Underappreciated NYC Restaurants

[Nathan]

to emphasize my previous contention re: "mainstream" spending habits...

who do you think is spending the average 3K a month rent for a one-bedroom and 2K for a studio? (actually, I think the studio average is higher than that now).

its not tourists keeping Prune in business.

[JohnL]

By the way.

I would nominate Gabriel's (in the shadow of the TW center (though I haven't been in a while).

Also Gino's on Lexington Avenue--this place is a throwback to the fifties and sixties (hell the forties) --good Southern Italian and old NY atmosphere. Patsy's mid town as well and the place on 116th with the same name.

also

The Shun Lees and Chin Chin still doing pretty good "gourmet" uptown Chinese. and China Grill in the CBS building--kinda fusion-- this place has been around a long time.

[weinoo]

and China Grill in the CBS building--kinda fusion-- this place has been around a long time.

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Really, China Grill?! Has that place ever been good, because it wasn't the first and last time I ate there however many years ago?

[zpzjessica]

If you're looking for great Chinese food, I recommend Excellent Dumpling House on the border of Soho and Chinatown (one block south of Canal St, on Lafayette St, I believe). At first glance the place looks run-down and cheesy but once inside, the food is incredible and the service is great too! We've eaten there many times and have never had to wait longer than 5 minutes for our food, entrees included! I definitely recommend checking it out - it's worth it (and cheap, too!)

[Sneakeater]

(Courtesy of tupac17616)

Naples 45

[tommy]

(Courtesy of tupac17616)

Naples 45

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very good neapolitan-style pizza, and the only place i considered adding to this list. not quite as interesting as Una Pizza Napoletana, but overlooked and delicious and somewhat unique nonetheless.

Edited February 8, 2007 by tommy (log)

[Pan]

Sorry, Jessica, but Excellent Dumping House has never impressed me. For noodle soups, places like Great NY Noodletown and Bo Ky are far superior, to my taste, but I think there are a bunch of other places that could be mentioned on this score, probably including places I haven't gone to for some time, like Marco Polo Noodle House and East Corner Wonton.

Incidentally, I do have a doctoral degree but am a musician, and I do live in a neighborhood with quite a few very worthwhile inexpensive and moderate-priced restaurants. And by the way, Hearth is not moderate-priced, as far as I'm concerned.

Speaking of which, since Hearth has been mentioned in this thread as overappreciated, could we please have some discussion of restaurants at the same price point as Hearth that provide just as consistently tasty food with just as good service? That would be some information most of us could use.

[Mayur]

IMHO, and just off the top of my head:

-The Red Cat

-The Harrison

-Barbuto

-Cookshop

-Five Points

-Inside

That's sticking to the modern, vaguely Italian/New American, ingredients-focused model. I'd say Five Points and Inside may or may not be as good as (or better than) Hearth on a given night, but they are also significantly cheaper.

I wold argue that in terms of food quality, you could do Supper as well, but service and crowds (especially crowds!) are... well, just not fun at Supper.

IMHO, Hearth gets a bum rap not because of overall quality, but because its trend has been downward rather than even or upward. (Also because, as you point out, it is *not* cheap.) I live in the neighborhood, and I've been there quite often (my father was a fan), but the food just doesn't seem to shine the way it did 2 years ago.

[Sneakeater]

Babbo?

db Bistro Moderne?

A Voce?

Telepan?

Wallse? (A little more expensive, but not by more than a couple of dollars.)

Perry Street? (There's no on-line menu, so I can't check the prices. If it's significantly more expensive than Hearth, I apologize.)

Bouley Upstairs (not to beat a dead horse)? (OK, service isn't as good.)

Savoy is as good?

Edited February 8, 2007 by Sneakeater (log)

[Nathan]

the Perry Street menu is here:

http://nymag.com/listings/restaurant/perry-street/menu1.html

the Hearth menu is here:

http://restauranthearth.com/menu.html

they are at identical price points except that Perry Street serves a magnificently affordable lunch while Hearth does not.

[Nathan]

Bar Room at the Modern and Degustation are also at that price point (or cheaper).

I'd say that the Hearth price point hits a sweet spot where one can find a lot of great restaurants.

[Sneakeater]

To be fair, it looks to me like Perry Street's dinner menu is a tiny bit more expensive than Hearth's (higher ratio of over-$30 to under-$30 entrees, and a couple of really expensive ones). Not a lot more expensive, but a bit.

Edited February 8, 2007 by Sneakeater (log)

[Sneakeater]

Also, I want Pan to understand that I never meant to imply that Hearth was mid-priced. As Mayur said, the problem is that it's NOT cheap.

[tupac17616]

(Courtesy of tupac17616)

Naples 45

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Gracias, señor.

Some other places that came to mind as I thought about this a bit:

Alto -- At least as good, if not better than, L'Impero, IMO.

Arturo's -- Their pizza is on par with the heavy hitters anywhere in the city, yet it is rarely mentioned as one of the usual suspects: Patsy's, Grimaldi's, Di Fara, Lombardi's, etc. Ottimo, La Pizza Fresca, and Naples 45 also come to mind for underappreciated pizza.

Bouley Upstairs -- As sneakeater and others have argued above, this place is perhaps the very definition of underappreciated, as far as the online food boards go, at least.

Cafe Gray -- Rarely a peep about the place on the food boards, it seems

Compass -- Not mindblowing cuisine, by any means, but solid and pretty reasonably priced.

Esca -- An outstanding restaurant in a, well, not outstanding neighborhood.

