Off-beat or Off the Beaten Track in NYC

[Busboy]

Got a request from the kids to go someplace "different" in New York City Saturday night, which I take to mean no Chinese (we will be going to Chinatown Sunday) of French, and probably no Italian. So we're hoping that there's a new or little-known local fave someone can turn us on to in time to get dinner there tomorrow./tonight We're staying in Chelsea and can travel as far as close-in Brooklyn, but don't really have time to go chasing out to Queens or the Bronx, not that we don't love them both. Ideally the place would be:

Mid-priced and casual with regard to dress

Not a seafood place

Obscure and/or unpopular enough that a Saturday night table for four is not out of the question

Be quiet enough (comparatively speaking) to allow conversation.

Have a decent, moderately priced wine list.

Other than that, anything goes as far as decor, menu, whatever as long as the food is good.

Thanks.

[kevinAspork]

I just tried

Brick lane curry on E. 6th between 1st and 2nd

Really good

and Im pretty sure that it fits all your categories

[raji]

Why not give this place a try -

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=77974

[DutchMuse]

Resto is a Belgian place just outside of Chelsea.....I went there early on and it was so so but a respected foodie friend says it much better now and Bruni liked it FWIW.

Better yet would be Momofuku Ssam or Momofuku Noodle Bar. Certainly not quiet and you'd probably have to wait, but it might be worth it. Very East Village....

[Fat Guy]

Kampuchea (discussion here) has not yet reached a critical mass of popularity, and especially if you go early it's not likely to be all that crowded.

[LPShanet]

Kampuchea (discussion here) has not yet reached a critical mass of popularity, and especially if you go early it's not likely to be all that crowded.

←

I second Raji's suggestion of Kinnosuke. Also worth checking out are two non-Chinese places in Chinatown: Doyers Vietnamese and Thailand Restaurant. Both are good, but have no useful wine lists. Then again, beer goes better with this type of food anyway.

[Gastro888]

Don't go to Doyers Vietnamese. Busboy's coming from DC which is near Eden Center, the best place on the East Coast for Vietnamese food. NYC's Vietnamese food scene is lacking. I can get anything I want up here but a decent ca phe su da and banh xeo? JNope.

[Pan]

Busboy:

I'm too late to offer a suggestion you can use, but where did you end up going, and how was it?

[ilively]

I'm headed to NYC for a girls weekend mid-September.

Would love FUN, FUNKY or OFFBEAT. (I can't imagine that there's ANY of those in NYC?! )

Suggest away!