner food at its finest: The Wayside, in Berlin on the Barre-Montpelier Road (Rt 302). I haven't been in VT in a couple years, but I used to live in Concord NH and I would detour an hour out of my way just for the Wayside's banana cream pie. Hit some of those other places when you're feeling fancy, but when the wallet's thin and you need something soul-warming, head for the Wayside.

Battle Potato was obviously rigged. Cat's stuff didn't look as good, present as well, or produce enough positive remarks (the producers couldn't scrape together enough positive clips to even make it sound even in the editing room). The purple potato ice cream made the tasters sound like they were going to hurl, and the "moussaka" was puzzling to say the least. The producers didn't need Steingarten to make sure their Superstar Woman Chef won her inagural battle. To paraphrase Stalin: The only part of an election that matters is who counts the votes.

That place closed about 10 years ago, my associate informs me. Another thing Falls people talk about is "Trusello's" style pizza, bready, thin layer of crushed tomatoes, olive oil, big whack of dried oregano and basil, dosed with romano and only a sprinkling of mozzarella. I'm told it's homestyle Sicilian, but I wouldn't know. Trusello's was a bakery that closed, but there's a place on Pine Avenue (Rocket's) that claims to have "the real Trusellos" recipe. Some NF friends say hell, no. Both DiCamillo's and Ventri's sell "old fashioned Romano," which is close, minus the mozzarella.

Niagara Falls is where I am. By Mom's, you mean the little restaurant on Niagara Falls Boulevard at Military ("Mil-Pine Plaza")? I've eaten average slop there a bunch of times, when I had to, but never saw a pizza. I would go over there and order one if that's the place, though. Most of the places that sell pizza in the Falls don't specialize. One that does is Buzzy's (mentioned above). Remarkably good, thinnish crispy crust dusted with cornmeal. In WNY the thick, bready pizza loaded with cheese and stuff dominates, making Buzzy's a rare beast. In Niagara Falls, you hear a lot about La Hacienda (3019 Pine Avenue), which despite the name is not a Mexican cafe. But for my money, I'd rather go next door to Michael's Restaurant and get one of their deep-fried calzones. Yeah, that's right: Deep. Fried. Calzone. In Buffalo, two places about a half mile apart have the hearts of most locals: Bocce Club Pizza on Bailey Ave. north of the University at Buffalo's South Campus, and Leonardi's (614 Grover Cleveland Hwy., Amherst). Both feature a hefty crust, semi-sweet tomato sauce and lashings of mozzarella. Leonardi's also dusts its pie with romano, for a bit of extra savor. Bocce's cuts its pepperoni thicker and you pretty much want to drain that bad boy before consumption, but it's loverly. La Nova pizza is OK Buffalo-style pizza, but only one of several local favorites, despite its extensive marketing campaign, and the cachet of having the FBI accuse its owner of being Buffalo's Mafia kingpin. (True story.) As for its chicken wings, well, La Nova does make a decent "barbecue" wing, grilled wings soaked in bottled BBQ sauce. Its "Buffalo style" wings are merely ordinary, and in no way equal to the Anchor Bar's original chicken wing. Of course, the No. 1 Buffalo-style chicken wing is actually found in Amherst, at Duff's (officially, Duff's Sheridan Patio, 3651 Sheridan Dr., Amherst). There are lots of tasty wings served all over the world, but when you want the canonical Buffalo wing, here's where you come. Only eat-in; hot wings in styrofoam takeaway boxes steams the crispiness out. Just thought I'd make that clear.

Is Yeah Shanghai closed? I've been calling the number on their takeout menu, which I looked up on Amazon. Could they have just closed up early on a Wednesday night? Any recent sightings to report? Thanks.

