Who lives in or is familiar with NYC?

[Charai]

[Professor]

So, I could meet up with Comrade, Mr. Bill and Charai? You know, I might have to do that. Com and I (obviously) don't agree on here, but I'll wager we could have a Beer Summit.

Sorry for the broad questions. Here's a more pointed one:

I'd like to find some exceedingly authentic Indian, Far-Eastern, African, etc. places to eat, but ones that I would feel safe bringing a group of co-workers to (relatively safe). I remember a decade ago I was staying at the Marriott in Times Square. I asked the concierge for an authentic Indian place. He said to go somewhere - all I remember was that it was down an alley and up some stairs. No one spoke English and the menu was in Hindi. The only thing I recognized was the prices (reasonable). We simply pointed at things on the menu. They brought a bunch of stuff and we ate every morsel. The only thing that I ever got out of them was that one of the sauces was tamarind sauce. I could have poured that stuff on a piece of plywood and I'd have eaten the whole thing.

Any places like that? We will be staying and working in Suffolk and/or Nassau counties, and will likely have a rental car, so proximity to public transportation isn't an issue.

[Charai]

[NAB]

When I go and drop dime on a nice meal, a steakhouse is usually the last place I would go. Beef is one of the easiest protiens to cook and I want to see the chef show off their skills and creativity when I'm spending a lot of money.


NYC has hundreds of amazing restaurants, so don't waste your money on a steakhouse.

[PoS]

[NAB]

[PoS]

[NAB]

[Professor]

Not taking sides on purpose, but I'm of the same mind as NAB. There is a place in NO that ages their own beef. It's raised here in LA, then butchered and aged in NO. Yeah, a raw 20oz porterhouse costs me $45, but it's worth it when I stick a cast-iron skillet right on some coals, force feed air to the fire until the skillet glows a dull red, and then slap the steak down for 3 minutes per side. It'll sizzle like bacon, and end up with a charred and crunchy crust, and exceedingly rare center. It's not fork-tender, it's back-of-the-spoon tender.

I usually try to look for things that I can't get here in NOLA. We have some amazing French restaurants, along with seafood, Vietnamese, Italian (north and south) and Caribbean. But, our Spanish, German, Indian, African, authentic Chinese, authentic Japanese, and selected other ethnicities are lacking.

I also remember hitting up Chinatown last time I was in NYC. Stopped at a place with multiple dried meats hanging out front, no one spoke English, and just pointed at some bizarre-looking sea critters. I don't even remember what it was that I ate, only that I loved the food and the experience.

[The Comrade]

don't count out italian. authentic italian restaurants are amazing.

although there's a great american-italian restaurant called graziellas in brooklyn. i try to eat their whenever i go down.