Central Village

Dessert Truck, Rickshaw Dumplings and La Mia Pizza

On my way home from getting the videogame mentioned in the previous post, I walked down East 8th street on my way home. A couple stops...

La Mia Pizza is closed. For renovations...to be converted into one of those Sbarro-ripoff mall pizza places, "Fratelli's Pizza." Considering Mama Mia up the block made the same change a few years back to this type of chain, this seemed inevitable, since this place had always positioned itself as a knock off of that one. Regardless, it was a decent, old school New York pizza parlor, and it will be missed.

Rickshaw Dumplings are tasty. Seems like a rip off compared to the Chinatown/LES $1 Dumplings, but the quality is good and you can still get a sold meal for under $10. Last night was my third trip there and perhaps the best yet. The Steamed Chicken Thai Dumpling might have been my favorite so far, trumping the also very good Pork and Chive and Sichuan Chicken flavors. I like the miso soup on the side also. It's still hot when I get home, very brothey, and flavorful. The disposable plastic soup spoons are a major plus.

Dessert Truck is as you'd expect. Amazing. The chocolate bread pudding was the tastiest treat I've ever eaten out of a truck, and I regret not having the foresight to ask for the bacon creme anglaise instead of the plain. My only concern was trying to get the delicate dessert home, with my Dumplings, in one piece without getting cream all over myself. Some sort of to-go lid option would be very welcome. Also, if there is any way to create a waiting/dining area without violating any permit laws, go for it. Seats may be tricky, but a heat lamp, plastic palm tree and swatch of AstroTurf could go a long way. Regardless, if this is the future...If 20 years from now everything we eat comes out of mobile trucks in little tinfoil cups, I will not complain, because I will know it all started from a good place. Long live dessert truck. Current menu below...

UPDATE: They emailed to say they have lids and bags for to-go orders. All you have to do is ask. Brilliant!

Dear Essex: Drop Dead

I woke up on the early side Saturday morning, started txting around about brunch plans. Agreed to go to Essex at Noon with good-sized group. We called a bit ahead at around 11am and put our name down. We were told that if we arrived by Noon, there’d be an hour wait to sit, but that was OK. We were all happy to kill some time at the bar, catch up, hang out, etc.

Our entire party was there at a few minutes before Noon (a rare feat for a group this size), and we checked in to notify. They told us it’d be about an hour, as before, and we settled in by the bar, had a few drinks. No big deal.

A little more than an hour goes by and we check in to see the status of our table, expecting something along the lines of “oh, you're table's just paying now, should be a few minutes.” Instead we are told, rather matter of factly, that it will probably be another 40-45 minutes before we can be seated.

Ahem. My friend confirms that they have our name down already, tries to explain that we had called ahead, were told an hour an hour ago, etc, but that didn’t seem to impress either hostess.

So here’s the fun part. After expressing a bit of frustration, she told us that we should have called ahead if we ever expected to get seated. After explaining that we, um, had, she curtly stated “I mean, like 2 weeks ago” Then, perhaps rudely reminding her that we were talking about a $15 brunch special and not the main fucking dining room at Jean Georges, she told us, “Well, that’s just how it’s done in New York.”

Yikes.

Now, in fairness to the restaurant, this particular hostess seemed young and none of us, who semi-regularly come here for brunch, had recognized her. But to tell anyone “how it's done”...no less a bunch of old friends who were born and raised in New York City, is a slap in the face to an astronomical degree. With a smile, my friend promptly told her to fuck off, and we went down the street to Bondi Road, where we ate more or less the exact same food and drank the exact same unlimited Mimosas with a lovely Aussie charm. I mean, for Christ sakes, Essex! If you won't be able to seat us, tell us over the phone like grownups. If you realize once we got there that you might have underestimated the crowd and won't be able to seat us, come over and tell it to us straight. To treat us as if we, a group of willing paying customers, are to blame for wanting to come eat at your restaurant is beyond pathetic. Especially after telling us you'd be able to seat us in the first place. What an awful, awful experience.

I'm starting to feel the same way about below Houston Street as I felt about above 14th street growing up. It's becoming harder and harder to find reasons to go there, and I'm almost always frustrated/disappointed when I do.

Blue Hill and BBQ (on University)

Two local dining notes...

