Definitely have Bonnies on my go do list. Might have to show up early as a single diner
Never been
Weāve been to Rubirosa once many years ago, a stop on a group pizza crawl. Pizzas are thin crust which I like. Tasted a classic pizza and a pizza half vodka-half arugula. Also, arancini and a panini. Enjoyed everything. Iāve heard nothing to indicate that Rubirosa isnāt still good. (Note: By checking my Flickr photos, Iām able to tell you exactly what we had.)
@JeetKuneBao some places to check out in the outer boroughs
https://www.yelp.com/biz/shashlik-house-brooklyn
& then bang-bang with some kosher ice cream @ this psychedelic wonderland
https://g.page/theicecreamhouse?share
& Try the pastrami @ this kosher smokehouse
https://www.yelp.com/biz/indo-java-elmhurst
I hear they have good desserts @ indojava
There are definitely some wild adventures to be had in them outer boroughs. Shame its too time consuming to get to them from Manhattan w/o a car
@EattheWorldLA someone needs to create a guide to uncover the hidden gems in the many orthodox Jewish enclaves in Brooklyn
Update: Oiji was closed at some point in April. Per Eater, their new space is called Oiji Mi, and itās at 17 West 19th Street, near Sixth Avenue.
The restaurant only serves a five-course prix fixe menu, priced at $125 per person, which will be available a la carte from its bar and lounge area in the coming weeks. The menu will rotate regularly, with holdovers from the teamās first restaurant ā including its namesake Oiji bowl, brimming with uni and sweet shrimp ā and new items that toe the line between traditional and modern Korean cooking with fanciful ingredients.
Chris Clark, the former beverage director at the two-Michelin-starred Aquavit, is holding down the restaurantās drinks program. Heās assembled a list of wines by the glass that leans Italian and French, most priced between $15 and $40. Cocktails run at around $20 each, fortified with gochujang, date-infused soju, lotus leaf, and other ingredients.
Oiji Mi shares an entrance with another restaurant the business partners plan to open, an unnamed Korean spot set to open in the next two to three months, according to the team.
The article also quotes Chef Brian Kim as saying the closure of Oiji is ātemporary,ā but its URL is available.
Besides the very fine bakeries, nothing in the Orthodox areas really stands out, or maybe just Glatt Kosher sushi or Mexican is not my thing. Definitely not Orthodox, but some of the other Jewish neighborhoods like the ones full of Central Asians (Uzbek, Kyrgyz, Tajik) that arrived in NYC via Israel some decades ago are full of great food, although the non-Kosher restaurants in Brighton Beach and some other neighborhoods in Brooklyn are even better. Wrote this for The Queens Tribune in 2018:
Might be one of the places I actually miss. Wrote this for Culinary Backstreets in 2019:
@EattheWorldLA your encyclopedic knowledge of these hidden gems never ceases to amaze me! U Yuri Fergana sounds wonderful. Arrgh didnāt get a chance to explore Uzbek cuisine much when I was in NYC .
Iām surprised given the large population of Orthodox Jews in Brooklyn that there arenāt any hidden gems. Always feels like Iām transported somewhere foreign when I stumble into these neighborhoods.
Thanks for the Indo Java link. Sounds terrific too! Are there any places in LA serving Indon food from the Muslim segment of the population like Ms. Tjahjadiās? The ones in LA seem to be operated primarily by Chinese Indons.
And this
āThe dried black kluwak nuts, available for sale in the grocery of courseā.
Stunned they actually carry those cyanide laced nuts. . Didnāt think you can actually find them in the US. Itās been ages since Iāve last had them.
My guess is that their best kitchen work is being done at home. And when they go out, they enjoy other types of foods. But this is purely conjecture.
I think this is mostly true. This is the only halal Indonesian I have had:
Thatās a mean looking Soto Betawi @ Wong Java house.
From eater ny today
https://www.sinkeenyc.com/menu
I need that!
Several random thoughts on this thread:
1-Roz: I think I was on that pizza crawl with you, wasnāt I? I remember liking Rubirosa but Iām not sure.
