silentbob
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Everything posted by silentbob
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Ignore most of my foolish ramblings upthread. The dumplings are still a bit pricier than I would like, but they've made me a convert. Especially the "Mama's Special" which is borderline-crack addictive. I like pan-fried much better than steamed for the regular pork dumplings. The veggie ones are somewhat bland, probably not worth ordering again. The service is super-friendly to boot. -
Trials galore in 2007, which means I've had a dozen more lunches here during the past month. Good service, passable food. The "OB" salad is better than before, the vinaigrette seems to have a bit more zing and the red onions save the unremarkable greens. The burger is still bland but I do like the crustiness of the patty even when cooked medium-rare. Salmon salad remains blah as well. One saving grace of each meal has been the sesame flatbread. Addictive as hell, especially when dipped in the surprisingly decent butter.
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We went on Saturday morning. Place was nearly packed at 11:15. Overall experience was mixed. The good: Chicken feet - Lots of gelatinous goodness Taro dumplings - Perfectly fried, filling had great texture and a generous amount of shrimp/pork The okay: Steamed ribs in black bean sauce - Decent taste but not enough meat and too much fat Rice noodle roll - both the shrimp and beef versions were on the bland side The bad: Shumai - Possibly the worst I've ever had, everything was dry and bland from the skin to the meatball Turnip cake - Usually my favorite dish, this was borderline cold and had the texture of a brick I'm inclined to drive the extra 10 minutes to Wheaton next time.
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Dagger. Any cheesesteak place that might be open on 1/1?
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Dining in New York City
silentbob replied to jparrott's topic in New York City Restaurants and Dining
L'Impero, if four avenue blocks isn't too far to walk. -
Coincidentally, I had lunch there on the 18th (to accommodate a "healthy eater" co-worker). Appearance-wise, it sure didn't seem like a restaurant on death row. Food was slightly better than last time. I liked the sweetness of the red pepper soup, but was hoping for a thicker texture and more crab meat. Cuban sandwich was slightly under-seasoned but otherwise well-executed. Calamari was also perfectly fried. I wonder what (if anything) will take its place.
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I must have lucked out on the service lottery during our dinner two weekends ago. Nothing great, but friendly and passably competent. It also helped at we didn't mind lingering for a couple of hours because the pacing was definitely on the "leisurely" side. Food was decent for the large part. I liked the rich lardo, but was hoping for as big a portion as the veal sausage and beef tartare (both of which were fine, nothing special). The rabbit tasted like gamey fried chicken, which could be good or bad depending on your personal tastes. Loved the orange mayo, though there was not enough for such a large plate of food. My dining companions had the mussels (standard, but well-executed) and baked pasta (not my thing, but perfect texture). Highlight was definitely the strawberry salad dessert, as satisfying as everyone described upthread. We'll be back to try the bar menu.
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Indeed. Works for carbonara, why not risotto? It turned out well. Will definitely try egg yolk or celeriac at some point too. For some reason, I avoid rice with Chinese food (much to my mom's dismay) but love risotto.
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Dining in New York City
silentbob replied to jparrott's topic in New York City Restaurants and Dining
Driving up for the weekend. Anyone have experiences with and/or thoughts on Fatty Crab, Knife + Fork, and Kyotofu? I've come across some widely disparate reviews for all three. -
Agreed, and I think that Simply Ming is a vast improvement on his older shows (which weren't too shabby themselves). There's something about the "one master recipe that can be used to make several different types of dishes" concept that appeals to me very much. It also reminds me of a great Jean Georges/Mark Bittman cookbook that I've relied upon for years.
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One of my staple meals in recent weeks has been risotto with bacon. Recipe is fairly standard -- butter, bacon, onions, arborio, wine, stock, parmesan, heavy cream. I feel like adding something veggie-oriented that would mesh well with the bacon, but can't figure out what it should be. Peas? Carrots? Mushrooms? Something else?
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I wonder if Michael Scott would deem the pizza in Scranton described upthread as good as Sbarro.
