Category: New York Restaurants by Area

New York City Restaurants by Neighborhood

‘cesca

164 West 75th Street on Amsterdam Avenue
212/787.6300
$280 for four people with eight glasses of drinks, without tip
♥ ♥ ♥

Ah, the upper west side, you keep surprising me. ‘cesca has been on our list of places to eat for the past year because Cameron lives around the corner. After Telepan, I’m more confident to pick a restaurant in the upper west side even if it bills itself as a family-owned Italian restaurant. (I don’t have any good experiences to write about family-owned Italian restaurants in Little Italy and the space next door has turned over more than I can count.) The ‘cesca menu looked good the first time I read it from the outside of the restaurant and it looked good the night we visited. Four of us were seated in the wine nook; a table fit for ten became our own private space for three hours. The sommelier, a giant with a short ponytail, selected for us a light red wine after our glasses of Prosecco.

The octopus sopressata, so called because it’s dried, pressed and sliced thinly, reminded me of the octopus carpaccio we ate in Prague. The pickle-ly taste offset the bitter mustard greens. I couldn’t pass up the chance to try their veal meatballs. They were served in a clear, hot broth, perfect for the harsh temperature outside. The Parmigiano gave it a beefier, fuller taste. We also shared a third appetizer, the escarole salad with tuna, fennel and pomegranates. While we waited for our two main dishes, we were served a complimentary course of faro wheat. We didn’t really understand how we became so lucky, but our waiter quietly mentioned Babbo when we asked. I think he overheard us talking out our most recent experience at Babbo and appreciated the fact that we like our authentic Italian food. (I think taking photos of food really helps.) The special of the night was a seafood risotto and we divided that with a rack of lamb chops and servings of broccoli rabe and roasted Brussel sprouts that tasted like fresh potato chips. To tell you the truth, I enjoyed my medium-rare lamb so much I don’t even remember tasting the risotto. During our espressos, we split the panna cotta with mixed fruit compote and the warm chocolate cake with créme fraiche. I really won’t make fun of the upper west side again.

Related post/s:
Upper West Side isn’t so bad with Telepan there
But it ain’t Babbo

Ushiwakamaru

136 West Houston Street off Sullivan
212/228.4181
$150 for three people with six drinks, without tip
♥ ♥

I’m always walking on Houston Street, but I have to admit that I never pay attention to the restaurants on the street. There are a few off Sullivan Street, right before you turn towards Bleecker, but I’ve never been inclined to check them out. We wanted sushi one night after a few after-work drinks in SoHo but Blue Ribbon was, as usual, packed and there was quite a wait at Nagomi. Yama or Tomoe are not good options to me so I was delighted to eat good sushi at Ushi Wakamaru. The uni was fresh and the ankimo creamy. The otoro was still the most expensive on the menu but it was still less than what Gari would charge. They accommodated my requests for salmon skin and shiso leaf makimo before we closed our tab. They didn’t take unfamiliar requests like shiso with pickled carrots and daikon–something Sushiden wouldn’t refuse–but they pretty much met my expectations.

Related post/s:
Nagomi, around the corner
Gari for more expensive sushi
Go to Sushiden for shiso with pickled carrots and daikon

Tia Pol

205 Tenth Avenue between 22nd and 23rd Streets
212/675.8805
$84 for two people with three drinks, without tip
♥ ♥ ♥

If you’re looking for a good tapas place in New York City, Tia Pol is most likely recommended. I rarely make it around the Chelsea neighborhood, so I visited about two years after the entire city has already fawned over it. Ever since they opened in 2004, the wine hasn’t stopped flowing and the customers haven’t lost their patience waiting for a spot. We waited for about 45 minutes to be seated with our glasses of wine one warm winter night. When we finally made it, it was as if the bartender was waiting for us all along. She was very busy, yet attentive. She forgot to bring out the lamb but everything else we ordered lifted our spirits. The food brought us back to Catalunya. The owners of Tia Pol say they opened a tapas bar because of an on-going love affair with Spain. I give it three stars for the same reason.

Bahn Mi, Vietnamese Sandwiches

A Vietnamese sandwich, or bánh mì, has minced pork, potted meat, salami, carrots, cucumbers and cilantro. They are served in a slightly toasted French baguette with a special sauce that brings all the fillings together. Skip on the mayonnaise and order an iced Vietnamese coffee while you wait. There are also the neo-bánh mìs like vermicelli glass noodles, beef fillets, chicken and even tofu. Most of the stores carry other Vietnamese snacks and your best bet would be the summer rolls or the rice cakes. Sáu Voi Corp also sells Vietnamese CDs and DVDs for some soundtrack while you eat. (I’ve updated this post since 2004 with the latest bánh mì stores.)

I’ve listed my favorites below and they all get ♥ ♥

Viet-Nam Bánh Mì So 1
369 Broome Street off Mott
212/219-8341
Updated, 2008: Renamed Saigon

Sáu Voi Corp
101-105 Corner of Lafayette and Walker Street
212/226.8184

Paris Bakery
113 Mott Street between Canal and Hester
212/226.7221

Á Châu Deli
82A Mulberry between Canal and Bayard
212/766.3332

Harlem Tamales

Corner of 145th Street and Edgecombe Avenue
no phone number
$1 for each tamale
♥

The Dr. texted me at 7am, an ungodly hour, to let me know that the tamales lady was there. It took me another 30 minutes to get out of bed and put on my jeans over my pajamas. I schlepped over to 145th Street, half awake, to finally buy the tamales the Dr. has been curious about since he started his commute to the hospital earlier this year. I was going to be his test case: try the tamales and let him know how they taste so he can buy them on his own. Man, I don’t even wake up at 7:30 to go to work, but I’ve also been curious ever since he told me about the lady in the corner selling tamales from her cooler every morning. I go the other way for my own commute so I never see her, but if I didn’t do it today, I’d certainly won’t do it when it’s the dead of winter.

I crossed the street and held out my hand with the peace sign. Dos. She asked, Verde? With Mexican food, if there is green, there must be red, so I said, Verde y rojo, por favor. She opened her cooler and revealed a whole trove of steaming corn husks, grabbed two tamales and wrapped them in aluminum foil and handed them over to me in exchange for $2. I walked back home, sat at the kitchen counter and started eating breakfast. I don’t have tabasco sauce but I have some piri-piri, a Portuguese chili, to dot them and add a little kick. In Mexico, we ate a few tamales from the Zócalo. I’m more than 2,000 miles from the ciudad today but these tamales were comparable, if not better. The corn meal was so fine it melted in my mouth. There was even more chicken meat in this Harlem version, and thankfully, they were boneless. (Some vendors get lazy and put chicken wings in there!) Overall, a pretty good breakfast before 8am.