Oh, passing_thru, it’s great to have you back!
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LA has really stepped it up over the past decade. Great to see your posts. Happy 4th.
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So glad to have you back passing_thru!!!
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OFF TOPIC: I live in Manhattan. I prefer the khao soi at Pam Real in Hell’s Kitchen. They also have amazing oxtail soup. Uncle Boon’s khao soi is too rich and thick for me. I feelugh afterwards. (Maybe I just need to eat LESS of it.)
@passing_thru, it’s great to see you passing through here again! We missed your presence around this joint.
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Agree completely on all counts.
I’m late, as always, to the party, but welcome back young 'un.
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Do you mean thai curries or curries in general (such as curries in Indian food)?
I don’t want to go off on a curry war here – these issues gave me enough headaches over at Chowhound – but my point is that many dishes originated as specific combinations of meat or fish or fowl with specific ingredients that complemented those particular main ingredients. The french came up with a specific dish, with specific ingredients, they called boeuf bourguignon, or another they called coq au vin. We would not, I think, applaud a French restaurant that offered you columns headed bourguignon, au vin, etc., and rows labeled boeuf, coq, crevette, tofu., etc., and allow you to puck crevette bourguignon.
I understand that new flavor combinations are possible, but thee point of dishes simmered with sauces/curries is that each informs and elevates the other. The sauce takes on the flavor of the meat/fish/fowl, and those, correspondingly pick up the notes of sauce: the sweetness of coconut, the tartness of vinegar, etc. A restaurant may need to cut corners, out of necessity, and have vats of pre-prepared sauces at the ready, which they can throw over some separately boiled or fried protein, but it won’t be as tasty an experience.
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Thanks for the thoughtful reply. (Try Pam Real when next in NYC.)
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Same for me re NYC, and again since I just got back from Montreal.
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Catching up post-trip: when I saw they liked Beachmont I thought about what you’d say to that and yay, here you are! Thanks for that great "superb eef " thread; my other thought was “Even if they won’t go to Malden, Mike’s in Everett is way better than Beachmont!”
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I’ll give them this one, it’s the closest I’ve found to old-school NYC style in this area. A friend goes there for tongue sandwiches, I like to stock up on their (NYC) pastrami, bialys, and house-made knishes (more the traditional potato than the weekly “crazy knishes” but they know their market better than I do).
Almost started a thread about Michael’s a while back but it seems like most folks here prefer reconstructed hipster deli and might balk at a cash-only place.
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Always glad to hear about any place of any kind with good food!!
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We tend to agree on many things, I have noticed. 
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Thanks. I do spend a lot of time in Hell’s Kitchen when I am in NYC. I ate a couple of times at Pam Real several years ago, and thought the food fine, but then Pure Thai and Larb Ubol emerged and I started going there. I did not try the khao soi at Pam, though, and it’s now on my list.
Just a caution that the khao soi at Pam is a different style than the version at Uncle Boon’s.
It’s a thinner broth (vs the thicker, richer burmese version) with skinny egg noodles, and spicy in a different way (front vs back of mouth).
I stand cautioned. It will probably be September before I get a chance to try it.
Agree completely. It happens to be in my neighborhood, and I’m glad, but that’s where I leave it.
I could not disagree more with the nod to Tu Y Yo as best Mexican. I’ve eaten there about 5 times recently, unfortunately, as a group of friends decided to do a standing dinner there, and each time I’ve been wowed by how truly bad the food is. I had the worst excuse for mole slopped over a rubbery chicken breast that can be imagined. I don’t have a nominee to take its place, but I’d honestly rather eat a burrito from Anna’s any day. Am curious to hear others’ opinions and counter-suggestions. Oh, and the shocking shade of yellow they recently repainted walls and ceilings is just the icing on the not-very-good cake.
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I agree that it’s quite bad. I last had their food in May 2018, and was disappointed again.
Edited to add: I haven’t eaten as much Mexican food in the Boston area as I probably should have, and I’d love to hear what others have to suggest. We ate at Olé a few times years ago, and vaguely liked it, but then felt it was declining and haven’t been back for a decade. I sampled the tacos at Taqueria El Amigo in Waltham several months ago on the strength of MC Slim JB’s eloquent tribute to Jonathan Gold – they were pretty good, but not mind-blowingly so. (We once spent six months in Santa Barbara, with several excursions to LA, and it’s hard not to compare here with there. Even worse, we’ll be in Mexico City next month and plan to eat tacos everywhere, interspersed with meals at Pujol and Quintonil. I don’t know how we’ll recover from that.)
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