In contrast to the thread on restaurants you don’t like, let’s discuss restaurants you love.
One of my favorites is Tom Sarris Orleans House in Rosslyn, VA. They serve very good prime rib (and possibly some other dishes too, I’ve never checked), and the salad bar looks like a river boat.
There’s a little dumpy pub in my town that’s called The Wooden Nickel. Best sandwiches evar, plus a wisely chosen selection of wine and beer.
Wow, I’ve eaten at so many great places, but I’m just going to keep this local…my favorite restaurant around here is Bahn Thai, on 13th Street. It’s a homely little place but the food is wonderful, the portions huge, and the service attentive. I could go for some Masaman curry right about now…
Another place here I used to really like is Dragonfly Sushi. The food, the ambience, the service, the prices…all very nice. Unfortunately, one night I got sick after eating sushi and I can’t seem to regain my taste for it, so although I can recommend the restaurant to others, I’d rather not go myself.
The experiences I have had with restaurants, whether parts of chains or one-of-a-kind places, make it clear to me that even the best have their down times. So I’m reluctant to say that any one that I’ve been to has an A rating over the time that I’ve been going there.
That said, the place that’s yet to disappoint is Sitar in Nashville. Indian food, decent prices, excellent service.
It used to be true that Boardwalk was the place for the best steaks, but they changed their fare and we haven’t visited them in years. Longhorn has had consistently good steaks since we quit going to Boardwalk.
The oriental place that gets my vote in this area is Thai Taste.
Carrabba’s is our choice for Italian.
That’s about it for me.
In our town, there’s a steak house called Marie Livingston’s, where everything on the menu is to-die-for. They have a proprietary juice that they infuse the steak with, and it comes to your table floating in this juice. The steak melts in your mouth and the sauce tastes like heaven. It gets mixed with your baked potato, and that’s incredibly good.
We’re going there on my wife’s birthday, on Wednesday. Can’t wait!
There’s another local place called Bianca, an Italian restaurant. Everything we’ve had there is amazing. Theirs is the best pizza in town. They make a great Philly Cheesesteak Spaghetti, that’s just about the best thing ever done with pasta.
Lola’s on Martha’s Vineyard. A little taste of New Orleans in coastal New England. Complimentary biscuits, cornbread, and caesar salad. Best entree: Coconut encrusted grouper with lemon cream sauce. Best dessert: Creme brulee flambed with bourbon.
The Chart House in Boston. (Been too long since I’ve been there.)
Durgin Park in Boston. Olde Newe Englande Foode. Zero atmosphere. Try the pot roast.
Wayside Inn, Sudbury MA. Longfellow sure knew where to eat! Once again, amazing pot roast. And try the duck.
Does an espresso joint count? San Jose has just been blessed with eMocha, where they make actual ristrettos, dense and syrupy and heavenly
Chez Panisse in Berkeley
Any number of little Vietnamese places in San Jose
El Rincon in Morgan Hill - a Rick Bayless-type nouveau Mexican place
Gochi in Cupertino - a Japaneze izakaya-type place
Kitsho in Cupertino - best damned sushi I ever had, and I’ve had a lot
Sui Tofu in Santa Clara - Korean tofu soup joint that makes their own delectable tofu
My local great places are “Fritzi’s” in Howell, NJ. They serve great German food and excellent have been consistently great for 10-11 years now. We were among their first customers. We have moved away from Howell, but we still go back several times a year. Despite a recent ownership change, the quality has held up. They are family friendly.
My other favorite is “What’s your Beef” in Rumson, NJ. The best steak place south of the Raritan River in Jersey and excellent sides and beer selections to go with it. The place is not very kids friendly however and it is pricey. BTW: the name predates the old Wendy’s commercial.
Jim
Union Oyster House in Boston. New England clam chowder to die for, served with warm corn bread.
O.P Fredericks in Loon Lake, NY. The best crab cakes I’ve ever had.
Oops, almost forgot The Melting Pot. It’s a fondue restaurant, and kind of expensive, but boy are you going to be full when you leave! It’s really fun to cook your food in the communal pot, and then they have all these interesting little dipping sauces as well. The first course is cheese, with fruit and bread to dip, then the meat course, and then the course we’ve all been waiting for…the chocolate, with fruit and cake and marshmallows and cheesecake and brownies…Homer drool
I was still thinking “steak houses,” so I missed a couple.
In Philly, there was a Chinese noodle soup restaurant just behind the convention center. (I think it was called “Nice Chinese Noodle House.”) They served good cheap food, a big bowl of soup for about seven bucks.
Also in Philly, there used to be an Indian vegetarian buffet called Samosa. Again, good cheap food, although heavy on the fried foods. It was the best lunch deal in town, all that good ethnic food (with curry) for six bucks. I was disappointed when the owner had a medical problem, the restaurant closed, and last I checked had never reopened.
Riddle’s Penultimate is probably my absolute favorite. Plus, it’s in walking distance so my husband and I can order a bottle of wine & not have to worry about someone having to drive home.
Bluebbery Hill is great too. Their burgers are amazing (and I never order burgers at restaurants!). Also, Chuck Berry plays there once a month.
Tucker’s Place has great steaks.
If we’re talking chains, I really only like Longhorn.
Mentioned here, Fernando’s in Macau is one of my favourite restaurants in the world. Simply awesome. African chicken made by spatchcocking the bird, pushing the skin from the flesh, rubbing herbs and spices between them, marinating then cooking over open flames, served fragrant and steaming, with amazingly tasty olive-oil fried French fries, succulent olives, and crisp, fresh salad. Cheap, and indescribably delicious.
A close second is Shanahan’s on the Green in Dublin - not cheap, but the best, aged, Irish grass-fed, organic Angus steak cooked at 1700 degrees F for just a few seconds. And the onion strings are out of this world.
But my favourite restaurant ever will set you back about $2 for more food than you can possibly eat: Papaya restaurant at Ton Sai on Koh Phi Phi in Thailand. It was the first place repaired after the tsunami. It’s down a dirt alley and looks like the cheapest, dingiest, nastiest little greasy café you’ve ever seen, with strip lighting and formica tables - but my God the food. Mr Nod, the chef patron, cooks out on the street on a huge gas burner and big wok, with a big, friendly smile and a Hello Kitty apron. His pad Thai is the best I’ve ever tasted. His signature papaya salad is sensational. His Panang curry is out of this world. But his chilli shredded beef with cilantro makes me cry it’s so fucking good. And though he’s a Muslim he sells ice cold beers out of a big noisy fridge at the back, and he and his staff are the most welcoming, attentive and friendly people you could ever have the pleasure of being served by.
You know, I’ve never been there.
Dopefest, perhaps?
GO!
And send me some oysters, would ya?
Consider it done. Watch for a package marked “Medical Supplies.”
I love both of these places! Have you tried dinner. on 43rd St and 16th Ave? Its another one of my favorites, sort of european style fine dining.
That would be cool. Although I moved back home here from Boston quite a while ago. I still go out several times during baseball season to catch a Sox game.
No, I think it’s one of those places we always mean to go to, but never have gotten around to it. I’ll try to keep it in mind.
The Third Place and the bistro next to Leonardo’s By The Slice are a couple of other good places that sound similar.
Let us know, and we’ll set it up.