Places to eat in NYC

[Dan Warburton]

Not promoting anything, actually, other than our forthcoming visit to New York, but was wondering if any of you guys in or around the place could recommend some decent places to eat out that won't require me to remortgage my apartment (was drooling over the sushi menu at Sasabune and then fell off my chair when I saw how much it'd cost for three..). Normal NYC fare - we're looking for good pastrami, reubens, bagels, a decent Italian place or two (no French restaurants please, I can find those quite easily where I am now ), and, hell, sushi, yes, why not. Manhattan preferably - but we'll be heading to Brooklyn at some stage so why not there too. Oh yes, hot dogs too.. worth the trip out to Nathan's, is it? Any ideas gratefully received! Merci beaucoup

[jon abbey]

Katz's for pastrami, bagels kind of suck here now but maybe Ess-A-Bagel, I'm sure we've had threads like this before in IHE (search for Sripraphai, that's the one I always recommend).

when are you coming? we have some cool shows in the week between May 25-June 1.

[faster]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYvL7GcLxLA

[jon abbey]

Russ and Daughters is awesome for everything that goes with bagels, I go there for smoked salmon periodically, but they don't make their own bagels. they are ok, though, that is a good suggestion overall.

[joeperucki]

bagels kind of suck here now

Is this a case of the older generation retiring or rent too high?

[jon abbey]

good question, and honestly not something I've paid so much attention to since Yuko makes awesome bagels from scratch (my mom is addicted to them). H&H was my go-to place for a long time (as you know, Joe), but their quality fell off and then their finances caught up with them and they went out of business a year or two ago.

[jon abbey]

here is a bagel list, post H&H. the only one of these I've tried myself is Murray's, and I'm not a fan, but my standards are very high:

http://gothamist.com/2013/02/13/the_bes ... k_city.php

[mudd]

went to the bagel store (metropolitan ave shop) twice last time i was in town. bagels were very good though maybe there was a bit too much attention to the gimmicky specialty types and not enough focus on really stellar standards. had salmon and capers on an onion bagel that was great.

m

[mudd]

also really enjoyed roberta's pizza (not as good as the original grimaldi's, but really tasty and interesting ingredients) but since that trip was all brooklyn it's not really helping with your manhattan plans. the really great place i went in manhattan that trip was kafana but i notice serbian food is not on your list...

m

[Dohol]

nyc ain't just about bagels... (although they are the best.. )
my memory is of eating wonderful food in Brooklyn heights and queens when i visited my two bestest buddies way back in the 90's... great arab, thai and korean linger in my memory..

get a local guide and explore..

[Dohol]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYvL7GcLxLA

ooooo....

[mudd]

nyc ain't just about bagels... (although they are the best.. )
my memory is of eating wonderful food in Brooklyn heights and queens when i visited my two bestest buddies way back in the 90's... great arab, thai and korean linger in my memory..

get a local guide and explore..

yeah, the fantastic thai place jon mentions is up in queens.

i'm planning on having NYC and montreal bagels two weeks apart in june, i'll have to decide once and for all if i agree about bestness.

lat

[Dan Warburton]

i notice serbian food is not on your list..

My mistake - Kafana looks terrific, have noted that. Thanks Mark. Got that address for the Thai place in Queens? All great suggestions, much appreciated. Remind me to do the same when you lot come to Paris.

[jon abbey]

http://www.sripraphairestaurant.com/

current strengths for NYC are burgers, ramen and Neapolitan pizza, all have had waves of new places in recent months/years open up. my current choices respectively:

burger: The Little Owl (90 Bedford St)

a tiny place that only serves burgers at lunch, not dinner, their bacon cheeseburger was called the 'best burger in the world' by the Guardian a few years ago (http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/ ... -the-world). while that's obviously a ludicrous claim (who the hell has really tried all of the possibilities?), it is fantastic and our current burger of choice. as an extra bonus, there are tourists constantly taking pix of this place from across the street. it has nothing to do with the restaurant, it is the building that was the exterior for 'Friends'.

ramen: Ippudo (65 4th Ave)

the NYC outlet for this Tokyo chain, massive waits at night but I would think the afternoon wouldn't be a problem.

Neapolitan pizza: Keste (271 Bleecker)

I went here last week with Dom Lash, we toasted Thatcher's death (first time I've ever done that, pretty sure). really good, again very small and probably very crowded at night, but easy to get into in the afternoons.

also:

Texas BBQ: Hill Country (30 W 26th)

I especially recommend the jalapeno cheese sausages, flown up from Kreuz Market in central Texas every day. Europeans love this place, as well they should, as do I.

[Lao Tsu Ben]

]Remind me to do the same when you lot come to Paris.

If you could do that in the near future, it would be very nice. I'm always at a loss when people ask me for such suggestions. I think there is already a thread dedicated to Paris. Anyway, I'm coming back soon, and I'm sure I would profit from them.

[mudd]

conveniently enough, i'm gonna be in paris at the end of may...

also gonna be in NYC at the end of that trip so i'll be thinking about jon's suggestions too.

m

[yonhosago]

I went here last week with Dom Lash, we toasted Thatcher's death (

Wish I had been there to toast that with you.

[Dan Warburton]

burger: The Little Owl (90 Bedford St)
a tiny place that only serves burgers at lunch, not dinner, their bacon cheeseburger was called the 'best burger in the world' by the Guardian a few years ago (http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/ ... -the-world). while that's obviously a ludicrous claim (who the hell has really tried all of the possibilities?), it is fantastic and our current burger of choice. as an extra bonus, there are tourists constantly taking pix of this place from across the street. it has nothing to do with the restaurant, it is the building that was the exterior for 'Friends'.

Thanks Jon (and everyone else for all the tips) - that Guardian claim is pretty ludicrous, as you say (and some of the other recommendations on their top 500 whateveritis list are rather dubious, at least the ones in Paris, imo), but, man, that was the best burger I've ever had, no doubt. Great place - everything on the menu looks terrific, we just hit the burgers and then attacked the desserts. Nice to see them serving Bitburger too, instead of beers with funny names like Flying Dog Raging Bitch (which is not as good as it sounds.. tried that too across the river in Jersey City on Saturday afternoon). Decent espresso too, and that was hard to come by.
Katz's, yes - well.. predicably awe-inspiring, though was rather put off the hot pastrami sandwich by the guy in my line of visibility who sounded remarkably like John Goodman in The Big Lebowski (same body too, but 20 years younger) and who proceeded to impress his girlfriend by eating (I'm not making this up) his reuben in four bites. Words cannot express the vertiginous retching horror that enveloped me as I lost consciousness, as WSB once wrote.
Couldn't, alas, get to that Serbian place you mentioned, Mark - but we did make the trip all the way out to Coney (Christ, I'll never make fun of Blackpool again, what a trip) and hit Nathan's Famous. Also went rather crazy in a Magnolia Bakery on Columbus Avenue. That was in fact just 18 hours ago. Just got back and now have to get off to work.
I will happily provide a few addresses for food in Paris (personal idiosyncratic faves, of course.. if you want the famous places Google will help you), just as soon as I readjust the body clock.
Now it's time for a croissant. Un vrai.

[faster]

ramen: Ippudo (65 4th Ave)

the NYC outlet for this Tokyo chain, massive waits at night but I would think the afternoon wouldn't be a problem.

We have an Ippudo in Seoul. Pretty good (and no waits here haha)

[Dan Warburton]

Thought of you, Joe, as we passed by Nathan's Famous..