Dammit! I don’t get up there enough.
Did you go to Grain House much when you lived nearby? I recently went for my first post-pandemic visit and we liked it better than Han, but I haven’t eaten the same dishes at SG so won’t compare (agree with you re lack of consistency there, my friends nearby prefer to order from Han though it’s further and more expensive for that reason). Always well populated by what appear to be Chinese students from Columbia.
Have Thai Market nearby on my list, not sure if it existed when you were in the neighborhood.
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How often are you in the area?
When school is in session, about 2x a semester
Yes, but that’s a different perspective. OP asked where to eat in the neighborhood while living there for a few days, or at least that’s how I read it.
Of all the meals I eat out, I probably eat out a lot more in other neighborhoods, but I eat in the neighborhood plenty even then. Hard not to, unless one wants to get on a subway for every meal ever eaten out.
we’ve been to grain house and ordered takeout during the pandemic. we thought certain dishes like mapo tofu and pork belly were better than sg but do love the cumin lamb and szechuan style kung pao chicken at sg. At some point I thought the problem might come down to what days certain chefs were in the kitchen. Post-pandemic, it got really variable/disappointing.
we had a couple of meals at han, I thought the food faux-szechuan but to be fair, didn’t sample enough of the menu and we were thrilled with sg at the time. However, i trust your palate and if you think it’s good, I’m sure it is. People rave about thai market and it’s always crowded but it didn’t do it for me.
there was certainly enough to keep us interested when we lived on the uws. between sg, manhattan valley, akbar (closed), bahn, absolute, broadway diner, koko wings, malaysian grill, mamas too, sal and carmine, xian (sadly closed), flor, mermaid inn happy hour, etc. To be honest, living on the UES has been a plus as it motivates us to travel outside the area a lot more since we don’t love the food/prices.
best,
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As I mentioned, I grew up just outside the City and i’m familiar with many of its neighborhoods, and I’ve used the subway since I was in my teens (Im in .my 70s now. My City born dad taught me to parallel park in midtown!
This is is a very short trip and we’d prefer to just hang in THIS neighborhood. Now that Covid is less of a threat, we’ll get back into our routine of coming down several times a year and parking ourselves in other neighborhoods.
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Szechuan Garden is inconsistent, sadly
I forgot, Atlas Kitchen is supposed to be very good Chinese.
@DaveCook that’s the place I was talking about but couldn’t remember the name of (and then forgot to circle back on) — Atlas Kitchen
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we ate at atlas kitchen once, probably ordered the wrong dishes based on an eater article, would be interesting to go back w a large group.
Absolute Bagels. I really like the egg bagels the most here with plain cream cheese.
Zabar’s. Skip the bagels and babka. Get the belly lox and knishes.
Breads Bakery. Babka.
Barney’s Greengrass. Order the Tony Bourdain favorite of lox, onions, and scrambled eggs. Some sturgeon and chopped livers as well.
Mama’s Too. Really good focaccia square pizzas. The upside down and angry nonna are my favorite.
Pastrami Queen has a UWS location. Never had it.
Not the most exciting area in NYC to dine. Good places for a quick breakfast/snack before the museums and Central Park.
The 1 Train is very convenient to get around quickly on the UWS. Some of the suggestions above are 10 plus blocks in location.
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@leg Following your thread, as B, spring onion, and I may be staying in “the big city” after spending a few days with my brother in Westchester. A friend offered up her parents’ UWS apartment to us (I don’t know the location yet). Spring Onion loves the Natural History Museum but has yet to visit the art museums. We’re excited!
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Lots of great (IMO) places on these lists, so I’ll just highlight Chama Mama from @Saregama’s. It’s Georgian food, and fun and tasty. Carbs, meat and cheese, what could be bad? (Actually lots of veggie vegan dishes too.)
Why is it so many of us haven’t really tried Atlas Chicken? I’m game to go…
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Yes to Chama Mama, their ADJAPSANDALI is tasty
I’ve eaten once at Atlas Kitchen, solo. Even in the absence of a large round table, I’d like to revisit. Below: Egg drop and seaweed soup; braised pork belly (hong shao rou).
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I’d like to like braised pork belly but have a hard time with unrendered fat. I have the same problem with roast pig unless I can get a leaner cut.
As a curiosity, how do you ingest rendered fat?
Well, you could keep the liquid fat that separates, for example from the cracklings in roast pork, and re-solidify it in the fridge to use as cooking fat (and ingest it that way), but I think what @vinouspleasure was saying that if it is still on the meat, it is hard for him to digest if he is eating fat that way. Braising pork doesn’t really render the fat.
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apologies, not sure I understand the question or perhaps you’re making a joke but @ninkat is correct, I don’t enjoy consuming big pieces of pork fat. When I smoke pork belly, I cook cook low and slow until most of the fat is rendered.
best,
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