Top Dishes To Eat in NYC Before You Die?

[MadelaineCriden]

I've only lived in NYC since January, but I've already amassed a list of dishes/ prepared foods that after eating them, I realized I just wouldn't have wanted to have lived without trying them at least once (awkward sentence...sorry)

I'm not talking about a "best of NYC" list here, although some "best ofs" will undoubtedly be mentioned, but instead your favorite dishes or prepared food items (like cookies, bagels, etc that aren't exactly "dishes") that you couldn't see living without having tried once. Basically, you haven't lived a full foodie life if you haven't eaten these things in NYC. Eventually, I'd like to expand this topic to more U.S. cities and even around the world, but for right now, let's limit it to dishes you can only get in NYC.

One stipulation: it has to be something that wasn't a fluke or on some seasonal menu, etc. Someone should be able to check out this list and (fingers-crossed!) replicate the experience!

Here are a few off my list:

City Bakery's Chocolate Chip Cookies

Gem Spa's Egg Cream

Daniel's Sea Bass in a Crisp Potato Shell

San Domenico's Egg Yolk-Filled Raviolo

Mei Lai Wah's Roast Pork Bun (cha siu bao/siopao)

Katz's Pastrami on Rye (ordered juicy, of course!)

[Nathan]

LB's "Surf & Turf"

JG's egg with caviar

JG's frog legs with young garlic soup

(ok..so technically those are probably on the menu at JG Shanghai..but i don't know for sure)

cauliflower at Momofuku Ssam

fried butterscotch at WD-50

pork leg with mustard greens at Sri

raw scallop with rock salt at Yasuda

fatty duck at Fatty Crab

The Pork Chop at Little Owl

mint "love letters" at Babbo

goose liver ravioli with brown butter and sage at Babbo

Edited August 23, 2007 by Nathan (log)

[tim]

LB's "Surf & Turf"

JG's egg with caviar

JG's frog legs with young garlic soup

(ok..so technically those are probably on the menu at JG Shanghai..but i don't know for sure)

tung po pork at Shanghai Cafe  (you can get tung po pork in many places of course)

cauliflower at Momofuku Ssam

fried butterscotch at WD-50

pork leg with mustard greens at Sri

raw scallop with rock salt at Yasuda

fatty duck at Fatty Crab

The Pork Chop at Little Owl

mint "love letters" at Babbo

goose liver ravioli with brown butter and sage at Babbo

←

Hi,

Representing the out of towners, what are LG, JG and Sri?

Tim

[Nathan]

Le Bernardin

Jean Georges

Sripraphai

[Jammin]

le bernardin

jean georges

sripraphai

[edit: you suck, nathan ]

Edited August 23, 2007 by Jammin (log)

[oakapple]

The Mutton Chop at Keens Steakhouse

(in addition to the above)

[johnder]

Shake and burger at shake shack.

Bo Ssam at momofuku ssam.

Corn on the cob from the red hook ballfield vendors

Spicy Beef tendon from Grand Sichuan

Di Faro pizza

Blue Ribbon bone marrow with oxtail ragu

[mikeycook]

- Pork Belly at Veritas

- Fricasee of Seasonal Mushroom with Polenta and Truffle Oil at L'Impero

[Nathan]

Shake and burger at shake shack.

Bo Ssam at momofuku ssam.

Corn on the cob from the red hook ballfield vendors

Spicy Beef tendon from Grand Sichuan

Di Faro pizza

Blue Ribbon bone marrow with oxtail ragu

←

I'm going to disagree on the Shake Shack (which I love).

neither of those are "only in NY". the burger is Wisconsin-style. the custard is Wisconsin-style (albeit not as thick). the concretes are St. Louis style.

ditto for corn on the cob and the spicy beef tendon. which is why I'm withdrawing the tung-po pork from my list.

Edited August 23, 2007 by Nathan (log)

[daisy17]

Whitefish salad at Russ & Daughters

Roast pork with ginger scallion sauce at Big Wong

Pan fried cod sandwich with extra side of tartar at Mary’s Fish Camp

Brussel sprouts, kimchi and bacon at Momofuku Noodle

Gnocchi at Hearth

Home fried potatoes at Peter Luger

Pretzel croissant/mac & cheese at City Bakery

Duck meatballs at A Voce

Short ribs at Café Gray

Patatas bravas at Tia Pol

Tom kha gai at Sripraphai

This could keep me busy for hours.

