Friday, November 26, 2010
Gala Manor Update
After Black Friday shopping, I was planning to have dim sum with my parents at Gala Manor. Of all the ones in Flushing, they're my favorite because they have nice, big sui mai! When we got there, the front doors were barricaded up and there was a violation notice taped on it. Apparently, it was illegal to have the huge space on the 2nd floor with the exit that was there. The dining area had a 500 person capacity and the stairs were steep and narrow, which could be a danger during a potential evacuation. We ended up at Tung Yi Fung, but hopefully Gala Manor makes a comeback one day.
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Philippu
Location: 31-01 21St., Astoria, NY 11106Cuisine: Filipino
Hours: MON (Closed); TUE-THU (11am-10pm); FRI-SAT (11am-11pm); SUN (11am-9pm)
Phone: (347) 924-9719
Website: www.myphilippu.com
Prices: about $15/person
Credit Cards: All major
Food: 8
Service: 9
Value: 7
Environment: 8
Frequency: Unique
Emily is leaving tomorrow, so we went out for my Mom's Birthday tonight. Philippu was next on my Mom's list of restaurants to try out after Pinang. It was a strange find because I never thought about going to a Filipino restaurant in Astoria... a bit outside of the Woodside/Elmhurst community.
My first thought walking in was, "this is the fanciest Filipino restaurant I've ever seen." I'm used to them being very plain and home kitchen like. Philippu looked like an upscale restaurant and the interior was very well done. Everything about the atmosphere was nice... lighting, space, acoustics and decor. The restroom was clean, but nothing special. The dining area had a huge LCD TV in the center tuned into a Filipino station.
The service was great with the polite staff one would expect at any Filipino restaurant. Despite the fanciness of the surroundings, the prices were not much more than other restaurants of the same cuisine. Check out the Picasa album for details on the food.
Monday, November 22, 2010
Life Underground
I always wanted to take pictures of Life Underground by Tom Otterness. It's an installation sculpture series created in 2002 for the 14th Street and 8th Avenue station. I finally had a camera with me and just missed the train, so I had a few minutes to capture some of Otterness' playful characters.
Related: Tom Otterness Studio, Wikipedia, Life Underground
Related: Tom Otterness Studio, Wikipedia, Life Underground
Fatty Crab
Location: 643 Hudson St., New York, NY 10014Cuisine: Southeast Asian, Fusion
Hours: MON-WED (12pm-12am); THU-FRI (12pm-2am); SAT (11am-2am); SUN (11am-12am)
Phone: (212) 352-3598
Website: www.fattycrab.com
Prices: about $35/person
Credit Cards: All major
Food: 8
Service: 1
Value: 1
Environment: 6
Frequency: Unique
The Thanksgiving celebration from last night continued for some of us as I joined Emily and Cindy for lunch in the city. Emily and I were off, but Cindy was working, so we met near her office around 14th St. & 8th. We talked about it last night and I thought the menu was interesting. They had Singaporean chili crab, which is rare here. They also had sliders... odd for any Asian restaurant.
When we got there, they seated the 3 of us at a table for 2 even though the place was practically empty. The place looked purposely aged for authenticity and they used cheap plastic plates for table setting. If it was Summertime, I bet it would come complete with flies too. From looking at the menu, it was apparent that this restaurant was a fake Asian restaurant trying to rip people off who aren't familiar with the items. The chili crab was $45 because it was off season, so we passed on it. We really wanted to try the sliders, but they ran out. Of all ingredients, how do you run out of sliders? They offer pork buns as an appetizer... 2 pieces for $13! For details on the dishes we ordered, click here.
It's pretty rare for a restaurant to have a good food rating and a very low service rating, but I felt the staff was dishonest and insincerely friendly. They brought out 2 orders of the Watermelon Pickle and Crispy Pork when we only ordered one. That's OK... common mistake. The waiter took it back and mentioned to the person at the register that we only ordered one. Later, when they billed us, they charged for 2. They actually had the nerve to say that we had 2 also. They probably ate the additional order in the back and tried to get a free lunch from us.
Though the food was good overall, the value is among the worst I've had. Just about every item is grossly overpriced and portions are about 1/3-1/2 of what you'd get at a normal Southeast Asian restaurant.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Pre-Thanksgiving
Emily will be going to Thailand on Thanksgiving Day, so we won't really have everyone available for dinner that night. So instead, we had a Pre-Thanksgiving dinner tonight.
Bahamas
Just a few weeks after my Mom got back from the Dominican Republic, she went on another trip to the Bahamas!
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Charlotte's Birthday
This weekend involved a lot of eating. It opened up with a Thai lunch with my parents and ended with Charlotte's Birthday party today. It was a nice little getaway to head out to Charlotte and Jeff's new house in Long Island... a first time for me and many others. From my place in Flushing, there was no expressway to get there and Google Maps calculated a 25 min trip... hard to believe for a place in Long Island. It actually took 40 min probably because of all the stops and local roads. Next time I'll try the LIRR method and see if that cuts the time.