First off, last night I had dinner at Blue Hill on Washington Place. Now...I know I don't talk about food all that often, but bear with me for a sec. I do get out to nice meals every so often...a few times a year (mostly with my parents.) I'm not bringing this up to boast, just to establish a base that I'm not a hack who's so easily wooed by a fancy meal. I just don't want to confuse my inexperience writing about food to dampen my actual opinions on the meal.

SO...that said, this was just about the best meal I've ever had. At least at a restaurant in New York City. Everything (except for the slightly cramped dining area) was absolutely perfect. I had a poached farm egg with this sort of cold lettuce reduction sauce that went perfectly. Then the Berkshire Pork was on a different level. While the egg was perfect, it's so unique...hard to compare to anything else, I've had pork prepared many different ways and this was like nothing I had ever tasted. It was like eating magic. Essentially a porkchop (with a think slab of bacon on the side,) but it had the consistency of a delicate steak and the taste of a stick of butter. In a good way. And it was on this sort of risotto/rice pilaf base which could not have been prepared any better. Then the dessert...this unbelievable blueberry cake thingy...maybe the best sweet I've ever had. A prefect, not-too-heavy compliment to a flawless meal.

What really impressed me was how well the whole thing flowed. The proportions were spot on, didn't leave stuffed (despite maybe eating too much bread while waiting for the first course.) Even the wine, something  I admit I have very little knowledge or taste for, was amazing. For the first time ever, all the flavors everyone goes on about came through. Was like whoh.

So that's that. The best meal I've ever eaten in a New York City restaurant. AAA+.

--

Also, the rapidly-declining-in-quality BBQ on University Place...an INSTITUTION of the Central Village for my entire life, has been gutted and is officially dunzo. On my way home from Blue Hill last night I asked a guy taking garbage bags out of the front door, who said it will reopen in "about 3 months down the street (pointing West down 8th.)" So we will see. It's a sad day, tho, even if the food had become virtually inedible, the giant blue drinks never wavered. Neither did the affordable prices (especially for Happy Hour.) That space should be landmarked and turned into a chicken museum or something.

What happened to Pio Maya?

My (and Mario Batali's) favorite little taco delivery place isn't answering their phone anymore. Tried to get delivery a couple nights ago and no luck. I'm worried! Where's the outrage? This place was an absolute gem in the middle of an otherwise nothing block. One of the very few authentic taquerias in Manhattan. And in CV delivery range, no less! All I've been able to find about it so far is this post on chowhound. Eater? Anyone? Hello?

I instead ordered from Paquito's on the other side of town, which was plenty good, but not quite as great. Anyone know any other top notch Mexican delivery in the area? Looking for tacos and stuff...not a huge burrito fan and Fresco has run its course for me. Cinco de Mayo's only 2 days away! Lemme know...

(pic via Gothamist)

I found my Crispy Pork

I long time ago I put a call out for an authentic Thai restaurant in Manhattan. I had been to that place in Queens, and a few spots out in LA, but nothing in Manhattan came close to they type of menu I was looking for. One dish in particular was what I craved, and that was a crispy pork dish. Mmm Mmm Mmm! Man, I love that stuff. There are other things on the 'authentic menu' I dig, but this was the staple dish. And it was nowhere to be found in my area.

Well, it turned up on the menu at Fatty Crab last night. It had been so hard to track down, I almost assumed it was another dish that shared the same name. But it was, indeed, what I had craved. And not only that, it was the best crispy pork I had ever tasted! No joke. It was not only perfectly crispy on the outside and fatty on the inside, but the salad came with several cubes of pickled watermelon and a scattering of these minty tasting leaves. It couldn't have been better. The watermelon was the perfect sweet compliment to the grotesque portions of pork fat on the plate. The minty stuff acted as an equalizer between the two. It was amazing. Whenever else I've had this dish, it was with something boring like Chinese broccoli. I'm not much of a greens guy, so that usually was left uneaten. This was much much better. Recommended!

The rest of the meal was not as great, unfortunately. The kitchen has a tendency to add tiny anchovies into everything without announcement, which I found a bit unnerving. The Pork Belly Tea sandwiches were too plain and white bread dominated. The Nasi Lemak dish was, on the other hand, way too busy, with a bone-in chicken and a half dozen other ingredients mixed in. Both had anchovies. The Green Mango with Chili-Sugar-Salt was tasty and straightforward, tho it's pretty hard to mess this up.

Anyway, lessons learned, but the moral is I found my dish. And it was great. I'd go back just for that. I may even go out of my way coming home to grab some for take-out.