Adding: bagels at Ess-A-Bagel

Gelato at Laboratorio del Gelato or Otto (not intending to re-open this debate)

White bean and balsamic bruschetta at Otto on tuesdays

Edited August 24, 2007 by daisy17 (log)

[Nathan]

hmm...I think we're running far afield of the original parameters ("only in NY")...

I'm not sure my pork leg with mustard greens qualifies at Sri (is this a traditional Thai dish?) tom kha gai certainly doesn't.

I love the gelato at Otto and respect the gelato at Il Laboratorio....maybe the sweet corn gelato at Otto (which is great) is completely original? maybe the olive oil coppetta as well (Meredith did not invent olive oil gelato).

ditto for patata bravas.

[daisy17]

I'm not sure I follow. So if you can get it somewhere outside of ny it doesn't make the list? I mean, i'm sure they have pork chops and bagels in lots of other places.

[weinoo]

I'm going to disagree on the Shake Shack (which I love).

neither of those are "only in NY".  the burger is Wisconsin-style.  the custard is Wisconsin-style (albeit not as thick).  the concretes are St. Louis style.

←

Ahhh, Nathan, but you're not eating them in Madison Square Park, in the shadow of some of the greatest buildings in NYC!

My list has to include...

Katz's Pastrami

Gray's Papaya Recession Special

A Slice - DiFara's or Joe's or...

Baby roast suckling pig at Great NY Noodletown (and their shrimp wonton soup)

Fried Dumplings at Fried Dumplings

That egg cream at Gem Spa!

Breakfast from Russ & Duaghter's - eaten at home, whitefish salad included - Kossar's bialys

A Yonah Schimmel Knish

Balthazar's fries

[Nathan]

I'm not sure I follow.  So if you can get it somewhere outside of ny it doesn't make the list?  I mean, i'm sure they have pork chops and bagels in lots of other places.

←

that's what the very first post said:

"but for right now, let's limit it to dishes you can only get in NYC."

so..that's what I tried to do in mine.

[mikeycook]

hmm...I think we're running far afield of the original parameters ("only in NY")...

←

Good point. I second the bagels at Ess-a. Also, the pizza at Grimaldi's (although someone may point out it's originally from New Haven.)

[weinoo]

that's what the very first post said:

"but for right now, let's limit it to dishes you can only get in NYC."

so..that's what I tried to do in mine.

←

Right - and you can only get Shake Shack burgers at the Shake Shack in NYC!

The original post also said items which weren't seasonal or a "fluke." So I think that knocks off a bunch of items from places like Momo, WD-50, and the like.

[Nathan]

that's what the very first post said:

"but for right now, let's limit it to dishes you can only get in NYC."

so..that's what I tried to do in mine.

←

Right - and you can only get Shake Shack burgers at the Shake Shack in NYC!

The original post also said items which weren't seasonal or a "fluke." So I think that knocks off a bunch of items from places like Momo, WD-50, and the like.

←

true. but you can get the shake shack burgers elsewhere! (just cause they're new to NY....(the Shake Shack is pretty directly modeled on Kopp's)

[rooftop1000]

Big spoonfulls of Fresh Ricotta from Alleva's dairy on Grand St

on garlic toast with a slice of tomato

tracey

[John]

A grilled natural casing all beef dog at either Papaya King, Gray's Papaya, Katz's, or Nathan's.

[tautog]

Gnocchi w/ Pesto Sauce at Monte's

No. 1 Spicy at Saigon Banh Mi

Oyster Panroast at the Oyster Bar

Toro Handroll at Yasuda

[docsconz]

I've only lived in NYC since January, but I've already amassed a list of dishes/ prepared foods that after eating them, I realized I just wouldn't have wanted to have lived without trying them at least once (awkward sentence...sorry)

I'm not talking about a "best of NYC" list here, although some "best ofs" will undoubtedly be mentioned, but instead your favorite dishes or prepared food items (like cookies, bagels, etc that aren't exactly "dishes") that you couldn't see living without having tried once.  Basically, you haven't lived a full foodie life if you haven't eaten these things in NYC.  Eventually, I'd like to expand this topic to more U.S. cities and even around the world, but for right now, let's limit it to dishes you can only get in NYC.

