West Side east of Amsterdam Av., 100-116 Sts.

[Pan]

I've been spending a lot of time on the Upper West Side, and I realize that I have yet to try any restaurants east of Amsterdam. There seem to be a bunch of places on and near Columbus, and I have no knowledge of most of them at all. It seems to me like a logical next step would be to take my girlfriend to places in that area, or to nearby, walkable parts of Harlem. The price point I'm most interested in is $25 or less (I'm willing to go to the 30s occasionally), before tip. Alcohol doesn't have to be included in that price, as we often don't drink.

By the way, the other day, I walked past Mamie's Spoonbread Too, on 110th St. between Columbus and Manhattan Avs. I wasn't hungry enough for dinner but did buy a slice of sweet potato pie to go and liked it a lot. How's the rest of the food there?

[Pan]

I'm still interested in hearing about more restaurants around this area. Any more Columbus Av. restaurants to check out? I saw a Jamaican restaurant on the east side of the avenue near 109th, I think. Anyone know the place?

[LNG212]

I don't know about Mamie's as I haven't been.

But Fredrick Douglass has become something of a little spot. There's Zoma - which I think is really great Ethiopian. There's the beer garden place (Bier International) and Five and Diamond. There's a nice looking Italian wine-bar type place just north of these whose name I can't remember - I've been meaning to stop in there and haven't gotten to it yet.

On Amsterdam, there's Awash which I like too, though not as much as Zoma (and service was really slow). The new pizza place Buca is supposed to be really good (it's teenytiney and we haven't gone in yet). Noche Mexicana just got new digs on 101st and is a bit larger than before. We get delivery from them (delivery is slow but the food is good).

I'm sure there are other places that I'm blanking on. Enjoy.

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Zoma
2084 Frederick Douglass Blvd, New York, NY 10026

Noche Mexicana
852 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY 10025

Awash
947 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY 10025

5 & Diamond
2072 Frederick Douglass Blvd, New York, NY 10026

Bier International
2099 Frederick Douglass Blvd, New York, NY 10026

Buca
201 W 103rd St, New York, NY 10025

[Pan]

We'll try Zoma. We both like Ethiopian food a lot, having had some very tasty meals at Meskerem on 47 St. [Edit:] Zoma's menu on their website and on menupages.com has no prices. What does dinner normally cost there?

[gloriousfood]

I haven't been there in over a year, but the prices were gentle. The entrees were in the teens, and the most expensive entree was, I believe, the veggie combo (four choices of Zoma's vegetable dishes) for around $21-$22.

LGN212 is right on about FDB. If you start walking on FDB from 110th-125ish, you'll see several restaurant options. About three avenues east (Lenox Avenue) is a very good French restaurant, Chez Lucienne (bet. 125th and 126th). Terrific coq au vin. It's next to Marcus Samuelsson's recently opened Red Rooster. I've been there for brunch and while I wasn't wowed by what I had, the menu was intriguing enough that I definitely want to do back for dinner.

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Zoma
2084 Frederick Douglass Blvd, New York, NY 10026

Chez Lucienne
308 Lenox Avenue, New York, NY 10027

Red Rooster
310 Lenox Ave, New York, NY 10027

[Pan]

Thanks for the recommendation of Chez Lucienne. Their prices are quite good for a French restaurant.

[gloriousfood]

My pleasure. Let me know what you think if you go. They also have nightly specials--e.g., on Wednesday, you can order a bottle of wine for 1/2 price. But a word of caution: make sure the wine you want to order *really* is 1/2 price off. It isn't always, and the menu doesn't specify.

[Pan]

I appreciate the heads-up.

[squid kun]

You checked out the cabbie dhabas on Columbus? http://www.chow.com/digest/59771/what...

I wish I'd known about those options around 2004-2006, when I lived at Broadway in the 90s. (Not sure they were there then, come to think of it.) At that time we wound up with inferior UWS-overpriced takeout from places like Indus Valley (which was actually one of the better options in the area). Can't guarantee that steam-table places like Doaba will always deliver the goods, but they're cooking for a South Asian clientele and if you get to know the counter guys I bet they'd take care of you.

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Indus Valley
2636 Broadway, New York, NY 10025

Doaba Deli
945 Columbus Ave, New York, NY 10025

[Pan]

I walked past those the other day. When I'm in the East Village, I sometimes go to Punjab on 1st St. between 1st and A. I'm not sure I'd go out of my way to go to something similar, but I did notice that one of the dhabas was called Gujarat, and Gujarati cuisine is significantly different from Punjabi cuisine. Of course, South Indian food is even more different from both. I don't know if any of those places are real sit-down eateries, though (Do some of them have tables? I didn't notice.), and I might find them a bit far to walk for takeout (I've been hanging out on West End Av. in the 90s).

[squid kun]

When I dropped in I didn't see anything South Indian. It looked mostly Punjabi. I also didn't see anything distinctively Gujarati on the steam table at Little Gujrat, but there must be some reason it's called that; if you chat up the staff you might find out about specials.

Most of the food at both places appeared to be reheated from the steam table while naan was made to order. (With long-cooked curries or dals I don't have a problem with that; they reheat well.)

Both Doaba and Little Gujrat, as I recall, had a few stools where a cabdriver might take a load off for a few minutes with a cup of tea and a bite to eat. If I still lived around there I'd do takeout. But if I'd been out on West End, that would've been a different story, especially late at night in bad weather.

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Little Gujrat Deli
946 Columbus Ave, New York, NY 10025

[Pan]

I just realized I misread your last post. You said a South Asian clientele, not South Indian, and I also realize that what you posted makes more sense than what I read. :-)