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From Talk

Oaxacan Mole Sauce in NYC

Thanks a lot for the info. Does Tulcingo del Valle sell just their mole sauce for take away? I looked at their website and they appear to be a restaurant. I guess I'm more looking for a good Mexican / Oaxacan grocery store somewhere in the city...

From Talk

Inexpensive BBQ or Mexican Dinner for 10 in Village

We actually ended up going to Yerba Buena, which somehow had room even though it is a tiny space (we did go early, about 6:30pm). Restaurant week menu was really good - highly recommend the beef entree. Thanks for the suggestions!

From Serious Eats: New York

Get Out of Town: Rhinebeck, Red Hook, and Tivoli

I second the recommendation of Le Canard in Kingston, which has very good hearty French bistro food.

From Talk

Malaysian Restaurant Week (NYC) Recommendations?

My wife and I and two friends went to Laut for dinner and Fatty Crab (West Village) for lunch for Malaysian Restaurant week so far. At both places, you get an appetizer, entree, and dessert. Here were our impressions:

Laut - The appetizers we got were otah otah (fish cake wrapped in banana leaf), five-spice pork rolls (spiced minced pork wrapped in some form of wrapper and then deep fried), and roti chanai (curry and a very thin bread). The otah otah was tasty but small, we all enjoyed the five-spice pork roll a lot - the spice was not overwhelming, and it came with a nice sauce (deep fried minced pork, how can you go wrong?), and the roti chanai had a nice flavorful coconut curry. Our entrees were chili crab, shrimp coconut curry with okra and black rice, beef rendang, and a fourth I can't remember. The chili crab was really nice, two soft-shell crabs with a spicy thick red chili sauce - served with rice buns to mop up the sauce. The shrimp coconut curry was nice as well, the black rice added an interesting nuttiness, the curry was spicy but not overwhelmingly so, though the okra was a bit slimier than I like. The beef rendang was flavorful and soft, but not overly so. For desert, we got fried ice cream, peanut crepe, and sticky rice with pandan pudding. Unfortunately, the dessert overall was disappointing - the batter of the fried ice cream had a weird consistency, the ice cream was freezer burned, and the sticky rice was fairly tasty but very small. Overall, the meal was very nice, and am definitely interested in going back to Laut.

Fatty Crab - This is a restaurant I'd wanted to try for a while, so I was very excited to see they were participating (albeit only for lunch). The selection at Fatty Crab was much smaller than that at Laut - only 3-4 entrees and 1 dessert while Laut had ~7 entrees and 4 desserts. For the appetizers we got grilled asparagus and mango & papaya salad. The grilled asparagus was tasty, and came with a nice chili-mayo type sauce, but still was grilled asparagus. The salad had a good amount of mango and green papaya, and was spicy, but was missing the sour flavor that really brings this dish together. For the entrees we had nasi lemak, clams with pepper and yuzu, and beef redang. The clams were very peppery and tasty, but overall somewhat disappointing. The nasi lemak was extremely tasty, very good rice, tasty chicken curry, excellent anchovy and grilled onion side - BUT the otah otah was just crumbly red grains that tasted nothing like fish and the chicken in one of ours did not appear to be cooked all the way through (they apologized and reheated it. It is braised for hours, so the pink color inside was a bit surprising). The beef redang was amazing though - a small beef rib, ridiculously tender, with a lovely coconut curry sauce. The dessert was a small coconut sticky rice concoction that was tasty. Also, the service was friendly, but there were problems with the meal - the chicken as mentioned above, one otah otah had nothing inside of it, the portion sizes were okay but not great, and >10 minutes separated when the different appetizers and entrees were brought to the table (I know they bring food when ready to promote sharing, but it was still a bit ridiculous).
Overall, the meal was good but I didn't feel it lived up to my expectations. Very good deal, esp. given their usual prices.

Hope you find this helpful.

See more comments by jgelfand »

Recent Posts

From Talk

Oaxacan Mole Sauce in NYC

From Talk

Saturday Lunch/Brunch in Lancaster/Hershey, PA?

From Talk

Inexpensive BBQ or Mexican Dinner for 10 in Village

From Talk

Early Dinner around Cloisters?

