Gourmet Global

To get the most authentic Thai food in New York, Manhattanites are going to have to cross the bridge into Queens to reach Sripaphai. Here you will not get the muted flavors and spices apparent in so many Manhattan restaurants that are catering to bland, American palates.Here the food is cooked for Thai’s with spices and heat that leap into your mouth with every bite. More than Pad Thai, Green Chicken Curry and Basil Chicken, you are greeted with a 27 page binder that is your menu and this does not include the 2 page Vegetarian section in the back. With such a large selection, it would take a year of weekly visits to try everything on the menu, but everything we had was delicious - authentic Thai Iced Tea with black tapioca pearls and Coconot juice with slices of fresh young coconut meat.

We started with an appetizer of Roasted Duck Salad (pictured above) with a perfect balance of flavors - the heat of the chilis were muted by the cool refreshing taste of fresh mint and coriander. The sharpness of raw red onions were muted by green papaya and cucumbers. Next was an entree of flat noodes with chili, Thai Basil and any meat of your choice, for the same price (my choice was Shrimp). For a spicy dish like this, you can request it to be made mild. Again, a perfect balance of flavors and absolutely delicious. An incomparable seafood stew finished the impeccable culinary adventure to Bangkok!!

Too full to consider the refrigerator full of unique desserts as we entered, the desserts will have to wait until next time (and there certainly will be a next time). I haven’t been here in a few years and the renovation makes it a wonderful place to enjoy dinner in the summertime with a back courtyard, complete with fountain.

OH and you can’t beat the price - $37 for 2 people - 2 entrees, 2 specialty beverages and 1 appetizer (some food was taken home in a doggie bag also)!!!

If you want to try some delicious, authentic Thai food, hop on the 7 train and 30 minutes later you will be perusing over the expansive binder menu, ready to get your taste buds in gear!!!

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Brother Jimmy’s BBQ is one of the best BBQ places in the city, with several locations. The one that we tried was the location at 258 West 31st Street.

Their Northern Style BBQ is smoked for 12 hours, resulting is flavorful, tender fall off the bone ribs! Their Southern Style ribs are firmer, but still have amazing flavor, having been smoked for 5 hours.

Standard on their tables are a choice of 5 sauces to flavor your BBQ the way you like it - Chipotle (my personal favorite, Mustard, Blazin’, Carolina and Original. The sides are also delicious - Crispy Sweet Potato Fries (instead of the wimpy ones that are standard at many Southern Style Restaurants) and Black Eyed Peas simmered slowly with smoked pork are just a few that will leave you speechless. Their appetizers are just as delicious with some great Southern classics like Fried Green Tomatoes and Corn Fritters - of course, if you prefer more traditional NY appetizers, you can still get your chicken fingers and popcorn shrimp here!

In addition to their BBQ ribs, there are also great sandwiches and Southern Style entrees like Chicken Fried Steak and Catfish.

Also, if you are planning a great, casual night out with friends - Sharing the fishbowl (pictured above) or their 2 1/2 gallon size of the alcoholic cocktail of your choice is a fun time. We even received a complementary fishbowl since we were celebrating a 40th Birthday!!

Next time you are up for a fun night out with friends - Don’t miss Brother Jimmy’s for a night of fun!!

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This little eatery has a huge variety of empanadas to satiate any palate - not just your usual beef or cheese that you usually get at most Latin eateries. Everything from Empanada Reggaeton (caribbean style roast pork with sofrito seasoned yellow rice and grandules) to the Polish Empanada with sausage and sauerkraut. This place epitomizes fusion cuisine with American Empanada stuffed with hot dog and American cheese or how about a Beef and Broccoli Teriyaki Empanada?

In addition there are soups, salads arepas and unique tapas like cassave (yuca) stuffed with beef and pork. And traditional Latin meals served with rice and beans like Pollo Guisado and Chuleta Epanizada.

All natural cooking - no trans fats and the empanadas are all made with whole wheat or corn flour. $2.50 for most of the empanadas - the most expensive is the Viagra, stuffed with a seafood stew. These empanadas are truly stuffed - For $5.00 you can have a delicious lunch and be full until dinnertime. They deliver, so the next time you want to eat in for lunch, I highly recommend Empanada Mama.

