I have to say, while Rym laments the lack of sub shops - man, I'd give up every DiBella's in the Capital District to have a real goddamn kosher deli up ins. Subs are great, but I want some goddamn pastrami that I didn't have to make myself.
The other side grass. Wow. So green.
Also, the Carnegie Deli will deliver to my office. I haven't yet been hungry enough to try this.
Headed into NYC tomorrow for a concert. Reading this thread has renewed in me a desire for a Shnippers burger, which I havn't had in over a year.
Or Fette Sau if I'm going to be in Brooklyn... hmmm...
I lived in Providence for a few years and while the food was always pleasing and delicious, I never thought to consider it up to par with NYC; by virtue of assuming that Providence is tiny and not NYC.
Any other city I guess I'd be right, but apparently I diddn't know how good I had it.
I have to say, while Rym laments the lack of sub shops - man, I'd give up every DiBella's in the Capital District to have a real goddamn kosher deli up ins. Subs are great, but I want some goddamn pastrami that I didn't have to make myself.
The other side grass. Wow. So green.
Also, the Carnegie Deli will deliver to my office. I haven't yet been hungry enough to try this.
Carnegie Deli is actually a good example for Luke's "tourist traps aren't all that bad" point. Carnegie is most definitely a tourist trap more than it is a deli. However, that doesn't mean it's a bad deli. It's actually quite good.
I have to say, while Rym laments the lack of sub shops - man, I'd give up every DiBella's in the Capital District to have a real goddamn kosher deli up ins. Subs are great, but I want some goddamn pastrami that I didn't have to make myself.
The other side grass. Wow. So green.
Also, the Carnegie Deli will deliver to my office. I haven't yet been hungry enough to try this.
Carnegie Deli is actually a good example for Luke's "tourist traps aren't all that bad" point. Carnegie is most definitely a tourist trap more than it is a deli. However, that doesn't mean it's a bad deli. It's actually quite good.
You would think that it's a super famous tourist trap. But really, not as many tourists know about it as you would think. Also, even if tourists do know about it, they don't eat there. They eat at Applebee's, Olive Garden, TGIF, etc.
Same thing with Katz's Deli, apparently. I went there a few times, across the small few times I've been to New York, and despite being pretty famous, I was the only tourist there. Pretty damned tasty, too.
I have to say, while Rym laments the lack of sub shops - man, I'd give up every DiBella's in the Capital District to have a real goddamn kosher deli up ins. Subs are great, but I want some goddamn pastrami that I didn't have to make myself.
The other side grass. Wow. So green.
Also, the Carnegie Deli will deliver to my office. I haven't yet been hungry enough to try this.
Carnegie Deli is actually a good example for Luke's "tourist traps aren't all that bad" point. Carnegie is most definitely a tourist trap more than it is a deli. However, that doesn't mean it's a bad deli. It's actually quite good.
You would think that it's a super famous tourist trap. But really, not as many tourists know about it as you would think. Also, even if tourists do know about it, they don't eat there. They eat at Applebee's, Olive Garden, TGIF, etc.
Yesterday I visited The Gate of India in Mumbai. I'd visited before, and wanted to make sure what it was like last time wasn't an exception. I wanted to see if there was, for the second time, more men with cameras and printers offering to take your photo for money than there were tourists. Last time I didn't count, but this time I thought I would.
I counted about 80 photographers. And once I counted them, I counted the tourists, and only spotted about 50. The open space in front of the Gate is so full of photographers it's actually hard to get a clear shot. Which means you don't want to bother paying for a photograph. It's all pretty impressive.
I can't remember what point I was going to make with this story.
Nah I mean food that tastes good is okay or whatever. I could take or leave it.
We used to go there about bi-weekly, but probably just the winter weather put the kibosh on that. It's about a 25-30 minute walk, and part of that is along the highway, so it's kind of miserable scenery. Still, the food is pretty good, and I like their brunch, but it's kind of a lame wait after you've been walking for a long time. Now we go to brunch at Applewood, which is a slightly shorter walk in the other direction, and rarely has a wait if you go early enough. Also they make a spicy bloody mary which I like, but is too spicy for me because I'm a baby so it makes me cry while I drink it.
I haven't been far enough south to know how close my conception of chicken and waffles matches up to the real, but I did grow up in a neighborhood in Philly with a ton of soul food restaurants, and Buttermilk Channel seems to have a handle on a ritzed-up version of what I ate as a teenager.
In fact, I guess a major disappointment for where I live in Brooklyn is lack of really quality soul food. However, we have just about everything else, and most in a reasonable walk. Hibino is the best sushi I've ever had (though they've declined a bit, recently; new chef I think) and next door is Henry Public, which manages to combine 1920s aesthetic and "gastropub" while somehow avoiding being douchey, and makes this pulled turkey leg sandwich which is one of the best things I've ever eaten, discounting really fancy things I've only eaten onces. Near to them is Nicky's which makes a pretty baller Vietnamese sandwich, and some decently okay Pho. Near to that is Mile End, whose smoked brisket is out of this world, but I think they realized their tiny-ass restaurant will be full no matter how much they charge, so they doubled their prices and we don't really go anymore.
