the middle wasn’t soggy, the bake doesn’t look much like da michelle naples though.
Here’s a stand-in for the Toshkent Hot Dog that I passed up while walking with Doug and Toni.
I needed four bites, or maybe five, to reach the namesake of my royal hot dog at Lavash Uz N1 (Uz for Uzbekistan, N1 for number one) in Kensington, Brooklyn. The boiled dog itself was humdrum, but the whole — including julienned carrots and noodle salad that are staples of Korean-Uzbek cuisine, plus sliced tomatoes and matchstick fries — was better than I hoped.
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Sautéed grouper fillet country style, from a solo visit to Yuanzaibing (aka King Kong NY), 102-104 Mott St., Manhattan. Although this wasn’t quite the equal of a similar Toisanese dish at Farmers Restaurant in Bensonhurst — I’ve traveled there just for that one dish — Mott St. is much more convenient. Worth a revisit when we’re looking for a newer Chinatown group-dining venue.
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yes! that looks very tasty!
indeed, count me in!
Met with a group of guys at Au Cheval. Ordered way too much food.
After several starters, we split the steak sandwich which was outstanding
Then several burgers that were fully loaded with bacon and fried eggs with a couple orders of fries. The burgers were almost too much. Could have been fried tofu for the amount of beef I tasted. The fries were perfect.
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Despite the fact that I go to Chicago fairly often for business, I’ve never had an Italian beef sandwich. As I am still on my extended break I have been exploring my lunch options around the city so I tried the sandwich at Bobbi’s in Brooklyn. Having nothing to compare it to, I found it to be very tasty. Could have used more gardiniera. I did like the way the juice soaked into the bread.
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Dave,
That hot dog looks fabulous. The addition of matchstick fries to the non and the noodles makes it triple carbs! Seems innovative and I’ll bet I would love it.
But is “better than I hoped” maybe like damning with diplomatic ambiguity?
I was unambiguously enthusiastic about Toshkent Hot Dog in Brighton Beach. I’ll admit I’m a big hot dog fan in general, so maybe my reaction should be discounted, but Toni also thought it was really good (though perhaps a tad less enthusiastic than me).
Toshkent Hot Dog is right on Brighton Beach and is takeout only (well, there was one plastic table and some chairs out front, but the awning provided little shade).
The two young men working the counter were very helpful and friendly.
After our trip to Uzbekistan last year, I’d been trying without much success to figure out what the standard ingredients in an Uzbek hot dog were. I’d had one in Tashkent with noodles, but ChatGPT solemnly informed me that this was not a common ingredient in Uzbek. I asked the kid if he’d ever heard of putting noodles on an Uzbek hot dog and he just laughed and pointed to the tray of noodles among the other toppings.
They also happily walked me through the process of assembling an Uzbek hot dog. The in-store menu offers only two options, the “original” and the King Assorty.
We opted for the King Assorty, figuring that with a hot dog, more is always better.
The first step is straightforward. You start with the big piece of non (the bun) and two wieners and slather on some mayo and (don’t tell Clint Eastwood) some ketchup.
Next were the meats. Their online menu says the King Assorty “overflows with a rich assortment of premium meats: juicy sausages, tender turkey slices, savory beef tongue, and succulent chunks of shashlik.”
Honestly, the meats seemed more generic than that – not a criticism, since a hot dog is all about the gestalt, not the individual ingredients – and I’m 100% sure there was no shashlik and I’m doubtful there was tongue.
Then a bunch of lettuce and tomato (you can still see one of the weenies just peeking out at the bottom).
Next some cucumbers and the noodles.
Then the Korean-influenced fermented shredded carrots.
Nearing the finish line, time to add some more mayo, some mustard, and, of course, some canned corn niblets.
Then, to finish, a few jalapenos and black olives.
The finished product was a thing of beauty. A single King Assorty was a hearty meal for two people. Here the whole is definitely more than the sum of the parts.