Between this, Dirty Bird To-Go's Fried Chicken, discovering that RUB BBQ delivers to me, and the openings of the not-bad-at-all Philly Slims on University and Wichcraft on 8th, I'm in the middle of an affordable food renaissance. I had grown tired of my dinner/delivery options of late, but all this is very nice. Too bad Saigon Grill is so overpriced and mediocre. I had semi-high hopes for that one.

Thanksgiving was so last month

My family started an interesting little tradition last year. See, my uncle's family lives in Colorado, and me, my parents and my Grandfather all live here in the city. Nobody wanted to travel cross country during the actual thanksgiving weekend and deal with the crowds or the inflated flight fares, so we agreed to get together instead for a weekend in late October instead to eat turkey, play football and jab about politics. Not very traditional, but makes a whole lot more sense, really.

So, for the actual thanksgiving night, I go out to dinner with just my parents. Last year we went to Jean Georges, which was lovely, but not really our style. Too uptown and stuffy, not to mention the food didn't come close to living up to the name. It was very good, but you expect a different level from a place like that, and it didn't quite deliver. This year, we stayed in the hood, hitting up Cru on 9th street and 5th ave. It was excellent. The most enjoyable restaurant experience I've had in in quite some time. (Prolly since whenever the last time I was at Gramercy Tavern.) The space is really cozy. It's dark, but not distractingly so. Very personal and quiet. It had the feel of a parlor room in a Greenwich Village brownstone.

The food was as good as anything I've ever eaten. I know the place is famous for having something like a 65,000 bottle wine selection (The list brought to the table in two leather bound bible-like tomes, one for Red and one for White) but I'm afraid don't really know enough about that stuff to offer an opinion on what we had. I had a chestnut and squash soup with bacon and quail eggs to start, then a capon breast  for dinner. It was perfect. I'm looking forward to finding an excuse to go back again sometime soon.

Goodness...

Last night I went out to dinner with my parents at Della Rovere in Tribeca before going home and passing out in my 130 degree bedroom listening to the new Arcade Fire Song.  What did you do last night?? (NSFW)

Ahem...

Did I mention Lorraine Bracco was at the restaurant??  From the Sopranos!

Thai Tips

Thanks for all the suggestions! I'm looking forward to checking all these places out...
Isle
Pongsri
Klong
Montien
Cafe Asian
Kobma Thai
Sea
Thailand Restaurant
Gobo
Galanga

And from today's SLNY, which had a short list of hot new Thai spots (the new bok)
breeze
prem-on
tiny thai
ho wong city

I also have to make it back to Sripraphai one of these days...

Thai Food

Anybody know a good Thai place in delivery range of the Central Village?  I've been looking and looking for a decent place to order from, but haven't found anything.  I've got Spice covered, but is there anywhere else?  Been on a serious Thai kick of late, but keep on getting disappointed with the places I try.  A recommendation would be greatly appreciated, even if it's just a sit down place.  E-mail me or comment or whatever.  Thanks!

The Best Know the Best

A friend forwarded me an excerpt from this Amazon.com interview with Celebrity Chef and fellow Central Villager Mario Batali regarding his favorite take out spot:

Amazon.com: Do you order take-out much?

Batali: In a beautiful way a new restaurant has changed our life. It's called Grand Sichuan. There's one on 55th Street, there's one on 24th Street, and now there's one on 8th Street, just about four blocks away. It's remarkably legitimate Szechuan and Hunan cooking by a group of people that's--it's just so different than the rest of American take-out Chinese. I literally ordered out there three times last week. So f--king good you would die.

Wow, what an endorsement! I have been a huge fan and supporter of this place since the first day it opened. I too find myself ordering from here 2 or 3 times a week sometimes. It is not only the best Chinese food in the area, but has by far the most unique and distinct menu in the city. (Chinatown included) Check it out if you're ever in the area and looking for a excellent and relatively cheap meal. Just, for the love of God, don't go there and order familiar dishes! That stuff all tastes the same everywhere. I recommend the Gui Zhou Spicy Chicken and the Sichuan Wonton w. Red Oil, but basically anything aside from the dishes on the "American" menu is worth taking a chance on. And I don't even normally like weird stuff.

The local location is on St. Marks between 2nd and 3rd, but there are various branches of more or less the same quality scattered about the city. I've been meaning to sing my praises for this place for a while now. It's good to see it is getting recognized by people who know good food.