So what is good in New York? I am a Visitor
I read many of the threads here and I notice a common theme in some of them. I see were many say there is not any good BBQ in New York, no good thai in New York, no good cupcakes in New York and on and on.
So tell me what is Good in New York? What cuisine or food shines? It does not matter price. With any help from you all I might make some new discoveries and be upgraded from the tourist traps.
I thank you in advance for any help.
-
-
re: Ottojr
scoopG
Jun 10, 2011 07:19 AM
Here are some Chinese options for you:
Simple Food Tasting Tour:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/711661#5661425Ah-Ping Snack Bar:
http://www.chow.com/digest/7568/in-chinatown-fujianese-soul-with-a-subtle-hand/Amazing 66:
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/340879Cha Chan Tang:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/776130East Corner Wonton:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/611302?tag=boards;topic-611302Great New York Noodletown:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/678367Henan Flavor:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/774685Hsin Wong:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/765892Mei Li Wah:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/605528Noodle Village:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/493604Oriental Garden:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/764593South China Garden:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/679270
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/750220Red Egg:
http://www.chow.com/manhattan_digest/6625?tag=search_results;results_list
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/610102?tag=main_body;topic-610102
http://www.redeggnyc.com/Fujian operated Homemade, Hand-Pulled Noodle spots:
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/492376
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/504362Fujian:
Best Fuzhou Restaurants: Note the Best Fuzhou one on Forsyth Street has changed hands and is a small Fuzhou style buffet place...
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/483902Double Dragon:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/714304Sichuan:
Famous Sichuan:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/753398Old Sichuan:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/742493?tag=search_results;results_list#6143259
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/753976Szechuan Gourmet:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/459240
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/591930
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/631403http://events.nytimes.com/2008/07/23/dining/reviews/23rest.html?scp=1&sq=szechuan%20gourmet&st=cse
Legend:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/736719Lan Sheng
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/673788Shanghainese:
Shanghai Café Deluxe
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/769840
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/704166
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/583263Xian Famous Foods:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/673306XLB – Soup Dumplings:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/584869
http://newyork.seriouseats.com/2009/0...Others worth mentioning:
Big Wong King at 67 Mott Street, 10013.
Fuleen Seafood at 11 Division Street, 10002.
New Chao Chao at 111 Mott Street, 10013.
Yogee Restaurant at 85 Chrystie Street, 10002.
Yummy Noodles at 44 Bowery, 10013.-----
South China Garden
22 Elizabeth St, New York, NY 10013Great New York Noodletown
28 Bowery, New York, NY 10013Amazing 66
66 Mott St, New York, NY 10013Best Fuzhou
71 Eldridge St, New York, NY 10002Big Wong
67 Mott St, New York, NY 10013Fuleen
11 Division St, New York, NY 10002Hsin Wong
72 Bayard St, New York, NY 10013New Chiu Chow
111 Mott St, New York, NY 10013Shanghai Cafe
100 Mott St, New York, NY 10013Noodle Village
13 Mott St, New York, NY 10013Yogee
85 Chrystie St, New York, NY 10002Yummy Noodles
48 Bowery, New York, NY 10013Szechuan Gourmet
21 W 39th St, New York, NY 10018Oriental Garden
14 Elizabeth St, New York, NY 10013East Corner Wonton
70 E Broadway, New York, NY 10002Double Dragon
13 Eldridge St, New York, NY 10002Ah Ping Snack Bar
2 E Broadway, New York, NY 10038Red Egg
202 Centre Street, New York, NY 10013Famous Sichuan
10 Pell St, New York, NY 10013Szechuan Gourmet
244 W 56th St, New York, NY 10019Xi'an Famous Foods
81 St. Marks Pl, New York, NY 10003Lan Sheng
60 W 39th St, New York, NY 10018Xi'an Famous Foods
88 E Broadway, New York, NY 10002Old Sichuan
65 Bayard St, New York, NY 10013Legend
88 7th Ave, New York, NY 10011Cha Chan Tang
45 Mott St, New York, NY 10013He Nan Flavor
68 Forsyth St, New York, NY 10002Mei Li Wah
64 Bayard St, New York, NY 10013Xi'an Famous Foods
67 Bayard St, New York, NY 10013
-
-
-
It really depends when you ask.
A year ago, I might have sworn by Rub or Hill Country for BBQ. Now...I would tell you to head outside Manhattan. Nobody is saying there's absolutely no good BBQ in NY unless they're comparing it to the South. That's a high bar.
Cupcakes? Keep it in perspective. It's a cupcake. Anyone moaning and groaning about Magnolia needs to sharpen their sweet tooth and enjoy life. If you want something above and beyond what you can bake at home, there is Robicelli, Chickalicious, Spot, the different sweet trucks, that now add to the landscape. If you can't find a passable cupcake in this city, you don't like cupcakes. Sure, most of the cupcakes are just kinda no thrills, generic tasting, but that's why you read reviews to save time from testing them all.
...and that's true of most foods. Our gripes are because we have specific tastes, and criteria and we know we can find better. As soon as you write off a cuisine in this city, it will be the next hot thing, and there will be more choices than you know what to do with.
You'll do better on this forum if you ask for some specific advice.
-
Based on your profile and top 5 favorite restaurants, I'd suggest trying:
- Junoon
- The Dutch
- Kin Shop
- Zabb Elee
- Keens
- TelepanSince you mentioned that price does not matter, I'd also suggest the following restaurants, where you'll find dishes that you probably won't see anywhere else:
- Momofuku Ko
- Brooklyn Fare
- Marea
- BabboAs others have mentioned, NYC has its local specialties which may or may not be your thing.
