Took a group of 6 to Chama Mama Chelsea last week - none of the others had had georgian food before, one was lactose intolerant (so no cheese bread) and a couple had small appetites but all enjoyed the shared meal - we had khinkhali (beef and pork), 2 breads - lobiani, filled with beans and khubdari - filled with pork beef onions and spices (really good) the texture of the bread was very pleasing; ajapsandali, a cold plate similar to ratatouille, but with plenty of garlic, chile and herbs (good but too small for our group of 6 and served much too cold), a delicious and ample hot appetizer of smashed potatoes in tkemali (plum) sauce, grilled grits (very plain unsalted white corn, very bland, needed a stew we did not have to partner it. Like similar polenta in Venice we didnt like much; lobio, mellow stewed pink beans in a pot served with pickles and a couple of pieces of too-sweet cornbread; a stellar platter of roasted cauliflower in bahze (walnut sauce, and finally (or first, actually) the georgian sample platter with a group of very small scoops of pkhali and other vegetable, a couple of small bread slices, and shards of a very delicious, smoky salty stringy cheese, The last platter we were told served 4 but it was impossible to divide the very small mounds of vegetables or even distinguish then visually once they were passed around the table.
Everybody enjoyed the experience and I thought many of the dishes were delicious, only a couple of outright fails, so that a return visit may happen with this group, Fortunately the back room where we was quiet so we could talk - the front room was all 2-tops and loud music.
Sigh!! No luck with Foxface Natural…since they have only one table for six, which was booked all the way out to 26th October!!
No idea 'what’s next '! Any recommendations for another venue with comparable and ’ different ’ great tasting food?! Place will be for dinner after our lunch at The Modern.
Thx!
Chambers is another favorite. They have a large communal table, and even walk ins are accommodated.
The food is very good, but am not sure it’s as “different” as Foxface. Perhaps nothing is like Foxface. Speaking of, you should also call Foxface — you never know, they might be able to get you in.
If you’re willing to trek into Brooklyn, I like Oxalis (a bit more formal) and Place des Fetes (ultra casual). Note that the vibe and aesthetic at these places is very different from any place in Manhattan. I can only describe it as “Brooklyn”.
If you don’t mind a wine bar vibe in Manhattan, Wildair is fun. Contra (the tasting menu restaurant next door that’s permanently closing soon) is also good.
Tough reservations (especially for 6 people) at all these places. Your best bet is to call them directly and try you luck.
The menu is much shorter than other ktown spots, but everything we tried was very good. We had their specialty of Seoul-style bulgogi, shrimp pajeon, bo ssam, and pork fried rice.
The shrimp pancake was just lovely, the bo ssam was very good but we didn’t do it justice, the pork fried rice was my least favorite but other people loved it.
I enjoyed their banchan, which is often what I look forward to most. They had a dish I have not encountered as banchan before -= fried flounder – which was just delicious. The other things were pretty usual but very well-made: kimchi, broccoli, sprouts, and baby potatoes. With the bo ssam they served a different kimchi, made with crab, that was also delicious, and a clam condiment that looked like the ssamjang they gave us with the bulgogi.
The bulgogi was good (but then I love bulgogi). It comes by weight of meat. They cook it at the table, you eat some of it with lettuce and perilla leaves, then they serve you the sauce and poached eggs and more meat over rice.
I wanted to try the cold noodles, but we had way too much food on the table already, so next time. They also serve a room temperature barley tea instead of water, which was interesting.
Service was very good, even though there seemed to be only person there.
I have heard a lot about Nashville hot chicken. Seems to pop up in a lot of food shows. I haven’t been to Nashville since I was a kid and not likely to get there anytime soon. So I was out and about and saw Dave’s Hot Chicken. It was lunch time and I was hungry so I thought why not?
Ordered the one tender and one slider meal which came with fries. Ordered it at the hot spice level. There are two spicier. I like spicy food but as this was my first time I figured I would restrain myself and not go with the reaper level of spiciness.
The tender was on a slice of white bread. There were some pickle slices and a container of Dave’s sauce. The slider had some slaw and pickle slices on it.
