• Plate Of The Day recommends the “next time you have a craving for White Castle, you don’t need to hike up to Harlem or Port Authority for some great cheap burgers.” … go to The Burger Joint … 241 3rd Avenue, at 20th Street, 212-228-1219 [MenuPages | Citysearch]
• Salli Vates likes the sweet potato at Soba-Ya … “sprinkled with crunchy black sesame seeds and drizzled with sugar syrup. Yum!” … 229 East 9th Street, 212-533-6966 [New York | Citysearch]
• Twenty Bucks a Day is “happy to report that the potemochi (pan-fried potato cake) were delicious. Served with a drizzle of soy sauce and sweet BUTTER…” at Tebaya … 144 West 19th Street, between 6th and 7th Avenues, 212-924-3335 [MenuPages | Citysearch]
• Robert Sietsema went to Landmarc last week … “With a menu that sprawls across many gustatory categories, the restaurant resembles a Parisian brasserie in attitude.” … the “orecchiette … flaunts a cream sauce of fresh rosemary and crumbled pork sausage so irresistible I went the next week to eat it again.” … “At Landmarc, good bottles [of wine] are often the same price as mediocre bottles elsewhere.” … (Rob Patronite and Robin Raisfeld reviewed Landmarc last week in “The Chefs Recommend” (TWIR, October 7, 2005)) … 179 West Broadway, 212-343-3883 179 West Broadway, at Leonard Street, 212-343-3883 [MenuPages | Citysearch]
• Amateur Gourmet went to Ouest … “pretty sure this is a smoked sturgeon salad, but if anything it’s a smoked fish with that spiky lettuce and bacon bits … a masterwork” … “for dessert, we shared an espresso parfait that was truly out of this world” … 2315 Broadway, at 84th Street, 212-580-8700 [MenuPages | Citysearch]
• The Bruni Digest notes that Frank Bruni is on vacation … Marian Burros is subbing …
• Marian Burros gave one star to Ben & Jack’s Steak House … “It’s unfortunate that the food at Ben & Jack’s strives to mimic Peter Luger’s, rather than to aim higher. The prices for steak are within a nickel of each other: $36.95 at Ben & Jack’s in Manhattan, $36.90 in Brooklyn. The question is whether either one is worth it. And at Ben & Jack’s, when the service is off, the answer is definitely no.” … “The food at Ben & Jack’s is equally uneven” … “Weighing in at four pounds, the lobster was rubbery and tasteless from stem to stern” … 219 East 44th Street, between 2nd and 3rd Avenues, 212-682-5678 [MenuPages | Citysearch]
• Peter Meehan suggests that you “stick to the resolutely Polish dishes and start off a meal at Kredens with whatever variation on borscht is on the menu.” … the potato pancake “Folded over on itself, dotted with sour cream and served in a goulash studded with cubes of exceedingly tender beef, it would make a satisfying cold-weather meal with a beer.” … 66-36 Fresh Pond Road, between Palmetto and Woodbine Streets, Ridgewood, Queens, 718-628-5214
• and although not reviews of NYC restaurants, R.W. Apple, Jr. is traveling around Asia and filing mouth watering reports … Shanghai Food … Thai …
• A Guy In New York likes Shimizu … “very fresh fish and excellent Japanese aesthetics” … 318 West 51st Street, between 8th and 9th Avenues, 212-581-1581 [sushi NYC | MenuPages | Citysearch]
• Moira Hodgson visited Thor … “Main courses include perfectly nice but undistinguished venison” … “one evening, I looked down at my plate in bewilderment. What had I ordered? Perched on a lump of ice the size of a bowling ball was a small mound that appeared to be covered with green slime. It was crushed avocado, sprinkled with salted caramel, placed on top of a tart lime sorbet. The whole thing taken all together was weird, one of the oddest things I’ve tasted, and not pleasant” … (Andrea Strong visited last month (TWIR, September 30, 2005) … 107 Rivington Street, between Essex and Ludlow Streets, 212-475-2600 or 646-253-6700 [MenuPages | Citysearch]
• Andrea Thompson says Tides “short but smartly curated wine list will change seasonally” … the “whole fish of the day was excellent” … (Andrea Strong reviewed Tides last month (TWIR, September 23, 2005), and Pascale Le Draoulec in August (TWIR, August 26, 2005)) … 102 Norfolk Street, near Delancey, 212-254-8855 [Citysearch]
• slice reminds us that “pizza as we know it in the United States is celebrating its centennial this year.” … and has the secret to the great pizza at Totonno’s … 1524 Neptune Avenue, Coney Island, 718-372-8606 [slice | Citysearch]
• Steve Cuozzo notes “this fall, Zagat has burning rubber on its tail: the Michelin Guide, the notoriously Francophile critical survey arriving in New York for the first time next month.” … “I’m rooting for it to kick Zagat’s burgundy-covered butt. Nobody who uses Zagat for its handy compilation of addresses and phone numbers is likely to throw out a guide that lists 1,700 places to eat compared with the new Michelin’s 500. But for diners fed up with Zagat’s myriad mistakes, see-no-evil write-ups and ridiculous inclusion of Krispy Kreme and Starbucks at the expense of actual restaurants, Michelin – spiffily retooled and redesigned for the New York market – finally offers a real alternative.” …
