Two months in New York City

[mikeycook]

I can't believe nobody has mentioned Chelsea Market (9th Ave betw. 15th & 16th) yet. While not uniformly great, there are a few places here that warrant a visit.

The first two, IMHO, are must-trys.

Manhattan Fruit Exchange

In my opinion the best place for produce in the city outside of Union Square. Prices are decent, although unfortunately they only take cash. Nevertheless, you can consistently get great stuff here, usually things you can't find anywhere else (except perhaps at Dean and Deluca where you will pay a fortune). My personal favorites are the fresh favas that appear from time to time. Also one of the best, most reasonably priced selections of wild mushrooms (at any given time, chanterelles, morels, black trumpets, bluefoot, and lobster mushrooms may be available, as well as occasionally some more exotic varieties. If you are looking for a specialty fruit or vegetable this has the best chance of any of having it.

The Lobster Place

Best lobster in the city and a huge selection of oysters, as well as other shellfish and fresh fish. Having been born in Maine, I consider this place the closest to the harborside places further north. The lobsters are particularly feisty, a good sign (although admittedly this is not their peak season). Although there are other places with good fresh fish and shellfish selections, this would be my choice.

Other places I like:

Buon Italia

A good selection of Italian products, including cheeses, cured meats, salt cod, bottarga, as well as olive oils, balsamic, San Marzano tomatoes, Illy coffee, truffles (in season), etc. Doesn't have the good in-house cheeses of a DiPaola Dairy or the in-house cured meats you can get further up 9th ave (in the high 30s, where the Salumeria are) but as an Italian products store it's as good as I've seen outside of Little Italy or Arthur Avenue in the Bronx.

Amy's Bread

I usually stop here to get baguette and almost always buy some pullmans around the holidays to make stuffing. The real treat here (IMHO) is the Brioche, particularly if you can get a pullman loaf. Sadly, it is almost always gone before the afternoon when I am usually there, so call ahead.

Ronnybrook Farms

Chelsea Market is also the home of the Ronnybrook store, where you can get their milk, butter, yogurt, and ice cream. Probably my favorite eating butter and I will try to get their cream and milk if making a particularly decadent dessert.

There are some other good, if undistinguished places, like Ruthy's (good cakes/cupcakes), Bowery Kitchen Supply (need some ramekins?) and Chelsea Wine Market (not the best selection or prices in the city, but good enough... I happen to store my personal collection in their cellar). Definitely would recommend a trip or two.

[brooklynfreddy]

and we've yet to mention brooklyn - check out carroll gardens, cobble hill, ft greene, williamsburg and park slope for lots of great chef-owned and operated restaurants (many are in zagat or the Time Out equivalent of Zagat). Also lots of great ethnic foods - and the Red Hook Ballfields for Latin and South American food stands.

[jean_genie]

Hi everyone,

Thanks for your replies and input. I actually enjoyed reading the discussion between Todd36 and weinoo. georgeb: I've noted your tip; StInGeR: ta for the suggestion, mate ; and thanks mikeycook and brooklynfreddy for adding to the list of must-try. I'll be on the flight in a few hours time - thanks for giving me lots of reasons to look forward to NYC

[jean_genie]

To all who contributed to my query a couple of weeks ago, a big THANKS! I've been here for about 1.5 weeks now, and except for a bad case of jet lag, I've had a great time so far. And just as an example of how useful your advices have been: on Saturday, we were in the Chelsea area so we checked out the Chelsea Market and picked up some goodies from Amy's and ate some yummies at Ruthy's amongst other things there (thanks mikeycook); today I went to Union Square to check out the greenmarket and grabbed some vegs, fruits and bread (and a pack of yummy wholemeal pretzels) (thanks Todd36); and I've just picked up a copy of NFT so I feel more armed and ready to do some exploring (thanks MarkIsCooking).

