The best meal in New York

4

4halo

New member
I'm back from my 2 month stint in the US. Most of the meals I consumed were
memorable for with whom they were eaten, but one NYC meal was memorable on
every count.

The restaurant is Kin Shop, recommended by the foodie friend of my friend.
http://www.kinshopnyc.com/

We chatted with the couple at the next table who go every week or more and
they were moaning with pleasure over the marrow bones. Our best were the
scallop appetizer and the pork and crispy oyster appetizer. I've come up
with a version of the scallop one already and will recreate the oyster one
when I find oysters. That's not as easy in Italy as you might think.

If you live there and haven't, or if you are going there, do try Kin Shop.
It's moderately priced for NY, but you can see that on their website.
 
On Thu, 10 Mar 2011 16:04:18 +0100, "Giusi"
wrote:


A very sad excuse for a restuarant, their menu lists nothing "To
Eat"... wee bits of over priced garbage, literally garbage.
 
Omelet wrote:



You don't find canned or frozen oyster here, just the alive ones but only
when you're lucky, or when you're lucky enough that a friend's wife is the
daughter of a very well supplied fishmonger :)
--
ViLco
Let the liquor do the thinking
 
"ViLco" ha scritto nel messaggio


I obviously have to give up on Vincenzo and put my hopes on Vilco!
I had two sad feelings in the US. One when I looked at everybody's closets,
real closet envy. You could fit my garage in most of them. The other when
I passed those iced trays of pints of oysters and pounds of backfin
crabmeat.
 
On Fri, 11 Mar 2011 21:16:18 +0100, "Giusi"
wrote:


Anybody who lives in an old house that hasn't been gutted and rebuilt
feels that way Giusi. You're not alone, even in the USA. You're
lucky you even have a closet where you live.

Frozen fresh oysters.... no thanks, but I have crabmeat envy too.
They seem to get it super cheap back East.

--

Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut that held its ground.
 
Bob Terwilliger wrote:




Not sure why not. Frozen raw oysters are common in the food service
industry. Personally I stay far, far away from them.

Steve
 
"Steve Pope" ha scritto nel messaggio


No, I meant those containers of shucked oysters one fails to appreciate
enough when they are to be had. I have to pay a huge price for oysters in
the shell to do anything oyster, and they end by costing a bundle.

PS: I did build a closet when I renovated my house. My neighbors used to
give tours, It's just the closed in area under my entry stairs.
 
On Sat, 12 Mar 2011 03:55:08 +0000 (UTC), [email protected]
(Steve Pope) wrote:


Fresh frozen oysters and clams are very common, that's all large
commercial kitchens/commissarys use.


Why, they are excellent quality and constantly inspected for
wholesomeness, often much better quality than what one buys live in
the shell at a local fish monger (just because a bivalve is live
doesn't mean it's fresh or wholesome). Unless one buys that days haul
directly from the oysterman there is no way to ensure freshness, I
wouldn't buy in teh shell bivalves if I lived inland, I won't buy any
here in NY's capital region. Unless I was going to eat them raw on
the half shell I always bought fresh frozen for chowders/stews. Of
course one needs to live where the particular seafood is available...
I wouldn't consider clams/oysters in the shell other than right near
to where taken. And on Long Island fresh frozen are readily available
in most markets, and for live it was a simple matter to just
drive/walk a short distance to where the boatmen tied up. For those
who live inland they really should just use canned, or locate a
restaurant wholesaler that carries fresh frozen and inquire if they
sell retail, many do. I think it's silly to shuck my own, but then
living most of my life amidst the best oyster/clam bars on the planet
I'm spoiled.
 
In article , Giusi wrote:

Ah, okay. Yes, fresh shucked oysters are very useful. They are fine
for anything that is cooked (oyster chowder, po' boys, etc.).

Whereas frozen shucked oysters are usually intended to be served
raw, and are usually shipped with one shell so that one can do
a faux half-shell presentation that looks like a fresh oyster.
They are the domain of caterers, cruise ships, hotels, and
really sketchy seafood restaurants.

Steve
 
Brooklyn1 wrote:



When I was traveling frequently to NYC, I eventually gave up on eating
any form of fish or seafood in the NY area, because the quality was
never any good relative to the West Coast, the only exception being
Maine lobster which is better over there.

Frozen raw oysters? No thanks, not when for four months a year
I can find fresh Pacific coast oysters in fine condition.


I prefer the fresh/jarred/refrigerated for this. I suppose if one
was particularly distant from oyster producing reasons frozen might
be better.

Steve
 
On Fri, 11 Mar 2011 19:44:35 -0800, "Bob Terwilliger"
wrote:

Now that I reread... maybe not, but that was my impression at the
time.

--

Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut that held its ground.
 
On Mar 10, 12:30?pm, Brooklyn1 wrote:


Please reassure us that you have dined in this dreadful restaurant.
Tell us EXACTLY what you didn't enjoy! We are all waiting.
 
Giusi wrote:

Tourists make the mistake of spending all their time in Manhattan. The only
time they spend in Queens is to or from the airport.

There was a PBS show about NYC in which the guide said that ethnic
restaurants in Manhattan are like an amusement park version of ethnic
food -- like the difference between the Caribbean and Pirates of the
Caribbean. (He made the comment in S'Agapo in Astoria, which is a nice
Greek place.)

I have observed a guy dressed as a Sikh standing outside an Indian
restaurant in Manhattan. On close inspection he looked like a Columbian.
If you see a guy dressed as a Sikh outside an Indian restaurant in Queens,
then he's a Sikh. They drive cabs in Manhattan but live in Queens.

The key to dining in Queens is to go where the locals would go. If you're
in a Spanish/Indian/Pakistani neighborhood like Jackson Heights, or a
Greek/Arab neghborhood like Astoria, then you don't go to an Italian
restaurant. For that you want Arthur Ave in the Bronx (near the zoo), where
you'll find Emilia's and others. Little Italy in Manhattan has shrunk to
one block, and I don't know what is still left there. Brooklyn isn't
ethnically Italian any more, so there are probably good places but nothing
locally renowned.

That said, there are great places in Manhattan, but I haven't been to Kin
Shop. Speaking of oysters and pork, Momo Fuku is famous for it. We have a
second Chinatown in Flushing, but the restaurants in Manhattan's Chinatown
are the best.

I would recommend Mumbar on Steinway Street in Astoria, and Ali's Kebab Cafe
just up the block. They are run by brothers from Egypt. The former has the
elegant but cheap dishes like duck roasted with apples, and the latter
specializes in offal (Bourdain loved it on his show). Either would make a
good pairing with a tour of the Steinway Piano factory if you're into music.

Here's a good pic of Mumbar:

http://www.urbanspoon.com/u/profile_photos/680441?photo_id=221181


--

Reply in group, but if emailing add one more
zero, and remove the last word.
 
Steve Pope wrote:

I don't go to Brooklyn much, but there are lots of good places in Astoria
that would be hard to beat. Having grown up in Queens I'm a lot more
familiar with it.


--

Reply in group, but if emailing add one more
zero, and remove the last word.
 
"Tom Del Rosso" ha scritto nel messaggio


I am not a tourist in New York any more than in Washington or Baker WV.
This was meant as "my best meal in my recent sojourn in NY" not definitive
best meal ever in NY.
 
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