well, the subject pretty much sums it all up.
i’m flying back into the states to do bridesmaid duty at a wedding in TN, but first, i’m stopping through nyc to hang out with friends on my old stomping grounds and the bride and those of us bridesmaids that are in the metro area will be doing a pre-wedding dinner with friends somewhere. the questions is: where?
bride suggests daisy may’s pig throwdown or congee village. i’d ordinarily be down for the former, but we’re doing bbq at the wedding and i’ll also be bbq-roadtripping down to the wedding from saint louis (yes, this is a rather long preamble, i know). the latter i’m possibly into, especially if we get one of the rooms and some karaoke action going, but just want to investigate other options.
the group will be probably number about 10-15. bride and i are picky about our food only in the sense that it has to be really, really frickin good. she and i don’t have problems schlepping all over the five boroughs (and into jersey) if the ultimate goal is ridiculously tasty. the others that will be joining us, however, are probably not likely to leave the confines of manhattan. and more to the point, lower-ish manhattan. ethnic doesn’t hurt — cheap either. especially for this occasion.
any suggestions would be much appreciated.
winnie y.
Italy
I'm going to assume you are eating mad delicious Italian food so I'm going to suggest Asian places. One place I only recently discovered is Chinese Mirch, a Chinese-Indian restaurant. Don't be afraid of the fusion. It's not nouveau. It's not a huge restaurant, so you'd definitely need reservations, but it's interesting-in-a-good-way food. Flash-fried crispy okra dusted with cumin and chili powder, double fried Szechuan lamb shreds with funky Indian spices, garlicky chili noodles, super delicious. That's on Lexington in Gramercy. The place has sort of Cost Plus decor with bamboo wallpaper but it's pretty cheap and it's great for sharing. Mostly Indian yuppie clientele.
Next is Nyonya on Grand St. Malaysian, funky, no-nonsense (read: brusque) service who have no patience for lingering tables, awesome roti canai (I always order one for myself and one for the rest of the table so I don't have to share), delicious Hainanese chicken, shrimp paste with okra, deep fried Malaysian spareribs, coconut rice. Yum. Almost ate there tonight. My only warning: they ain't afraid of the MSG. I also don't think they take resys, and the place is surprisingly popular so if you have a big group, there may be a wait. But they also turn tables over there so efficiently that it's usually not a ridiculous wait.
And my third suggestion is Woo Chon on 35th St., my fave K-town place. Every place in K-town uses gas grills now (damn the fire department!). At this place, they give you different grill plates for each meat -- I can't really tell if it helps but I like the idea. They also give you an insane amount of panchan, including my favorite kimchee ever, hand made with a secret recipe by the matron proprietor -- it's slightly oily and only mildly fermented. I could eat it every day forever. But the big reason I'm recommending it is that you can reserve a private room if you want to. In fact, I called for you and was told that a group of 15 can reserve the private room -- there's no additional charge. A friend of mine had a big birthday party there and they actually hired a stripper who did his thing in the private room. I'm not saying you should hire a stripper, but it's been done, so there you go.
I haven't done the Daisy May carcass mauling yet, though my roommate was threatening to do it for his birthday. I'll have to check it out. And Congee Village always works for big groups. If you were willing to hit Queens, I would have suggested Sripraphai too. And for drinks, you should go to (before you click on the next link, turn your volume down) Pegu Club. I think they only accept reservations for groups of 8 or more, so make a reservation and you'll get the really sexy, huge round chocolate velvet booth. Cocktails are a ridiculous $12 but they're ridiculously well made. And get the deviled eggs with smoked trout. Yum.
Good luck and let me know where you decide to go, even if you don't take my advice. I can always use tips.
Yours,
Ganda
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