Just wanna say thanks guys

Edited August 13, 2007 by jean_genie (log)

[Pan]

I'm back from a month-long trip to the West Coast and a couple of Mountain States, jetlagged, and look at the time! Anyway, in terms of Malaysian food, try Skyway on Allen St. between Division and Canal in Chinatown (there's a thread on it).

Where are you in fact staying?

[jean_genie]

Welcome back Pan

Thanks for the recommendation of Skyway - will try it. Our very first meal in NYC was a disappointing Malaysian restaurant in Chinatown called New Malaysia. Both our meals were too salty, and our drinks were sickeningly sweet. I thought perhaps they were catering to American tastebuds which perhaps required stronger flavours than what mine could handle, but we've eaten other perfectly seasoned meals since then, so I think the fault lies perhaps not with me, but the cook. Service left a lot to be desired too. Have you eaten there?

We're staying downtown on Wall St.. Nice location, but very noisy at night (lots of construction work around).

I'm back from a month-long trip to the West Coast and a couple of Mountain States, jetlagged, and look at the time! Anyway, in terms of Malaysian food, try Skyway on Allen St. between Division and Canal in Chinatown (there's a thread on it).

Where are you in fact staying?

←

[Gastro888]

You'll be hard pressed to find good service in Chinatown. Hell, service in general doesn't exist.

Since you're in the area, definitely try Mei Lai Wah and Egg Custard King for fresh roast pork buns and egg custards in the morning. You're lucky to be living close by to C-town. Cheap, yummy eats!

[Pan]

Welcome back  Pan  

Thanks for the recommendation of Skyway - will try it. Our very first meal in NYC was a disappointing Malaysian restaurant in Chinatown called New Malaysia. Both our meals were too salty, and our drinks were sickeningly sweet. I thought perhaps they were catering to American tastebuds which perhaps required stronger flavours than what mine could handle, but we've eaten other perfectly seasoned meals since then, so I think the fault lies perhaps not with me, but the cook. Service left a lot to be desired too. Have you eaten there?

We're staying downtown on Wall St.. Nice location, but very noisy at night (lots of construction work around).

←

Wall St. is a good location in the sense that it's walkable to Chinatown and TriBeCa and close to several subway lines.

I haven't been a fan of New Malaysia in the past, though it was years ago.

PM me if you'd like me to join you at Skyway. In brief, my recommendation is to get any of the seafood items (fish head casserole, aromatic crab, spicy squid, etc.), in particular, but there are other items I also like.

My favorite dim sum place in Chinatown, by the way, is Dim Sum Go Go on East Broadway right by Chatham Square. I didn't find the two main dishes I've tried impressive, but much of their dim sum items are. Get the tapioca coconut custard dumpling, for example.

Edited August 21, 2007 by Pan (log)

[jean_genie]

You'll be hard pressed to find good service in Chinatown.  Hell, service in general doesn't exist.

Heh, I'm sure minimal service goes for any Chinatown in any country. Except for Japan maybe. Chinese generally don't fluff around with service even with the incentive of a tipping culture (except for 5 star establishments perhaps).

Since you're in the area, definitely try Mei Lai Wah and Egg Custard King for fresh roast pork buns and egg custards in the morning.  You're lucky to be living close by to C-town.  Cheap, yummy eats!

Cool, we love egg tarts! Thanks for the suggestions

PM me if you'd like me to join you at Skyway. In brief, my recommendation is to get any of the seafood items (fish head casserole, aromatic crab, spicy squid, etc.), in particular, but there are other items I also like.

My favorite dim sum place in Chinatown, by the way, is Dim Sum Go Go on East Broadway right by Chatham Square. I didn't find the two main dishes I've tried impressive, but much of their dim sum items are. Get the tapioca coconut custard dumpling, for example.

Dim sum! Well, that's another thing to add to my already long list of places to try while in NYC. Good thing we're here for another 1.5mths! Thanks for the suggestions, and I would love to meet another foodie! I will PM you when I've made plans on when to go to Skyway. Cheers!