It was a nice cozy get-together because we hadn't done as many of the group dinners this year. Everyone moved or changed schedules, so I haven't seen a lot of them since Reinhard & Marites' wedding. Charlotte & Jeff's house in Port Washington is in a very nice area. It's residential, yet in walking distance of a downtown area similar to where I grew up in Congers. 40 min drive or 25 min LIRR is still very good city access also. It's a great place for working in the city and coming home to peace and quiet.
Back to reality tomorrow and back to my weekday diet!
It was a nice cozy get-together because we hadn't done as many of the group dinners this year. Everyone moved or changed schedules, so I haven't seen a lot of them since Reinhard & Marites' wedding. Charlotte & Jeff's house in Port Washington is in a very nice area. It's residential, yet in walking distance of a downtown area similar to where I grew up in Congers. 40 min drive or 25 min LIRR is still very good city access also. It's a great place for working in the city and coming home to peace and quiet.
Back to reality tomorrow and back to my weekday diet!
Friday, November 12, 2010
Excellent Thai
Location: 36-50 Main St., Flushing, NY 11354
Cuisine: Southeast Asian
Hours: DAILY (10:30am-11pm)
Phone: (718) 886-8973
Prices: about $7/person (lunch)
Credit Cards: Cash only
Food: 8
Service: 9
Value: 9
Environment: 8
Frequency: Unique
My Mom and I made note of this Thai Restaurant on Main St. when we passed by it on the way to the bank last week. There aren't many Thai places in a Chinese/Korean saturated downtown Flushing, so it's a nice break from our usual pattern. We decided to try it out for lunch today because I had the day off. Because we didn't get to see the interior the other day, the plan was to peek in and if it looked trashy, switch to a dim sum place instead. I looked in and the interior was very impressive.
We went in and the menu got me by surprised. It had tons of choices, but very difficult to find Thai items. There was a mix of Malaysian, Burmese and Hokkien, which is expected, but generic Chinese dishes dominated the menu. So it felt like we were in another fake Thai place that's really a Chinese restaurant. We asked the waiter where the Thai items were and even he couldn't point them out right away. We ended up going for the lunch specials, which had generic names. So we weren't sure if they were Chinese or Thai style. My Dad's beef looked Chinese, but he said there was a light curry flavoring in it. My Mom's pork was Malaysian and my curry chicken was Thai. For details on the food, please read the comments in the Picasa album.
The service was very good. The wait staff was friendly, checked on us a few times and very efficient. The place is clean and classy despite the extremely low prices. Despite the Thai menu items getting lost, the food was good. And their Thai food is really Thai style... once you find them in the menu!
Cuisine: Southeast Asian
Hours: DAILY (10:30am-11pm)
Phone: (718) 886-8973
Prices: about $7/person (lunch)
Credit Cards: Cash only
Food: 8
Service: 9
Value: 9
Environment: 8
Frequency: Unique
My Mom and I made note of this Thai Restaurant on Main St. when we passed by it on the way to the bank last week. There aren't many Thai places in a Chinese/Korean saturated downtown Flushing, so it's a nice break from our usual pattern. We decided to try it out for lunch today because I had the day off. Because we didn't get to see the interior the other day, the plan was to peek in and if it looked trashy, switch to a dim sum place instead. I looked in and the interior was very impressive.
We went in and the menu got me by surprised. It had tons of choices, but very difficult to find Thai items. There was a mix of Malaysian, Burmese and Hokkien, which is expected, but generic Chinese dishes dominated the menu. So it felt like we were in another fake Thai place that's really a Chinese restaurant. We asked the waiter where the Thai items were and even he couldn't point them out right away. We ended up going for the lunch specials, which had generic names. So we weren't sure if they were Chinese or Thai style. My Dad's beef looked Chinese, but he said there was a light curry flavoring in it. My Mom's pork was Malaysian and my curry chicken was Thai. For details on the food, please read the comments in the Picasa album.
The service was very good. The wait staff was friendly, checked on us a few times and very efficient. The place is clean and classy despite the extremely low prices. Despite the Thai menu items getting lost, the food was good. And their Thai food is really Thai style... once you find them in the menu!
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Fall Back Sunday
This weekend is one hour longer because it was time to "Fall back" one hour. Though the official time of turning back the clocks is 2am on Sunday, sometimes I like to spend the extra hour on a different part of the day. This year, I just spent it on much needed sleep. I went to sleep normal time and woke up at the same time, sleeping away my extra hour. Because I didn't spend it on leisure activities, my extra hour felt like it evaporated. But at least I had a fun day to look forward to with our family dinner at night.
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