New York suggestions for over Labor Day weekend

So, for Labor Day weekend we're visiting friends and family in NYC. At least one dinner will be home cooked (by my sister and her boyfriend - he's an associate producer of multiple cooking shows, recipe editor for cooking books, and has sold a cookbook on brunch he is writing with a well known NYC restauranteur - so "home cooked" from them is a fairly high standard).

Last time in NYC we made a trek out to try what was supposed to be the "best" Thai restaurant in the city - our meal was extremely disappointing to say the least, not helped I'm sure by weather so cold that a bottle of water I had literally froze when I opened it outside) - but the food was fairly bland and not all at relevatory.

We probably want to go to some places in NYC, mostly in Manhattan, which are hard to find similar places in Chicago. So probably one trip to a good deli for real bagels is in order, perhaps some great Malaysian (sure we have Penang but that's about it for Chicago) but suggestions are quite welcome.

For this trip we probably don't have the budget to try fine dining in Manhattan, so are looking for ethnic places or inexpensive specials (pizza, bagels, delis etc). (We're saving funds for a winter trip to India)

thanks!

Shannon

(I'll be sure to report back on what we try)

Keeping in the "chow" vein, Shannon, I will make three off the beaten trail recommendations to you for inexpensive and good fare in Manhattan.

I keep recommending "A Salt and Battery" a Scottish fry shop located on Greenwich Ave (not to be confused with Greenwich Street) between 7th and 8th Aves in the West Village. You can get everything from outstanding fresh fried fish and chips to a deep fried Mars bar there. Fish and Chips will run you about ten bucks there (hey, its New York). If there is something like it in Chicago, I haven't seen it.

John's Pizza in the Village is an old standby. However, John's outpost of 44th Street near Eighth Avenue is a more comfortable place to enjoy John's fantastic Pizza. The room is a converted church complete with beautiful stained glass and some great art. John's Pizza is real NY thin style cooked in a brick oven. Its thin, but not completely crisp-as good New York Pizza should be. The entrance is right outside the A.C,E subway stop on the East side of Eighth Ave at 44th.

The real Jewish deli thing has been beaten to death here in the past few days. And there are some great recommendations therein.

For Bagels, my choice would be H&H on the Upper East Side. Bagels are fresh made on the spot. Ask for whatever is warm with some veggie cream cheese.

While you're up there, be sure to stop by the Schaller and Webber Meat Shop on 2nd Ave near East 86th. Its one of the last vestiges of the old Yorktown Neighborhood and an excellent purveyor of german style sausages.

And, since you're in the hood, you might as well venture over to Papaya King (3rd Ave and 86th)for a couple of their "filet mignons" on a bun (well done with mustard and kraut) and an icy cold papaya drink. That's really something you'll never get in Chicago.

Will - thanks for the great suggestions.

I remember hearing about a place that does only rice pudding - has anyone tried it? Sounded amusing. I may also try to get back to Pommes Frittes - which I haven't been to in many years - can be great but ban also be only okay.

thanks,

Shannon

If you're looking for creative Asian, I'd highly recommend

Cendrillon
45 Mercer St (Grand)
New York (SoHo)
http://www.cendrillon.com

The owners are Chinese-Filipino, and they really do a lot of interesting things. I don't remember a lot of the specifics, it was over a year, but I remember being wowed.

H&H bagels are a must - they also have an outpost and distro center (and maybe bakery, if i remember) on the west side around 10/11th ave and upper 40's/lower 50's.

For creative Asian, we love the Elephant around 1st and 1st , although it was better a few years back and was a bit trendy. Its Thai with French infulences.

Decent tapas, gone a bit downhill since we lived there, but a fun place is Xunta, 1st ave around 10th. Across the street is Venerios, nice italian dessert place with good cannoli.

John's pizza is very good, for a quick slice, Joe's is good as well.

I think the best Ethiopian I have ever had is at meskerem, on w 47th around 10th.

LO

Shannon,

You might want to take a look at Evil Ronnie's and my posts on recent visits to Manhattan http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.ph ... =manhattan.

Also, here is a review of the Spotted Pig, NY's first gastro-pub http://www.newyorkmetro.com/nymetro/foo ... d/n_10089/, which I wish I had seen prior to my trip.

