New York dining secrets revealed!

[cru]

There are so many great NYC restaurants that never get their due on this site so I thought I'd list my secret havens if you list yours.....

8. Zaab Thai on Roosevelt Avenue in Queens serves rare northern Thai specialties to a mostly Thai crowd. The scene is funky, serving the working girls- it stays open very late. And by the way, it BLOWS away Sripathpai, which hasnt been good in 10 years. SORRY.

7. Ici in Brooklyn. Lovely and very well thought out French menu that's perfectly executed and always impressive. Run by the manager from Rocco's, it couldnt be friendlier. And the wine list is one of the most imprssive small, organic lists in the city. Brunch spectacular, too.

6. L & B Spumoni Gardens in Bay Ridge. The craziest guido and guidette scene in the city spills out onto the sidewalk at this pizza legend. Remember to only order "squares" (sicilian) that's what their known for. And request a corner to get that crunchy charred experience. Dont forget to go to the spumoni window and get a rainbow spumoni on the way out! Only go in summer.

5. Bette Restaurant. I know, I know. Amy Sacco. Trendy. Movie Stars. Long Impossibe waits. But that's also part of the upside. This is New York, after all. Already lauded by Andrew Dornenberg and Karen Page. Jay Mcinerney has proclaimed it his favorite restaurant. Recent sightings: Maguy LaCoze, Eric Ripert, Andrew Carmellini, Rocco Dispirito, and then the stars. Who Cares!!? This place has got the best wine list in the city and the most innovative, fresh cocktails I've tasted in a while. And the food? Classic Euro-bistro, truffle fries, steaks, amazing cheese course. I heard they have the biggest selection of natural wines in the city. I believe it. The secrets out.....

4. Cafe des Artistes. You all forgot about this one? It always feels like magic to sit at that bar in the back and soak up the old fashioned atmosphere. Make a reservation. It's sublime. An only in New York experience (or Budapest, I guess).

3. Barney Greengrass. If you havent been and you or anyone has ever used the word foodie to describe you, shame on you!! Brunch here is a secret New York institution. Get the smoked fish platter if your 2 or more, and remember to order toasted Bialys instead of Bagles. You'll understand. Even the OJ is memorable. But Sturgeon is king here. So order the sturgeon already.

2 Katzs Delicatessan. Just want to put the argument to rest. This is the best pastrami on the planet. The most quintessential Lower East Side experience you could ever hope to have. One of the best hot dogs in the city, also. And dont' forget to stuff a dollar in the tip glass as he's cutting your meat, he'll give you a mouthwatering sample. WOW.

1. 360 in Red Hook Brooklyn. The best unheard of and unreviewed restaurant in the city. Hard core foodie stuff w/ the best wines on the planet. Way ahead of the curve. Quit putting it off! Call Delancey car service. Have them pick you up and drop you off/$20. And the always cordial proprietor Arnaud will call you a car service back home. You've had a memorable experience and you still saved money, even after the car fare. What are you waiting for????

this order changes daily. actually the LIST changes daily. What are some of your unheralded faves???

Edited January 23, 2006 by cru (log)

[Daniel]

I wouldnt say Katz's isnt well known.. Nor Barneys, or Cafe des Artistes.. These are New York Institutions famous around the world..

For me, one place I used to love to take people to.. Never ate, but we would go out drinking and end up here at the lounge.. The place is a freaking trip and a half.. Homeless people wandering the halls and riding the elevators, different support groups taking place, floors of strange things going on.. And a bunch of Army Men with rifles checking your ID.. At some point in your experience you are going to feel like you are in a horror movie..

Wierdest place in Manhattan..

Enjoy

http://seventhregimentrestaurant.com/

Edited January 23, 2006 by Daniel (log)

[cru]

I wouldnt say Katz's isnt well known.. Nor Barneys, or Cafe des Artistes.. These are New York Institutions famous around the world..

For me, one place I used to love to take people to.. Never ate, but we would go out drinking and end up here at the lounge.. The place is a freaking trip and a half.. Homeless people wandering the halls and riding the elevators, different support groups taking place, floors of strange things going on.. And a bunch of Army Men with rifles checking your ID.. At some point in your experience you are going to feel like you are in a horror movie..

Wierdest place in Manhattan..

Enjoy

http://seventhregimentrestaurant.com/

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your right. some of these places are very well know. i just wanted to emphasize their special place in my heart, because sometimes these institutions are taken for granted and there comes a time when we need to re-evaluate, me thinks. thanks for the reply. i like the sound of this army place.....

