[dunk]

Hi -

I've been reading a lot of the threads in this forum and it sounds like you all know a lot of great places to eat in nyc, so I was hoping you could help me out.

Some friends and I will be there in April - unfortunately I am the only "foodie" in the group - my other friends aren't up to trying new foods, which means we can't get thai or indian or anything spicy or different... What I am looking for is a good restaurant with some regualar bistro items but also some innovative items because I want to be able to try something new. Also, we are all on budget, so a place that is reasonably priced also. (I know this probably narrows things down a lot, but it is nyc afterall, so maybe not).

I was reading on previous posts about Home and John's Pizza. John's Pizza sounds great but I don't want to have to wait in line forever too.

Thank you for whatever suggestions you have.

Dunk

p.s. We'll be there on a Saturday, if that means anything.

 

[shroomgirl]

Chinese~ Big Wong....your friends can get fried rice or things that are normal in small towns, and you can get congee or some other treats...the ribs and BBQ pork are phenominal.
MOMO what was the name of that Greek place that look so great.
Not the funky African we don't know what or where this food came from.
Then there's the hot chocolate place that had an interesting lunch set-up...if it goes into dinner that is a definite winner.
If your by Chelsea market the Italian store has a great deli in the back with sandwiches for the unadventuresome. Fat Witch Brownies are on the stretch too. Ice Cream at Ronny's Dairy....they had really fun flavors.

 

[suzanne]

Great that you'll be visiting! To give you the best possible advice, we need a little more information:
- How long will you be here -- how many meals will you be eating?
- Where will you be visiting -- any particular locations, that you'll want to eat near?
- How many of you will there be?
- What age range?
- What's your definition of "reasonably priced?" Like, $10 per person for dinner, or $20, or what?
- Are you willing to travel in the subway to get around to "strange" parts of the city? (Not dangerous, trust me, but off-the-beaten-track)
- What kind of stuff WILL your friends eat? Chinese food? Burgers? Pasta?
- How interested are you in getting a "real NY experience" -- people-watching and so on?

I know this is a long list, but remember that there are SOOOOOOO many restaurants here! We who live here want you to have a great time!

Now, another suggestion: there's another board where you can post your question, including as much specific information as you can: Chowhound. You can just browse the forums, too, if you want (and have lots and lots of time -- people are very vocal there!).

 

[dunk]

We are only going to be there for 1 day, probably for only one real meal -- as sad as that is. We'll be in Manhattan -- Times Square/FAO Swartz (sp?)/Macy's/Manhattan Mall - it's a shopping trip. And, unfortunatly subways are most likely out of the question -- actually getting these people to venture to NYC was a feat in itself. I'm 25, my friends are a couple years older. Hamburgers, Pizza, Pasta, Chocolate (that's a food group, right :lol ...that's on the right path!

Shroomgirl -- what's that hot chocolate place you were talking about? Sounds interesting!

Dunk

 

[foodnfoto]

The best hamburger in NYC has to come from The Corner Bistro in the West Village-it's on the corner of Jane Street and West 4th St. Killer burgers!

Also check out the Oyster Bar Restaurant in Grand Central Terminal-great fried oyster po'boys, crab cakes and lobster bisque prepared to order. Also the whole food court on the lower level of Grand Central is filled with good stuff to eat. Two Boots pizza is a winner.

Times Square? What can I say, it's NY's answer to Disney World. You may want to try Virgil's Barbecue, decent, but definately not the real McCoy.

 

[momoreg]

It took me awhile to figure out what chocolate place you were referring to, shroom. Fauchon. Very elegant place on Madison Ave. (not too close to Times Sq., however). And also, to answer shroom, the Greek place is Periyali, but again, nowhere near Times Square, and probably too exotic for the unadventurous.

John's Pizza is outstanding, and I've been there many times without a line, but it's a good 10-15 min. from Times square by cab.

Some people here rave about Home. I thought it was one of the worst meals I've had in a trendy NY restaurant, to be perfectly blunt.

Check out Zagat's website for more ideas.

You'll have to come back...1 day just isn't enough!!