One stipulation: it has to be something that wasn't a fluke or on some seasonal menu, etc.  Someone should be able to check out this list and (fingers-crossed!) replicate the experience! 

Here are a few off my list:

City Bakery's Chocolate Chip Cookies

Gem Spa's Egg Cream

Daniel's Sea Bass in a Crisp Potato Shell

San Domenico's Egg Yolk-Filled Raviolo

Mei Lai Wah's Roast Pork Bun (cha siu bao/siopao)

Katz's Pastrami on Rye (ordered juicy, of course!)

←

Madelaine, welcome to the eGullet Society! You have posted an excellent but very difficult topic as your first one. As such, I look forward to more challenging topics like this.

For me:

Jean-George's turbot, Monte's clam sauce, Ferdinando's panelle special, Wylie Dufresne's squab (any time he and any way he makes it), fried dumplings at No.1 Dumpling, Grimaldi's 12 noon pizza, Otto's olive oil gelato are a few that pop into my head.

[MadelaineCriden]

Ok, so there have been a few questions about the guidelines of this topic. Basically, I realize there are bagels available everywhere, but if you think ess-a-bagel is a memorable, not to be missed, one of a kind, bagel, then it makes the list because its something not-to-be-missed, and unique to NYC (it being from ess-a-bagel, not the fact thats its a bagel!-I'm not debating the origin of the bagel here...).

For example, croissants are available all around the world, even homemade ones, and I won't argue with those who claim that France has the best croissants you'll ever find, because I agree. However, Te Adore on 13th and University makes really great ones, as does Payard, so I'd say that croissants from Payard are a food to have in NYC before you die, because you haven't fully lived if you haven't experienced their delicate, super flaky croissants made from scratch every day.

Seems like all the posts so far are right in line with my original question, so if you're confused, I suggest just checking out other people's responses. Also, I think Shake Shack is a fine entry.

[MadelaineCriden]

I've only lived in NYC since January, but I've already amassed a list of dishes/ prepared foods that after eating them, I realized I just wouldn't have wanted to have lived without trying them at least once (awkward sentence...sorry)

I'm not talking about a "best of NYC" list here, although some "best ofs" will undoubtedly be mentioned, but instead your favorite dishes or prepared food items (like cookies, bagels, etc that aren't exactly "dishes") that you couldn't see living without having tried once.  Basically, you haven't lived a full foodie life if you haven't eaten these things in NYC.  Eventually, I'd like to expand this topic to more U.S. cities and even around the world, but for right now, let's limit it to dishes you can only get in NYC.

One stipulation: it has to be something that wasn't a fluke or on some seasonal menu, etc.  Someone should be able to check out this list and (fingers-crossed!) replicate the experience! 

Here are a few off my list:

City Bakery's Chocolate Chip Cookies

Gem Spa's Egg Cream

Daniel's Sea Bass in a Crisp Potato Shell

San Domenico's Egg Yolk-Filled Raviolo

Mei Lai Wah's Roast Pork Bun (cha siu bao/siopao)

Katz's Pastrami on Rye (ordered juicy, of course!)

←

Madelaine, welcome to the eGullet Society! You have posted an excellent but very difficult topic as your first one. As such, I look forward to more challenging topics like this.

For me:

Jean-George's turbot, Monte's clam sauce, Ferdinando's panelle special, Wylie Dufresne's squab (any time he and any way he makes it), fried dumplings at No.1 Dumpling, Grimaldi's 12 noon pizza, Otto's olive oil gelato are a few that pop into my head.

←

Thanks, docsconz! I have been a member for a while but finally just got up the courage to post! Glad I did

[Shmily]

How about

Panini at 'ino

Oysters and Pearls at Per Se

Gnocchi with anything at Lupa

almost as good gnocchi with anything at Babbo (different receipe)

Gelato by Mario Bitali...anyplace

Fish baked in a salt crust at Esca

Crudo at Esca

Breads at Tabla

I drool just thinking about all of them...

[MarkIsCooking]

Miso Black Cod at Nobu

John Dory at le Bernardin

-mark-

Edited August 25, 2007 by MarkIsCooking (log)