ethnic cuisine fix

[twodogs]

been out of new york for over a year and need to fulfill the need for ethnic cuisne: greek, indian, chinese and any other great thoughts

please help a returning newyorker

cheers

[SobaAddict70]

Welcome back.

If you did a basic search of this forum, you might find many threads of interest that answer your questions.

Regards,

Soba

[twodogs]

my basic search on this foreum led to results and topics on wd-50, per se, and veritas...all far from ethinic cuisine; thus i reextend my questions

cheers

[Jason Perlow]

There's a button on the top of the page labelled "Search".

[gus_tatory]

you could start here:

Google search of "new york ethnic grocer".

good luck!

[wagyuboy]

Indian food--go down to 5th and 6th Sts. in the East Village. Madras Cafe on 2nd Ave just south of 5th is good. Panna on 6th is supposed to be good as well. If you wanna go out to Queens, take the 7 to 74th and get off in There's really about 50 or 60 Indian restaurants in that area. Also, just north and to the west is what Jeffrey Steingarten calls "Little Osaka" on 9th Street and Stuyvesant --Japanese sakebars, sushi bars, noodle shops like Rai Rai Ken, and this great shabu shabu place called Yakiniku. Oh, and Panya on Stuyvesant has great green tea tiramisu with sweet redbean paste and green tea au lait. Two good sushi places in the area are Friend House up on 3rd and 12th, and Typhoon on St. Marks. Koreatown is just east of Penn Station on 32nd and 33rd St. If you're in that area and like Persian food, go to Ravagh on 30th between Madison and 5th (Persepolis up in the UES (74 St.) has good but more pricey Persian food). Chinese food is obvious--go down to Canal St and Chinatown. I like Dumpling House on Eldridge, Congee Village on Allen, and 69 on Bayard. Laifood on Prince St. and 38th St. in Flushing has great Taiwanese food. Somebody else will have to help you on the Greek food, I'm not a big fan...I remember there being a place in the 40s over on 8th Avenue, but it wasn't very good...on the other hand, I don't like Greek food.

[Pan]

Wagyuboy, who said Panna was good? And good compared to what? Is it really much different from almost all of the other variously-named places on that block which, the old myth goes, share a central kitchen and a long conveyor belt?

I'm a long-time regular at Madras Cafe, but that's not on 6th St., and I would never steer a friend to 6th St. for "Indian" food. The only Indian restaurant I know to produce good food on that block is Banjara, on the corner of 1 Av., and I haven't been there in a year or so because the last time I was there, the service was offensive. It's been longer since I've been to Haveli, which is just south of 6 St. on 2 Av., but like Banjara, it's more upscale than the cheap crap served in most of the 6th St. places. True, it's been some time since I've been to any of them because every time I've gone, I've had a bad stomachache later, but I frankly can't believe that any of them suddenly got good. They have no incentive to.

Edited March 13, 2004 by Pan (log)

[wagyuboy]

You have a good point...I'm not really qualified to talk about Indian food, 'cause well...I don't like it. I don't think I'm completely prejudiced against it, 'cause I like it when my Indian friends make me food, and the one time I went to India I liked the food a lot in fact, but I don't like Indian food at most American restaurants. I only single out Panna 'cause that's the one I went to, and my friends with me enjoyed themselves. They didn't mess up my naan or samosas, but then, it's pretty hard to completely mess samosas up. I didn't mention that Madras Cafe is vegetarian, which is a pretty big thing to not mention, but it's still enjoyable (On a side note, where are the good vegetarian, macrobiotic places to eat? I myself usually subscribe to the Bourdain theory that "Vegetarians are the enemy of everything good and decent in the human spirit", but some of them, including my girlfriend, are kinda cute, so it would make me happy if we could find a restaurant we both like. Do me a favor and don't mention Zen Palate or Veg City Diner or any place else that tries to make you think tofu is meat. I like tofu as tofu, not when it's masquerading as meat).

So I suppose that I am as ignorant as twodogs when it comes to Indian food. Where is a good Indian restaurant in New York?

(Also, why doesn't the proximity of the 6th St. restaurants lead to greater competition, instead of lack of incentive?)

[Pan]

Where is a good Indian restaurant in New York?

(Also, why doesn't the proximity of the 6th St. restaurants lead to greater competition, instead of lack of incentive?)

Good Indian restaurants? I like Madras Cafe and the Jackson Diner on 74 St. in Jackson Heights, Queens, but the best is Amma.

The answer to your second question has to do with the clientele for the 6th St. restaurants.

And by the way, you're not strange at all not to like most Indian food in the U.S., because the overwhelming majority of it sucks!

[SobaAddict70]

Where is a good Indian restaurant in New York?

Amma, Diwan, Chola and Tamarind are four examples -- and none of them are in the villlage.

If you want good Indian restos, you're gonna have to travel a bit.

I'd also include Tabla in the mix -- whilst its not a traditional Indian restaurant, the experience is well worth the visit, as Floyd Cardoz's culinary style can attest to.

Soba