Comments on: PROFILE: Midtown Lunch’er (& Esca Chef) “David Pasternack”… PLUS another book giveaway!

By: DDR

DDR — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 18:45:41 +0000

Tried Market Cafe based on Brian’s semi-secret recommendation (above).

Short version: it sucked, isn’t really inexpensive, and was definitely not worth a trip to No Man’s Land (aka “lower Hell’s Kitchen) on a Friday night. And based on the total emptiness of the restaurant, I don’t think anyone cares if this “secret” is out.

By: jasy

jasy — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 14:02:39 +0000

Dave, we live in Montauk, have your book and eat in your restaurant – love it all. we particularly enjoyed the 3 tuna crudo appetizer we had at the restaurant. i’ve made crudo here using your book – and enjoyed it a lot. one issue: we can’t find any locally available albacore and that’s the only one whose recipe is included in the book. how do we get the recipe for the non-albacore crudo varieties?

By: josh

josh — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 02:07:22 +0000

Kudos for mentioning that Pakistani joint on 38th & 9th! I used to eat there all the time before I left Midtown. They have prayers there during the day. Its a cool scene to be scarfing down some delicious Pakistani food when all of a sudden most of the restaurant, and people from the neighborhood, kneel on the floor to pray.

By: Brian

Brian — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 18:20:45 +0000

RE: wu liang ye – it’s been commented here that the place is expensive. Maybe that’s why it hasn’t been reviewed yet. And it is a bit more expensive vs. typical chinese prices – BUT, for dinner. They have about 25 lunch specials that come with enough food to feed two, for $7.50 – comes with a pint of plain or fried rice, the entree, and a spring roll. I usually can’t eat it all…

By: chowsue

chowsue — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 15:23:57 +0000

Well, I love seafood more than anything, and I love to cook. So this book giveaway contest is going to be hard for me to pass up. Especially for this book! Pasternack is an excellent cook. I looked up the table of contents on amazon.com, and there are so many dishes that I would love to make. Zach, boy, that linguine looks good! Damn!

Ok, here we go: Chowsue’s Top Ten Midtown Seafood:
(with some minor smearing of Zach’s boundaries of what constitutes midtown. It seems many of my picks have been mentioned already, but that is because they really are good!)

10. grilled octopus at Uncle Nick’s
9. camarones ceviche at Rincon del Sabor
8. yellowtail with jalapeno and cilantro & cod with miso at Nobu
7. whole deep fried fish with tamarind at Pam’s Thai on 49th
6. Pla Jien at Wondee’s- steamed snapper with shitake, ginger, scallion
5. any sushi/sashimi at Sushiya (big rollers) or Monster Sushi
4. any seafood dish at Blue Fin
3. tuna ceviche at Kobe Club
2. octopus salad at Margon
1. glass of chardonnay and a dozen raw oysters at the Grand Central Oyster Bar- classic NYC

And as an added incentive to win this contest, I offer to make Zach his choice of 1. a dish from the book or 2. my version of the famous Thai fish dish with tamarind sauce (I learned from my Thai’s husband’s family) or 3. my Tod Mun (Thai fish cakes). This offer comes with 3 catches: 1. it would have to be reheated in the microwave at work and your coworkers will hate you for making the office smell like fish, 2. it won’t be AS fresh as cooked the night before, 3. we are renovating the kitchen, so it may be 2 months or more until I can cook again! But I won’t forget. :)

By: 30RockDenizen

30RockDenizen — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 14:50:14 +0000

Mala — There’s got to be a market for real Bengali food. I’m told there are even Bengali restaurants in Calcutta now! You could even go high concept and have a courtyard with a shil nora as its centerpiece. If there’s Uighur food in Queens, this can’t be that obscure.

By: Mala

Mala — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 12:21:35 +0000

30RockDenizen – I haven’t found real hilsa anywhere yet! I’m pretty sure it’s the American knockoff anywhere you can get it, though. Unless you go straight to the Bangladeshi stores that import it on ice. The fish I had at Shipa Kasturi was what we call “rui” in Bengal, not hilsa.

Damn, now my mouth is watering.

By: Julie

Julie — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 03:22:32 +0000

oh, sorry. it’s supposed to be in midtown… i’d go for sushi then. the chirashi lunch special at Fukumatsu is a great deal.

By: Julie

Julie — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 03:19:55 +0000

toast skagen at Good World

By: Rudy McBagel

Rudy McBagel — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 22:12:25 +0000

Would the real hermione granger please step forward.