So far, we've had pizza at Lombardi's, lunch at Chanterelle's and an Indian buffet at Chola. They were all pretty good experiences, and I'm looking forward to more good eats!

[weinoo]

Let me throw 2 more into the ring for you...Arturo's for pizza (many think it's now better than Lombardi's - and it's a way cooler room, imo) and Oriental Garden for dim-sum...here's a link for the OG thread...

Oriental Garden

[jean_genie]

Let me throw 2 more into the ring for you...Arturo's for pizza (many think it's now better than Lombardi's - and it's a way cooler room, imo) and Oriental Garden for dim-sum...here's a link for the OG thread...

Oriental Garden

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OoO thanks weinoo for the additional suggestions! So much to eat, so little time! We'll definitely be eating loads of Chinese, dimsum, Malaysian, not to mention cuisines like Ethiopian that is not available or not done very well in Japan!

[Gastro888]

If you're in Manhattan, go to Ping's for dimsum. Otherwise, take a weekend, come out to Flushing and you'll see where the good dimsum is now in NY. Sad, but true.

But damn, Manhattan has Egg Custard King, Mei Lah Wah and Great NY Noodletown...AND Congee Village....

[jean_genie]

If you're in Manhattan, go to Ping's for dimsum.  Otherwise, take a weekend, come out to Flushing and you'll see where the good dimsum is now in NY.  Sad, but true.

But damn, Manhattan has Egg Custard King, Mei Lah Wah and Great NY Noodletown...AND Congee Village....

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Is Flushing far from downtown Manhattan? I'm sure dimsum anywhere in NYC is still better than Chinese food in Japan! The Japanese sure know how to do well in French and Italian cuisines but the Chinese cuisine is far too Japanised (that is a word, right?). But then perhaps I am a bit too critical since part of my heritage is Chinese...

Congee VIllage is on my list, but first for lunch tomorrow is Pan's suggestion of Malaysian food at Skyway. Before lunch I think we'll track down Egg Custard King and Mei Lah Wah for some tantarts and charsiubao Does anyone know how early they open on Saturdays?

[Gastro888]

Mei Lah Wah should open by 7-7:30am on Saturdays. Be prepared. They get alot of people coming in for their cha siu baos and you'll be waiting in line, thinking you're going to get one b/c you're only #2 in line and the dufus in front of you buys the whole tray and you're stuck waiting 20 minutes for the next round.

Yeap, this had happened to me and my friends on various separate visits. Bleah.

Flushing's only about 1 hour away via train from downtown Manhattan. It's at the end of the 7 line. Totally worth the trip out. Go to Tung Yi Fung near 37th and Main Street. Best dim sum in Flushing. Gum Fung should reopen sometime in September. They're good plus they're bigger so more seats are available. Tung Yi Fung is small so you have to be there before primetime dim sum or suffer waiting with the throngs of annoying people.

(I sound so antisocial!)

[jean_genie]

Mei Lah Wah should open by 7-7:30am on Saturdays.  Be prepared.  They get alot of people coming in for their cha siu baos and you'll be waiting in line, thinking you're going to get one b/c you're only #2 in line and the dufus in front of you buys the whole tray and you're stuck waiting 20 minutes for the next round.

LOL thanks for the warning. Now, can I wake up that early on a Saturday? That is the question..

Flushing's only about 1 hour away via train from downtown Manhattan.  It's at the end of the 7 line.  Totally worth the trip out.  Go to Tung Yi Fung near 37th and Main Street.  Best dim sum in Flushing.  Gum Fung should reopen sometime in September.  They're good plus they're bigger so more seats are available.  Tung Yi Fung is small so you have to be there before primetime dim sum or suffer waiting with the throngs of annoying people.

(I sound so antisocial!)

There's a 7 line? Haha, yeah now I see it on the subway map. We definitely would like to check out the outer boroughs, so thanks for the dimsum rec's. I'm usually an impatient person, but when it comes to good food, I'd be fine waiting.

