we like five senses and dons bogam in ktown, will try cote at some point.
a lot of good szechuan in and around w38th in the garment district, great for pre-theater. also, we had a recent discussion here around chinese restaurants:
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Both of these look interesting. We’ll keep them in mind. Thanks.
We haven’t made it to Cote yet, but we have eaten at two of three Dons Bogams. We liked them a lot. Now we have to get to the third.
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You didn’t mention Malaysian, but I’ll put this out there because I’m happy I visited on my last trip, for an iced coffee. It’s a small place, and casual. Not fancy.
https://instagram.com/kopitiamnyc
I haven’t been for ages- Saravanaa Bhavan, an international chain of vegetarian Indian restaurants, has a location on Lexington that serves an Indian breakfast, including idli and other breakfast dishes. Might be interesting if you haven’t been. Again, casual , and not fancy.
It opens for breakfast at 9 am:
https://www.saravanaabhavan.us/
If you’re interested in vegetarian Korean food, Hangawi is a nice experience.
My last Chinese meal in Chinatown was a lunch at Yeah Shanghai Deluxe, formerly
Old Shanghai Deluxe, (50 Mott, ground floor, at the corner of Mott and Bayard), and it’s still open.
While the name of the restaurant has changed over the years, the food continues to be quite good, as far as I know, although I haven’t been since Aug 2019.
These photos are Buttertart’s from 2011. The dishes looked the same in Aug 2018.
Soy beans and rice cake dish
Xiao Long Bao
Braised chicken and chestnuts
We also ordered fried fish, stir fried pea shoots, maybe a few other dishes.
also, hwa yuan re-opened, we loved the original, havent been to new one but generally plays to good reviews.
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Hiya @bcc
Korean – at the “fancy” end I love Cote, which is not more expensive especially for their prix fixe, but is a different setup. For regular ktown Miss Korea is always solid (they have a great lunch bbq deal btw), as is Jongro but that’s more of a pain to get seated at. For ambience (and good food too) there’s the penthouse Gaonnuri with a lovely view. And for takeout or a quick bite Woorijip. (I see Don’s Bogam mentioned – one of my previous favorites, but I haven’t been in several years.) Then there are several modern Korean places that are excellent - Atoboy & their more formal second place, also Hanjan, and a couple of others. There’s also My Name is Han — pretty different meal experience by day and night. And there a couple of new smokeless bbq places (the one I’m thinking of is on Madison but it should pop up in a search).
Indian - Again the high/low factor. I’ll start by saying I’m not a fan of the Chintan Pandya places that the critics and many other folks have adored for a few years (Adda, etc). I much prefer Baar Baar, though I haven’t been since the pandemic. The new entrant in that category is Sona – more shiny than good, imo. For solid food that always hits the spot, Hemant Mathur’s place is great – Saar. His (ex?)wife recently opened Tagmo in the seaport, which I’ve heard good things about haven’t tried yet (she’s also a pastry chef and has a modern mithai store there). For fast casual I love The Kati Roll Company (and specifically the chicken egg roll, though they are all good) – many locations and a good quick meal or anytime snack (all my visiting friends get hooked on this one). And in the dive category, stop by Little India / Lex between 27-29 st – Haandi was always a stop (they had a blip when they lost a bunch of staff but I think they’ve since recovered), and I can’t remember the name of the place across the street from Kalustyans but it’s on the first floor in the middle of the block. (Speaking of Kalustyans – for Indian snack & grocery shopping skip it and go over to New India Store on 3rd ave & 28th). Also around that Lex stretch are also a few good South Indian places – I like Pippali (off Lex) and Anjappar (which has excellent - but spicy! - Chettinad food), and a few more that are are consistently good though they’ll never make any lists — Bhatti for eg. One unusual place you may want to try is Vatan - it’s a gujarati vegetarian thali (prix fixe) that’s excellent and authentic. AYCE and in courses (my favorite is the first course, which is a plethora of snacky things— I eat my fill of those and then lightly snack on the mains…)
Chinese - So many good options. For dim sum I used to love DSGG but I haven’t been back post pandemic (yet) because the UWS Jing Fong is excellent and closer (their chinatown location finally reopened too). Cafe China for Sichuan, and a newer place in midtown that’s very good too - Blue Willow. Red Farm for modernized / expensive but excellent food. I recall you said you stay in chinatown — have you had big tray chicken yet? It is crowded, which may still be consideration, unless you get takeout. For XLB I’m back to believing Joe’s is the gold standard, though I do most often get my fix in midtown at Kung Fu.
