New York City Restaurants
Sep. 1st, 2006 12:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dcseainPosting this again, so i can addit to my memories; the information is wonderfully useful, as ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
maddogairpirate can confirm, and i think kodywolf can attest to that also. Maddog and i ate at Pomaire, El Quixote, and the bakery while in NYC, and all were quite wonderful.
Here are some of my favorite dining places in New York. Most of these are
fairly reasonable. There are enough good restaurants in New York city that
are not expensive, it hardly seems worth paying a lot for a meal. Besides,
we have had some bad experiences at the fancier places, like Rue 57. Most
of the restaurants we have continued to go to over the years were
recommended to us by people in the city, and are fairly small. Many are
near theatres, so if we are seeing a show at a particular stage, we might
eat in a nearby restaurant. There are not many on the east side, as we
rarely get over there.
If I were to pick one place that I think you would enjoy the most, it would
be Uncle Vanya's west of 8th Avenue on the north side of 54th Street.
Phone: (212) 262-0542 You will have to call for a reservation no matter
when you wish to go, although it usually isn't a problem to get one. They
only have a few tables. You are not allowed to rush your meal, so make
sure to go there when you have plenty of time. The prices are very
reasonable. I am pretty sure there are vegetarian options. I don't think
I have had the same dish twice there except the cherry desert, and
everything has been wonderful.
The best tempura I have *ever* had is at Ise, which is on the south side of
56th between 5th and 6th, very near 6th, right next door to where my father
and I stay. They do a different bunch of vegetables each time, some you
would not expect (inokis, for instance), and it is not greasy. I know you
don't like things Japanese much, but you also like good food, so I mention
it.
El Quijote on the south side of 23rd Street right next door to the Chelsea
Hotel, between Seventh and Eighth Avenues, is a place my father and I
started going to for the lobster, but recently I have been having other
things. It is a Spanish restaurant, and has an award from the Spanish
government as one of the best Spanish restaurants outside Spain. Not
cheap, but not extreme, either, and I am sure you will enjoy the atmosphere.
There is a wonderful Chilean restaurant called Pomaire on the north side of
46th street between 8th and 9th, just shy of 9th. (371 W. 46th Street,
(212) 956-3055) They have a couple of wonderful very traditional dishes I
usually have, either Pastel de Choclo, or Cazuela de Ave, neither of which
is vegetarian, but it is the sort of restaurant you might be able to get
them to do something in a vegetarian form if you called in advance,
especially if you told them you were from out of town and they had been
recommended. I am not sure what else is on their menu, but the bread and
salsa they serve initially is awesome.
What used to be Miss Ellie's Homesick Bar and Grill, then became Dorian's,
is once again something with Miss Ellie in it's name, but simpler. It is
at 226 West 79th Street. It is another small place, and it can't hurt to
call for reservations, but usually they say you don't need them. They have
wonderful side dishes, huge portions, and reasonable prices, and atmosphere
out the wazoo, of a good sort. Another place I think you would enjoy a lot.
Another nice restaurant in the Lincoln Center neighborhood is Arte Cafe,
106 W. 73rd Street. It is Italian food, and the prix fixe dinner is worth
arriving early enough for. They take no credit cards but American Express.
The bread is amazing.
Tagine, a hole-in-the wall oasis of Moroccan cuisine in a run down
neighborhood in the shadow of the bus ramp out of Port Authority, 537 Ninth
Ave., (212) 564-7292, is another place my father and I have had a couple of
nice meals.
Dervish Turkish Restaurant - 146 West 47th Street, is a bit more expensive
than a lot of the places we often eat, but the food has always been very
good.
Monte's, in the village at 97 Macdougal Street, is a restaurant my father
has been going to for over 50 years. It is in it's second owner for all
that time, and this one accepts credit cards. Italian food, very good, I
am sure there are vegetarian alternatives, but the speciatly is seafood.
Phone 212-228-9194.
La Cucina Stagionale, 289 Bleecker Street, at the corner of Bleeker and
Seventh Avenue, is another Italian restaurant I would recommend. It is a
good sign when you walk into a restaurant and the waiter puts an artichoke
on the table for two people to share, which is what happened the first time
we were there. Usually it is a less exotic appetizer. The broccoli is
especially good. The big attraction here is that it is dirt cheap, but the
food doesn't suffer. Maybe the deserts are not up to the quality of the
other food, but the pasta is excellent. I usually get the pasta primavera,
so I know you can get good vegetarian food here. Phone (212) 924-2707.
Noho Star, 330 Lafayette Street. This is a restaurant we go to if we are
seeing a play at the public, or in the little theatre right across the
street. We have also gone there because it was raining cats and dogs, even
though we weren't in the area--the door is three steps from the Bleeker
Street stop on the 4-5-6 Subway, if you know which exit to go out. Widely
varied cuisine, maybe fusion is the word, (or eclectic global, as the web
site I found for the adress says,) but I think they make a lot of their
recipes up themselves, and the waitstaff seem to always be having a great
time serving people. Easy to find vegetarian things here.