[Pan]

My favorite restaurant in Flushing, and my favorite Chinese restaurant in New York, period, is Spicy & Tasty, a Sichuan-style restaurant on Prince St., a block and a half from the Flushing - Main St. terminus of the #7 line.

Click on the Spicy & Tasty thread.

More photos here, in my Foodblog.

Edited August 24, 2007 by Pan (log)

[raji]

Is Flushing far from downtown Manhattan? I'm sure dimsum anywhere in NYC is still better than Chinese food in Japan! The Japanese sure know how to do well in French and Italian cuisines but the Chinese cuisine is far too Japanised (that is a word, right?). But then perhaps I am a bit too critical since part of my heritage is Chinese...

Japonified? Either way, it's not a word. You're not too critical, Chinese food in Japan is, for the most part, "wafuuchuuka" and not the real deal.

Please read my post in the recent thread "NYC dishes before you die" because I was exactly in your situation and I posted a desert-island list on there...

Flushing's only about 1 hour away via train from downtown Manhattan. It's at the end of the 7 line. Totally worth the trip out. Go to Tung Yi Fung near 37th and Main Street. Best dim sum in Flushing. Gum Fung should reopen sometime in September. They're good plus they're bigger so more seats are available. Tung Yi Fung is small so you have to be there before primetime dim sum or suffer waiting with the throngs of annoying people.

Oh yeah, to flushing, It doesn't need to take that long - the 7 Express doesn't run that often and also can sit on the tracks at Times Square for 10 minutes or more

I recommend hopping the E train, which runs very very express in Queens, and transferring to the 7 in Jackson Heights.

[Pan]

I don't like that transfer from the E to the 7. Up flights of stairs and through a long passageway. I'm not suggesting lack of safety, just inconvenience.

[Gastro888]

^Considering you're going to Flushing to eat, any bit of additional exercise is always good for you. It's not that terribly bad. Granted, you could do the transfer in the city and take the 7 train from 42nd street and do it express to Flushing.

I went to Mei Lai Wah yesterday at 5:45pm to get *1* cha siu bao and the butthead in front of me cleared the tray with his order of 20 cha siu bao (baked) and 15 cha siu bao (steamed). Ahhhh, no bao for me. Damn! I comforted my lack of baos with some roast duck 4 doors down at Hsien Wong. Excellent roast duck!

Try getting some fresh tofu or wide rice noodles on at the stores Mott or on Division & Broadway. Do you get those in Japan? It would be nice to have some fresh tofu or rice noodles in your home kitchen. I don't know the name but PM me if you want details. I don't want to bore anyone with my messed up directions!

[jean_genie]

Thanks all for your tips Thought I'd post a couple of photos of our trip to Chinatown yesterday since you all have been most helpful with suggestions of Chinese, Malaysian and dimsum choices.

We hung out in Chinatown just before meeting up with Pan for lunch at his favourite Malaysian restaurant (Skyway - really good food ). We went to Mei Lai Wah to get one baked charsiubao and one large combination bun (you know, the one with pork, chicken and egg?). There was a line, and we waited perhaps 10 minutes for our turn (getting nervous as we saw the person before us order 2 dozens of buns). The big bao was warm and stuffed full of goodies. Here's a photo of the bun after biting into it:

We went to Egg Custard King and got the normal egg custard, an egg white one, and an almond flavour one. We're not big on the taste of almond jelly, and the almond flavoured custard tasted exactly like that - so it was our least favourite. The other two were quite nice, but I think would have been nicer if it was served warm.

Then it was a huge lunch at Skyway with beef satay, large hot and spicy crab, assam sotong (squid) and Ipoh chicken. Nicely done, tasted authentic enough, and filled our tums with about $20 per person. Thanks Pan for meeting up with us and showing us around Photos of lunch maybe later..