 

[shroomgirl]

Nope not Fauchon.....this is one I went to on Monday....they feature hotchocolate with homemade marshmellows, chocolate chunk chocolate cookies and interesting lunch I'm not sure about dinner food.....great pastries.....their location is different than in the Zagat book you loaned me....but it seems to hit the nail on the head in terms of something for everyone. Including alot of chocolate. Now the name.....think think think.....hmmm may need to look at my reciepts.

 

[suzanne]

Oh, Shroom, sounds like you mean City Bakery for the hot chocolate etc! That's also not that close to where Dunk & friends will be, but then not that far, by NYC standards. They do have great stuff there -- sandwiches, salads, etc. Only lunch, I think. It moved to its current location a year or so ago, that's why the address is different from Zagat.

Dunk: Last night while falling asleep I thought of a place that might work for you: Jimmy Armstrong's, on 57th Street and 10th Avenue. Not as far as it seems; easy to walk there from Herald Square, especially if you just go up Broadway. I've been going there for a long, long time. Basically a neighborhood bar with restaurant. The bar is great: lots of really good beers and cider on draft. The restaurant part is pretty simple, very reasonable in price, even cheap, with a wide range of dishes. Their soups are very good; nice salads; sandwiches (burgers are ok, not much more). But the neat thing for you is that besides standard American food, they also have a lot of Caribbean- and Hispanic-tinged stuff: Haitian stewed codfish; morcilla sausages; ropa vieja; Cuban sandwiches; arroz con pollo -- so you can get something unusual and your friends don't have to get scared. BTW: the nachos are one of my absolute favorite nibbles: just tortilla chips, cheese, and a lot of chopped garlic (plus, if you want, lots of hot peppers).

 

[qbncgrz]

since your in mid-town and want something new and fun....daniel boulad's new bistro on 44th betw 5thand 6th .....has the most outrageous "burger" youve ever tried,,,,3in thk with a center of brased short-ribs , fois gras and truffle!!! parmasean crusted bun and "real" french fries!!!! just do it!!!! ..worth @ penny ot 27 bucks!!

 

[qbncgrz]

dunk!! i almost forgot!! bistro db moderne is open on sat for lunch!!!

 

[dunk]

Thanks everyone for your suggestions!! I'll let you know where we end up going -- right now I'm running them by my friends and we're deciding where to go. I'll definitly give you my review.

Dunk

p.s. if you think of any more places, let me know -- i'll still be checking this thread for any new suggestions

thanks again

 

[foodnfoto]

Give me a break.....Please!!
The 28 dollar burger with truffles, ribs and fois gras?
What a bleedin' waste.

Listen, some hot shot can gild the lily all he wants, but a burger is still just a burger. It's best hot off the grill, maybe a little cheese, bacon, onion, lettuce & tomato.

All that other stuff is just showing off!

 

[cape chef]

Um, I like A1 on mine and Mid rare please

 

[dunk]

Well, just because I had all your great suggestions for Times Sq area, my friends decided last night (of course right before we're going -- we'll be there on Sat.) to go to Ground Zero. I orginally didn't want to go because I'm not sure I'm ready for it -- but I was outvoted.

Anyways, we will probably be in downtown manhattan most the day so I am looking for places to eat around there. Same criteria as before -- not too expensive, not too exotic, italian or american or chinese would be great.

Please help! We are going tomorrow so if you anybody reading this has any suggestions I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks!!!!!!!!

Dunk

 

[suzanne]

Hi again, Dunk! Now you are asking about my own stomping ground, so here goes:

One of my favorite places is "The Little Bigger Place" -- yes, that's what it's called, because it's bigger than "The Little Place" that Alberto and Marco used to own, just down the street. It's on the corner of West Broadway (which is a different street from Broadway, or East Broadway) and Warren Street. About 3 or 4 blocks north of Ground Zero. Okay, so you didn't mention Mexican, which is what this is. But they have normal American food too, it's inexpensive, and the guys are great!

Catty-corner from TLBP is Kitchenette: very homey, solid American. Reminds me very much of Dot's in Wilmington & Dover, VT. Great huge breakfasts, excellent sandwiches. Very reasonable prices, a real neighborhood place, usually crowded.