• Gael Greene writes that “It’s all about food here, about quintessential excess: poached-egg raviolo with truffle essence. Seafood risotto, a riot of flavor with the nuttiness of fried rock shrimp. Braised lobster on a splendid ragout of porcini, squash, fennel, and baby mussels. Pancetta-crusted scallops melting on the inside on yet another surprising risotto. Flubs are few….” … Piano Due … (David Rosen reviewed Piano Due last month (TWIR, September 9, 2005)) … 151 West 51st Street, between 6th and 7th Avenues, 212-399-9400 [MenuPages | Citysearch]
• Rob Patronite and Robin Raisfeld remind us that Brooklyn Eats will take place October 17 at the New York Marriott Brooklyn … and that classes at the Institute of Culinary Education’s 30th Anniversary on October 15 are $30 per person …
• Hal Rubenstein has a confession: “As satisfying as chocolate cake with corn ice cream and pineapple upside-down cake with a tart guava sauce are, what I really craved was another jala-piña (tequila and fresh pineapple juice infused with jalapeño) or blood-orange margarita, two of the best house cocktails dreamed up in New York in ages. They rank right up there with Zarela’s legendary margaritas.” … Centrico “energizes and elevates Mexican comfort and street food, the same winning way Spice Market jazzes up Southeast Asian pushcart fare.” … 211 West Broadway, at Franklin Street, 212-431-0700 [MenuPages | Citysearch]
• NYC Nosh reviews 3 this week … Cookshop … “Montauk squid with lima beans and salsa verde [appetizer] was excellent: it was the best dish of the night” … “Better than the lamb, but still not extraordinary was the cod with matchstick-cut apples, butternut squash ribbons, and celery.” … “Perhaps with time Cookshop will blossom and will do right by its fine local ingredients, but on this, its debut evening, it is still more awkward than polished.” … 156 10th Avenue, at 20th Street, 212-924-4440 [Citysearch] … Saravanaas … “making very traditional dishes to a very high standard.” … “Saravanaas excels at its use of more subtle spices such as fenugreek, which appears in several dishes; in fact, it is actually discernable as a flavor” … “the onion and chili utthappam, which was a gorgeous, 9-inch patty, studded with red onions and crisped bits of lentil. It was really divine stuff–easily the best dish of the evening” … (David Rosen reviewed last month (TWIR, September 2, 2005) and Peter Meehan reviewed in August (TWIR, August 19, 2005)) … 81 Lexington Avenue, at 26th Street, 212-679-0204 [MenuPages | Citysearch] … 2nd Avenue Deli … “Schmaltz That’s Worth The Schlep: Dinner at The 2nd Avenue Deli” … “for pure comfort food, and for the knowledge that your waitress is surely someone’s bubbe in her off-hours, the 2nd Avenue Deli takes the kugel.” … “Every time we go, at least one person in our party orders the Matzoh Ball Soup and someone else orders potato latkes, and each time, they are exceptional.” … 156 Second Avenue, between 9th and 10th Streets, 212-677-0606 [MenuPages | Citysearch]
• Joan Reminick likes the “fine roast beef sandwich” at Roasty’s … “Both the Caesar and the “Oriental” salads, done with fresh greens, were sabotaged by dressings that tasted of preservatives. Coleslaw, on the other hand, proved ideal” … 3114 Long Beach Road, Oceanside, 516-594-1100
• David Rosen gives 1.5 stars out of 4 to You-Chun … the “naeng myun, chilled noodles submerged in an icy beef broth … has a welcome vinegar zing” … also liked the “hot stone bowl filled with rice, onions and raw beef” and the fried vegetable dumplings … (Dana Bowen reviewed in August (TWIR, August 26, 2005)) … 5 West 36th Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues, 212-239-5000 [Citysearch]
• Peter Gianotti says “the Olde Speonk Inn covers more territory than Eli Manning” … “You’ll like the appetizer salads. The roasted beet number with horseradish-sherry vinaigrette; and the arugula production with roasted red peppers and shaved Parmesan stand out.” … “Grilled flatiron steak, a juicy and increasingly popular cut, is recommended. ” … 190 Montauk Highway, Speonk, 631-325-8400
• Lisa Amand has a list of 9 restaurants in Brooklyn that are open after midnight …
• Andrea Strong had the “most unbelievable chicken wings I have ever had the pleasure of consuming in my life” at Cercle Rouge … baked clams in an “incredible” chorizo sauce … “The creamed spinach, however, was bitter and murky and I could barely get through my first bite. The skate was even worse.” … an eater reader was “underwhelmed” (TWIR, September 23, 2005)… 241 West Broadway, 212-226-6252 [MenuPages]

____________________________________
Subway MTA map | Straphangers interactive map | schedules | HopStop

Did we miss your favorite review?

Let us know: aguyinnewyork [at] gmail.com … we’re especially interested in hearing from NYC bloggers …

Want to Link to TWIR?

If you want to place a TWIR logo with a review that was featured, feel free to link to one of the banners on the TWIR page.