Sauerkraut fish, suancai yu, is making a splash out of Flushing into Manhattan.

Yesterday on my walk through UWS and Morningside Heights along Broadway, I noticed quite a few places that previously could be found only at the end of the 7 line. Nai Brother Sauerkraut Fish was one of them.

Sauerkraut fish, a fish poached in pickled mustard broth, is one of Sichuan cuisine’s staples. It might look like a soup but I wouldn’t call it a soup. The liquid surrounding tender white fish fillets is thick. And intense! It is seriously sour, salty, tangy, funky, numbing, and very spicy hot — you have to be prepared.

Coming from the part of the world that survives on fermented-preserved-pickled everything, I got addicted to pickled mustard greens, suan cai, the moment I tried them first time in a Flushing basement.

At Nai Brother, we ordered their signature Naige bowl and a dry pot with fatty beef. In each bowl, fish or meat were mixed with different kinds of tofu, fungi, noodles, and vegetables that complemented texturally and picked up the sauce clean. A real deal — first spoonful transported us to China. We even paused and looked at each other. Tasty! Tasty! Tasty! And intense — the back, the shoulders felt the heat, ears tingled, faces blushed, noses ran.

As we were leaving, a middle aged Manhattanite with a flaxen ponytail settled at the table next to us. Raising her eyes from Neil Gaiman’s book she placed an order specifying low salt and no spice. To make sure he understood, the server politely bowed closer with a silent question in his eyes. It didn’t seem like a language barrier though.

I wonder how that went.

#food #diningout #manhattanrrstaurant #nycrestaurant #upperwestside #chinesefood #sichuancuisine #sauerkrautfish #mala #hotpot

Arturo’s on the corner of Houston and Thompson — the place of our first date.

It took only thirty years and some more walking by, remembering things past. We’re back.

Good to see that some things do not change. Not one bit.

It seems we even placed the same order.

Why fix what’s not broken?

#food #pizza #nyc #newyork #nycrestaurant #westvillage #diningout

Fantastic pre-theater discovery in East Harlem — Chu Ros Thai: great selection, tasty, authentic, generous, reasonable, quick, friendly, and a beautiful space.

To support this, here are our duck selections — basil and sriracha over flat noodles. Honestly, the variety of duck options here is like I have never seen before and we have two duck aficionados in the family.

There were also green curry, obligatory papaya salad and tom yum. With all that, the most memorable selection among us carnivores was a vegetarian entree called Eggplant’s Garden — the texture and mildly spicy sweet sauce are not to be missed.

Our carefully boxed leftovers lasted two more lunches.

#NYCrestaurant #diningout #eastharlem #thaifood #food #foodiverse #NYCfood

When it rains — pho to the rescue. With shaken beef. At the very modern Tangram Mall where Nón Lá Express automated baskets lower the noodles into the hot water and pull them out by the timer. Less character, more efficiency, but spicy and tasty.

US Open games were suspended for the day which gave us time to see more of Queens. Umbrellas on a Flushing sidewalk is not a sight to be missed.

We discovered Ganesh Temple of Flushing and took a tour of it. After the tour, visitors were invited to the Temple Canteen where we split a Masala dosa, a South Indian crepe filled with spiced potatoes and onions, along with coconut chutney. The dosa was crispy, filling was fragrant, and chutney was hot and herby. Interesting that Pete Wells put this Temple Canteen on his NYT 100 Best Restaurants in New York City list.

A walk to and around Queens Botanical Garden to see the farm, the beehives, the beautiful wedding venue. The Garden is not as big as the Brooklyn one but worth the trip nonetheless.

The courts of the Tennis Center were still wet. To dry off at the end of the day, we went to Nan Xiang Xiao Long Bao on Prince Street where soup dumplings, spicy wontons, chicken broth, and pickled mustard with tofu skins warmed us up.

I love rain.

#food #flushing #chinatown #newyork #queens #diningout #nycrestaurant #rainyday #botanicalgarden #foodieverse

Soup for breakfast is grossly underrated. Light but filling it keeps you going all day. That’s important when a full day at the US Open lies ahead. The games are free but everything around them is prohibitive: $11 for a hotdog, $23 for a salad, $24 for three chicken tenders . Never mind drinks: $32 for a glass of champagne, $24 for a cocktail. And the lines!

With that in mind, we stopped at New York Food Court to split a bowl of Shanghai wonton noodle soup and get a couple of lamb roujiamo burgers. The spent $23 carried us through, all the way to dinner, with no problems.

After breakfast, we took our usual route past the 7 train, along hustling and bustling lumbar yards of the 41st Avenue, through the hole in the fence, to the venue entrance by from the back.

Good seats in the shade and we could watch two games simultaneously. Lost counts of how many we actually saw.

On the way back, the 41st Ave was cleaned up and quiet.

For dinner, we had two important visitors from Manhattan and went all out fancy for a Korean BBQ to impress them.

A nice banchan selection, a seafood pancake, a platter of vegetables, and a spectacular Staircase Special kept us busy and made everyone happy.

#food #Flushingny #diningout #koreanbbq #chinesefood #nycrestaurant #outinnewyork #queens #usopen #foodiverse

I am a die hard carnivore and love a good burger.

Raised in a place where no burgers were served and steaks, loins, ribs, and chops were not on rotation, any burger was a good burger for me.

Until recently.

Instead of dwindling, my aging palate made a mistake and perked up starting to distinguish between rare and medium rare, dry aged blend and supermarket mix, sear and none of it. Then it discovered buns, toppings, seasoning, distribution. All in all, the experience got spoiled.

It was my birthday. The date was that some consider the start of golden years and others refer to as the age of early maturity. No matter how you look at it, the number was a good excuse to try one of the best — or was it the best? — burger in town: The Black Label at Minetta Tavern…

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The story how it went is at the blog link at the top of the page👆👆👆

#food #eatingout #nycrestaurant #minettatavern #bestburger #outinnewyork #foodstory

At Peruvian Pio Pio on UWS on the way to KrymovFest.

Anticuchos — heart beef skewers, fried potato, salsa de huancaína.

That famous Peruvian chicken.

Empanadas stuffed with Juanita’s chicken. Pictures do not do the justice here.

And steamed vegetables. Lame, lame, lame! I know. But how else would you clean up these insanely tasty sauces. I’d lick but my date gets uncomfortable. Broccoli mops work best.

#peruvianfood #eatingoutny #diningout #nycrestaurant #newyorkrestaurant #food #newyorkcity #outinnewyork #nycdining #piopio