Brooklyn also has a great selection of German beer halls, my favorite being Der Schwartze Kolner, who, really, I'm more into for the chicken sausage than the beer. I don't even come out of that place drunk, usually, because I've stuffed myself with 2 chicken sausages and 3 pretzels.
On the topic of Mexican, I'm 100% sure there's stuff in the west coast that's better than what we get here; in San Jose and San Fran I had some really good tacos. But NYC is no slouch. I live next door to this place called Country Boys, which we have no idea why it is empty 24/7 because the food all costs like a nickel, the portions are enormous, and it's all super-fresh ingredients. For whatever reason freshness is something I notice with Mexican food, and after a lifetime of stuff like Qdoba, and my mom making tacos from a box, moving to a place that had Mexican restaurants easily accessible I was like "oh, this is what real tacos are."
Anyway today for lunch, surrounded by many of the best foods I've had in my life, I'm eating a nutrition bar and a calorie-free soda, if you were wondering.
Yesterday I visited The Gate of India in Mumbai. I'd visited before, and wanted to make sure what it was like last time wasn't an exception. I wanted to see if there was, for the second time, more men with cameras and printers offering to take your photo for money than there were tourists. Last time I didn't count, but this time I thought I would.
I counted about 80 photographers. And once I counted them, I counted the tourists, and only spotted about 50. The open space in front of the Gate is so full of photographers it's actually hard to get a clear shot. Which means you don't want to bother paying for a photograph. It's all pretty impressive.
I can't remember what point I was going to make with this story.
Were you going to then discuss how the Sea Lounge in the Taj Mahal Hotel across the road is constantly flooded with tourists but the food there is still good and frequented by locals and tourists?
My trouble with that area of Mumbai is that I literally have to push people away from me if I'm dressed for a work meeting. More than a few of the regular beggars/scammers/opportunists seem to remember me specifically year-to-year and get very aggressive.
Brooklyn also has a great selection of German beer halls, my favorite being Der Schwartze Kolner, who, really, I'm more into for the chicken sausage than the beer. I don't even come out of that place drunk, usually, because I've stuffed myself with 2 chicken sausages and 3 pretzels.
I go buck wild for a good pretzel. There's a beer hall in Seattle that we had a work party at called Von Trapps that has some great pretzels. Their house beer is shit but they have a decent selection so I can usually just get something I would regularly get. They also have like 8 bocce ball courts which seems kinda weird but is sorta cool.
Carnegie Deli is actually a good example for Luke's "tourist traps aren't all that bad" point. Carnegie is most definitely a tourist trap more than it is a deli. However, that doesn't mean it's a bad deli. It's actually quite good.
You would think that it's a super famous tourist trap. But really, not as many tourists know about it as you would think. Also, even if tourists do know about it, they don't eat there. They eat at Applebee's, Olive Garden, TGIF, etc. Good to know. If I get a chance next time I can get down to NYC, eating at the Carnegie or Katz's is something I'd like to partake of.
I think I can count the number of times I've eaten at a place like Applebees, Olive Garden, etc., on one hand, and it usually breaks down to "I want to eat right now and I don't see anything else nearby" (mostly in the pre-smartphone days) or "someone gave me a gift card and I may as well use it."
Heck, my rule of thumb when it comes to tourism is to try to eat as much as possible where the locals eat. Of course, there are exceptions for various reasons.
Fun fact: I have only eaten Pizza Hut once in my entire life and it was in Pune, India, of all places. The reason was that I was out and about with an Indian friend of mine and he specifically chose Pizza Hut as the closest place where I could eat the food without getting Delhi Belly. Other than that, we pretty much ate local cuisine from places that he trusted to follow proper food sanitation practices.
My trouble with that area of Mumbai is that I literally have to push people away from me if I'm dressed for a work meeting. More than a few of the regular beggars/scammers/opportunists seem to remember me specifically year-to-year and get very aggressive.
That area is the worst, it's one of the reasons why other big tourist places in the country have paid entry / gated entry.
Fun fact: I have only eaten Pizza Hut once in my entire life and it was in Pune, India, of all places.
I also last ate Pizza Hut last in India but it was with one of my cousins in New Delhi, it is incredibly popular over there and the pizzas seem to be smaller but of higher quality than the trash that is served in Australia. It was weird to have good service in a fast food place (nearly all the fast food places in Australia are best take away). It was so weird when I saw my cousin put ketchup on top of his pizza. I joined in by adding dried chilli flakes over mine.
Pune is quite quiet (my retired uncle moved there for retirement from Mumbai), I'm surprised people are visiting the city.
