Fave in the hood...NOT! - Osha Thai Kitchen

i've been told that baby photos of me look, well, like i'm a fat chinese baby.  i would not be surprised since there have historically been alot of chinese in cuba, where my family lived.  perhaps that is also why i have such a penchant for far eastern cuisine in all its forms.  regardless of the reason, it is rare, if not completely unknown, that i don't like an asian restaurant so this one stands out for having the distinct (dis)honor of holding that title.  more's the pity since it is close to home and within delivery range; but Osha Thai Kitchen was a big disappointment from beginning to end.  because the food was culprit there's absolutely no other reason to go since, as i always say when someone counters "but the place was beautiful"...you can't eat the decor.  the long and the short of it, and there really is no reason to be elaborate in my gastronomic displeasure (why bother? there's little pleasure in bile).  the j-dumplings were stale and tasteless, the spring rolls were dense and disgustingly peppery, and the calamari was tough (what else can you say once the calamari is tough?); but because i was still hungry, disdain of appetizers will do that, i had the chicken with pineapple and ginger.  ...the chicken was tough, the ginger lacking and the pineapple bland (like eating water chestnuts type of bland).  i'm sure that pineapple would have preferred to have wound up in the bin than suffer the dis-honor of that dish.  it was the sort of gustatory disgust that makes you want to take the cook outside and kick him 'til he bleeds.   life is too short to have bad food.  go somewhere else...go on, git!

Wu Liang Ye

anyone that knows me knows that i would rather eat chinese food more than just about anything else. so here's another "fave in the hood", wu liang ye on 86th street between third and second avenues is the best szechuan you'll ever have, anywhere. one of the hallmarks of a good ethnic restaurant is whether it is frequented by persons of that nationality, and yes if you go to wu liang ye you will certainly see many, many asian patrons. i'm pretty sure that i must have some asian heritage somewhere along the line. there were many chinese in cuba so it is not totally outside the realm of possibility that there could be a bit of a "slant" in my gene pool. interestingly, the chinese in cuba were the butt of many jokes, much the same as the poles seem to have been in many american jokes. when a cuban was plagued by bad luck, it was said that "he was being followed by a chinaman" ("tiene un chino atras"). regardless, all are welcome at wu liang ye; we all know a good thing when we see/eat it. their lunch special is a steal for $7.95. you get choices of appetizer, different types of rice, and many really yummy entrees. i decided my first time there that i was going to make a habit of the lunch special and work my way down the list of entrees. i'm still working on it, and having a great time doing it. some may think that the prices are a little high; but the menu is not your run of the mill chinese food and well worth the visit.

faves in the hood - diner

diners are great. breakfast, lunch or dinner, anytime of the day or nite. i like to visit local diners whenever i travel because i feel like you can really get a sense of the people who live there. my favorite neighborhood diner is Gracie's Diner on the corner of first avenue and 86th street. you can tell that it has been there for a gazillion years and that all the little old people of the nabe probably lived there when it first opened up, and they all still go there and have the same exact things they've been having forever. the waiters all know them, and they don't even have to ask for what they want because they know already. when i was in Ohio last week i went to a Perkins, which is apparently a chain but probably as close to a diner as you will get in London, Ohio. anyway, this old woman came in and as she was sliding into the bench a waiter walked by and said, "Water with lemon Miss Marie?", and you know that the waiter has been seeing her come in for years and she feels comfortable there and has probably been having the same exact dishes forever too. that's why i love the Gracie Diner. you get that same feeling there. plus they make great meatloaf with mushroom gravy and mashed potatoes. when i lived in Yonkers my favorite diner was the Broadway Diner. there was a waitress there who was as tall as Julia Childe and she had this blazing red hair in this big sort of beehive do. she would call you "honey" and "sweetie" and would say things like "what can mamma get her boy tonite?" i loved her! there's a certain character about a diner that draws characters too. they're a piece of Americana that will hopefully never fade away.

GRACIE'S DINER

faves in the hood - pizza

deep dish, thin crust, cheesy or with the works. even the frozen stuff you get from stouffers. there's nothing like a fresh, hot pie though, and there are a couple of places in my nabe where i have tried a slice or two but i prefer Luigi's on the corner of 88th street and first avenue. they make alot of different types of pizzas and some very good italian dishes too. they have really good calzones, meat rolls and garlic knots. Luigi's is also just a couple of blocks away from my apartment, and right on the way to and from the subway so that makes it very accessible for when you need a quick slice. the price of their slices has just gone up thanks to the inflation; but definitely still worth it. i remember when i was in grade school and living in yonkers and my friends Kenny and Henry and i would sneak to our favorite pizza place downtown to buy slices, which were then 25 cents each. no kidding! i'm really showing my age; but its the truth! the first pizza i ever had was in Cuba when i was about 5 years old. it was a huge thing back then, and there was a place near where i lived with my family in Havana that made deep dish shrimp pizzas! those were my favorite then and i can still taste the sauce and the thick, chewy dough and those delicious shrimp all over it. i love pizza, and the most i've ever eaten is actually an entire pie by myself. well, if you see yourself on the upper east side looking for a slice you can take it from me, Luigi's is the place.


LUIGI'S

faves in the hood - liquor store

Yorkshire liquors on first avenue and 85th street is a great liquor store. they have variety, regular specials as well as normally great prices, and wine tastings. plus you can find some really different things there like cachaca, and absinto. they also deliver and give you discounts if you order by the case. we've gotten to know the people that work there pretty well, research of course. they have a website which you can see i've included over there on the side; but it isn't very good. it is worth the visit if you're in the neighborhood. hmmm, i think its time to give them a call and have something delivered. i need to do a little more research. cheers!

YORKSHIRE WINES AND SPIRITS

faves in the hood - indian

there are actually quite a few indian restaurants in my neighborhood which i have gone to; but i think my favourite is Mumtaz on third avenue between 84th and 85th streets. there used to be a Kripy Kreme right next door, it was the absolute perfect combination. anyway, Mumtaz is kinda like most indian restaurants, lots of red tapestries on the walls and ceilings, small metal lanterns and the music. there's something about it that always makes me want to start swaying in my seat. we used to go to another place called Simla with Cath and O when they lived in the city. they knew us there pretty well and they would always give us those chese curd balls that have that rosewater syrup for free at dessert; but they tasted kinda flowery. we never wanted to hurt their feelings by not eating them so we tried to get odalys to eat them all. i think we started telling them that we were lactose intollerant or something to get them to stop. there's a Tamarind close by that's pretty good, and Dakshin is just a couple of blocks away. the Great India restaurant, and India grill both closed some time back. that was a shame 'cause India grill had an all you can eat lunch on the weekends. anyway, Mumtaz is now the indian of choice for me. i like pretty much anything on the menu but i love the mullighatawany soup, the samosas, the chicken tikka masala, the chana saag, the aloo palak...oh and those big fluffy poori and the garlic nan, and the paratha. i guess i could just go on and on. whenever we go to any of them though i always think of Cath and O and how i used to start swaying in my seat to the music and say that i was going to get up, stuff some chutney in my navel and start dancing. Mumtaz doesn't have a website but they've gotten some good write-ups on-line, which i've linked over there on the side, and here's a picture i took. i know it looks dumpy on the outside but really, if you're a fan of indian food and you see yourself in this neighborhood it is worth a try.

MUMTAZ