Bayon review is up on Eater
A new vegan Vietnamese place soft-opened on East Broadway yesterday (I think it was previously elsewhere as a popup), so I went to check it out. The menu is short, but composed of greatest hits: summer rolls, banh mi, etc. The cheerful little room was crowded (all those SLRs take up some space) and thus too claustrophobic for me, so I got takeout.
I went with the Hue noodle soup, which came with a big slab of tofu and one of (I think) seitan, plus a plethora of fresh vegetables (and some long-cooked carrots and mushrooms). Generally excellent, springy noodles, very hearty.
And the lotus root salad, which was a triumph of varied textures, but a little too in-your-face with the sweet and tart. Tragically, I waited too long to eat it, and the chips (which can’t be shrimp chips, so I’m not sure what they are) had gone soggy. Alas.
Welcome to the neighborhood, Sen Saigon!
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I’ve eaten at Chez Napoléon several times since I moved my second, country home from Long Island to Hell’s Kitchen in 2009. The food’s more solidish than spectacular, but the place holds memories for me. It was there that friends and I consoled ourselves with soufflés after standing in line from 5 a.m. till 2 p.m. for tickets to see Pacino play Shylock in the Park and failing. It was there that we took a relative who was having a tough time for cassoulet. Across the street from New World Stages, it was also our go-to spot for pre-theater dinner when we went to something there (NWS).
And, the kitschy decor is worth at least one visit, especially the jigsaw puzzle art on the walls.
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Love RVR, for the food more than the vodka
Same, although they do make an excellent bloody mary (it’s called something else). The eel salad and the smelt sandwich are favorites of mine.
It is a place would jump on! I didn’t see the planning post for that latest excursion - sorry I missed it.
Eater used to have a great feature ‘Who Goes There?’ You know those places you walk by and wonder “Who actually dines there?”
I miss Brooks of Sheffield desperately.
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After our son’s improv show we walked over to ktown for kfc at turntable lp and karaoke. Thankfully we far too early for karaoke and coincidentally arrived at the tail end of happy hour.
Ordered 20 wings, half spicy, half soy/garlic and an order of handcut fries. Fries were fantastic, the wings good not great as we prefer the drier style found at places like mad for chicken and bon chon.
Very cool room with 1000s of lps, rock posters and old stereo equipment. We probably won’t be back but one could do a lot worse in ktown and happy hour pricing made it a great deal.
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Second trip to Cadence, with the same friend (who keeps kosher, so we always go to vegan places). There are some winners and losers on that menu. We had the fried lasagna last time, which was very good. As was this nice palm cake, over spicy slaw.
You could pass it off as a crab cake to someone who’s not paying close attention.
The mac and cheese was not as successful, not least because it was served lukewarm. The vegan cheese wasn’t bad, but the dish was overall kind of dull, despite its smokiness and jerk seasoning. My friend (who is kind of an asshole, if you must know) told the server- unnecessarily! - that we didn’t like it, and they took it off the check. We also had the biscuits with gravy, which took forEVER to arrive, and by that time I was just carbed out.
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Ha. I am notorious for sending back lukewarm dishes at restaurants. My friends have a stock imitation of me saying “Ice. Cold.” while I hand the dish back.
Ya think? More or less than Krab?
(My grandmother swore I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between jackfruit curry and chicken curry, but I’ve actually eaten chicken, sooooooo 
)
Do you actually speak that way to the servers or your friends are giving you a good ribbing?
Less. But it’s crispy and bread-y, and the palm shreds like crabmeat. So a reasonable facsimile of, say, the crab cake you’d get over spaghetti in a diner.
I am reminded of our favorite thai restaurant near our place in florida, one evening we opened the menu to find they’d crossed out the “C” in Crabmeat and hand-written “K” for about ten menu entries 
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First time at Wayla, which vies with Cadence for the worst lighting in a restaurant.
Papaya salad, pretty standard, but solid. Spicy as advertised.
Crab fried rice was excellent, and so crabby that my non-seafood-loving friend couldn’t deal with it. Long beans with tofu and galangal was more pedestrian, as was the vegetable curry, which did have the advantage of a very nice array - brussels sprouts, carrots, potatoes, tomatoes, etc.
The fancydrinks were better than expected, by which I mean that of the three I tried, none of them was a sugar bomb. I kind of loved the subterranean space, but a little more light would be welcome for this old half blind lady.
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This was a one and done for us years back, but the crab fried rice I remember was good.
I like the food there, but have only eaten there in good weather, when the garden is open.
