Joya (Thai, Brooklyn)

NY Sidewalk Review

Location:
215 Court Street
north side of the street, near downtown Brooklyn.

Cuisine:
Thai

Fave Dishes:
All curries.
Red Snapper with vegetables in a curry sauce (Entree, $13.95)

Ambiance:
Loud music by DJ, bar in front, open kitchen. Where all the hipsters and all age groups hang out for really good food, and the food arrives at your table REALLY QUICKLY.

Detractors:
Music was too loud, kinda inhibited conversation.

Roppongi

NY Sidewalk Review
Menu Pages Review

Location:
434 Amsterdam Ave. (and 81st. St.),
southwest corner

Cuisine:
Japanese

Fave Dishes:
Edamame (Appetizer)
Eel over Rice (Entree)
Crazy Roll
Fashion Roll

Ambiance:
Standard Japanese restaurant. But excellent green tea. A good stand by.
Great salmon toro.

Detractors:
Do not order the unagi. It's sub-par. Seriously, there are many great ((in)expensive) Japanese restaurants around the city. But if you're on the UWS, try it.

Dinosaur Bar-B-Que (Barbecue, Harlem)

NY Sidewalk Review

Location:
646 W. 131st St. (and 12th Ave, under Riverside Drive Bridge),
southeast corner

Cuisine:
A Ribs Joint

Fave Dishes:
Half-Rack Bar-B-Que Pork Ribs (Entree, $13.95)
Texas Brisket Plate (Entree, $13.50)
Big Ass Pork Plate (Entree, $13.50)
Bar-B-Que Brisket, Bacon & Swiss Sandwich (Sandwich, $7.95)
Syracuse Style Salted Potatoes (Side)
Mac & Cheese (Side)
Key Lime Pie (Dessert)
Peanut Butter Pie (Dessert)
Sweetened Iced Tea (Drink)

Ambiance:
Very large rib joint, with adjoining bar. Wet style ribs. Very Busy. Make a reservation to get away from an hour long wait. Seriously, everything is good here.

Detractors:
It's a bit out of the way, but it's worth the travel. Even if you order for take out, be willing to wait for it.

Rice (Restaurant, SoHo)

NY Sidewalk Review
Menu Pages Review

Location:
227 Mott St (between Prince and Spring Sts),
west side of street

Cuisine:
Asian Fusion/Thai, mainly rice-based

Fave Dishes:
Butternut Squash Soup (Appetizer, $4.50)
Pad Thai (Special Plate, Smaill $7.00, Large $10.00)
Thai Coconut Curry (Small $7.50, Large $10.50)

Ambiance:
Tiny restaurant, all rice, all the time. Specialty rices are better, avocado sauces are ok.

Detractors:
Long wait, sometimes the food is hit or miss (aka the Indian curry). NO mango and coconut rice desert at this location.

Shanghai: Restaurant reviews (NYT)

Many restaurants in Shangahai: and listings of them.

Article reprinted here.

Sullivan Street Bakery (Bakery, SoHo)

Locations:
73 Sullivan St
east side of street
533 W 47th St.

Cuisine:
Bakery

Fave Dishes:
Pizza Bianca (w/rosemary, $2.00/piece)
Pizza Patate ($2.50/piece)
Pizza Funghi ($2.50/piece)
Tortino di Cioccolatto ($4.00)

Ambiance:
It's a bakery. Get your food and go, or eat on the bench outside. It's worth it to find!!!! Seriously, every time we're down in that area, we go there.

But lemme tell you a story about the mini chocolate cake (tortino di cioccolatto). My boss got me one a long time ago, and I thought, "oh gee, a mini cake. whoopee." I went home, and split it with one of my roommates. Seriously, the first bite we took was the last time we thought about any other chocolate cake in the world. Crispy outside, moist inside, CHOCOLATE goodness. But this is not the story.

I'm walking around lower Manhattan with a bunch of people one hedonistic day, when aforementioned roommate said, "Hey, let's go get chocolate cake!" So we did. We got our cakes, and sat in the nearby park. It was the first time trying the cakes for some of these people. Russian Girl took one bite, and put it away. She decided she was going to make a night which revolved around this cake. Involving, candles, wine, and mood music.

But the Brit. The Brit was very conversational until he took one bite of the cake. For about 5-10 minutes all we could do was watch in fascination as he devoured the cake. Not only devoured the cake, but scraped the crumbs from the wrapping to get the last bit of cake. Then took the outside bag in which the cake was originally contained, collected those crumbs, and ate those too. He was like my niece, when she was three, who realized that the mango pudding at dim sum was so good, she didn't want anyone else to eat it, so was SHOVELING it in her mouth by large spoonfuls.

And this is how good that chocolate cake is.

Detractors:
Coffee (American, nothing fancy) is small for the price. I was over-charged the last time I was there, so be wary of the forgetful waitstaff/bakers.

Golden Unicorn Restaurant (Dim Sum, Chinatown)

NY Sidewalk Review

Locations:
18 East Broadway (between Catherine and Market Sts.),
north side of street

Cuisine:
Chinese

Fave Dishes:
Siu Mai (pork and shrimp dumplings)
Har Gaw (shrimp dumplings wrapped with rice dough)
Char Siu Bao (steamed roast pork bun)
Har Cheung Fun (shrimp wrapped in long wide rice noodles)
Lo Bak Go (white radish cake)
Fong Jao (chicken feet in dark chili sauce)
Pai Guat (pork spare ribs, chinese style of course)
Dan Tat (baked egg custard mini-tarts)
Lai Wong Bao (steamed egg custard bun)
Mango Bo-tin (mango pudding)
Do Fu Fa (silken tofu)

Ambiance:
Two floors of the restaurant host dim sum during lunch time. Carts provide sustenance (as opposed to checklist menu places), as well as pretty pictures from which you can choose your meal. High traffic on weekends ensure good food turnover, but get there early. Best-tasting dim sum I've had in this city so far (but of course, nothing compares to dim sum at the Eaton Hotel in Kowloon). Think of dim sum as your slanty-eyed smorgasbord.

Also -- there are certain dim sum etiquette tips that must be mentioned. They will give you what they think is a gweilo-friendly tea. They charge tea service as per the number of heads (people) at the table. If you want your tea pot refilled with hot water, simply remove the cover to expose the lack of fluid inside the pot. They will get the hint.
Point two -- it is the chinese tradition to not waste food, so order only what you can eat. If you're with a large group members of which have never been to dim sum, go hog wild. It's a great way to try different foods, and you can always order more when the carts come around.
Point three -- another tradition post dim sum, if you're eating it at lunch time, is to top the end of the savory bit with either a rice dish or a noodle dish that you order from the kitchen (they don't usually go around in carts. My favorites are beef mai fun (beef with wide rice noodles in a brown sauce) or chiu chow style fried rice (with shrimp, ham, egg, in a white sauce).

Detractors:
Bathroom is like any other chinese restaurants', stinky. stinky.
If you get there late, you will get the detritus from the kitchen (smaller selection, possibly colder). You must either get there before the church crowd comes in, or after they've eaten on Sundays, or you're in for at least a 30 minute wait (therefore, Saturdays are much better).