I’m sure I’m forgetting things having been away for a few months again, so I’ll add as my memory is jogged .
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I’ve been twice, and while I think it’s better than your average Chinese place, it’s also too expensive for how much better it is. According to me. But I’ve only had the vegetarian and seafood stuff - maybe the duck makes up for everything else.
I don’t think BCD Tofu has been mentioned, so I’m mentioning it. Best soondubu jjigae I’ve had.
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Thanks & welcome home Saregama. Although Dhamaka left me feeling like I’d had an expensive meal of carbs., I thought it okay. Certainly not worthy of these “best restaurant” reviews. I liked Adda better. Neither Indian Accent nor Sona left me wanting to return. I thought both were too much presentation with too little substance. And I’m ashamed to say that we haven’t been to Saar. Devi was our favorite place for years & we liked Tulsi when Hemant first opened it. Not so much his subsequent adventures. I second the Pippali recommendation & we also seem to find our way back to Dhaba around the corner on Lex (although its been uneven for awhile now).
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@SteveR apparently Bhatti now has the chef from Moti Mahal, which is promising. Though their food has always been consistent (Hemant Mathur used to consult there iirc when there were a bunch of places owned by the same folks and he was post-Devi but not at his own restaurant yet).
Indian Accent is in its own category to me — I would recommend it if someone was looking for a highly stylized meal. I enjoy it, but never feel compelled to return. Kind of like Tabla and Bread Bar - I was downstairs all the time, but never felt a desire to go upstairs unless someone was in search of that very specific notion.
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Your memory is correct. Hemant “took over” all 6 places with the stated intent to make each a different regional cuisine. Dhaba was one of them as well. Went over like a lead balloon, with 2 folding completely within a year & Dhaba returning to a “we have a little of everything” concept. At least Malai Marke made E.6th St less of a disaster area.
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Totally unresponsive to bcc’s request is a notable development in my area of Brooklyn. About 6-8 months ago, Eric McCarthy took over INDIAN TABLE in Cobble Hill and has made it interesting. Although not obvious from the name, he’s from Goa & has been the chef at Brick Lane Curry (when it opened), at Tulsi (when Hemant left) & at Tamarind. The Portuguese influences are obvious and I have found the seafood and fish dishes to be very good. We’ve been 3 times & have liked it each time, as have the friends we’ve gone with. Again, this is not high end but would stand out on Lex. Ave in that price range.
I’m glad you reminded me of this — I remember reading about it when it was opening, and telling my (equally always hungry) friend in brooklyn we had to try it 
a chow meet? I’m in…
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Thanks for all the suggestions, @Saregama. Didn’t know about Miss Korea. We’ve been to My Name is Han, and to the now-closed Hanjan. The Indian suggestions are especially interesting. DSGG was always very good. I was less appreciative of Jing Fong. Haven’t been to Red Farm or Blue Willow.
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Thanks everyone for all the suggestions! We hope to visit at the end of September. If we do get to come, I’ll try to hit as many of these places as we can.
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If you’re interested in less common cuisines, further afield, Ziggy, a former Hound who is stopped posting on CH some time ago posts occasionally on his site here. It hasn’t been updated recently, but I think some information re: Chinese, Indian in the Outer Boroughs continues to be good information.
I understand avoiding IG and FB.
I’ve removed the IG posts to Ziggy’s account since they seem to bother you.
Hi Phoenikia,
I’m interested in lots of things, but am somewhat restrained by the desire to return to old favorites. Kopitiam is something I looked at years ago, and decided not to go. I don’t completely recall why, but I think that a lot of the stuff would have been too sweet for me. And I avoid Facebook and Instagram. We’re all strange in different ways.
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Me, too. That’s why I get the oyster omelet, which is awesome.
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