Living in New York, one forgets the dearth of exotic food choices that exists living almost everywhere else in the US. Anyone of who doesn’t grow up in a fairly large city will probably end up with their most adventurous meals being Italian, Mexican or Chinese. That’s how it was for me, so when I tried Thai food for the first time at the age of twenty-one year it was a mind-blowing experience for a blossoming foodie. It quickly became my new favorite variety of cuisine, replacing the oh so exotic Italian.
Flash forward six years later and Thai is no longer an amazing new discovery. Now it’s just another of the many world food choices that I can have anytime. Now it’s a matter of “Am I in the mood for Indian, sushi, Vietnamese, Ethiopian, Turkish, Dim Sum, Thai…etc, etc.” I just order some take-out Pad Thai at the closest place in my neighborhood and call it a day. It still tastes good, it just doesn’t seem as special anymore.
My nonchalant view of Thai food disappeared on my visit to Land, on the Upper West Side. Plans were made for dinner with a friend at 7 PM on a Tuesday. I was shocked to find out there would be a 30-40 minutes wait. It is a small space, but I wouldn’t have expected droves out so early on a Tuesday. Luckily, The Dead Poet is next door and you can enjoy a drink while you wait. The staff at Land will even give you a token for a dollar off at the bar and come find you when your table is ready, making it the most enjoyable wait for a table I’ve experienced.
Wait we did and it was well worth it. Between the three of us we tried to cover as much of the menu as possible. A satay sampler ($6.00) and mixed appetizer plate($7.50) gave us a chance to try a variety of starters. The mix included shrimp parcels, chicken curry puffs, and vegetable dumplings, which were all delicious, especially the vegetable dumplings. It was demanded by my friend, and regular recipient of Land’s neighborhood delivery, that I try the spicy beef salad ($7.50), while he opted for Wok basil with beef ($11.00) and the third ordered the Drunken Noodle with chicken ($9.00). Because of my love for potatoes and spiciness I also had to try a side of spicy potato ($3.50).
The spicy beef salad was indeed spicy and had perfectly tender hunks of beef that tasted amazing with the green apple slivers. Though I had to keep pausing to down some Thai coffee so I wouldn’t breathe fire, I thoroughly enjoyed the torturously delicious experience. I could go for salads liek this more often! The Wok basil and drunken noodle both were also amazing, flavorful choices.
This was some of the best Thai I had ever tasted and I’ve fallen in love with the cuisine all over again. I’ll still order my average take-out Thai and enjoy it in the same way I always have, but now I can dream of also enjoying something more exceptional.
Land
West Side 450 Amsterdam Ave, Btwn 81st & 82nd St
East Side 1565 2nd Ave, Btwn 81st & 82nd St
Hours:
Lunch Mon-Sun 12:30-3:30
Dinner Mon-Sat: 5:30pm-11:00, Sun: 5:30pm-10:30pm
Free delivery on orders of 10$
Accepts all major credit cards
www.landthaikitchen.com
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Quick Bite: Octopus balls and pancakes. Yum!
For take-out with a more exotic spin than typical fast food or Americanized Chinese, there is Otafuku in the East Village. There you can try the 'Takoyaki', a Japanese street foood which is basically doughy bread balls with octopus and 'okonomiyaki', similar to a pancake made of cabbage, your choice of meat, and more. Okonomiyaki roughly translates to "what you want cooked" I had the combo meal B ($8.00) that gave me 6 Takoyaki and 1 okonomiyaki, which I tried with shrimp, though pork, beef or squid are the other options.
There are no seats and the place literally can only hold two people so it’s really only a take-out place. Make sure you have a few minutes because they fry up the okonomiyaki fresh right in front of you, and then they top it with mysterious yet delicious sauces and toppings. It was plenty of food, plenty delicious and a new experience.
Otafuku
236 E. 9th St., New York, NY 10003
nr. Second Ave
212-353-8503
Cash only
Hours: Mon-Fri, 1pm-10pm; Sat-Sun, 11am-10pm
There are no seats and the place literally can only hold two people so it’s really only a take-out place. Make sure you have a few minutes because they fry up the okonomiyaki fresh right in front of you, and then they top it with mysterious yet delicious sauces and toppings. It was plenty of food, plenty delicious and a new experience.