itch, sorry, should have warned you that you need to go in the back at Ni Hoowa. And they still have that silly restaurant sign up. Regarding Pho 99, I must confess that whenever I'm out for lunch within 10 miles of its City Hall location or on Bailey Ave by UB's South (Main St) Campus, I always head for Pho 99. dorachadas asked: Well, yes, actually, I do. My favorite Chinese in WNY is Chang's Garden on Maple Rd in Amherst. It's not Manhattan fabulous, but it's where Chinese from UB often go, so I feel better. They have a second menu, separate from the regular American chinese food, with "Northern Chinese Specialties" on it. (Ask for "the blue menu" if your server looks blankly at you.) Especially recommended off the blue menu: braised beef noodles and tasty pork chop noodles; appetizer of duck in chef's special sauce. The duck dish is a roasted breast served cold, hacked, still with bones inside. If you find gnawing disagreeable, don't get it. But the sauce ... oh my. Put it this way: the sauce makes me want to knaw cold duck off the bones. It's that good. Thai: No huge favorites. I find Jasmine II, on Niagara Falls Boulevard opposite the Boulevard Mall, to be ahead by a nose when it comed to decent Thai food. Viet: Besides Pho 99's two locations? No. The Viet resto on Elmwood (south of West Utica) recently changed hands. It was mediocre before, and I haven't been in for my subsequent inspection. But I do have good news: Amherst has an excellent Korean barbecue place, Korea House, on Evans by Sheridan (near the Georgetown Plaza). It's about $20 a person, but you can grill your own bulgoki (beef) and dwaejibulgoki (pork) while enjoying all the rice and pickled side-dishes you can handle. Seriously, if you haven't been, you have to check it out. Tell the server you want a barbecue table, you have to order two entrees, but other than that it's really up to what you want. So I hope I've helped.

Also, if you will have lunch, do go to Pho 99. It's right across from City Hall. The menu is tiny but the pho, pork skewers and rolls are reliable. The food mall concept is on hiatus for lack of interest, the owner told me last month. (Sigh.)

Does Buffalo have a Chinatown? No. Also, has anyone been to the following stores? If so, what did you think? A'Chau 2 Oriental Grocery 833 Niagara St. Buffalo Asian Market 594 Niagara St. Both are tiny pocket stores with Viet-Thai-Chinese etc. etc. basics. Mostly canned bottled and dried, a bit of frozen, a few veg and herbs. Stop by if you're in the neighborhood, it'll only take 5 minutes to decide if they have anything of interest. Phu Thai Oriental Grocery Store 355 Connecticut St. Haven't been. Sungs Oriental Grocery & Gift Market 850 Niagara Falls Blvd. A medium-comprehensive Asian grocery, heavy on Korean specialties and china/kitchenware. The most interesting Asian groceries in the area (IMHO) aren't far from Sung's. About a mile away is Ni Hoowa, at 3173 Sheridan Dr., Amherst. It's the closest to a full-scale Asian grocery store that I know of in the Buffalo area. The usual Viet-Thai-Chinese-Japanese, plus some Cambodian, Burmese, and other cuisines. Vast array of dried noodles, spices, canned, mixes and drinks. Pocky. Relatively extensive veg section, invariably fresher and cheaper than Occidental groceries. Cases of ducks and pork belly, bushels of live crabs on the weekends. I was in a full-scale Asian grocery last weekend, in Scarborough, Ont. Ni Hoowa would fit in its produce section. But it's well worth a browse, and I know they have Viet nuoc mam.

I bet you've never had linguine with clam sauce ... and tahini. That was me. Trying to impress a girl. Luckily I found one whose mother was a worse cook than i was ;)

Many years ago I was stationed on a missile submarine. There wasn't much to do, just sitting around waiting for a war to start... Patrols were two months long with no resupply. We spent a lot of time thinking of original ways to play with each others heads. One brilliant young man thought it would be interesting if people were forced to eat with their hands. So, tableware started disappearing. There are not too many places to hide things on a sub, but once something is flushed overboard via the trash compactor, it is gone forever. It took a while before anyone noticed, and after a while guards were posted in the mess room. With a 110 people on board, three meals and midnight snack daily, and guards who were annoyed with having to stand tableware guard, it was impossible to guard everything. Things got progressivly worse. After a while, other crew members picked up on the humor of the situation and began to participate in the theft. Threats were made, but no one was ever caught. Towards the end of patrol, a lot of meals were eaten with shared tableware. The winner, hands down. A hundred angry, hungry sailors eating with their hands? Standing tableware guard. What a great thread.

Anybody harshing on people for eating frozen dim sum has never been truly deprived. Of COURSE we'd rather have the real thing. And we will whenever fate permits. But until then, we pathetic souls must make do.