It’s definitely a kind of throw-in-the-kitchen sink dish, reminiscent of American slumgullion and Dad chili (I once told guest the secret ingredient in my chili was bleach and they believed me), Korean budae jigae (Army camp stew, complete with spam, American cheese, kimchee, a fried egg, and a bunch of other stuff that American soldiers would have discarded), and Egyptian koshary.
Of critical importance was the sturdiness of the non. An American hot dog on a white bread bun would have disintegrated into a soggy mess, but the non held up until the last bite.
Well worth the trip to Brighton Beach, highly recommended.
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I ate at Bobbi’s back when it first opened, when it was still in the DeKalb food court. It was good, but don’t let it substitute for the real thing the next time you get back to Chicago.
A few years back, a friend and I were in Chicago for a class reunion. We had decided to splurge and had made reservations at Topolobampo, Rick Bayless’s famous Mexican place, a critics’ fave (it’s on its 12th year of a Michelin star and won the James Beard Award for Outstanding Restaurant in the US), but it’s very expensive.
I suggested we should stop for a little pre-meal snack at Portillo’s, a local Chicago chain known for its Italian beef and Chicago-style hot dogs. Jack, my friend strongly objected, saying that he was not going to ruin his appetite for an expensive, famous restaurant by eating chain food just a couple of hours before dinner.
I confidently went ahead and ordered both. Jack grudgingly took a bite of the Italian beef and the hot dog, grumbling the whole time. Then he proceeded to eat way more than his share of Italian beef and hot dog (as I knew he would once he took a bite), juices dripping all over both of us.
Bobbi’s is good, but it’s not Portillo’s.
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That’s the kind of clarity sages spend years seeking.
But here the enlightened one stumbles 
the path to one of my clients took me right past jimmy buffs italian hot dogs, I really tried to love them but for me, the sum was less than the parts. Still, if you’re in the area, give it a try. the hot dog, sausage combo was my favorite.
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Did you try any of their savories?
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If you do half and half with the gardiniera and hot peppers I find that they give you a good amount.
Also, the Italian beef Cubano is way tastier than it has any right to be. Although even finishing half gives you instant regrets. (Thankfully there’s only one location and no need for calorie counts.)
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No Mac and Cheese? That’s one of my favorite items there
We’re not exactly spoiled for great Chinese food on the UES, so while passing through GCT last night we stopped at Best Szechuan on 47th and 5th. Both the food and service were excellent, and the place is clearly a hit with young Asian families. By the time we left, there was a line out the door.
No photos but this massive fish dish was on a lot of tables.
Best (pun intended),
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ICYMI – Carbone has been hiding their health dept B grade for a while.
A check of the public access site must not be standard for NYT reporting, given that their boondoggle visiting all the Carbones, with multiple visits to the original, had no mention.
(And, because no look at the health dept site ever ends at one, Semma has a B, so do Rosa Mexicano and Venchi, the gelato chain. Bo Ky has an A)
.
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Went back last week. The dishes we had were not bad, just not as good as the first time. The beef appetizer was tasty but rather one-dimensional. Lamb was good but not as good as the duck. Tiger prawns were quite good.
Would go back but on the whole we still prefer Baazi.
Tried La Dong this week. Vietnamese on 17th St. off Union Square. Same owners as Thai Villa. We liked it very much. Here is a link to my blog post:
Robert that makes me very happy! At first, due to either bad glasses or to poor eyesight, I read it as DA DONG.
LA DONG sounds good and easy to reach for me…thank you, once again!
Once I can figure out how to get my laptop keyboard back to English, I may be more understandable but for now, thank you! Yet again!!! Always enjoy your posts!
On the way to dera in Jackson heights, my bbq attuned sense of smell detected meat over charcoal:
Struck up a conversation with the young owner and decided upon a Pakistani style beef Behari roll. Not for the faint of heart, the spicing and flavors were so strong, it was hard to recognize the meat had been grilled. Will try a chicken roll next time
After browsing dera, decided to walk down to saranrom, snagged last table, couldn’t resist ordering the crispy pork in basil sauce. Delicious! We should really have a HO lunch here.
here’s what makes NYC great, can’t help but think our president is going to mess this up.
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