Rich4 wrote:If you're looking for creative Asian, I'd highly recommend

Cendrillon
45 Mercer St (Grand)
New York (SoHo)
http://www.cendrillon.com

The owners are Chinese-Filipino, and they really do a lot of interesting things. I don't remember a lot of the specifics, it was over a year, but I remember being wowed.

Rich,

Thanks for this most excellent suggestion.

My quick review follows: One of my ALL TIME best meals.

Some mind blowingly great dishes and everything from the wine to the food was well nigh perfect, and the price was beyond right - doubled checked it but it was still way under what I expected, and vastly lower than I would have gladly paid.

Our meal started with three appetizers (everything sounded so good and we were quite hungry so decided why not). I had the daily special of an "heirloom tomato salad" (more on that amazing dish in a bit), Julia had the Watercress & corn soup with crab dumplings, then we shared their "beef salad".

My heirloom tomato salad was an amazing combination of perfectly ripe fresh heirloom tomatoes (of many varieties), some watermelon radish strips, basil, and "tomato ice" - which was blocks of shaved ice (somewhat like italian ice) of tomato essense with some herbs and spices. All topped by great olive oil and a hint of vineager. Truly one of the best salads I've ever had at any type of restaurant, and a dish that would have more than held it own with the best of a 4 star restaurant (the fresh tomatoes contrasted by the cool tomato ice, all carefully balanced with just a hint of dressing, so as some of the tomato ice melted the dish still remained great to the last sliver of tomato on the bottom.

Julia's soup was quite good - very light and flavorful with crab dumplings that were both perfectly fried and full of real crab flavor (and texture).

The beef salad was very thin strips of air cured beef, almost beef jerky like, with a ton of flavor. It was on top of a truly excellent salad, lots of very fresh ingrediants, great mixed greens, but also expertly cleaned and dressed - full of flavor but without any excess moisture - quite amazing and our third dish where we completely cleaned the plate.

We elected to go with wines by the glass, selecting a glass each of the whites they had available, both were excellent and at $8.00 a bargain. For future reference however, their wine list is both quite extensive and full of great bargains - plenty of selections which were under $20 a bottle (nearly unheard of in Chicago and startling to see in NYC) In addition they have a wide selection of beers, sake, and other drinks - no one in your party will be disappointed. And the non-drinkers can pick from the dozen plus pots of rare teas (green, white, and black plus a few herbals).

For our entrees, Julia had the Pad Thai with grilled squid. Very good, with again perfectly cooked food, the squid prepared exactly right. I had the spareribs which were smoked with a dry rub, then topped by a sauce served with mashed sweet potato and taro and a cooked green vegetable. The ribs were quite good and flavorful (very spicy).

For dessert we had Halo Halo, which is a traditional Philipino dessert, albeit here served with a lot of care and very high quality ingrediants (too many to list, but lots of various fruits, agar agar, toasted young rice, purple yam ice cream and more - very tasty and a great end to a nearly perfect meal.

We ended the meal talking with the chef for a while, we were one of the last tables and he stopped by to say hello, then ended up sitting down and talking with us.

Not just a good meal, but one of our all time best - Cendrillon is now on the top of my list for NYC and one of the few restaurants I have ever been to that is so good that I will make a point of going there every time I am back in NYC, and if I lived here, a place I would almost certainly go to once a month (or more if occasions warrented it).

Besides Dinner, they have a lunch menu with different dishes, and a Sunday Brunch menu with a very wide range of Philipino dishes offered - both meals I plan on trying on future visits.

(our bill was a bit over $100 with tip, a bargain anywhere, not just in NYC for food this good, prepared with this much skill and creativity, and with such high quality ingrediants).

Shannon

Shannon Clark wrote:Thanks for this most excellent suggestion.

My quick review follows: One of my ALL TIME best meals.

Sounds like you had a great meal, Shannon. Your review took me back there and I wish I could have stayed, or at least go back for more.
Thanks for sharing the review, I'm glad you liked it.

Thanks for the Cendrillion recommendation. I'll be in New York on business later this month and look forward to trying it out.