The chicken was heavily seasoned. Took a bite of the tender first. It was spicy but not incendiary. Dipped some in the sauce which frankly tasted like a mix of mayo and ketchup. The chicken was cooked fine. Moist. Took a bite of the sandwich. The bread and pickles tones down the heat.
All in all it was a decent fast food fried chicken meal. But I didn’t get the love of this dish though. The spicy chicken seems a bit of a gimmick to me. Maybe next time I have to do reaper to see what all the fuss is about. In the meantime I still prefer Popeyes.
I think there’s also a considerable difference between vegans with religious or cultural backgrounds that are vegan or vegetarian , and those who grew up omnivorous then go vegan.
The woman who owns Dirt Candy went to my high school in Toronto. I still haven’t tried it.
I don’t remember eating at the Chinatown one, though I must have at some point.
The noodles are pretty tasteless on their own of course, so my issue was that the sauce / topping wasn’t flavorful enough or plentiful enough to make the dish sing. (Xian for eg does not have this issue.)
Dumplings were good, a lot better than similar options.
i went with a friend and we tried two dishes, the noodles didnt have any chew, sauce blamd, couldn’t really tell they were homemade. i’ll have to try the beef soup next time, that’s what I had and liked in chinatown.
the fried dumplings were the best i’ve had on the ues, while we were there someone bought 100 frozen, don’t recall the price but it seemed reasonable.
Yep, also my experience. I would not have guessed they’re handmade either. They were pretty blah. I could have used another order (or two) of dumplings instead.
If I had freezer space this would be the rub — also Wu’s frozen wontons. But I don’t, so I’ll make do with the occasional small batch frozen purchase from flushing instead. And TJs
(Btw @vinouspleasure the next 2 on my UES takeout or lunch list are Bilao and Zabb Putawn.)
I used to love this place, and was afraid it wouldn’t reopen, so I was excited when it did over the summer!
My pick is usually the spicy pork U-wrap, so we got one of those and one of the cumin beef (turns out the pork is still the most popular — I got the last one an hour before they closed, and the long line behind me was not pleased )
First pick from google to show the whole thing, bec I forgot to take a pic before we split them.
The filling was a bit scant vs what I remember, but that might have been because they were running out. Though the beef was also a bit leff than it should have been. Also surprised that the beef was shredded (like pulled pork) vs. pieces.
Delicious, still, but more than double the original price. Not terribly expensive still.
I was at the new Tacombi on east 12th yesterday. Some Tacos are now $7. Only three months old and already going downhill from their promise of CDMX like street food. They already removed the Suadero from the menu (one of the reasons I came back). Tried to go to Ramirez but there were some BQE issues
Double? Pretty sure I paid $12 for the pork U, and it was maybe $8 in the pre days.
I compare their to Kati roll company pricing, which has gone up a lot more in the same period. A U is 50-75% bigger than a kati roll and is about the same price.
This used to be almost worth it for the quality, even though the pricing has always been out there. I had not been back in several years.
Assessment from this visit was that the quality is still better than most alternatives, but flavor has suffered. Everything was a watered-down version of itself.
We ordered quite a lot, both vegetarian and not. I’d the vegetarian dishes, the dumplings were well-made (though at $5 / dumpling, idk), the corn lemongrass main was nice, my friend really enjoyed the arugula mango salad, but I thought the truffle mushroom scallion pancake was barely a scallion pancake.
We got the rice cakes “vegetarian” as well, as in asked for the pork belly separately. That pork belly might have been the best bite of the light, cooked with char siu flavors. We also had the signature crispy beef which is definitely crispy though a waste of a dish imo, the truffled corn and shrimp dumplings - fine but gratuitous / misplaced truffle sauce again, the duck lettuce wraps - a good rendition of the dish, the steak fried rice - steak was juicy and flavorful but the rice was pretty flavorless, and the grilled pork chops - supposed to be the vietnamese lemongrass kind but no marinade could be detected and the meat was topped with vegetables in an unnecessary brown sauce: this was my biggest disappointment of the evening.
Dessert was also a mixed bag - lemon tart was lovely, chocolate cake was sad.
Cocktails were good, if on the sweet side.
No need for me to go back other than for the duck sometime, if that.
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