Each Friday, A Guy In New York publishes “This Week in NYC Reviews (TWIR),” with quick links to New York City restaurant reviews and mentions from the previous seven days in blogs, magazines, and newspapers.
Also see our roundup of Michelin 1, 2 and 3 star restaurants with links to reviews …
For a roundup of DC restaurant reviews from DC food bloggers and media, see This Week in DC Reviews at Hobnob Blog …
NYC Restaurant inspection results online

• A Guy in New York says the best Malaysian restaurant you never heard of is Sanur …
• Jean Tang recommends the dumplings at 4 dumpling places … Fried Dumpling: “The boiled pork dumplings here (Sui Jiao or Jiao Ze) are still ideal – chewy wrappers with juicy, greaseless filling.” …. 99 Allen Street, 212-941-9975 [Citysearch] … China North Dumpling: “an ugly dumpling saved by an irresistible constitution.” … 15 Essex Street, 212-529-2760 [Village Voice] … Kingdom of Pancakes: “dumplings are hearty, with chew and flavor. Lingering, we couldn’t resist Chen’s rustic beef noodle soup, homemade noodles and tender stew beef in rich, peppery pork stock” … 7 Allen Street, 212-966-5658 [Photo of front by My Life As A Contact Sheet] … Dumpling House: “better known for its sandwiches, $1.50, deep-fried sesame pancakes stuffed with grated carrot, fresh cilantro and cold sliced beef” … 118A Eldridge Street, 212-625-8008 [Citysearch] … Dumpling Man: “the leanest, healthiest and densest dumplings we tasted, little virtuosic miracles with thin, delicate skins, vegetable-laden fillings, and a remarkable absence of grease” … web site, 100 St. Marks Place, 212-505-2121 [Citysearch] … Plump Dumpling: “disappointing, but owner Peter Day estimates that dumplings are 50% of his business. The Malaysian buys fresh vegetables from Chinatown every morning, and has released a new menu highlighting items like curry noodle soup, wontons with a weirdly delicious peanut-butter sesame sauce, and eggplant stir-fries.” … 299 East 11th Street, 212-254-2868 [NY Mag]
• Slashfood likes the “Bosna Burger, or pljeskavica” at Bosna Express … “The hubcap-sized burger barely fits onto the plastic plate it’s served on.” … and is “mindbogglingly good” … 791 Fairview Avenue, Queens, 718-497-7577 [Village Voice] (there is also a Bosna Express at 3129 12th Street, Long Island City, Queens – Robert Sietsma review in TWIR, August 5, 2005) …
• Forbes gives Green GOs to Lentini: “One of the best traditional Italian eateries on the Upper East Side” … 1562 Second Avenue, at 81st Street, 212-628-3131 [MenuPages | NYT | NY Mag | openlist | Citysearch] … and La Petite Auberge: “offers delicious, well-prepared French food” … web site, 116 Lexington Avenue, at 28th Street, 212-689-5003 [MenuPages | NYT | NY Mag | openlist | Citysearch] … and a Yellow CONSIDER to Koi: “may be the most obnoxious spot in town. No one should have to wait 45 minutes for a confirmed reservation” … Bryant Park Hotel, 40 West 40th Street, 212-642-2100 [MenuPages | NYT | NY Mag | Gayot | Citysearch]
• David Rosen describes Morimoto as “a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde restaurant” … “The benevolent Dr. Jekyll is represented by the omakase menu; Omakase literally translates from Japanese as: ‘I am in your hands.’ By relinquishing our order to the chef, we taste a silky tuna-toro tartare; a tender tempura-squid salad; some crispy rock-shrimp tempura; an ethereal grouping of oysters, foie gras and sea urchin; a zesty lobster Èpice; a well-braised codfish in ginger-and-soy sauce and a divine chocolate torte. Mr. Hyde makes his appearance on a second visit, when we decide to order ý la carte. Tasteless yellowtail tartare is further neutralized by a myriad of assertive sauces served in small, square wooden molds. The yellowtail pastrami also succumbs to the spices that encrust the fish. The tuna pizza is as dry as sandpaper.” … (previous reviews: Steve Cuozzo and Augieland (TWIR, February 17, 2006), Augieland (TWIR, February 10, 2006), Augieland (TWIR, February 3, 2006)) … web site, 88 10th Avenue, between 15th and 16th Streets, 212-989-8883 [MenuPages | NY Mag | Citysearch]
• Mona’s Apple also went to Morimoto … after seeing the chef in the kitchen, “My night could have ended there and I didn’t even taste a piece of food yet” …
• Owen Phillips writes that Peacock Alley in the Waldorf-Astoria “is now part of the Art Deco lobby [and] With all the racket, it might as well have been a Greyhound-station waiting room.” … “the deep pleasure of the braised pork cheeks with garganelli pasta and a guanciale-and-Parmesan emulsion” … web site, 301 Park Avenue, 212-872-7335 [NYT | openlist | Citysearch] … (see how Peacock Alley got its name)