Here is that full review, because not only is it good, it really captures
the restaurant
(<http://www.newyorkmetro.com/listings/restaurant/noho-star/>):
Alarm bells may sound as you scan the menu: What's that strip of Chinese
dishes doing next to New American mainstays? Surely one cuisine has to
suffer at the expense of the other, right? Wrong. You can confidently start
your meal with crisp potato pancakes topped with tuna sashimi or smoked
salmon, then proceed to a wholly creditable rendition of ma po tofu, here a
fiery Szechuan stew of tofu, beef and scallions. A half-bottle of Pinot
Noir from the smart list of halves makes it all go down easy, and won't
clash with your companion's neatly seared square of snapper. Oh, and if you
happen to look up from your pleasantly surprising meal, you'll notice a
pleasantly surprising mix of patrons, from filmmakers strategizing their
next shoot to a pair of Russian women so deep in conversation the attentive
wait staff lets them linger, undisturbed, long after they've finished their
crème brûlée. - Matt Gross
You will want to wander around Chinatown. Lots of restaurants there. Lots
of little bakeries, where you can get 60¢ noshes to tide you over until the
next one. I don't know if your Mandarin is good enough to find out what is
in some of the dim sum things, but I doubt you can explain "vegetarian" to
them in English.
You should go to Fareway, on the west side of Broadway in the upper 70s,
just to see it. They have fairly cheap cheeses, a huge selection, and also
exotic olives at bargain prices. You can see how they make their profit on
volume by the fact that you can barely get around the cheese and olives
even near midnight. They also have new dill pickles, which my family has
always loved. My father and I nosh on olives and pickles the whole trip.
Amy's Bread, just around the corner from Pomaire, on 9th Avenue between
46th and 47th streets, is the place I buy bread. Pretty much the only
place. We love the S-shaped black sesame semolina loaf, and the black
olive bread.
If you are cooking, and want cheap portabellos, used to be $2.00 per pound
for ages, but was $2.50 last time I was there, you can get them, and other
produce, at Stiles Market, on the south side of 52nd street between 8th and
9th.
There is a little bakery, I can't remember the name, just north of 52nd
street on the west side of Eighth Avenue, which specializes in Cheesecake,
but has the best rum balls and chocolate dipped almond crescent cookies.
When the 9th Avenue Cheese Shop was still open, I would hit that, Amy's
Bread, Stiles Market, and the bakery, and come home laden.
Many of my favorite places have closed. Wolf's Deli, La Crepe de Bretagne,
Ya Bowl, Prego. Surprisingly, I miss the Crepe place the most, because I
don't know of any place like it anywhere.
Have fun. Let me know when you are getting back. I have really been
organizing things here the past few days, and may be able to help you out
soon.
maddogairpirate can confirm, and i think kodywolf can attest to that also. Maddog and i ate at Pomaire, El Quixote, and the bakery while in NYC, and all were quite wonderful.Here are some of my favorite dining places in New York. Most of these are
fairly reasonable. There are enough good restaurants in New York city that
are not expensive, it hardly seems worth paying a lot for a meal. Besides,
we have had some bad experiences at the fancier places, like Rue 57. Most
of the restaurants we have continued to go to over the years were
recommended to us by people in the city, and are fairly small. Many are
near theatres, so if we are seeing a show at a particular stage, we might
eat in a nearby restaurant. There are not many on the east side, as we
rarely get over there.
If I were to pick one place that I think you would enjoy the most, it would
be Uncle Vanya's west of 8th Avenue on the north side of 54th Street.
Phone: (212) 262-0542 You will have to call for a reservation no matter
when you wish to go, although it usually isn't a problem to get one. They
only have a few tables. You are not allowed to rush your meal, so make
sure to go there when you have plenty of time. The prices are very
reasonable. I am pretty sure there are vegetarian options. I don't think
I have had the same dish twice there except the cherry desert, and
everything has been wonderful.
The best tempura I have *ever* had is at Ise, which is on the south side of
56th between 5th and 6th, very near 6th, right next door to where my father
and I stay. They do a different bunch of vegetables each time, some you
would not expect (inokis, for instance), and it is not greasy. I know you
don't like things Japanese much, but you also like good food, so I mention
it.
El Quijote on the south side of 23rd Street right next door to the Chelsea
Hotel, between Seventh and Eighth Avenues, is a place my father and I
started going to for the lobster, but recently I have been having other
things. It is a Spanish restaurant, and has an award from the Spanish
government as one of the best Spanish restaurants outside Spain. Not
cheap, but not extreme, either, and I am sure you will enjoy the atmosphere.
There is a wonderful Chilean restaurant called Pomaire on the north side of
46th street between 8th and 9th, just shy of 9th. (371 W. 46th Street,
(212) 956-3055) They have a couple of wonderful very traditional dishes I
usually have, either Pastel de Choclo, or Cazuela de Ave, neither of which
is vegetarian, but it is the sort of restaurant you might be able to get
them to do something in a vegetarian form if you called in advance,
especially if you told them you were from out of town and they had been
recommended. I am not sure what else is on their menu, but the bread and
salsa they serve initially is awesome.