• A lot of bang for your buck
• Delicious Fusion Cuisine
• Natural Cooking

Empanada Mama is a hit in my book!!

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mireille@globaltastesinc.com
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Bombay Talkie is a great restaurant to hit the NY restaurant scene. Opened in 2005, it highlights the fabulous street food and roadside food popular throughout India. A unique Indian restaurant, atypical of the usual Punjabi inspired cuisines of most Manhattan Hindustani restaurants.

In addition to small street food bites, their main courses feature the uniqueness of regional specialties throughout India from Goan Pork Vindaloo to North Indian classics like Chicken Tikka Masala, as well as unique signature dishes, inspired by the South Indian owner. The food is not the in your face spicy heat popular on Curry Hill, where you get pepper without flavor. At Bombay Talkie, you will get a perfect marriage of the flavors that make Indian cuisine unique - fenugreek, mustard, cloves, tamarind, coconut and the list goes on. The spices blend together and not one overpowers another. I highly recommend the Nilgiri Coconut Kebabs. Perfectly seasoned lamb in a thick, creamy coconut milk based curry. The curry sauce can be completely wiped clean with their Gobi Paratha (Cauliflower Stuffed Bread).

Their specialty cocktails incorporate the flavors of India as well as their ode to Bollywood with names like Umrao Jaan and Laila Majnu and where else can you find a Ginger Martini?

The service was very good as well. I arrived there with a group of 15 without a reservation on a busy Saturday night and they were able to accommodate us within 15 minutes.

They are a little overpriced - $10 for one Kathi Roll and not a large one at that - but worth the experience for a treat!

For delicious, authentic Mexican Food, Rosa Mexicano is the place. (http://www.rosamexicano.info/)  Here you will not find American interpretations of Mexican food loaded with globs of sour cream and guacamole to disguise the lack of seasonings and flavor in the meat or processed hard taco shells.  So lets start with the guacamole.

Guacamole is prepared table side - You can’t get any fresher than that.  They make it to order and per your specifications - Allergic to onions? - No problem - you can have yours without onions with the chile temperature per your instructions - mild, medium or hot?  It starts with perfectly ripe Haas avocados, then onions, tomatoes, chiles, cilantro, lime juice are added for a perfectly balanced marriage of flavors. These are served with nacho chips and tortillas.  Fresh handmade tortillas, made just minutes before they are served.  Fresh salsa’s are also served with this. One is a hot green chile salsa and the other is a mild red chile salsa.  The red chile salsa has a charcoal, smoky flavor - like a really flavorful homemade barbecue sauce.

Now you think you are in heaven with your guacamole and then your drink arrives.  All of their cocktails are perfectly balanced with the right amount of alcohol - the Sangria, Pomegranate Martini and La Rumba is the best.  La Rumba is a unique twist on a mojito, using cilantro, coconut licquer and pineapple.

Mole and tacos are absolutely divine.  Cabrito, the goat meat taco, is beyond tender - almost like shredded beef, which can only be obtained by hours of slow cooking.  The steak tacos are cooked to order - you can have the meat blood rare if you like; not the ground beef that is usually served in beef tacos in American venues.  I am sure everything else on the menu is just as wonderful.

Don’t forget to have the coconut flan for dessert before you leave, or the tres leches cake.  At $8 each, all the desserts are worth every penny you spend.

This is one of the only places in Manhattan serving authentic Mexican food at affordable prices.

Weekend Brunches are something me and my female friends love to do on Sunday afternoons - We imagine we are Carrie, Charlotte, Miranda and Samantha chatting about the trials and tribulations of being single in NYC!

We were looking forward to our brunch at Paradou.  We had heard great things about it and with unlimited champagne cocktails, we were ready for an afternoon of leisure.  Well, this was not to be had at Paradou.

Two of my friends were a bit delayed for our reservation.  The waiter was only doing what he was told and he was the nicest guy from South Africa and very personable, but he was taking directions from the hostess.  We were told to try and call our delayed friends to take their orders because our table had to be vacated for a 12:45 reservation.  I have been dining out for years in restaurants and I have worked in the restaurant industry and even if this is the case, you do not tell a customer that they have to be out by a certain time.  I was speechless.   Throughout the meal, we were continually rushed.  The final straw was when they asked us if we were ready to leave yet and they had not even given us the check!

