New York City Restaurants

Michel_Abood · May 19, 2024, 7:47pm

Fried chicken FTW

Robert_Dentice · May 20, 2024, 1:35pm

We really enjoyed Uncle Lous. The soft shell crab special was excellent. Corkage is $20. We had two bottles and they only charged us for one. They provided an ice bucket and offered small restaurant glasses, we brought our own. Will definitely go back.

tsilver · May 20, 2024, 1:59pm

I’ve heard that the current chef at Fulgrances is excellent. Nazareno Mayo.

https://www.instagram.com/p/C7KfIqqOgfK/

Have you heard anything about this iteration? What is the wine pairing like for $65?

Robert_Dentice · May 20, 2024, 2:26pm

Have not been I have heard the same. Rave reviews.

gavin.f · May 20, 2024, 3:38pm

Atoboy was great value. $75 for this level of food is a deal in the city!

Our waiter Jude was a gem: polite, friendly, and on the ball.

Wine list was a disappointment and $75 corkage…

Food:

Uni and Egg - yum

Yellowtail - idk why they played hide and seek with the jicama, but once all the pieces were together it was spot on

Pear Salad - Strangely perfect. It ain’t fancy, but for the warm weather and what was the follow, the restraint was just right. The pear and mint did well together.

Sweet shrimp - beurre blanc a little thicker than prime, but still tasty.

Squash - super flavorful and nicely spiced, dense and sweet, but also heavy.

Banchan - fantastic. Kimchi apples are divine.

Short Rib - perfectly cooked modestly seasoned, great

Cod - Texture was great, but flavors slightly off. Curry was nicely spiced but a little heavy.

Fried Chicken - pineapple overnight marinade adds a finish. However, after all the heavier sauces this was good not great. Will try again next time and order differently

Overall, my only issue with what is objecively a really well executed and super qpr meal is the weight/seasonality. There were not many options that weren’t heavy/heating. instead of beurre blanc, those shrimp could have been done in a lighter style. Similarly, the squash was scrumptious, but I mentioned it made me feel like eating autumn. The sauce on Cod was also warming. Etc.

Robert_Dentice · May 20, 2024, 3:41pm

It has been picked over lately, it is usually much better. Hopefully in a matter of time they will get it back to normal.

P_Dias · May 20, 2024, 4:31pm

I’ll be there next Monday for the Nate Kuester takeover. First time going.

Rahsaan_M · May 20, 2024, 5:34pm

We had dinner at Atoboy last week and I was shocked to see pear in a spring salad! It was delicious, but I couldn’t help wondering where they got the pears. Presumably left over cold storage from the local fall 2023 harvest, but I have long since moved on in my own eating…

I also really liked the eggplant and octopus dish they have going right now. (Although I love those ingredients in all ways and forms) It definitely leaned more Spanish than Korean, but I suppose that expansive approach is the whole point.

DanielP · May 21, 2024, 12:12am

I liked it but must admit that I much more enjoyed the prior menu under Nicholas Tamburo

P_Dias · May 23, 2024, 1:08pm

Has anyone been to Blanca since it reopened? I’ve been seeing last-minute resy’s popup, and I’m around this weekend.

Robert_Dentice · May 23, 2024, 1:30pm

Went for Friends and Family and it was good. Some really great dishes. A few that needed little tweaking. A bit heavier than the prior food. I am sure the kinks are worked out now. And the wine service and hospitality was great, all of the old FOH crew came back.

AaronR · May 23, 2024, 9:58pm

Has anyone been to Sailor in fort green? My wife is super keen to go but reservations are impossible and two attempts at walking in early were both “it ain’t gonna happen”. I could of course hit the reservation right when they release but wondering if it’s worth the bother.

jprusack · May 23, 2024, 11:48pm

funny enough, i just snagged a table for 3 tomorrow at prime time before a show at roulette.

i was going to ask if they allow corkage and what fee.

Bryan_Kandel · May 24, 2024, 2:52am

I had a great meal in Feb. if you are familiar with April’s cooking in the winter it can lean heavy but was super tasty.

Wine list was fun, cocktails on point and great energy at the restaurant. Definitely use a resy notify as that’s what cleared me.

Tyler_Rico · May 24, 2024, 2:53am

Another week in NY for work, all repeats for me:

Aldo Sohm: Got into town around 9pm Monday and didn’t want to go too far so I went to my old standby in midtown. Bottle list is nice but pricey, I think BTG is the way to go. Had the truffle arancini and crispy duck leg. Food here won’t blow you away but it’s consistent and delicious, one of the few gems in the food/expense account wasteland of midtown Manhattan.