A little further to the north and west -- on Greenwich Street -- is Gigino. If you saw the movie "Dinner Rush," that's the place it was set. Good Italian, moderate prices (for NYC).

And a little further up Greenwich Street from Gigino is Tribeca Grill. This is a place that Robert DeNiro co-owns. Okay food, kind of expensive, but a neat experience.

You won't be far from Chinatown -- a longish walk, or a quick subway or bus ride. There is a thread here from a few weeks ago, started by mbrown, in which there are a lot of recommendations for C-town. My current personal favorite is Great NY Noodletown, on the Bowery at Baxter. Fresh, cheap, delicious!

As for going to Ground Zero -- it's the kind of thing no one can ever be ready for. Truly shocking. But it helps to go, and see the GOOD PART: how caring people have been in the face of such an unthinkable tragedy.

 

[dunk]

Hey everyone --

Had a great time in nyc. Tried to go to the platform @ ground zero but the earliest viewing time they had was 4 hrs from when we got there -- so we just walked around. It's so hard to comprehend -- very sad.

Anyways -- to the food experience. My friends had never been to Greenwich Village so we went there and walked around and decided to go to Home. We got there about 4pm and they were serving brunch. Very interesting experience, to say the least. Remember I was saying earlier, nothing to exotic for these people -- well, Home was a little to exotic for them. Started off that they don't have Coke or Pepsi products -- they have another line of natural sodas I think -- I can't remember what it was called. So, one friend just had water, one had milk, and the other friend was glad because she got birch beer which she hadn't had in forever. I got ginger ale which actually tasted like it had ginger in it -- amazing concept, right

Anyways, the next step was the menu -- I had to explain what leeks were, what they looked like, what they tasted like. I think I went through half the items on the menu and explained what it was. Two of my friends got the 3-cheese omlette(asiago, pepperjack & cheddar). That was fine and they really liked the omlettes, except the ketchup was homemade and therefore not as sweet as heinz or other store-brand ketchups. So, the omlettes were eaten w/o ketchup. My other friend got french toast with an apple butter --- very good! I got wagen-wheel pasta with artichokes, leeks, spinach and red peppers -- excellent!!! I enjoyed every bite.

Next came dessert, and let me tell you, after dessert my friends all forgave me. They got the chocolate cake with a butter rum sauce (too die for!! -- I think the plates were licked clean:lips: ). I got the cheesecake with strawberry-rhubarb sauce. YUMMY! I think it was the best cheesecake I've ever had!

So, it did turn out being a great experience. Our waiter was a sweetie -- he was really young and seemed like he was new at this, but that made him really nice and not like some rude waiters I've had.

Thank you everyone for your suggestions! Next time, if I go with this group again, it's got to be hamburger & fries all the way!!

But me personally, I wish I had more time to try out the other places that were mentioned! One day is definitly not enough when you have so much to try!

Dunk

 

[suzanne]

I'm so glad you enjoyed your visit! Thanks for letting us know.

Okay, NEXT time when you come, if you want good burgers try Corner Bistro, on West 4th Street in the Village. Or, if garlic -- LOTS of garlic -- is not too exotic for your friends, try Noho Star, downtown at Lafayette Bleecker Streets. (You can get the burger regular, too, but the garlic version is fabulous.)

And I hope you'll be back again soon!

 

[foodnfoto]

Suzanne!
It's nice to know there is another fan of the Bistro Burger!
We're in good company, though---Robert Duvall and several other foodie celebs agree!

 

[spratts]

Hasn't Corner Bistro had the "Best Burger" rating from local mags for 5 or 6 years running?

Call me crazy, but I really like the Johnny Rocket's special (#23 or something) burger, although they wont cook it less than medium. It's really all about the condiments.

 

[suzanne]

Okay, you're crazy. As long as I'm eating meat, I want to know it's MEAT! Give me rare, or give me veggies!

BTW, the bacon-chesseburger at Le Zinc is pretty terrific, too; but it better be, for $12.50 (including fries and coleslaw).