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I dunno, that sounds like a long-winded way of saying that indifferent/bad service is excusable -- even "charming" -- as long as the food is very good (and the consensus does seem to be that the pizza here is all that). It seems hard to imagine that we would go out of our way to rationalize poor service at a place where the food is mediocre/bad. Some may even say that the two go hand-in-hand. But at a restaurant where the food is great, then the bad service suddenly becomes one of its quirks! Reasonable minds can disagree on the quality of service at Comet, but I think bad service shoud be called out as bad service, period. Not excused. Whether the quality of food nonetheless justifies a visit is, IMO, a completely separate issue.
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Over the last couple months of pub quiz, I've been alternating between the caesar salad and the chili. The chili is actually pretty good, and provides somewhat more kick than expected (though on a scale from 1 to 10, my spicyness tolerance is about a 5 or 6). This week, I gave the lobster bisque a shot. Mostly bland and harmless, though the one jumbo shrimp is decently grilled. I also had a bite of my friend's pesto pizza. Just say no to flabby crust.
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Thanks for the insights. How similar or different are your Waring fryers from this one sold at Amazon? It seems reasonably priced and I may even be able to get it for less using a 20 percent off coupon at BB&B.
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One just opened up in Rockville and I got coupons in the mail ($5 off $25 purchase or something like that). Anyone been yet? The prices seem reasonably competitive.
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This isn't exactly a gadget, but what do y'all think about deep fryers? Pros: fried food is good, more convenient? Cons: unitasker, can fry stuff with dutch oven that I already own Any recommendations/must avoids if I do decide to buy?
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Gulab jamun is the most fun to say, IMO. But shabu shabu is a close second. What do y'all think about the quality of the Free Range on Food and Lean Plate Club weekly online chats?
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Dining in San Francisco
silentbob replied to ustreetguy's topic in San Francisco Restaurants and Dining
I'm looking to get a gift certificate for my friend and her husband at a restaurant that offers a top-notch vegetarian tasting menu. From having looked around on the other boards, my understanding is that Greens is horribly overrated. But I've read some good things here and there about Fleur de Lys and Millennium. Anyone have thoughts between these two, or is there an even better option out there? -
Maybe they serve panini sandwiches and ramen noodles too. I had never heard of this chain before. Apparently, they are owned by Jack In The Box, which can't possibly bode well.
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I don't think the mere fact that the meal is under $10 inherently makes it a good deal. Maybe it's because I'm not used to paying a lot for dumplings (unless they're Anita Lo's foie gras soup dumplings at Annisa, mmmm). Let's say In-N-Out raised the price of a double-double to $8. Would I pay that much to have one? Hell yeah, because it's that damn good. But would it still be a great deal just because it's under $10? I don't know about that, especially when you can get something almost as tasty at Elevation Burger. That's how I feel about dumplings.
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Oh well, our dinner was mediocre at best. Best part of the meal was probably the ginormous plate of Italian meats (e.g., proscuitto, soppressata, mortadella) and tasty olives. I also liked the linguine with lobster special. But my gnocchi was totally heavy and undersauced, while the veal chop was slightly overcooked and underseasoned. Service was perfunctory and borderline inattentive at times. The out-of-towners thought the food was fine, but I doubt we'll be back anytime soon.
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I take back what I said about A&J, where the pot-stickers (while still great) are now 8 for $5.95, so China Bistro doesn't seem like such a bad deal anymore.
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What I learned from my second visit: - The lemon-pepper dressing on the cress salad is one of the most refreshing flavors I've tasted in a long time. It reminded me of a great palate-cleansing grapefruit salad from Cafe Boulud. - The combination of diablo and horseradish is my favorite for the cowboy rib-eye. - I don't like coconut, but for some reason could not stop eating from the ginormous slice of coconut cake that my friends ordered. - The only thing that's better than sweetbreads is deep-fried sweetbreads. - A third visit can't come soon enough.
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Has the menu been expanded in any way to make up for the unavailability of pizza options? I don't think this is necessarily a deal-breaker for us, but just curious.