Estela: Had dinner here Tuesday night for work. BTG and bottle list were really nice, did a few cocktails incl their wonderful Negroni and several nice pours. Foie gras was outstanding, especially with the Donnhoff they were pouring. Wagyu and Berkshire pork were delicious, food was thoughtful and the list is well curated. Not cheap but worth it.

Modern Bar: I haven’t been here since last fall and wanted to stop by with friends after a long day. List is super deep but pricey, BTG tonight. Suds/white side of the list was more interesting but food is always the main event. Caviar corn dogs, Tarte flambé, tarragon stuffed chicken, lobster tagliolini, etc. Food was fantastic as always.

Just realized I was in town all week and didn’t order a bottle, all BTG, next time I guess!

ybarselah · May 24, 2024, 1:24pm

I noticed this recently as well. not sure when it happened but over the past year i think. i wonder if it’s the inkind effect? i know it’s very popular at the USHG restaurants.

Rodrigo_B · May 24, 2024, 3:41pm

It’s been well over a year at this point. Probably around mid 2022 prices started to get updated. They very much care about having a deep selection of wines on the list and people kept drinking much of the cherries. So they hiked up the prices in order to still be able to have a deep list

Jorge_Henriquez · May 25, 2024, 2:53pm

K_John_Joseph:

@Jorge_Henriquez made reservations at Monsieur Vo for us this evening after I got done with work obligations. First, we stopped at Mister Paradise, which had a fun and eclectic cocktail lineup. Short list, and lots of action in each drink, but very, very enjoyable cocktails. My brief bit of advice to the owners would be to delineate the cocktails between styles, as they were not entirely clear from ingredient description. Even so, fun place, good action, and interesting clientele, ranging from old dudes like us having a pre-dinner cocktail, to private room full of 25 25 year old women dressed to kill. Fun vibe, simple but cool decor.

Monsieur Vo was extraordinary. We have a great vietnamese food scene in Houston, but not much of real merit in Dallas. While Madame Vo is lighter and pho oriented, Monsieur is much heavier, meat oriented, with various poultry and seafood dishes. But they are famous for their Beef Shank. I’ll cut to the chase. If you like southeast Asian flavors, this is pretty elite. The beef shank is one of the single best dishes I’ve had in years, perfectly balancing a hedonistically rich slow braised beef shank that is literally melt in your mouth (you just pull off chunks with chopsticks), with a perfect balance of salty, spicy, sweet, and tangy. If there was rub, I ate the meat. And that was after quail with lime and rub, a full sampler plate, a noodle dish with chicken gizzards, thighs, and crispy skin, and a noodle dish with crab. In essence we had an app and four entrees and dessert between two people and one entree was for three people. It was such a preposterous amount of food that I think our waiter suspected we were competitive eaters. But it was all crack-level addictive.

IF I was picking fly shit out of the pepper I would say: the crab pasta dish sauce was to die for, but overpowered any flavor of crab, which was fine because the dish was delicious anyway just not really crab driven. The chicken noodle dish was very good. The sampler platter came with hot water and glass wraps but I don’t like that so I just ate the good bits and the beef was sublime to the point of mesmerizing, but the chicken was overcooked and meh…the vietnamese sausages were so good I started wishing that I could replace every breakfast sausage I’ll ever have with those. The beef shank is served with just some cabbage with chili, but it needs rice or plain noodles because it has a wet braise though is really mostly a damp dry rub. It just needs something to absorb some of the juice.

Now, that sounds like adverse commentary, but it isn’t really. I was beyond happy with everything. From a consumption standpoint, I can only think of a handful of meals in the past few years where I ate so much simply because everything was so goddam good. I am writing this late tonight in part because I’m such a blimp I don’t really feel like sleeping.

It was sensational. If you like vietnamese food, take it for a spin. Champagne and riesling and gruner. Or just drink beer.

Excellent write up buddy. You’re always a fun brodate and happy to repeat this any time you’re in town!

AaronR · May 25, 2024, 5:00pm

How was it?

jprusack · May 25, 2024, 5:09pm

Um…solid…worth the hype? No. But I give it a B+. $40 corkage was good/great. They have nothing with age and the prices are what you’d expect. The sommelier was impressed with what we brought.

The inside is small. No wonder it’s so hard to get a table there. Outside seating seemed nice with yesterday’s weather but I prefer inside.

Our waitress was great. Super friendly and nice. Food wise, we ordered three appetizers and the chicken. Braised squid and spinach was a hit…chicken was merely good. Profiteroles for dessert were excellent…like sticky toffee profiteroles…a weakness of mine.

3 apps, 1 large main, 1 drink, corkage, 1 dessert and an espresso was like $240 after tip so…kinda reasonable?

I’d go back but wouldn’t go nuts over a table there.