[jean_genie]

Try getting some fresh tofu or wide rice noodles on at the stores Mott or on Division & Broadway.  Do you get those in Japan?  It would be nice to have some fresh tofu or rice noodles in your home kitchen.  I don't know the name but PM me if you want details.  I don't want to bore anyone with my messed up directions!

←

We can get really good tofu in Japan. I was never big on tofu until we tried tofu in Japan! I haven't seen flat rice noodles, so perhaps I could stock up on them to bring back to Japan..

[chefboy24]

i'm a downtown kinda guy myself (i live in battery park) so i rarely go above 28th street.

citarella west village - great fish, knowledgeable, clean, flawless, fast fish guys. i bought some salmon for house guests on a thursday - turned out one didn't eat fish, and filleted up that 1.5 pound piece of salmon 6 days later and it was still some of the best salmon i've ever eaten. rouget, too. anything swimming in the sea that you could ask for - and this is the best you can get at retail.

dipalo diary - you take a number, you wait for it to be called - and then you taste simply some of the best prosciuttos, coppa, mortadella, tallegio, pecorinos, parmagianos, and OF COURSE gorgonzolas - you talk about the food, its a very foodie experience

balthazar bakery - great breads.

blue ribbon bakery - more great breads.

russ & daughters - exact similar experience - but instead of italian goodies - its smoked and preserved fishes, herrings, etc. the red licorice is ridiculous as well.

murrays - great stuff overall, taste before you buy, make sure the taste you get is from the piece you're buying - don't buy any prepackaged stuff. (although artisinal some times edges them out on wash rind stuff or random other things that are really top quality)

florence meat - amazing amazing beef (only prime), chicken, pork - all cuts - insanely low prices.

so there is this west village area that i love i hope you find - murrays, florence, lobster place, amy's bread, citarella all within a tiny radius. and if you get hungry you can go to las ramblas for tapas or soto for ridiculous sushi. this area would be the epicenter of my real estate search if i was in the market. i would say - start at murrays and rotate out

enjoy nyc

[Gastro888]

Try getting some fresh tofu or wide rice noodles on at the stores Mott or on Division & Broadway.  Do you get those in Japan?  It would be nice to have some fresh tofu or rice noodles in your home kitchen.  I don't know the name but PM me if you want details.  I don't want to bore anyone with my messed up directions!

←

We can get really good tofu in Japan. I was never big on tofu until we tried tofu in Japan! I haven't seen flat rice noodles, so perhaps I could stock up on them to bring back to Japan..

←

Ho fun (the wide flat rice noodles made fresh by these stores) does NOT travel well. It's a same-day food product. You should try and make the trek out there, it's worth it.

Lucky you to get the big baos! Maybe we were in line at the same time? I can tell you, I was bitter after waiting and then hearing the person in front of me order 35 buns in total.

In regards to Egg Custard King, you can get them fresh out of the oven if you keep an eye out for them and if you firmly request (politely, of course) for the fresh ones. Sheer heaven.

Glad to hear you had a good time in C-town! We went to Nyonya for Malaysian food. I would've gone to Skyway had I remembered the address...oops!

[Pan]

[...]Glad to hear you had a good time in C-town!  We went to Nyonya for Malaysian food.  I would've gone to Skyway had I remembered the address...oops!

←

11 Allen Street, between Division and Canal.

How was your meal at Nyonya?

Jean, it was a pleasure meeting and hanging out with you and your husband.

[Gastro888]

Nyonya was good! We had the roti, satay, popiah (thank goodness they made it with the real skins and not the rice papers), nasi lemak, java mee and chow kwey tow. The chow kwey tow didn't have the chunks of pork fat that I like but it was tasty. The Java Mee is better at the Penang in Elmhurst, Queens. Nyonya's verison was too sweet and goopy and lacked the complex spicy/sweet/seafood taste that I like in a Java Mee. (Actually, it should be called mee remus but it's too soupy, I suppose)

We had dessert at il lab. Yum.