Restaurant suggestions?

[magid]

I'm going to be in Manhattan next weekend (family bar mitzvah :-). I haven't heard of any family meals other than on Shabbat, so I'm free to go whither I will.

So, does anyone have recommendations for kosher restaurants?
I'd like places that (a) aren't exhorbitant and (b) have food I don't get (or make) in Boston, so Indian or Thai would be particularly interesting. Really, though, anything not Chinese is good.

Comments

[spwebdesign.livejournal.com]

(1) They have kosher food in New York? ;)

(2) You don't get Indian or Thai in Boston? I find that Boston has some of the best Thai and Indian restaurants in the U.S. What there isn't in Boston is good Chinese!

[magid.livejournal.com]

(2) There are around six kosher restaurants in metro Boston. Three of them are Chinese, one is a deli, one has felafel, two are dairy with pizza and fish (one of which is not open for dinner). Other than that, there's a number of bakeries, ice cream places, and some butchers that have prepared foods.

There's a reason I spend so much of my time cooking...

[spwebdesign.livejournal.com]

Sorry, I keep forgetting that you keep kosher. Is there such a thing as kosher Thai or kosher Indian?

[queue.livejournal.com]

There is in New York :-)

[magid.livejournal.com]

There is definitely such a thing (see some of the comments below), though obviously certain menu items won't be available (seafood, for instance, or real ghee used in a meat restaurant, etc). Apparently it's not fiscally viable in Boston, though :-(. (Kosher certification can be expensive.)

[infinitehotel.livejournal.com]

Out of curiousity, what Boston places would you describe as good Thai or Indian and compared to where?

With a few exceptions, Boston Thai seems pretty near homogenous in its mediocrity to me. There are a few good Indian places but nothing compared to what you'll find in an average place in London.

[spwebdesign.livejournal.com]

Thai food: Rhod Dee on Beacon St (the one near Fenway is okay, but the one on Beacon is top notch), Bangcock City on Mass Ave, and House of Siam in the South End are the three that come immediately to mind.

Indian food: I love Ajanta (across from Cambridgeside Galleria), and Tanjore's is pretty good, too. When I dated Keya, she took me to all the good "authentic" Indian restaurants, of which there are plenty, but I can't remember them all.

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

Oooh - Little India has all sorts of good Kosher Indian places. Ones we've enjoyed include Dosa Hut (102 Lexington Ave., near 27th St., see www.dosahutny.com) and Pongal (110 Lexington Ave.). Their prices are reasonable. Both are vegetarian.

More expensive (significantly so) but also most excellent is Darna, a fleishig Moroccan restaurant at 600 Columbus Ave. (at the corner of 89th St.).

For a good, comprehensive list of kosher restaurants in New York, see http://nachas.org/BethYehuda/kosher.html .

[magid.livejournal.com]

Mmmm... Indian food. The last time (only time) I had Indian food in NY was from a place in the east 50s, and there seemed to be a strip of them there. [Strangely enough, some of the best Indian food I've ever had was in TX; there's a small chain of kosher Indian places.]

Thanks so much for particular recommendations. I've seen lists of places before (and the link is so useful), and tend to freeze in the face of so much choice. Too many decisions.... I don't want to end up defaulting to bialys ("bialies" just looks wrong), so having specific ideas of where to go is good.

[ichur72.livejournal.com]

I know the chain you're talking about -- Madras Pavilion. I still miss that restaurant. The place in Dallas was wonderful, and the one in Austin was even better.

[magid.livejournal.com]

Yes, that was it. I was amazed to find such wonderful kosher food in TX (I was in the Houston one).

Just checking: miss because you're in GA, or miss because they don't exist anymore?
(I hopehopehope the former, even if it's unlikely I'll ever be in TX again.)

[ichur72.livejournal.com]

It is indeed the former. So far as I know, they're still around -- the last time I went was in early December, right after the wedding. I try to go every time I'm in Dallas b/c I'm so fond of the food.

[gingicat]

I liked the barbecue place that arib brought us to once, on 72nd west of Broadway.

[magid.livejournal.com]

Was it Dougie's? If so, I was there once, and properly impressed with sizes of servings.

(It had mythic proportions in my mind at one time, with all the conversations certain friends were having about the food.)

[gingicat]

Yup, Dougie's. Even your brother couldn't finish a whole plate. :)

[magid.livejournal.com]

Wow. Hard to believe... ;-)

[infinitehotel.livejournal.com]

It's not quite Thai, and it's not exactly Chinese, but for really, really tasty vegetarian asian, I quite enjoyed the Zen Palate.

http://www.zenpalate.com

Unfortunately, I'm fairly sure Katz's Delicatessen is actually "kosher-style" rather than kosher (they serve egg-creams) but the pastrami and corned beef are incredible.

http://www.katzdeli.com

[magid.livejournal.com]

The egg-creams wouldn't make it non-kosher, if it's the traditional chocolate syrup in seltzer drink (I still don't understand that, either the drink or the name), though there are other reasons it could be.

For some reason, though I like both pastrami and corned beef, they don't draw me nearly as much as some other cold cuts (mmm... tongue) , which as a category isn't at the absolute top of heap of foods I must eat as much as possible of.
If that made any sense.

[infinitehotel.livejournal.com]

Most of the egg creams I've had in New York, (including iirc Katz's) contain milk as well as the seltzer and syrup. I figured that would probably do it.

I've always liked pastrami as it's generally available up here (the boiled, thinly sliced stuff) but Katz's hand-cut is a whole different
animal, well-worth trying if it's actually within dietary spec. I've never had anything like it.

[magid.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it would do it.

And now you've got me culinarily hanging, too, wondering what the glories of Katz's hand-cut are...
Sigh.

[gingicat]

I seem to recall that the only kosher deli in NYC that is actually kosher is the 2nd Avenue Deli.

[magid.livejournal.com]

According to the link Gnomi gave above, there are at least two other kosher delis in Manhattan, and some in other boroughs (at least, if they live up to their names).

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

Oy vey! What sort of lashon hora is this? :)

There is hardly a non-kosher restaurant on Avenue J (the one remaining non-kosher pizzeria gets *tons* of business Friday night!) and there are definitely delis. Debby, I'd love to take you to my old neighborhood sometime, though I don't expect you're likely to get to Brooklyn at all on this trip. Have fun. :)

[magid.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I don't think I'll be getting out of Manhattan this time (er, except for arrival and departure ;-), but a native guide is always appreciated.

(It's amazing how much I haven't done in NYC, mostly because a lot of short visits tended to be visiting people rather than place.)