Finally, we could not take it anymore and spoke to the manager.  He was apologetic for the hostess, however, he also said that it is just because it is a holiday weekend (this was Memorial Day weekend) and they have a lot of reservations.  I do not care what day it is - you do not take more reservations than you can handle, so that the customers are herded in and out like cattle.

Although the food was very good, all I remember from Paradou is the poor customer service and that left a nasty taste in my mouth.

$29 may sound good for a brunch entree and unlimited champagne cocktails but when they are throwing you out after 2 cocktails, it does not sound so good anymore.

Paradou will not be experiencing my patronage again.

Several years ago, I tried Malaysian food for the first time and I was hooked.  I was lucky that my first try was at a wonderful, authentic restaurant with excellent cooks - Nyonya.  It is located on Grand Street and Mulberry, on the borderlands between Chinatown and Little Italy, here in NYC!! Roti Canai, Green Beans with Shrimp Paste and Chili, Lychee Juice are my staples I get every time I go, along with my entree which changes every time until I try everything on the menu!  So when I was invited by a friend to dinner at a restaurant that features Malaysian and Indonesian (another favorite of mine) food, I did not have to think twice to accept.  Although I had never heard of Sanur, some of the best dining gems in this city are little hole in the walls that only a select few know about.

First of all, it is located behind God’s back (as my grandmother would say).  A good 10 minute walk from either East Broadway or Canal Street train station.  The bus does stop nearby, but the driver did not even know where Doyer Street was!  If you have to work this hard just to find the location, the food better be well worth it!  Unfortunately, I was sadly disappointed. 

I was looking forward to my Roti Canai which I had not had in a long time.  They overfried the bread.  It was crispy! The curry sauce did not have the depth of flavor that Nyonya’s has, nor did it have any chicken in it - just 1 piece of potato.  My shrimp entree tasted good enough, but it was so much work to eat.  It was covered in a flavorful sauce, which would have been fine if the shrimp had been shelled.  I had to dig in the sauce with my hands to remove the shells and not just the tail, but the shell of the entire shrimp.  Using a fork or chopsticks was pointless.  Two of my friends ordered crab.  The shells were not cracked and they did not have the utensils to crack them - the only utensil available to use was your teeth! One of my friends ordered the Indonesian Fried Chicken -  I have Indonesian family and this certainly is nothing that I would classify as Indonesian!!

Service did not improve the experience.  We had to practically beg for water at the table.

If you want to try really good Malaysian food, stay far away from Sanur, - Try Nyonya at 194 Grand Street and for really good Indonesian food, try Bali Nusa Indah at 651 9th Avenue.  If you make Sanur your first exploration into Malaysian cuisine, you are missing out on the best this cuisine has to offer.

Anyone visiting Montreal soon? and looking for some unique Fast Food - Try McCafe! - Canada’s Starbucks - but better!! - Affordable expresso, capuccino’s, gourmet desserts like chocolate mousse cake - and if you want a Big Mac with your Macchiato - no problem!
Right next door is your traditional Mc Donalds and your McDonalds food is welcome in McCafe, so just buy your Big Mac and fries at traditional Mickey D and then carry it over to McCafe and enjoy it with a Macchiato and gourmet dessert for a complete meal.

All at fast food prices!!

Anyone visiting Canada soon, please check it out and let me know what your opinion is, since I have yet to make it there in person. I am simply suggesting it via third person referral. Thanks!!

Canadian McCafe

This is my first restaurant recommendation of this bl0g. As I find good places to eat, I will be letting you know. Please try this restaurant and I appreciate any feedback. Thanks

I had lunch today at a Vietnamese restaurant that you all must try. It is so inexpensive and so delicious. For under $5, you can get huge bowls of rice noodle soup. They have about 25 different varieties with different meats and veg. I had the one with curry chicken. The soup was a spicy curry broth with chicken, potatoes, scallion and cilantro.I also ordered a side order of pork meatballs, which I could not finish because I was so stuffed at that point. If I had know the soup was going to be such a huge portion, I would not have ordered the meatballs.They also have a large number of vegetarian options, so this is a great option for vegetarians.

The place is called Pho Tu Do, at 119 Bowery