What used to be Miss Ellie's Homesick Bar and Grill, then became Dorian's,
is once again something with Miss Ellie in it's name, but simpler. It is
at 226 West 79th Street. It is another small place, and it can't hurt to
call for reservations, but usually they say you don't need them. They have
wonderful side dishes, huge portions, and reasonable prices, and atmosphere
out the wazoo, of a good sort. Another place I think you would enjoy a lot.
Another nice restaurant in the Lincoln Center neighborhood is Arte Cafe,
106 W. 73rd Street. It is Italian food, and the prix fixe dinner is worth
arriving early enough for. They take no credit cards but American Express.
The bread is amazing.
Tagine, a hole-in-the wall oasis of Moroccan cuisine in a run down
neighborhood in the shadow of the bus ramp out of Port Authority, 537 Ninth
Ave., (212) 564-7292, is another place my father and I have had a couple of
nice meals.
Dervish Turkish Restaurant - 146 West 47th Street, is a bit more expensive
than a lot of the places we often eat, but the food has always been very
good.
Monte's, in the village at 97 Macdougal Street, is a restaurant my father
has been going to for over 50 years. It is in it's second owner for all
that time, and this one accepts credit cards. Italian food, very good, I
am sure there are vegetarian alternatives, but the speciatly is seafood.
Phone 212-228-9194.
La Cucina Stagionale, 289 Bleecker Street, at the corner of Bleeker and
Seventh Avenue, is another Italian restaurant I would recommend. It is a
good sign when you walk into a restaurant and the waiter puts an artichoke
on the table for two people to share, which is what happened the first time
we were there. Usually it is a less exotic appetizer. The broccoli is
especially good. The big attraction here is that it is dirt cheap, but the
food doesn't suffer. Maybe the deserts are not up to the quality of the
other food, but the pasta is excellent. I usually get the pasta primavera,
so I know you can get good vegetarian food here. Phone (212) 924-2707.
Noho Star, 330 Lafayette Street. This is a restaurant we go to if we are
seeing a play at the public, or in the little theatre right across the
street. We have also gone there because it was raining cats and dogs, even
though we weren't in the area--the door is three steps from the Bleeker
Street stop on the 4-5-6 Subway, if you know which exit to go out. Widely
varied cuisine, maybe fusion is the word, (or eclectic global, as the web
site I found for the adress says,) but I think they make a lot of their
recipes up themselves, and the waitstaff seem to always be having a great
time serving people. Easy to find vegetarian things here.
Here is that full review, because not only is it good, it really captures
the restaurant
(<http://www.newyorkmetro.com/listings/restaurant/noho-star/>):
Alarm bells may sound as you scan the menu: What's that strip of Chinese
dishes doing next to New American mainstays? Surely one cuisine has to
suffer at the expense of the other, right? Wrong. You can confidently start
your meal with crisp potato pancakes topped with tuna sashimi or smoked
salmon, then proceed to a wholly creditable rendition of ma po tofu, here a
fiery Szechuan stew of tofu, beef and scallions. A half-bottle of Pinot
Noir from the smart list of halves makes it all go down easy, and won't
clash with your companion's neatly seared square of snapper. Oh, and if you
happen to look up from your pleasantly surprising meal, you'll notice a
pleasantly surprising mix of patrons, from filmmakers strategizing their
next shoot to a pair of Russian women so deep in conversation the attentive
wait staff lets them linger, undisturbed, long after they've finished their
crème brûlée. - Matt Gross
You will want to wander around Chinatown. Lots of restaurants there. Lots
of little bakeries, where you can get 60¢ noshes to tide you over until the
next one. I don't know if your Mandarin is good enough to find out what is
in some of the dim sum things, but I doubt you can explain "vegetarian" to
them in English.
You should go to Fareway, on the west side of Broadway in the upper 70s,
just to see it. They have fairly cheap cheeses, a huge selection, and also
exotic olives at bargain prices. You can see how they make their profit on
volume by the fact that you can barely get around the cheese and olives
even near midnight. They also have new dill pickles, which my family has
always loved. My father and I nosh on olives and pickles the whole trip.
Amy's Bread, just around the corner from Pomaire, on 9th Avenue between
46th and 47th streets, is the place I buy bread. Pretty much the only
place. We love the S-shaped black sesame semolina loaf, and the black
olive bread.
If you are cooking, and want cheap portabellos, used to be $2.00 per pound
for ages, but was $2.50 last time I was there, you can get them, and other
produce, at Stiles Market, on the south side of 52nd street between 8th and
9th.
There is a little bakery, I can't remember the name, just north of 52nd
street on the west side of Eighth Avenue, which specializes in Cheesecake,
but has the best rum balls and chocolate dipped almond crescent cookies.
When the 9th Avenue Cheese Shop was still open, I would hit that, Amy's
Bread, Stiles Market, and the bakery, and come home laden.
Many of my favorite places have closed. Wolf's Deli, La Crepe de Bretagne,
Ya Bowl, Prego. Surprisingly, I miss the Crepe place the most, because I
don't know of any place like it anywhere.
Have fun. Let me know when you are getting back. I have really been
organizing things here the past few days, and may be able to help you out
soon.
