BootsnAll Travel Community

I have awful restaurant luck, so when I find a great one, I recommend it to the world. Have you found any that are fabulous that you can tell others, like me, about?

Miyagis on Sunset Boulevard does great sushi. And Tokyo Delve in L.A. also does good sushi and the chefs, diners and waiters all dance, sing, get up on tables and play games. It's a blast. They also do the Sake Bomb. Saporo!!

Cho Sun Galbi is a great Korean BBQ place in Korea Town, L.A.

El Encuentro - Cusco, Peru (Calle Santa Catalina Ancha 384) -- a great, cheap vegetarian restaurant

I LOVE sushi. I get a little too excited about food sometimes. It tends to freak people out.

Here's my contribution: Ofenloch in Vienna near Am Hof. It was SO good.

This is a board I like: www.chowhound.com

Go to their boards (Cut to the Chow! on the bottom) and then click on International. You can post questions for free and people from all over the world. They also have much more detailed information on places within the US & Canada.

I've had a lot of great meals - were you thinking of anywhere in particular?

Melbourne-

Vegie Bar-Fitzroy area

Soul Mama-St Kilda in the St Kilda bath areas or something like that. Another veggie restaurant! Mmmmmmm I"m getting moist just thinking about it

San Francisco:

Sam Wo. It's in San Francisco's Chinatown (on Washington, up from Grant) for the hole-in-the-wall quirkiness of the place. You enter the restaurant through the kitchen, take a narrow staircase up into a cramped dining area, where surly waitresses give you a menu with lots of cheap dishes on it. The meals are delivered via dumbwaiter from the kitchen.

Dol Ho. Also in Chinatown (on Pacific, up from Stockton), this is the place to go for cheap dim sum. It's also a kind of a hole-in-the-wall, and it's rare to see a non-Chinese person in there. You walk through the kitchen to get to the restrooms. The food is excellent. If it's closed (as it is on Wednesdays), you could go to Y Ben across the street, which despite its huge, fancy banquet-hall atmosphere is as cheap and delicious as Dol Ho.

On Jones St. just up from Geary (in the Tenderloin district) is a small hole-in-the-wall (you get the idea that I like hole-in-the-wall places, don't you?) Thai restaurant. It's cheap and delicious, and they make a damn good Pad Thai. The name escapes me, but it's across the street from the Shalimar Indian restaurant.


Oakland, CA:

Cafe Ba-Le (in Chinatown) is my favorite stop-over for Bun-My (sp?) - Vietnamese sandwiches.

Battambang (in Chinatown on Broadway, 800 block) is the place to go for Cambodian fare.

Jade Villa (next door to Battambang) is Oakland's best dim sum restaurant.


Berkeley, CA:

Cha Am. Damn good Thai food!


Louisville, Kentucky:

Vietnam Kitchen (in south Louisville off 3rd St.) is hands down the best Vietnamese restaurant in the state, and among the best in the country. When we lived in Louisville, we would always bring our guests to this restaurant.


Lexington, KY:

Ramsey's. Excellent down-home Southern cookin'.


Siem Reap, Cambodia:

Khmer Kitchen. In a small alley to the north of the Market Square. No idea if it's still there, but in 2003 we stumbled across it, discovering some of the best Cambodian cuisine in the city. It wasn't in any of the guidebooks or tourist brochures.


Jeanerette, Louisiana:
The Yellow Bowl. Wonderful Cajun food.

I'd also like to add Cal Pep in Barcelona. I could eat there every week - casual place with great food, a lot of action, nice wine and it's really entertaining to just watch the way the place functions. Best meal I've had in a while.

I have a ton of places I love in NY, but it depends on the cuisine. I like really casual places - my favorite places these days are the a taxi stand in Hell's Kitchen and a dumpling place in Queens - only two kinds of dumpling, 5 for a dollar. Delicious.

quote:

Originally posted by Kwon:
This is a board I like: www.chowhound.com

Go to their boards (Cut to the Chow! on the bottom) and then click on International. You can post questions for free and people from all over the world. They also have much more detailed information on places within the US & Canada.