Pune is quite quiet (my retired uncle moved there for retirement from Mumbai), I'm surprised people are visiting the city.
I visited my friend there to attend his wedding, otherwise I probably wouldn't have gone to Pune. It is a quiet city, but at least one major Indian business is headquartered there.
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Also, the Carnegie Deli will deliver to my office. I haven't yet been hungry enough to try this.
Or Fette Sau if I'm going to be in Brooklyn... hmmm...
I lived in Providence for a few years and while the food was always pleasing and delicious, I never thought to consider it up to par with NYC; by virtue of assuming that Providence is tiny and not NYC.
Any other city I guess I'd be right, but apparently I diddn't know how good I had it.
I counted about 80 photographers. And once I counted them, I counted the tourists, and only spotted about 50. The open space in front of the Gate is so full of photographers it's actually hard to get a clear shot. Which means you don't want to bother paying for a photograph. It's all pretty impressive.
I can't remember what point I was going to make with this story.
Buttermilk Channel's chicken and waffles are out of sight.
But so are many things they make.
It's a pretty okay place if you want to eat food that tastes good.
We used to go there about bi-weekly, but probably just the winter weather put the kibosh on that. It's about a 25-30 minute walk, and part of that is along the highway, so it's kind of miserable scenery. Still, the food is pretty good, and I like their brunch, but it's kind of a lame wait after you've been walking for a long time. Now we go to brunch at Applewood, which is a slightly shorter walk in the other direction, and rarely has a wait if you go early enough. Also they make a spicy bloody mary which I like, but is too spicy for me because I'm a baby so it makes me cry while I drink it.
I haven't been far enough south to know how close my conception of chicken and waffles matches up to the real, but I did grow up in a neighborhood in Philly with a ton of soul food restaurants, and Buttermilk Channel seems to have a handle on a ritzed-up version of what I ate as a teenager.
In fact, I guess a major disappointment for where I live in Brooklyn is lack of really quality soul food. However, we have just about everything else, and most in a reasonable walk. Hibino is the best sushi I've ever had (though they've declined a bit, recently; new chef I think) and next door is Henry Public, which manages to combine 1920s aesthetic and "gastropub" while somehow avoiding being douchey, and makes this pulled turkey leg sandwich which is one of the best things I've ever eaten, discounting really fancy things I've only eaten onces. Near to them is Nicky's which makes a pretty baller Vietnamese sandwich, and some decently okay Pho. Near to that is Mile End, whose smoked brisket is out of this world, but I think they realized their tiny-ass restaurant will be full no matter how much they charge, so they doubled their prices and we don't really go anymore.
Brooklyn also has a great selection of German beer halls, my favorite being Der Schwartze Kolner, who, really, I'm more into for the chicken sausage than the beer. I don't even come out of that place drunk, usually, because I've stuffed myself with 2 chicken sausages and 3 pretzels.
On the topic of Mexican, I'm 100% sure there's stuff in the west coast that's better than what we get here; in San Jose and San Fran I had some really good tacos. But NYC is no slouch. I live next door to this place called Country Boys, which we have no idea why it is empty 24/7 because the food all costs like a nickel, the portions are enormous, and it's all super-fresh ingredients. For whatever reason freshness is something I notice with Mexican food, and after a lifetime of stuff like Qdoba, and my mom making tacos from a box, moving to a place that had Mexican restaurants easily accessible I was like "oh, this is what real tacos are."
Anyway today for lunch, surrounded by many of the best foods I've had in my life, I'm eating a nutrition bar and a calorie-free soda, if you were wondering.
Hm. I'm planning on making a beef bologna...I may change that to a pastrami/bologna hybrid.
No, I don't dare... Stomach not empty enough.
I'll plan a special day for this.
Good to know. If I get a chance next time I can get down to NYC, eating at the Carnegie or Katz's is something I'd like to partake of.
I think I can count the number of times I've eaten at a place like Applebees, Olive Garden, etc., on one hand, and it usually breaks down to "I want to eat right now and I don't see anything else nearby" (mostly in the pre-smartphone days) or "someone gave me a gift card and I may as well use it."
Heck, my rule of thumb when it comes to tourism is to try to eat as much as possible where the locals eat. Of course, there are exceptions for various reasons.
Fun fact: I have only eaten Pizza Hut once in my entire life and it was in Pune, India, of all places. The reason was that I was out and about with an Indian friend of mine and he specifically chose Pizza Hut as the closest place where I could eat the food without getting Delhi Belly. Other than that, we pretty much ate local cuisine from places that he trusted to follow proper food sanitation practices.
They FORGOT TO PUT CHEESE... on the PIZZA.
It was so weird when I saw my cousin put ketchup on top of his pizza. I joined in by adding dried chilli flakes over mine.
Pune is quite quiet (my retired uncle moved there for retirement from Mumbai), I'm surprised people are visiting the city.
I will do some recon and report back.