• Peter Meehan took a 30-minute walk from the Staten Island Ferry to Nürnberger Bierhaus … “the sauerbraten [is] not a dish that I’d swim the Kill Van Kull for, but it is a fair rendition of the German classic.” … “I might skip appetizers altogether and hold out for the massive ‘wurstteller mit allem drum & dram,’ a food coma waiting to happen made up of four varieties of sausage, mashed potatoes, sauerkraut and red cabbage” … 817 Castleton Avenue, Staten Island, 718-816-7461 [Staten Island Advance]
• Robert Sietsema went to Frankies 457, “a cozy tin-ceilinged trattoria founded by a pair of Italian American pals from Queens–both named Frankie” … says about the cavatelli: “A more savory pasta can hardly be imagined.” … “the best thing I can say about Frankies does not concern its menu, wine, or ambience, and it’s something that cannot be said about the welter of mediocre restaurants lining nearby Smith Street: Frankies feels like it belongs in the neighborhood.” … web site, 457 Court Street, Brooklyn, 718-403-0033 [NYT | NY Metro | Citysearch]
• The Hungry Rose had dinner at Whym … “The hit of the appetizers was the Duck Negamaki, a chunks of soy sauce sweet coated duck on a bed of ‘forbidden’ rice” … “Chicken Pot Pie [is] covered in melted chedder cheese and chopped chives. It is HUGE. It could have served two, maybe even three people. Underneath a delicious golden, crispy biscuite crust (making a wonderful ‘riiip’ sound as I plunged my fork in) were bits of chicken apply sausage, carrots and potatoes” … web site, 889 9th Avenue, between 57th and 58th Streets, 212-315-0088 [MenuPages | Citysearch]
• Veal Cheeks says Ureña‘s “cuisine had both real successes, a few errors, and many satisfying attempts” … “the chef’s tasting menu (nine courses, plus amuses), and the chef attempted to dazzle us: for most courses the table was served two different preparations that demanded sharing.” … “Shrimp over Manchego Rice (rice with Spanish sheep’s milk cheese)is Spanish for Shrimp on Cheese Grits. Although not wild, it was a startling and effective mixture, mild and robust, and we loved it.” … “The steamed lobster with pickled rhubarb purée, glazed salisfy, and blood orange sauce might have been a high point of the meal. Instead, it was upended by an sickly sweet sauce of goopy consistency.” … (previous review: Augieland (TWIR, February 10, 2006)) … 37 East 28th Street, between Lexington Avenue and Park Avenue South, 212-213-2328 [eGullet | NY Metro | Citysearch] … and says Nobu “is an essential restaurant, the rising sun lighting TriBeCa” … the “Kumamoto oysters [were] sublime” … broiled black cod “is a finalist for Dish of the Century” … web site, 105 Hudson Street, at Franklin Street, 212-219-0500 [sushi NYC | NYT | MenuPages | Gayot | openlist | Citysearch]
• Adam Platt says the cooking at Urena “is gourmet-quality” … “the leap from mastering kitchen technique to running a first-rate restaurant is more difficult than it may appear. This is apparent almost as soon as you walk into Ureña” … “if you manage to keep your attention focused firmly on the plate, his food is, in the words of my discerning wife, ‘really yummy.'” … “the excellent halibut is blanketed with bread crumbs mingling in a pleasing way with a smooth mixture of sweet onions, zucchini, and saffron broth” …
• Michelle Green went on a “Savor the Caribbean cruise” offered by Carnival … “Six days into my seven-day jaunt aboard Celebrity’s showy Infinity in January (which cost $2,093, with a single supplement), I hadn’t found the transcendent experience I hoped for. Instead of getting into the kitchen, my sleeves rolled up while I learned the intricacies of preparing some fabulous Caribbean dish, I’d been slumping in a theater seat watching the guest chef Edgar Leal, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, preparing dishes that included lamb with basil mashed potatoes.” … “There was a lesson to all of this, and it struck me the next day, when our feast on Paradise Island was ending. After 15 dishes emerged from the kitchen at Bimini Road, we were staring, awestruck, at dessert — an immense platter of guava duff, which was like a jelly roll, with a pastry-cream sauce. Though I could manage only a bite, I thought, fine — I would never have encountered this if I hadn’t joined a cruise.” … web site [TripAdvisor]…