Yes! I live and die by Chowhound. Also, for you New York residents, try Slice NY. And if you're in the NYC area and want the best pizza you will ever taste, check out:

Una Pizza Napolenta
349 E. 12th Street
NYC

It was just ranked one of the top five pizza places in North America. All of the best, fresh ingredients, brick oven, makes all his own dough fresh the night before. He only stays open until the dough is sold out, and he's only open Thurs., Fri., & Sat from 5:00pm and on Sunday from noon. Best bet is to get there five minutes or so before doors open. You will be impressed.

Also if you're ever in the Philadelphia area, try Wasabi House sushi, on the corner of 13th and Pine. Cheap and really really good.

Here are a few of my favorites from traveling so far...

Brussels/Paris: vendor waffles, and baguette sandwiches at almost any cafe or street vendor were awsome.

Savannah, GA: Gottlieb's for haute cuisine with grandma's cookies at the end. (but dying to try Elizabeth's next.)

Orlando, FL: Urban Flats for delicious and unique pizza...but not pizza.

New Orleans: Restaurant August (serious food by a seriously talented chef)

NYC: Pearl Oyster Bar (off Bleeker) for lobster rolls and steamed clams.
"LeZzie" (on 7th/20th St.) for cozy inexpensive Italian...and a Seth Green sighting!... and Pastis Bistro for Saturday morning models watching models watching.

Memphis: Rendezvous was great bbq-mostly for the atmosphere. In this town, you *Must Try* Steve's "BANCHEE" drink in the Irish bar near Peabody's.

Seattle: Does anyone remember the Romper Room? Today it's Wild Ginger, Cascadia...

Portland: When home, must have my $3.95 Cha! burrito. (Aka- the better than sex burrito because it's so freakin' satisfying.) And when jetlagged-the $4.95 chicken noodle Pho Soup at Chopsticks on Hawthorne saves lives.

Montana: Mom's kitchen. We made minestrone soup tonight and watched Finding Neverland. Really, there's no place like home! (Although- MT Coffee Traders makes much better coffee than my parents light as tea Folgers)

A couple of places--

Ristorente Sbeghen, in Volpago del Montello, about 45 minutes north of Venice. Kind of in a remote place (how about in the middle of a forest on a regional road between the usually unheard of town of Montebelluna and the slightly more known Conegliano?), but if you are into trattoria cuisine, it is definately worth seeking out!

And the other,

Bottega del Vino, in Verona. The food was amazing, the service was astounding, the price was great, and the night I was there they offerred 81 wines by the glass. Need I say more?

quote:

If life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Even better, if life gives you lemons, go find someone whose life has given them vodka, and make a party.

Jaco, Costa Rica (actually 15 minutes north)

The Hotel Villa Caletas sits atop a mountain, more than 1150 feet above the ocean, with stunning views of Costa Rica's Central Pacific Coast and the Gulf of Nicoya.

El Anfiteatro is the hotel's main restaurant. There is indoor seating but the best is outdoor on the terrace.

The food is fantastic (breakfast, lunch or dinner)but the view is what makes the winding drive up the steep mountain and the steep price of eating (at least by CR standards) worth it. While sitting on the terrace looking over the top of the rain forest down to the crashing surf on the Pacific coast you will see macaws and many other birds. The vistas are really beyond description, it takes my breath away just thinking about it again.

My favourite place in Berlin is a little Italian restaurant at the corner of Grolmann and Goethestrasse. Even after 5 years I still can't remember the name of the place ... anyway the food is great!

In town (Eugene), I eat at Burrito Boy 3-4 times a week, and have been a regular there for many years. At this point, I get pretty preferential treatment by the employees, and they have my regular order memorized ;-)

I'm horrible at remembering restaurant names abroad, but my favorite places to eat were Bari Pizza and Den Nye Lille Amir (The New Little Amir) in Oslo, both of which are on Torgata (I think), a pretty central street downtown. They both have cheap food and satisfying pizza, calone, kebabs, and schwarmas.

quote:

Originally posted by agnolotti:

Ristorente Sbeghen, in Volpago del Montello, about 45 minutes north of Venice. Kind of in a remote place (how about in the middle of a forest on a regional road between the usually unheard of town of Montebelluna and the slightly more known Conegliano?), but if you are into trattoria cuisine, it is definately worth seeking out!