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Recent Comments

From Talk

Oaxacan Mole Sauce in NYC

Thanks a lot for the info. Does Tulcingo del Valle sell just their mole sauce for take away? I looked at their website and they appear to be a restaurant. I guess I'm more looking for a good Mexican / Oaxacan grocery store somewhere in the city...

From Talk

Inexpensive BBQ or Mexican Dinner for 10 in Village

We actually ended up going to Yerba Buena, which somehow had room even though it is a tiny space (we did go early, about 6:30pm). Restaurant week menu was really good - highly recommend the beef entree. Thanks for the suggestions!

From Serious Eats: New York

Get Out of Town: Rhinebeck, Red Hook, and Tivoli

I second the recommendation of Le Canard in Kingston, which has very good hearty French bistro food.

From Talk

Malaysian Restaurant Week (NYC) Recommendations?

My wife and I and two friends went to Laut for dinner and Fatty Crab (West Village) for lunch for Malaysian Restaurant week so far. At both places, you get an appetizer, entree, and dessert. Here were our impressions:

Laut - The appetizers we got were otah otah (fish cake wrapped in banana leaf), five-spice pork rolls (spiced minced pork wrapped in some form of wrapper and then deep fried), and roti chanai (curry and a very thin bread). The otah otah was tasty but small, we all enjoyed the five-spice pork roll a lot - the spice was not overwhelming, and it came with a nice sauce (deep fried minced pork, how can you go wrong?), and the roti chanai had a nice flavorful coconut curry. Our entrees were chili crab, shrimp coconut curry with okra and black rice, beef rendang, and a fourth I can't remember. The chili crab was really nice, two soft-shell crabs with a spicy thick red chili sauce - served with rice buns to mop up the sauce. The shrimp coconut curry was nice as well, the black rice added an interesting nuttiness, the curry was spicy but not overwhelmingly so, though the okra was a bit slimier than I like. The beef rendang was flavorful and soft, but not overly so. For desert, we got fried ice cream, peanut crepe, and sticky rice with pandan pudding. Unfortunately, the dessert overall was disappointing - the batter of the fried ice cream had a weird consistency, the ice cream was freezer burned, and the sticky rice was fairly tasty but very small. Overall, the meal was very nice, and am definitely interested in going back to Laut.

Fatty Crab - This is a restaurant I'd wanted to try for a while, so I was very excited to see they were participating (albeit only for lunch). The selection at Fatty Crab was much smaller than that at Laut - only 3-4 entrees and 1 dessert while Laut had ~7 entrees and 4 desserts. For the appetizers we got grilled asparagus and mango & papaya salad. The grilled asparagus was tasty, and came with a nice chili-mayo type sauce, but still was grilled asparagus. The salad had a good amount of mango and green papaya, and was spicy, but was missing the sour flavor that really brings this dish together. For the entrees we had nasi lemak, clams with pepper and yuzu, and beef redang. The clams were very peppery and tasty, but overall somewhat disappointing. The nasi lemak was extremely tasty, very good rice, tasty chicken curry, excellent anchovy and grilled onion side - BUT the otah otah was just crumbly red grains that tasted nothing like fish and the chicken in one of ours did not appear to be cooked all the way through (they apologized and reheated it. It is braised for hours, so the pink color inside was a bit surprising). The beef redang was amazing though - a small beef rib, ridiculously tender, with a lovely coconut curry sauce. The dessert was a small coconut sticky rice concoction that was tasty. Also, the service was friendly, but there were problems with the meal - the chicken as mentioned above, one otah otah had nothing inside of it, the portion sizes were okay but not great, and >10 minutes separated when the different appetizers and entrees were brought to the table (I know they bring food when ready to promote sharing, but it was still a bit ridiculous).
Overall, the meal was good but I didn't feel it lived up to my expectations. Very good deal, esp. given their usual prices.

Hope you find this helpful.

From Talk

Malaysian Restaurant Week (NYC) Recommendations?

Thanks. I once went to Nyonya in Chinatown and was really disappointed, the food seemed bland to me... I think it is a former branch of the "Penang" chain of restaurants which have been very hit or miss for me - the one in Chinatown Boston is my favorite so far...

From Talk

Lunch near Metropolitan Museum of Art

We ended up going to Ko Sushi at 71st and 2nd avenue (Shabu 70 was closed for whatever reason), which isn't that close to the Met, but was a good and reasonably priced neighborhood Sushi restaurant and worth going to if hungry and in that area.