[kurl]

I love the tone of your post

I ate recently at Zaab and was impressed, though I'm not ready to write off Sri just yet, which (imho, of course) is just as good if not better. Also I was at least a little disappointed with the pizza at Spumoni Gardens, but the eponymous iced dessert was fantastic.

[cru]

I love the tone of your post

I ate recently at Zaab and was impressed, though I'm not ready to write off Sri just yet, which (imho, of course) is just as good if not better.  Also I was at least a little disappointed with the pizza at Spumoni Gardens, but the eponymous iced dessert was fantastic.

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Sri was "my place" for years. I found it back in '92 and used to take all my friends there and blow them away. then it expanded and the white man came. I thought I was wrong because I kept reading so many great reports. Then took a hardcore thai eater w/ me for a final analysis. god, i wanted it to be good. all i remember is a very sweet, ketchup like pad thai. i'll never go back. i know a lot of you still love it, but it's just not as good in my opinion. As for Spumoni Gardens, I've never had a better Sicilian in New York. And the atmosphere is 9/10ths of the fun. you did have a sicilian and not a Neopolitan?

[Pan]

The NYC Pizza Survey wasn't very impressed with the square pizza at L&B Spumoni Gardens, and I was one of the surveyors that day. They use commercial sauce. I enjoyed the slice, don't get me wrong, but I don't consider it worth taking that trip ever again -- not for the pizza, anyway. It's possible Di Fara's may not be as good as they used to be (I doubt it; I just think that they're better when their toppings are all fresh, which isn't in the wintertime), but even if that's the case, its square pizza blows Spumoni Gardens to smithereens. On the other hand, L&B's spumoni is very nice.

I haven't been keeping secrets. Whatever places I've been to in New York that I thought were worth writing about, I've posted about. The one exception is when I sometimes give a place two or three tries before posting about them. I suppose I could give you a top-10 list, but all of the entries would be places I've posted about before.

[raji]

Yes I feel like this is a more exclusive board, and I drop the knowledge here the same as I would with my friends. Other message boards or forums I might not be so loose-lipped about lest the secrets get out, but I don't know any restaurant owner that would complain of too much business....

So like Pan I've posted about most of my secrets -

I guess my #1 would still be Noodle Pudding. Everyone I've taken there has always been enormously pleased enough to continually to take the trip over the bridge or even from Weschester -

I don't know if it's a secret as much as some very local knowledge but the Candelight Inn in Hartsdale still has better wings than any I've had in the city -

My dirty little secret is I'm hooked on this 99cent pizza joint at 42nd and 9th next to the Big Apple - I think it was opened by some immigrant workers who probably worked at a very good pizza place and besides the pedestrian sauce and the overyeasting of the dough they've hit upon the key to what makes some other slice places king - if you move a lot of it, you will constantly be serving a fresh, tasty slice - and I've mastered biking and eating pizza simultaneously

[cru]

Again, just want to emphasize, L & B is 9/10ths atmosphere. It's such an insanely only in Bensonhurst experience. Atmosphere cannot be undervalued in coralation with eating. Like having pesto high above the Cinque Terre, or Pulpo on the Amalfi. It's a complete experience.

[Daniel]

I don't know if it's a secret as much as some very local knowledge but the Candelight Inn in Hartsdale still has better wings than any I've had in the city -

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Thats so funny how well known this place is.. I used to date a girl from Hartsdale. But have met many people from Westchester and this place seems to be the spot..

Edited January 23, 2006 by Daniel (log)

[raji]

They use meaty, great wings, but not too huge, and some very flavorful sauces, which after experimenting and perfecting my own buffalo wing recipe, I'm starting to think has something to do with the amount of butter or margarine they use in the sauce...

[Sneakeater]

Is Chimichurri Grill (9th Ave. btw. 43rd & 44th) a secret?

Also, I recently stumbled upon this really great sushi place on East 43rd between 2nd and 3rd . . . .

Edited January 23, 2006 by Sneakeater (log)

[Sneakeater]

(I guess Al Di La isn't much of a secret these days.)

[Sneakeater]

Oooo ooooo (waving hand up high like Horschack in Welcome Back, Cotter). I've got one!

Rocco's in Borough Park in Brooklyn. Fantastic southern Italian (Campagnian, I guess?) seafood bar.

[JohnL]

Good idea for a thread.

Cafe des artistes is well known but I believe it is often passed over in

favor of more "trendy" places.

The atmosphere is really special and the food has been consistently good (if somewhat unexciting) over the years.

also on the West Side:

My wife and I have been fans of Gabriels on 60th Street (across from the TW Center). Great atmosphere (nice energy) and very good Northern Italian food.

