Eating out in Morningside Heights...
We just moved to the neighborhood, and would love any "must-visit" restaurant suggestions, as well as those you would avoid at all costs...
Much thanks in advance!
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8 Comments:
The classics: V&T Pizza across from the Cathedral; Metisse (old-school French on 105th-ish, east side of Bway, next to the Abbey Pub); the Roti place on Amsterdam and 108-ish; Toast on Bway around 123rd, and I hear Picnic is really good. If Mondel's Chocolates is still around, go, go!
eleeb at 9:33PM on 09/07/09
Absolutely try the Taqueria La Mexicana (Amst. btwn 107 and 108) for delicious tacos and Mexican food - this is my default delivery option.
Also, the Mill (Bway and 113) for Korean.
Pisticci (LaSalle btwn Claremont and Bway) for Italian that's better and cheaper than a lot of those places on Bway further down.
Sal and Carmine's pizza knocks V&T out of the park, but is less of a sit-down place if that's what you're looking for (Bway and 101).
I was once a Toast partisan, but service and hygiene issues drove me away. In the bar-with-good-food category, I would suggest instead 106 (Amst. and 106). Welcome to the neighborhood!
sarahinnewyork at 9:33AM on 09/08/09
wow, so interesting to hear people's opinions. I would definitely recommend Symposium (113th btw Bwy and Amsterdam) - order the Symposium Salad.
Definitely agree with Taqueria for tacos. I really don't think Pisticci is all that good and think that Max Soha is waaaay better (120ish and Amsterdam). Toast is gross and I had one of the worst meals of my life there. Gotta go to Hungarian Pastry Shop (next to V&Ts) for coffee and pastries and ambiance. Community Food and Wine is really the best restaurant in the hood these days, but Le Monde never lets me down either (Bwy and 114). Mondel's Chocolates is fantastic. Some people like Amir's Falafel (next to Mondel's), but I was never a huge fan of falafel, so couldn't say. Avoid Havana Central at all costs.
laurelie at 11:50AM on 09/08/09
Rack N Soul for good cue and fried chicken, soul food. Toast is horrid, Metisse and Cafe du Soleil are kind of meh. Le Monde is your standard big box French bistro, it's good but predictable, go to Picnic for a bistro with real character and inventiveness. The owner is Alsatian so they are good for duck confit, foie gras, spätzle, pig's head torchons, terrines, etc.
simon at 2:41PM on 09/08/09
Community Food & Juice had a kitchen fire in May and hasn't re-opened yet, much to locals' consternation. It was the best restaurant we've ever had here.
V&T Pizza and the Hungarian Pastry Shop have got to be, in my opinion, the most overrated places in the neighborhood. I've never had a pastry at HPS that wasn't dried and flavorless. And V&T's pizza is ordinary. Just because they're classics doesn't make them good. Symposium has been around forever, and I eat there a lot (I live on that block), but rarely anything other than the Symposium Salad (which is a sampler of traditional Greek mezze), the avgolemono soup, or a gyro plate. The entrees really aren't very good: heavy and overcooked.
Amsterdam is beating Broadway for food choices these days. Taqueria y Fonda, as mentioned above, is terrific. It's one of my favorite delivery places. So is Thai Market, two doors down from TyF. I also recommend Max Soha (just had lunch there today), Sezz' Midi and Kitchenette, all on the block between 122nd and 123rd. I also recommend Bistro 1018 at 110th St, although it's a little pricey.
On Broadway, Le Monde is an overpriced bistro that has good burgers and a fabulous hangar steak. Deluxe has adequate comfort food. But until Community returns, I tend to eat on Amsterdam.
If you go to Mondel's Chocolates--and you SHOULD!--be sure to try their chocolate covered ginger: it's sublime.
klg19 at 2:47PM on 09/08/09
To add to the Amsterdam recs, around 121st are fine Indian and Ethiopian restaurants -- the Indian is called Ajanta, I forget the Ethiopian name. Nothing out of the ordinary, but decent local food.
I actually tend to have much stronger feelings about grocery stores in the area. West Side Market (110) and Fairway (125), depending on what end of the neighborhood I'm in, are my go-to supermarkets. Avoid the Morton Williams across from Columbia at all costs -- it is just a dismal, crowded, unhappy place.
Oren's (112th/Bway) for delicious coffee, although there's no seating.
Samad's (111th/Bway) has good Middle Eastern ingredients and spices if your cooking tends in that direction. M2M (115th/Bway) has a so-so selection of Asian ingredients, but better than anywhere else in the area.
sarahinnewyork at 4:34PM on 09/08/09
I used to live on 122nd and order from Ajanta. I miss it.
on 105 you have Silver Moon Bakery. I miss that too.
There was a little restaurant called A but I don't know what happened to it (Does anyone?)
Try the Hungarian Pastry Shop close to the cathedral (St. John the Divine). Amsterdam and 112 or so. Nice place to hang, although I can't vouch for the pastries themselves.
By all means, shop at Fairway!
Carioca at 8:06PM on 09/08/09
Thai Market serves really fantastic Thai food. And I like Sezz Medi a lot...good pizza, great eggplant parmigania, nice ambiance.
And West Side Market is the bomb.
sro16 at 4:20PM on 09/10/09