2- thereās a difference between Orthodox and Hasidic. Lots of Orthodox Jews are not Hasidic and, as long as the kitchen is Glatt Kosher, theyāll eat there. So, even some of the vegetarian Indian places in NYC have (or claim) that status & have Orthodox patrons. The Hasidic Jews (there are at least 3 groups that I know of: Lubovich, Satmar and Bobov) are more insular and mostly eat in places owned/operated by others in their group. I used to eat lunch in the Satmar area of Williamsburg many years ago & the food was of a very good āhome cookingā level, with several of the places basically being steam table food that didnāt sit very long and stayed fresh. I never found any that Iād recommend as destinations, not only due to the food but because they were not interested in āoutsidersā eating there.
3- the East European options that EattheWorldLA speaks of have multiplied since he left for the pineapple bagel coast (hey, Iām from Bklyn - gotta get one dig in, right? Sorry robert). Brooklyn is still the concentration point for Kosher and non-Kosher places, but there do seem to be more and more Uzbek places opening in Manhattan. In the past year, Iāve been to several Georgian places in Brooklyn that were pretty good, while bemoaning the loss of the one Belarusian place in Sheepshead Bay (given the current war, I do wonder what happened to that owner, who had been exiled for political reasons a # of years ago - he never mentioned why).
4- we might try Bonnieās. Calvin Eng has built a good reputation but Iām always wary of trendy versions of food that I liked before it was made Eater worthy. This might be an exception.
5- too late for the OP but, yes, DeFonteās is still in Red Hook and is reportedly (by folks I trust - I havenāt been in years) still very good
6- EattheWorldLA: is EattheWorldNYC officially gone? I miss it.
Thank you for saying so! All the data is still up but nothing new is on the way
Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately), I have no idea what this means. The bagel situation is definitely improving though, now just need some of those Central Asians to move west from Brighton Beach and Rego Park!
@SteveR Yes, that was the pizza crawl that included you, me, Mr. R., āuhockey,ā āAnthony Bonner,ā and a few others. Acc. to the date on my Flickr photo set, it was in Feb. 2012! Hard to believe it was 10 years ago! My recollection is that everyone liked Rubirosa. Mr. R. and I have never managed to go back.
My first trip to L.A., in the mid-80s, my wife (who had lived in L.A. for several years previously) took me to a bagel place where, to my horror, I had to choose a bagel from a list that included pineapple, taco, and several other affronts to nature. Although I joke about L.A.'s disregard for my ethnic groupās legacy, I conveniently ignore the fact that, although Iāve spent well over 50 years eating DiFara pizza and the like, there are many pineapple pizzas now flourishing in NYC. Hope youāre having a good time out there.
Heās got the best LA food blog for us food nerds.
Its been a while since I had Ippudo. No better day to have a steaming bowl of ramen than a humid 85 degree day. The egg was perfect even if I bit it and it got dunked into the broth before snapping a pic. The broth was porky but yet not greasy. The spicy sauce added a nice manageable heat that provided good flavor without ruining the porky goodness. Chasu was tender. All in all a great bowl is ramen.
Parm is great. All of the food was delicious and a place all of us Queens boys would be happy to go back to. No pics but all of us had a great meal. Sat in the back corner of the Columbus Ave location.
Meatballs
Garlic bread with whipped ricotta
Mozz sticks
Fried calamari with the spicy peppers
Chicken park with spicy rigatoni (very reminiscent of Carbone)
Bolognese
Shrimp pasta
Cannolis on the house with a hint of lemon and chocolate chips
Great top notch service. We took care of our waitress who is a senior to be at U of Michigan.
Joes On Broadway and 40th. Very good considering these were reheated. Veers on the sweeter sauce side. Would be 15 lbs heavier if this place was within 20-30 mins of my house.
Errr you talking to meā¦? Especially when one can find good pizza within a 5min walking radius. Just donāt get hooked on 2 bros too. Thatās like getting addicted to meth.
Ippudo, ahead of their time with the Covid-era private slurping booths.
Btw perhaps check out Joe & Pats and/or Deninoās outlets in Manhattan for their State Island style pizza. I recommend the vodka and clam.
Some other Times Square adjacent spots:
- Margon close to Times Square is a good hole in the wall Cuban spot if you get tired of fast casual corporate catering.
- Uncle Tetsu cheesecake opened an outlet close by. You can do a shootout with Juniorās
- Ootoya has good bento takeout options
- Poseidon greek bakery