I had the rosemary naan at Bread Bar too. I was looking through the pics and shaking my head in surprise that @small_h had stopped there. But naan aside maybe it has improved since a change of management (when?) . Joy was never bad but never really worth in the past.
Aha!
My friend picked it for her b’day, because cheap, because byob, because many vegetarian options, because easy table for six on a Saturday night, because a couple of blocks from her house and very close to Bar Goto Niban, where we had pre-dinner drinks.
There really wasn’t a clunker among all the dishes we ordered (except maybe the poori, and that might be because I don’t really like poori that much).
Naan’s on second…
No, its “Wu’s on first”.
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sounds like good reasons esp byob and table for 6 on a Saturday night!
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Dinner for six last night at Bjork (inside the Scandinavia House on Park & 37th). Lots and lots of Scandinavian goodness, but the dishes started to feel redundant (shrimp, egg, herring, beet, potato, repeat as needed) and seemed more suited to lunch than dinner (salad, sandwich, appetizer plate). Still, I like all these ingredients (except the brisket, which I did not try). And the dill/caraway/fennel-infused aquavit was awesome. Note that 90% of the cocktails are either non-alcoholic or low ABV, so if that’s your thing, you’ve found your happy place.
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thanks for the reminder, I like this place and it looks like it has expanded its menu a bit!
Check the website - there’s lots we didn’t order. When were you there last?
A second visit, this time with reinforcements (@SteveR). But very light on the Szechuan, in deference to our heat-averse spouses. I don’t think these dishes are the restaurant’s strengths, but they were fine nonetheless, and I am deeply in love with the decor and the staff.
Vegetable dumplings. The skins were a little dry, but the filling was very nice.
Mung bean jelly noodles. Very firm texture, different than what I make at home. And not all that fiery Maybe the servers took note of the totality of our order and adjusted accordingly. (Note blurry scallion pancakes in the upper left - I liked these more than I usually like scallion pancakes, because they were very cleanly fried and very thin.)
Orange chicken. No opinion on this, as I did not eat it. But it looks very nostalgic!
Fish filets with ginger and scallion (I always love this) and walnut shrimp, which I was less enamored of. Too breaded.
We definitely hit our broccoli quota!
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Looks good, but not very Sichuan
Like I said, we were with non-spicy eaters and making dinner safe for them.
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“I think she meant the rosemary naan, not Joy.”
Insert emoji of your choice here.
Thanks for alerting us to this. We went last night and really enjoyed it. Started with the steamed dumplings, then had duck curry (great roti!), braised pork belly, and sticky rice. All nicely spiced and just the right portion sizes.
The space is small, with rather tight seating, and very loud when full, so not a place I would choose for a leisurely dinner with friends, but perfect for a delicious simple dinner for 2.
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Excellent! Glad you enjoyed.
TENGRI TAGH UYGHUR CUISINE
I’ve been wanting to try this small midtown place for a long time, nice to finally make it there with @JenKalb and @vinouspleasure.
We tried a few things with past points of reference, and everything was generally good to excellent in my opinion. Generous portions but not-inexpensive pricing.
They have pared back their menu significantly, removing many of the more laborious dishes like the dumplings and the gosh naan.
Still, what we ate was delicious and I’d go back.
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– Cumin lamb – excellent. They did not hold back on the spice (both sichuan pepper and chilli), good balance of cumin.
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– Pearl noodles – very good (I liked these more than others did). They were saucy rather than dry-fried when they arrived, but soaked up the juices as they sat. Bits of beef, peppers, and tomato and a hint of celery. I liked the balance better in this vs the version at Tarim, which had way too much celery (which I dislike) on my last visit, though that was better stir-fried.
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– Braised chicken with potatoes (and flat noodles) – good. Different than the versions at either of the Spicy Villages or Laghman Express, but well-spiced and flavorful. I liked it more with a splash of vinegar.
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– Fungus sauteed with cabbage – good. What we got was actually celery, not cabbage, but I think that’s because some menus say celery and others cabbage. I would have preferred cabbage, but hey. This was nice, but I missed the pickle and spice flavors of the cold woodear salad.
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@JenKalb can tell us how the samsa and the stir-fried noodles were when she’s partaken of them.
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KOPITIAM (again)
I remember them having a few more substantial things on the menu when we last visited that I wanted to go back to try, but they weren’t on the menu anymore. But we (@JenKalb @vinouspleasure) ate well anyway.
I was sad they didn’t have the Otak Otak again, and it made me wonder if they ever actually have it.
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— Pandan chicken – I love the flavors in this.
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— Curry Puff — the flavor was fine, but would have been much better heated up.
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— Pulut Panggang / banana leaf-wrapped sticky rice stuffed with dried shrimp – this was dried out on the edges, and a bit lacking in flavor given the stuffing should have been potent. I liked the Bak Zhang we had last time better.
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— Char Kway Teow – this had an alert for “spicy” and for “25 mins” and neither was true. I liked it a lot, but the portion was very small, and missing the wok char that makes all the ho fun style dishes shine.
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— Mushrooms – delicious, very new / fresh flavors. King oyster mushrooms and shredded black fungus with interesting seasonings including curry leaves, soy, vinegar, chillies, and more.
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— Water Spinach with Sambal-- the shrimp paste overwhelmed the spinach here, and the dish is mysteriusly not served with rice (as opposed to the mushrooms)
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Probably better posted somewhere else but fairway is mirroring ShopRite’s sale on corned beef, $1.99 a pound, I used three to make Reubens for our extended family and have a couple in the freezer.
Best,
It’s an interesting price point, I liked the food but more than I’d want to spend on a regular basis for this type of lunch. I suppose it saves a long ride to Brooklyn.
It’s also odd how the price of dapanji seems to have increased everywhere, feels like some sort of informal price fixing.
Best,
It did strike me that halal meat is much more expensive than what non-halal chinese places serve, so on a relative basis it actually wasn’t proportionately more expensive.