-----
Babbo
110 Waverly Pl, New York, NY 10011Keens
72 West 36th St., New York, NY 10018Telepan
72 W. 69th Street, New York, NY 10023Momofuku Ko
163 1st Ave, New York, NY 10003Marea
240 Central Park South, New York, NY 10019Kin Shop
469 6th Ave, New York, NY 10011The Dutch
131 Sullivan St, New York, NY 10012Junoon
27 W 24th St, New York, NY 10010Zabb Elee
75 2nd Ave, New York, NY 10003 -
-
This is silly - there's very good BBQ, thai and great cupcakes in New York!!!!
Also most of the best chefs in the world - Eric Ripert, Daniel Boulud, Vongerichten, you could go on for ever. I would search out the chefs and try their restaurants as you seem to think NY is only about tourist traps.›5 Replies-
re: bronwen
When I leave NYC in a few months, I will miss the bagels (Absolute), the Pastrami (Katz's), and the Thai food (Ayada, Zabb Elee) very, very much. Everything else exists elsewhere in this great country.
Only people who have never been to Kansas City or Texas or North Carolina or Oklahoma think NYC has "very good BBQ" and "most of the best chefs in the world" don't live in the United States, let alone NYC (though meals I have had at Per Se and Le Bernardin have truly been world class).
-----
Per Se
10 Columbus Circle, New York, NY 10019Katz's Delicatessen
205 E Houston St, New York, NY 10002Le Bernardin
155 W. 51st St., New York, NY 10019Absolute Bagels
2788 Broadway, New York, NY 10025Zabb Elee
75 2nd Ave, New York, NY 10003-
re: nmprisons
Yeah, I think the answer totally depends on where the visitor-in-question is coming from. NYC has good enough BBQ for me - but I've never been to the South (South Beach probably doesn't count.) Someone from KS or NC would be wasting time if he/she's only got four days in NYC and having BBQ as dinner.
-
re: nmprisons
MVNYC
Jun 9, 2011 03:23 PM
Re BBQ: I would not agree with this at all. I travel quite extensively for work and have eaten at many of the lauded places in TX, TN, AL and OK (I had Dreamland ribs two nights ago). While the BBQ there is good I would not say that it is head and shoulders above what you would get at Fette Sau or Hill Country in NYC. You are not going to find examples of the myriad BBQ styles but you will get good food.
People tend to give lend BBQ a particular mystique but there is really nothing about its preparation that would make it proprietary to a particular location. I have noticed one thing about many people who travel, they tend to romanticize particular food items. While there may be some things that are dependent on their location due to the fact that their ingredients don't travel well BBQ is not one of them.
-----
Hill Country
30 W 26th St, New York, NY 10010
-
-
-
How old are the threads you are reading? There have been recent arrivals (Zabb Elee to name one) that change how "good" or "bad" a certain cuisine is in NYC.
Well, it's all relative isn't it? What is "not good BBQ" to one person is "pretty good to another." And the perspective of people who used to live in the South or Asia or wherever is going to be biased in favor of where they grew up -- the first time/place you try a certain food often sets the standard for the rest of your life.
There is definitely good BBQ in Manhattan (Dinosaur, Hill Country) and good Thai (Rhong Tiam, Zabb Elee) and good cupcakes (Butter Lane, Sugar Sweet Sunshine).
Cupcakes are particularly hard to debate because quality control is so difficult (especially dry cake when you are baking large batches).
Here are some threads below on things I think NYC is good at, like breakfast & brunch, bagels/smoked salmon, pickles, egg creams, pastrami sandiches, pizza, mixology / craft cocktails, a few "ethnic" niches, street food etc.
If you come back w/ a list of places you're interested in or a proposed itinerary, you'll get even more responses.
Best breakfast and brunch:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/707772Please help me eat during a month in new york
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/716238Don't leave NY without eating these foods
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/610739Pizza in NYC
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/692820#5454962BTW, I highly recommend RGR's self guided Lower East Side Gustatory tour but sub in Pickle Guys for Guss' Pickles:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/493333Best foodie shopping:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/585538
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/697174
http://www.chow.com/lists/33
http://www.chow.com/lists/924Union Square Greenmarket advice
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/705073
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/727570Best mixology / bespoke cocktails:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/609073
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/709227Bars for beer geeks
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/733207
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/572919For non-Western European/American
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/729498
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/731732Foreign Street Grub
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/701278totally obscure, odd, and intriguing menu items
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/722130-----
Union Square Greenmarket
Broadway and E 17th St, New York, NY 10003Pickle Guys
49 Essex St, New York, NY 10002Hill Country
30 W 26th St, New York, NY 10010Sugar Sweet Sunshine
126 Rivington St, New York, NY 10002Butter Lane
123 E 7th St, New York, NY 10009Dinosaur Bar-B-Que
777 W. 125th Street, New York, NY 10027Rhong-Tiam Express
31 E 21st St, New York, NY 10010Rhong-Tiam Garden
154 Orchard St, New York, NY 10002Zabb Elee
75 2nd Ave, New York, NY 10003 -
thew
Jun 8, 2011 12:17 PM
there is good thai in new york. there are good cupcakes in new york, there is more than decent bbq in new york.
that said
pizza, bagels, regional chinese, italian, italian american, jewish deli, greek, ethiopian, - ok im boring myself.
i havent found good cambodian here. everything else is ok
