Looking for one great dish, any borough

Um, Gray’s Papaya is not closing soon (if’n you meant the one, and only, on Broadway and 72nd)? It was some East Side papaya place that is closing.

Square slice at Mama’s Too.

My current (and for a few years) favorite swoony dish: Lumache w/white Bolognese at Portale. I’d have it at the bar with one of their terrific negronis; my personal favorite is the Mezcal and orange one. I have to say, the roast chicken at Frenchette was pretty incredible, but I’ve only tried it once. Will be going back, for sure. They also have a bar there you can eat at solo, if that’s a preference.

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Rowdy Rooster for great Indian fried chicken. Tiny place, more of a to go place but, worth a detour https://www.rowdyrooster.com/

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Which dish?

Sorry, my confusion (will blame it on how many tasty things we ate that day) — Quicitop (Followsoshi successor per Dave) had the roasted cold noodles (that were kind of like Jianbing but different?) The same space has takeout dim sum, seemed to be an outpost of Dim Sun Garden across the street.

Liang pi were in the NY food court beforehand — that’s also where Distinctive is, home of the seafood crispy rice “ball” and other delights.

Ok, I got it now. Too many decisions to make. Wish I could stay an extra week, but 3 nights will be my maximum.

Just to add: Last time I was in NY I was floored by Totonno’s. It’s a style of pizza I can’t get anywhere else. What attracts me about the cold roasted noodles is that they seem like something I can’t get in my neck of the woods… and probably most places in the US. I have several places where I live to get liangpi, one of which is very impressive.

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their fried chicken, its all good

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You’ve got lots of great options here, Steve so I’ll add just five more.

Anticuchos, Antojitos Doña Fela, Jackson Heights, Queens
Street vendor on Roosevelt Ave. near the northwest corner with 90th St., Friday 10am-6pm, Saturday and Sunday 6:30am-6pm (though anticuchos are usually available only from early afternoon)

Black and white puddings, Ousha's produce stand, Richmond Hill, Queens

Guyanese black and white puddings, Ousha’s produce stand, Richmond Hill, Queens
Street vendor on Liberty Ave. near the northeast corner with 114th St.; at last encounter, weekdays (except Wednesday) after 3pm, weekends after 1pm

Mangu con tres golpes, El Nuevo Bohio Restaurant, Morrisania, Bronx

Punjene paprike, stuffed peppers, Cevabdzinica Sarajevo (aka Sarajevo Fast Food), Astoria, Queens

Thiebu djeun (red), Keur Coumba, West 116th Street, Manhattan. This Senegalese restaurant prepares both red and white versions of “cheb” on a rotating basis; both are good.

Should you decide to stay in New York on Friday night and drive back home on Saturday, you might consider a roundabout path via the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge to Pig Island, at Snug Harbor on Staten Island. I’ve never attended this annual event, but various meat-loving friends tell me good things.

I hope that you’ll prepare and share an itinerary so we can see, ahead of time, just how many places you hope to try on your all-too-brief visit!

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thanks nina, i was thinking of papaya king! two other squares cone to mind, the grandma slice at ny oizza suprema is thought to be best in nyc by a number of pro pizzamakers and somehow we missed l&b spumoni, which is a hike but imo should be on everyone’s bucket list.

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I keep forgetting to go there.

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this has been on my list for a bit but admit to getting a little tired of chicken sandwiches. otoh, I believe it was samuel johnson who said something like when one is tired of fried chicken, one is tired of life :slight_smile:

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dave, continue to be in awe of the breadth of food you’ve experienced!

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Its ok to keep forgetting it. As pizza, their famous square has been one of my least favorite slices since I was a kid (& that is a lot of years). The dough is soft, the cheese is melted onto it & then sauce is put on top. Just “wrong”, according to this non-opinionated Brooklynite. However, if you find yourself having a meal at the adjacent restaurant, order it, as it makes a great focaccia to eat with either apps or mains. And the spumoni is great. Actually, their round slices aren’t bad either.

I consider myself pretty experienced with places most folks have never gone to & I’d guess that well over half of the “out of the way” interesting places that I’ve gone to over many years throughout NYC (from Sri Lankan in Staten Island, to East European mom and pop places in Bklyn to underground Chinese food malls in Queens) have been with Dave. I’d also guess that Dave would estimate that I’ve only been with him on far fewer than 1% of his food excursions. I am in awe as well.

Yeah, I third that impressed reaction. I had to look up what half the dishes were he was recommending! Looking forward to some fall excursions!

it is annoying not to be able to fix spelling errors after a couple of hours, how long do we have to edit?

I think if you highlight your post, you can use the little pencil to edit. No sharpening necessary! Maybe not? Nope, no editor needed. I’m going hog-wild with the little pencil. Ahhh, I see, pencil disappears after a while!

It’s possible to ask a Mod to edit your post after the window closes.

An hour

unsurprisingly, two people disagreeing over a slice of pizza :smile: My experience has been that if one throws out preconceived notions about how a NYC square should taste, you’re presented with a well-made slice of pizza that is devilishly hard to replicate. And like Mama’s Too and Upside, it’s nice to find someone in NYC beating to a different drum. Having said that, for a visitor, probably best to start with the classics.

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They also do buckets of chicken