Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

My sister and I did the P'haal challenge today. We each finished in about 20, maybe 25 minutes. She was sweating and her eyes were tearing. I didn't sweat but I actually had two bouts of dizziness, my hands shook a little and my ears clogged up for about two minutes towards the end. But we got through it pretty easily. Our trick was not to touch the water or any drink at ALL. The only thing we added was maybe 1/4 of the rice bowl.

MY trick was to save the chicken for the end. The sauce did NOT soak into the chicken and by the end the temperature had gone down considerably, so the chicken almost had a cooling effect.

I do NOT recommend anyone does this at the 53rd St. location - they don't have a liquor license so they gave us a coupon for a free beer...which we can redeem down on 6th St. So we have to go to the Village anyway. That was a big disappointment. They also didn't take our picture - we have to email it to the guy in the Village.

did it today. so proud. still burping up heat hours later and drinking some beers. worried about how i'm gonna feel in a few hours. we didn't use yogurt or milk or anything to pad the heat except for some rice and naan. i find a nice glass of coke helps a lot, maybe its the sugar or the carbonation? water does nothing. i actually enjoyed the taste of it too, but the worst part was that it's so hot it's hard to even think straight. my friend and i would be in mid sentence and just trail off, losing our concentration. my advice to those who want to try this: be sure that you really actually can tolerate heavy spice. i eat spicy food frequently but the sheer buildup of heat with this dish is very overwhelming. also don't rush yourself but don't fill up on acoutrements like bread because it is a very filling dish. also when you do finally finish, take your time and rest a bit. we really savored our free beers and within about half an hour we felt fine but full. great way to spend an afternoon though! and i must add that the service and quality of this restaurant is really good, especially for a 6th street indian joint. i'll definitely go back for other (less painful) dishes in the future.

Me and my buddy Mike are going there tomorrow to take on the challenge. We love all that is hot and will be sure not to dissapoint. I will chronicle our tale of heat heroics next week. Wish us luck. I hope we are not asking the waiter for a fire hose to put out the flames!

fishermb totally nailed it.

-Lucali's is the best pizza in NYC, and if you can go at night, also the best ambience (exposed brick walls, candlelight, guys in an open kitchen rolling out pizza dough with empty wine bottles. priceless)
-Ki sushi is great, probably a notch above Cube 63, and both are better than Osaka (though Osaka is fine)
-Fragole for italian IS the best. I like the rigatoni firenze, with roasted eggplant, fresh mozzarella, and homemade tomato sauce.
-I would also add Alma for new wave/fancy Mexican that's still affordable. Its a bit of a walk west towards the water, but they have an amazing rooftop restaurant (with heaters) that overlooks downtown Manhattan. Especially breathtaking at night. I recommend the enchilada with pumpkin seed sauce (the sauce is key).

In terms of brunch, i would recommend:
-Cafe Luluc, good all around brunch, great hot sandwiches, french bistro atmosphere
-Provence, traditional french leaning brunch in a really cute french bakery type atmosphere with huge windows -- great if its a sunny day
-Patois has a fantastic brunch, especially if you can sit out on the deck in back (if the weather cooperates)

too bad the phaal has zero taste and only heat. and even the heat wasn't balanced, it only hit the back of the mouth

i ate one, but wasn't impressed

@liwinegirl: I was feelin' pretty bubbly and felt like a dragon had breathed fire into my belly for two hours. Okay, maybe that's a little over-the-top... but it does stick with you for a bit, haha. All worth it for bragging rights, though!

@Moosie82: As I told my other friend who is Korean and was interested in trying it... "You already have a leg up by being Korean!" Hahaha.

Emily, you make me proud to be Korean. :) Now I wonder if I can do it......

oh, wouldn't you know! i lived a ten minute walk from sam's for twelve years and only ate there once, and it wasn't pizza. now i live on the other side of the moon {washington heights}.

hey adam, i wanted to ask you if you were familiar with a slice place on 9th avenue in the 50's. it's on the west side of the street near alvin ailey dance studios. i had a slice of pizza there a few years ago and thought it was terrific. do you know it?

thanks!

@BrianPrestonCampbell: Probably more like an hour and a half to kill. ;) I think, all in, we were there about an hour and a quarter. You're a food stylist and obviously have an eye for photography, so I think you'd really appreciate the space for its visual appeal.

@Q80: Sadly, I would have had to have had the pizza here back in the day, when it was coal-fired, to make that comparison. I'd say that they're doing a great job of it with the gas-fired brick-oven pies but would love to see what they could do with coal. When I asked Louis about the oven, he said it was coal many years ago "but it's since been converted to clean natural gas." What's funny about that is that all these folks as of late are finding and restoring old coal ovens to working condition (like South Brooklyn Pizza several blocks down Court Street) while Louis almost seemed to point out with pride that Sam's oven had been converted the other way. I'm sure for Sam's it's much easier to pipe in gas rather than deal with coal delivery and the attendant stoking and ash removal, but it's like they're sitting on a goldmine back there—an oven many places would kill for—and they're content with the gas thing. Next time I go, I'll try to strike up a conversation with them on the oven history, etc., and ask why they changed and if they ever consider going back, but I'm sure they have their reasons and there ain't nothin' gonna change 'em.

@fishermb: That's not surprising that they do scungilli fra diavola there, then. Sam's is like the place that time forgot. And bless 'em for it.

@norman: "I gave back as good as I got ... " Hahahahah. That does not surprise me the least bit.