From Serious Eats: New York

Sugar Rush: Cinnamon Buns at Fairway

Do you know where I can get good cinnamon rolls without raisins?

From Talk

Favorite Japanese curry spots in NYC?

menkuitei and go curry are really good (and cheap) too.

From Talk

Taim sets for a falafel truck

I like their spicy falafel the best, but they probably should go with "original."
If the food truck doesn't cause the restaurant to go out of business, or distract them too much, don't see the harm.

From Serious Eats: New York

The Best Macaroni and Cheese in New York City

Did you try MacBar on Prince just E of Lafayette (it is next to Delicatessen, and I believe it is run by the same people)? The duck and chipotle mac & cheese are pretty good...

From Serious Eats: New York

Sugar Rush: Spot's Peanut Butter Cookie

I'm not a big fan of the green tea lemon cookie, tastes too much like green tea powder to me, but like pretty much everything else. The coconut chocolate cookie is really good, mostly chocolate though, with a nice texture from the shredded coconut. Also really like the caramel cupcake.

From Talk

Japanese Restaurant in the East Village

Menkuitei is good and cheap. As is Go on St. Mark's Place.

From Serious Eats: New York

What's Your Favorite Coffee In New York?

Just the regular cup of coffee Roasting Plant is pretty good.

From Talk

Quality thai places in the city

Rhong Tiam on Laguardia Place north of Bleecker is the best my wife and I have had in Manhattan.

From Serious Eats: New York

The Great Bagel Debate

I've found that St. Viateur bagels, when fresh and hot, have the consistency of a NY pretzel, NOT a NY bagel. A very good pretzel - better than what you can get from street vendors in NY, but still a pretzel in bagel-shape. I really feel they are two separate beasts, both good but so different it doesn't make sense to compare them.

From Talk

Motorino in Manhattan

I went there recently for lunch, and for me (at least), it committed two of the cardinal sins that no restaurant should ever commit - don't advertise a lunch (or any) special on your website if you don't actually do it, and charge prices significantly higher than what is listed on the menu posted on your website. Motorino did both, and while my Sopresseta pizza was tasty and the crust was very very good it had too little cheese and sopresseta and too much liquidy (though very good) tomato sauce. Not going back. At all.

From Talk

Dulce de Leche/Caramel Cheesecake in New York?

I haven't tried the Dulce De Leche cheesecak at Eileen's, but the other flavors I've tried have been wonderful.

From Serious Eats: New York

What's Your Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookie?

I'm a fan of Insomnia Cookies on 8th Street. Nothing fancy or special, just tasty.

From Talk

Anyone else sad about Guss'

Pickle Guys is still around on the corner of Essex and Grand, I believe, and are run by the people who actually used to work for and with the original Guss and is at the original location of Guss' Pickles - as opposed to the current Guss' pickles who I believe just bought the name from the family. Pickle Guys also have great some great pickles, and pickled everything else.

From Talk

Good take-out food near van Cortland Park (Bronx)

EatinginTranslation: My wife and I were thinking of going to the Concerts in the Park, which is held at ballfields near 251st and Broadway.

From Talk

Where can I get a good Pupusa in the city?

went to a place on grand st. in brooklyn that was pretty good once. can't remember the name right now, sorry. it wasn't far from the L train stop, go E from the station a couple of blocks.

See more comments by jgelfand »

Recent Posts

From Talk

Oaxacan Mole Sauce in NYC

From Talk

Saturday Lunch/Brunch in Lancaster/Hershey, PA?

From Talk

Inexpensive BBQ or Mexican Dinner for 10 in Village

From Talk

Early Dinner around Cloisters?

From Talk

Nice Sitdown Mexican Restaurant for Dinner?

From Talk

Malaysian Restaurant Week (NYC) Recommendations?

From Talk

Lunch near Metropolitan Museum of Art

From Talk

Dim Sum Recommendations in Flushing

From Talk

Veritas Restaurant. Any thoughts?

From Talk

Good take-out food near van Cortland Park (Bronx)

From Talk

Mongolian BBQ / Szechuan Hot Pot

From Talk

NE Style Seafood Shack on the North Shore of Long Island?

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About jgelfand

Website: http://adeats.blogspot.com

Location: Abu Dhabi / NY

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