Ouest -- It is of course on the great-restaurant-barren UWS, but I really like the place.

[Nathan]

To sum, here are the places that have been specifically listed as underappreciated on this thread and the frequency for each (no double voting allowed):

Picholine -- 1

Bouley Upstairs -- 5

B. Cafe -- 1

Aquavit -- 2

Devi -- 1

Craft -- 2

Annisa -- 1

Mesa Grill -- 1

Esca -- 6

Perry Street -- 2

db Bistro Moderne -- 1

Becco's (is this Becco?) -- 1

Gotham Bar & Grill -- 1

Sumile -- 1

Asiate -- 1

Daniel - 1

Danube -- 2

Hearth -- 1

Montparnasse -- 1

The Palm -- 1

Veritas -- 1

Telepan -- 1

Barbuto -- 1

Felidia -- 1

Wallse -- 3

Chanterelle -- 2

River Cafe -- 2

Il Buco -- 1

Cafe Boulud -- 1

5 Ninth -- 1

Keen's -- 1

Maya -- 1

Aureole -- 1

Savoy -- 1

Gabriel's -- 1

Gino's -- 1

Patsy's -- 1

Shun Lee -- 1

Chin Chin -- 1

China Grill -- 1

Excellent Dumpling House -- 1

Naples 45 -- 2

Alto -- 1

Arturo's -- 1

Cafe Gray -- 1

Compass -- 1

Quest -- 1

Esca and Bouley Upstairs easily garnered the most votes.

Edited February 8, 2007 by Nathan (log)

[Sneakeater]

As far as I'm concerned, Esca could be like the poster boy for this thread.

[Pan]

Also, I want Pan to understand that I never meant to imply that Hearth was mid-priced.  As Mayur said, the problem is that it's NOT cheap.

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I didn't think you did. But I think some eGullet members, who think that expensive starts at $200/person, would.

[oakapple]

Also, I want Pan to understand that I never meant to imply that Hearth was mid-priced.  As Mayur said, the problem is that it's NOT cheap.

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I didn't think you did. But I think some eGullet members, who think that expensive starts at $200/person, would.

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I still remember the thread in which someone suggested that Asiate ($75 prix fixe) was "upper-mid" priced.

By the way, I agree Asiate is underappreciated.

[Jesikka]

I think Quality Meats is underappreciated in the real world. I've had some really fantastic meals there lately. The steak is as good as anywhere in Manhattan and some of the sides are fantastic (marrow bones, potatoes). QM is certainly underappreciated by the NY Times. Why hasn't it been reviewed yet?

[Nathan]

Well, there is an existing (if old) review for Smith & Wollensky.

edit: I've been curious about it though. AvroK can generally do no wrong when it comes to decor...is the menu radically different as well?

Edited February 9, 2007 by Nathan (log)

[Sneakeater]

It's sort of ironic. People complain when the Times reviews places too early. Or they complain that the Times is reviewing someplace too late.

Edited February 9, 2007 by Sneakeater (log)

[oakapple]

Quality Meats is a personal favorite of mine, as well. There are quite a few twists and tweaks from the conventional steakhouse menu, making it more than "just another steakhouse." I also think it's excellent.

Frank Bruni either blogged or wrote a Diner's Journal column about QM shortly after it opened. It wasn't an outright pan, but he was not wowed. When that happens, quite often it means that there will be no full review. If he hasn't reviewed it by now, it probably means he won't ever.

Edited February 9, 2007 by oakapple (log)

[rich]

Well, at least Montrachet can't be under-appreciated anymore since it's closing.

Edited February 9, 2007 by rich (log)

[Jesikka]

In my mind, Quality Meats and Smith & Wollensky are two entirely different animals (though both serving beef, of course ). S & W is a bland, heavily franchised steak house with little character other than a nicely chosen wine list. Quality Meats has charcuterie (absolutely delicious), some of the best bread in the city (probably involving the most fat), a delicious coma inducing hamburger, a really beautiful and funky setting, and a completely modern menu. One is an aging- if somewhat solid and certainly decent- giant and the other is an fresh look at the whole steakhouse thing. I'm not saying that there's nothing in the city that's as good as Quality Meats, but when I take an interviewee out for lunch I often use QM and would never pick S&W.

I'm not complaining that the review is too late, I'm just surprised that Bruni has reviewed so many steakhouses of late and not given this one any play. I suppose a bad early experience might have kept him away, but I'd think a new restaurant by this group would be hard to ignore.

[Nathan]

In my mind, Quality Meats and Smith & Wollensky are two entirely different animals (though both serving beef, of course  ).  S & W is a bland, heavily franchised steak house with little character other than a nicely chosen wine list.  Quality Meats has charcuterie (absolutely delicious), some of the best bread in the city (probably involving the most fat), a delicious coma inducing hamburger, a really beautiful and funky setting, and a completely modern menu.  One is an aging- if somewhat solid and certainly decent- giant and the other is an fresh look at the whole steakhouse thing.  I'm not saying that there's nothing in the city that's as good as Quality Meats, but when I take an interviewee out for lunch I often use QM and would never pick S&W. 

I'm not complaining that the review is too late, I'm just surprised that Bruni has reviewed so many steakhouses of late and not given this one any play.  I suppose a bad early experience might have kept him away, but I'd think a new restaurant by this group would be hard to ignore.

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fair enough...that's what I was curious about.

I knew it was an S&W restaurant so I didn't know how different the food really was.