Otafuku
236 E. 9th St., New York, NY 10003
nr. Second Ave
212-353-8503
Cash only
Hours: Mon-Fri, 1pm-10pm; Sat-Sun, 11am-10pm
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Effing Good Indeed
A friend once told me no matter how nice of a restaurant he was at he always ordered their burger because; “you can always judge how good a place really is by their burger.” I have another friend who has been prowling the city for great burgers after the demise of the bar that he claims served the best burger he’s ever had. In fact it seems the whole city is on a never-ending quest to find the best burger out there. For anyone taking up the quest, they should at least give Harriet’s Kitchen on the UWS a try.
Harriet’s even declares from their window on a hand-written sign to have “maybe the best effing burger in the city”. Though I’m not ready to go quite that far I discovered today at lunch they do serve a pretty darn good burger.
Because of the sign I of course had to order the cheeseburger ($ 6.75 w/ fries), but the rest of the traditional old-fashioned menu looked good too. I plan to return to try the down home fried chicken ($7.50-12.50; various portions and prices), Chicken Pot Pie ($10.50), and the Pulled Pork sandwich ($6.50). Along with the entrees, there is an array of the side dishes to select from. For my first visit I ordered just a cheeseburger and instead of the typical side of fries I ordered a side of mashed potatoes and gravy just because I’m crazy about mashed potatoes and always looking for the best.
Harriet’s Kitchen is not much to look at and is really more of a take-out place since they only seat 4 and have no space. If you’re fortunate enough to live in the area you can take advantage of delivery, but I placed my order to go. What the place lacks in appearance it made up for with service. I was kindly charged a lower lunch price even with the normally more expensive mashed potato side. While my burger was being freshly grilled, I had a friendly exchange with my order-taker. Then out came my order and off I went to give it a try.
And what a burger! It was covered in melted cheese and delicious caramelized onions that were full of flavor and a perfect complement to the meat. The 8 oz burger is huge and tasty, my only complaint being I asked for medium rare and it was a little overcooked. Still it was great and I could only imagine how much more I would have enjoyed a juicer burger. It had that great taste of a burger right off the grill at home, and I dare say I enjoyed it better than Burger Joint. I still won’t declare it the best burger in the city, but it’s on the list. And if my friend’s theory is true, I look forward to returning and experiencing more of what Harriet’s Kitchen has to offer.
Harriet’s Kitchen 502 Amsterdam at 84th street
(212) 721-0045
Free delivery on orders of 8$ or more between 70th and 96th St, CPW to Hudson River
Accepts all major credit cards
Open noon until 11:00 PM Daily
Harriet’s even declares from their window on a hand-written sign to have “maybe the best effing burger in the city”. Though I’m not ready to go quite that far I discovered today at lunch they do serve a pretty darn good burger.
Because of the sign I of course had to order the cheeseburger ($ 6.75 w/ fries), but the rest of the traditional old-fashioned menu looked good too. I plan to return to try the down home fried chicken ($7.50-12.50; various portions and prices), Chicken Pot Pie ($10.50), and the Pulled Pork sandwich ($6.50). Along with the entrees, there is an array of the side dishes to select from. For my first visit I ordered just a cheeseburger and instead of the typical side of fries I ordered a side of mashed potatoes and gravy just because I’m crazy about mashed potatoes and always looking for the best.
Harriet’s Kitchen is not much to look at and is really more of a take-out place since they only seat 4 and have no space. If you’re fortunate enough to live in the area you can take advantage of delivery, but I placed my order to go. What the place lacks in appearance it made up for with service. I was kindly charged a lower lunch price even with the normally more expensive mashed potato side. While my burger was being freshly grilled, I had a friendly exchange with my order-taker. Then out came my order and off I went to give it a try.
And what a burger! It was covered in melted cheese and delicious caramelized onions that were full of flavor and a perfect complement to the meat. The 8 oz burger is huge and tasty, my only complaint being I asked for medium rare and it was a little overcooked. Still it was great and I could only imagine how much more I would have enjoyed a juicer burger. It had that great taste of a burger right off the grill at home, and I dare say I enjoyed it better than Burger Joint. I still won’t declare it the best burger in the city, but it’s on the list. And if my friend’s theory is true, I look forward to returning and experiencing more of what Harriet’s Kitchen has to offer.
Harriet’s Kitchen 502 Amsterdam at 84th street
(212) 721-0045
Free delivery on orders of 8$ or more between 70th and 96th St, CPW to Hudson River
Accepts all major credit cards
Open noon until 11:00 PM Daily
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