NYC eateries- recommendations?

[cheessus]

Originally Posted by iammatt

I'm sad to read of the decline of the NY deli. I never go to them, but often think about how ours suck in comparison.

The lack of quality delis in NorCal is quite depressing to me. A lot of it I feel like has to do with trying to give sandwiches a west coast/Cali flavor, which generally is just adding avocado and sprouts. There seems to be no emphasis on good workmanlike taste.

But I've learned to substitute great burritos and tacos for sandwiches. However, sometimes I just get that craving for a great deli taste.

 

[yarnsforth]

Originally Posted by gdl203

Joe's, Ben's, Ray's... they're all the same stuff. Gross, oversized mushy slices with a ton of tasteless, stringy cheese, sitting in a window and being reheated to order. They sweat and ooze grease, have no flavor to speak of and feel like you ate a small pack of cement afterwards. As you can tell, I'm not a huge fan of "NY slices"... No 28 is just a normal pizza place that uses a proper pizza oven and puts out a good tasty, normal-sized pizza. There's plenty of them in the city (some more hyped than others) - No 28 just happens to be right across the street from Joe and that's why I brought it up.

+1, and thanks for the heads up about No. 28.

There's also Spunto at 65 Carmine and my favorite brick oven pizza so far (a couple of blocks away) at Arturo's, Houston and Thompson streets. Arturo's also usually has excellent jazz trios at night.

 

[itsstillmatt]

Originally Posted by cheessus

The lack of quality delis in NorCal is quite depressing to me. A lot of it I feel like has to do with trying to give sandwiches a west coast/Cali flavor, which generally is just adding avocado and sprouts. There seems to be no emphasis on good workmanlike taste.

But I've learned to substitute great burritos and tacos for sandwiches. However, sometimes I just get that craving for a great deli taste.
The best I have found is Saul's in Berkeley. Not great, but pretty darn good.

 

[poorsod]

Originally Posted by cheessus

The lack of quality delis in NorCal is quite depressing to me. A lot of it I feel like has to do with trying to give sandwiches a west coast/Cali flavor, which generally is just adding avocado and sprouts. There seems to be no emphasis on good workmanlike taste. But I've learned to substitute great burritos and tacos for sandwiches. However, sometimes I just get that craving for a great deli taste.
Yeah but try finding a good burrito or bowl of Pho in NYC.

Take what you can get. BTW this thread is pretty good. . . I've been doing my rounds trying to hit some of the ones on the list. http://www.styleforum.net/showthread.php?t=48155

 

[MrDaniels]

Originally Posted by JSC4President

Perhaps u can suggest what to get at Russ and Daughters (for my benefit and the benefit of tourists)

I live 2 blocks from there and venture in there on weekends.... but never know what to order. So then I leave empty handed.

Seems very expensive.


Try some of thier smoked salmons, as suggested. Also, their chopped liver and smoked whitefish.

 

[haganah]

Originally Posted by mccvi

Oh, and Yonah Schimmel Knishes... it's part of the nyc experience.

...and Cafe Habana in Nolita (the little grab a table if you can or eat outside section, not the actual cafe next door).

If that's what I'm thinking of, then it doesn't even begin to compare to Habana Outpost in Brooklyn. It isn't something I would recommend an out of towner to go to though.

 

[cchen]

Originally Posted by poorsod

Yeah but try finding a good burrito or bowl of Pho in NYC.

Take what you can get.

BTW this thread is pretty good. . . I've been doing my rounds trying to hit some of the ones on the list.

http://www.styleforum.net/showthread.php?t=48155

pho sure in the WV has a decent bowl of pho

 

[chroMe]

I really enjoyed Gobo (Food for the 5 senses) in the village.

 

[cheessus]

Thanks for the recs guys. I'm kind of bummed I drank more than I ate in NYC...

Fri- We got in town late (11PM), so we went to Mad 4 Chicken - formerly Bon chon, IIRC. Pretty good, a little too sweet, and $45/pitcher of lemon soju? WTF. That was the most expensive meal of fried chicken I've ever had. Between the three of us, we had 1 order of chicken (all wings, I think) and 5 pitchers of soju.

Sat- We got burgers at Jackson Hole. It was aight. We then spent the whole day at the Frying Pan which was amazing, due to the great weather. We were lucky enough to get a table and chairs. The place was a little bro-ish with lots of 1st-3rd year analysts, but the abundance of well-dressed hot girls more than made up for it. Also, $37/pitcher of boxed wine sangria was whack. Furthermore, they only served bottles of Corona? Jesus H Christ. Had the weather not be absolutely perfect, I would've probably hated the place.

For dinner we went to Tony Dinapoli because it was "cheap." Nothing to write home about. The vodka penne was good. The chicken parm, to my surprise, did not come with spaghetti? The mozzarella tomato salad was passable. The balsamic vinegar they used wasn't too cash, but the tomatoes were of good quality. Our sever was really cute and service was great. Oh yeah, the red wine sangria (don't ask me why I drank sangria all day) was ok.

Sun- We went to Nha Trang centre. The pho was pants. The fried spring rolls were ok. I wish I had gone to Doyer's instead, but I just have a feeling that I've been spoiled living in NoVA and now the South Bay.

Lastly, it's been a little over a year since I've been to NYC. What's the deal with the closing down of Times Square to traffic? I thought that was pretty crazy. There were random circles painted onto the streets and ****** green plastic lawn chairs scattered all over the place?

 

[poorsod]

Originally Posted by cheessus

Fri- We got in town late (11PM), so we went to Mad 4 Chicken - formerly Bon chon, IIRC. Pretty good, a little too sweet, and $45/pitcher of lemon soju? WTF. That was the most expensive meal of fried chicken I've ever had. Between the three of us, we had 1 order of chicken (all wings, I think) and 5 pitchers of soju.

Sun- We went to Nha Trang centre. The pho was pants. The fried spring rolls were ok. I wish I had gone to Doyer's instead, but I just have a feeling that I've been spoiled living in NoVA and now the South Bay.


1) Mad 4 Chicken - The fried chicken is meh, but the other leggy wild life can be quite good.

2) What are you doing trying Pho in NYC? IMO you didn't miss out on Doyers either. Vietnamese food is far better in the Bay Area, especially after my favorite place on Canal St closed. Next time consider something you can't get in SF, like Malaysian food.

 

[hboogz]

Originally Posted by cheessus

Sat- We got burgers at Jackson Hole. It was aight.

My Dude -- who the hell convinced you to go to Jackson Hole for burgers ? They've always sucked.

Coming from the Bay Area looking for Vietnamese food in NY doesn't make any sense, but i guess lesson learned.

 

[MrDaniels]

Originally Posted by hboogz

My Dude -- who the hell convinced you to go to Jackson Hole for burgers ? They've always sucked.


Yeah...but Jennifer Anniston used to waitress there!

 

[MHH89]

I have been to the frying pan a few times but never got around to trying the food. To be honest, it seems like shake shack with seafood. Anyone have any experience with the cuisine?