• Plate Of The Day likes the pasta at Kuhinya … “Penne with Salmon and vodka sauce was a definitely a hit. The whole wheat penne was delicious and also cooked al dente. The Salmon and vodka sauce was a cream base and included ample small chunks of delicious fresh grilled salmon.” … web site, 4005 Broadway, at West 168th Street, near Columbia Medical Center, 212-781-3333
• NYC nosh notes about the VIP hallway at Blue Owl: “Cozy place, actually. We could imagine spending a few hours back here…as long as we could bring along a plate or two of the upscale cold cuts we sampled on our visit. I think we’d have to rename the area though and let in anyone with a taste for cured meats and cheeses. We’re thinking the Ham Hallway or the Bresola Bunker, but I wonder what Diddy would have to say.” … web site, 196 Second Avenue, between 12th and 13th Streets, 212-505-2583 [Citysearch] … reports that the ceaser salad at The Half King “While it looked nice, the salad wasn’t good” … “onion rings were fantastic” … the Sirloin Burger topped with sautéed onions and “a few slices of swiss cheese [was] the best thing we ate” … web site, 505 West 23rd Street, at 10th Avenue, 212-462-4300 [MenuPages | NYT | NY Mag | Village Voice | openlist | Gayot | Citysearch]
• Frank Bruni says Rare Bar & Grill “is a shrine to burgers of all kinds, arguably to a point of burger apostasy.” … “a respectable burger can transcend its trappings. Rare’s did.” … (for the best grilled burger in NYC, go to Tony Dragonas at 62nd and Madison) … 228 Bleecker Street, 212-691-7273 [MenuPages] … and gave 3 stars to Del Posto … “mostly terrific food, distinguished by first-rate ingredients (the arugula here makes arugula at many other restaurants seem like iceberg in drag), clear flavors and, more often than not, superior cooking.” … “The veal shank, roasted and served with spaetzle, was dull and slightly dry, as was swordfish. Pappardelle with wild boar needed more kick, maybe because this particular pairing of noodle and beast has become so widespread.” … (previous reviews: Steve Cuozzo (TWIR, February 17, 2006), David Rosen (TWIR, February 3, 2006)), Andrea Strong (TWIR, January 20, 2006)) … 85 Tenth Avenue, between 15th Street and 16th Streets, 212-497-8090 [MenuPages | NY Metro | Village Voice | Citysearch]
• The Bruni Digest looks at Frank Bruni’s 3-star review of Del Postso … “the tone of the whole review feels like the Count is defending the honor of a wronged lady, to the point of accusing us New Yorkers of being small-minded.” … “So despite the classiness of the decor, you see, the food is straightforward–not exactly what Giuseppe Schmoe eats every day after cobbling together Fiats, but at least innocent of obnoxious frippery” … and don’t miss this week’s episode of “Billy the Often Broken Leg Guy!” …
• The Girl Who Ate Everything “wouldn’t necessarily recommend or not recommend” Grand Sichuan … had “sauteed Shanghai bok choy. I can’t think of anything bad about it, so I guess that means it’s good.” … and Chong Qing Dry & Spicy Chicken … and didn’t notice the chiles???? … web site, 19-23 St. Marks Place (East 8th Street), between 2nd and 3rd Avenues, 212-529-4800 [MenuPages | NY Metro | Village Voice | Citysearch] … had dinner at Piola: “specialty is pizza. Lots of pizza” … the Margherita with fresh mozzarella “definitely made my taste buds happier” but wanted more basil on it … the crust “wasn’t very crispy, nor sadly limp; it was just in the middle” … web site, 48 East 12th Street, between University Place and Broadway, 212-777-7781 [MenuPages | NYT | NY Metro | Citysearch]
• Twenty bucks a day had “noodles with special brown sauce” at Kum Ryong … but the “chicken soup … seemed to lack very much chicken” … 30 West 32nd Street, 212-629-6450 [Village Voice] … writes that Kebap G has “the perfect replication of the standard Berlin doner kebap” … “it’s a damn good sandwich – the warm meat, cold veggies, and soft bread are similar to banh mi in their contrasting texture/temperature pleasures.” … 1830 2nd Avenue, between 94th and 95th Streets, 212-860-5960 [Chowhound] … and reports that the yum nam sod at Pam Real Thai Food is “amazingly hot” … (previous review: Veal Cheeks (TWIR, December 9, 2005)) … web site, 404 West 49th Street, between 9th and 10th Avenues, 212-333-7500 [MenuPages | NYT | NY Mag | Village Voice | Cheapo NY | openlist | Citysearch]

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