[Sneakeater]

There's an excellent pizza place on the north side of East 60th Street between Madison and Park. It's called Bella something. Their by-the-slice pizza is very good. So, surprisingly, are their pastas. Best of all, though, is their tavola calda/tavola fredda (OK, I give up: what do you call an Italian lunch table with cold food?). A real standout for its type.

[mikeycook]

Delphi is a greek restaurant at the corner of W. Broadway and Reade St (almost across the street from Bouley) that is excellent. Great late lunch option. I highly recommend the Exohico (Baby Lamb in Phyllo Dough w/Mushrooms, Feta, Pine Nuts, Artichokes, etc.)

[Sneakeater]

Wow. I used to go to eat at Delphi before Tribeca had a restaurant scene. Maybe even before Tribeca was a neighborhood. Remember when the only places around there were like Delphi and Teddy's?

[Sneakeater]

Speaking of that area, I guess the Pakistan Tea House on Church around Chambers is sort of a "secret" (even though it gets mentioned here every now and then).

I'd say the lunch buffet at Darbar, too -- if Bond girl didn't post about it a couple of weeks ago.

[wannabechef]

Spumoni Gardens - first time I tried it - about 6 years ago, I was blown away. Also was as good the next 4 or 5 trips. But then 2 years ago I went again and was extremely disappointed. I think they changed something - possibly the sauce. I was aghast when I saw them on the Food Network demostrating how to make a pie, and the guy opens up an enourmous can of commerical pizza sauce. Atmosphere is cool, but not enough to get me going back again and again. Spumoni is great though.

A few of my other secrets:

Kebab King in Jackson Heights. I think this is the best Indian/Pakistani food I've had to date. There's waiter service upstairs, but if you order yourself from the downstairs area, the food tastes better somehow. Best and most famous dish there is the chicken tikka kebab. You can go with 5 or 6 people and sample 6 dishes for less than $7 a person. great deal and great food. Warnnh: You don't know spicey until you've had Kebab King.

Queen - Bklyn Heights - Totally generic atmosphere but steallar classic Italian food. Prices are not cheap.

Liman - Turkish in Sheepshead Bay. Specialty is grilled whole fish, supposedly flown in from Turkey weekly. The best I've had - including from Turkey. A whole fish, with salad will cost around $18.

Nicks Pizza in Forest Hills - Not really a secret, but I think one of the most underrated pies in the city.

Sultan Market - not really a restaurant but a Turkish food market. There is a butcher there that has the best baby lamb chops of your life at 1/3 the normal price paid around the city.

Major Meats - while we're onto markets - go to Major Meats in Coney Island. Theres sawdust on the floor, 1920's music on the radio, and the best butcher in Brooklyn. All the beef is prime. When you order a steak, Jimmy goes into the back and comes out with an entire side of beef, which he cuts first with a hacksaw, and then lovingly trims the fat away for 10 minutes. You don't find that much anymore.

Turkish Kitchen Brunch: Sorry to go off on the Turkish tangent here but I think this is the best brunch I've had in the city. I guess its not a secret anymore since I tried to make a reservation on Friday (for Sunday) and they were booked up. See my review here: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...60entry877460

Mazzola Bakery, Caroll Gardens - Best bread in "Northern Brooklyn"?

Thats all I can think of right now. As you can tell, I do most of my eating in the outer boros.

[Sneakeater]

On behalf of a friend, I'm going to post Le Tableau, on E. Fifth St. in the East Village.

[Sneakeater]

Continuing on the Turkish tangent, is Bereket on E. Houston and Orchard (I think) a "secret"?

[lambretta76]

Continuing on the Turkish tangent, is Bereket on E. Houston and Orchard (I think) a "secret"?

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That depends on how drunk you are when you go there. The food is drastically less tasty at 6 pm as it is at 6 am.

[lambretta76]

Does Good still have the off-menu fried green tomato BLT? I haven't had it in years, but it was always fantastic.

[Sneakeater]

Continuing on the Turkish tangent, is Bereket on E. Houston and Orchard (I think) a "secret"?

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That depends on how drunk you are when you go there. The food is drastically less tasty at 6 pm as it is at 6 am.

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That's funny. You're right, I wouldn't know how the food tastes when you're completely sober.

[NYCCHEF]

79th st Boat Basin restaurant.....at west end ave. You cannot drive up to it, but you need to follow a path, on foot, down to it. It is only open in the summer, and is a great place for a steak sandwich and a margarita. It feels like your outside of Manhattan, and not too many people know about it.

Takashiyama ( I must have spelled that wrong) on Madison between 54th and 55th. They have a tea room downstairs that is fun and completely hidden from the outside.

Edited January 24, 2006 by NYCCHEF (log)