I will seek out Ristorente Sbeghen in the beginning of August. Sounds great. And by the way, I LOVE your quote. It's fabulous!

New York City - Grand Central Oyster Bar
huge dining hall inside Grand Central
Station. It's a really fun place to eat
and the oysters are delicious!

Orlando, Florida - Emerils Chop Tchoup
one of my favorite restaurants

Paris - Le Procope
one of the oldest restaurants in Paris. They even
have Napoleon's hat and Voltaire's writing desk on
display. The setting is beautiful and elegant and
the food typical Parisian French.

Munich - the Hofbrauhaus of course!
more of a beer hall than a restaurant but you
can't beat the Bavarian sausages, sauerkraut,
apple strudel, beer, and atmosphere

Rome - Tullio
an amazing and charming Tuscan restaurant close to
the Trevi Fountain. The Tuscan steak is one of
the best you'll find. For dessert go to San
Crispino, for the best gelato in all of Rome.

Bruges, Belgium - any of the cute and quaint tea houses that
are dotted around the town

Jamroc in Encinitas, California...right off of I-5 and Encinitas Blvd. Especially fantastic on Thursday and Friday nights when there is live steel-drum. They put crack in the plantains; I had to order them 3 times. Curried goat? Check. Red Stripe beer batter fish and traditional chips? Check. Callaloo patties? Double check. So delicious! (Commence Homer Simpson drooling noises...)

I know, you are in Taos, NM, and you think that there is just no escaping the New Mexican food of chiles, chiles, and more chiles. You've more than cleansed your sinuses and are ready for something different, something a bit gentler to your stomach.

Try Bravo! Nothing fancy from the outside, just a store front in a strip mall at the southern end of the city, along Highway 68. Inside, oh! Great stuff! I reccomend the sweet potato fries, ordered well done. They come with a spicy aoli dipping sauce and are sprinkled with parmesan cheese. Yum!!

While the selection of NM microbrews on tap is limited, there is a great selection available for sale.

Bravo will package up whatever your fancy to take along on a picnic -- with an extensive selection of reasonably priced wines and desserts from the Chocolate Maven up from Santa Fe, a fantastic afternoon along the Rio Grande is more than possible.

Some of my favorites in Saint Paul - all I consider VERY GOOD, and reasonably priced:

Taste of Thailand -- small little dive, obviously thai food

Mai Village - vietnamese

Everest on Grand - nepalese/tibetan food

Italion Pie Shoppe - for deep-dish pizza (not nearly as good as Chicago places, but it's good for here!)

Cafe Latte - cafeteria-style, but extremely good, fresh food - salads, wonderful soups, breads w/ spreads, some of the best desserts in town in my opinion
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In Minneapolis, there's an italian place called Prima's that I love - it's a little more expensive though. I also found French Meadow Bakery (organic foods) quite good.

One of my favorite restaurants in all of NYC is Village Restaurant. Most every major event in my adult life has taken place there. . . . first date with my husband, most anniversaries since, got engaged there, engagement party, went there after my wedding (in my wedding dress), post wedding brunch, my 40th birthday party . . . all because the food is THAT good!! Since we moved to Costa Rica 7 months ago this is the place that I miss the most!!

It is a contemporary American/French Bistro and Brasserie that is chef owned by the French born and trained Steve Lyle (he spent his early years growing up in Provence).

The staff is congenial and very knowledgeable about both food and wine. Some of our favorite wines were first tasted there. Jeffrey the bartender also makes the best Appletini . . . bar none (granted they may be a bit passe now, but still tasty nonetheless!!)

Some favorites include: Pan Roast of Oysters (with chipolte chile, cilantro and creme fraiche . . . you cannot believe how good it is), grilled lamb sirloin with stuffed eggplant and polenta, tuna tartare with pickled peppers and shitake mushrooms, steamed mussels with chorizo and his world renowned NY Strip Steak au Poive with the best french fries in all of Manhattan.

I truly don't think I have ever had a bad meal there in the over 100 times I have eaten there.

Be sure to say hello to Steve and tell him that Sharyn and Mike from Costa Rica said "hey".

The restaurant is located at 62 West 9th Street of of 6th Avenue (in the Village).