Modern Apizza & Darbar India

When I was up in Branford & New Haven over Christmas I had two really nice meals out.

Modern Apizza

www.modernapizza.com

New Haven

874 State St

I have to start this by saying that I haven't eaten at either Sally's or Pepe's so this was my first New Haven style apizza experience.  Modern is a family style looking pizza joint with service as you would expect.  The salad we ordered was really bad.  Iceberg lettuce drowned in dressing.  Yuck.  But the 'Veggie Bomb' 18 inch pizza we ordered was pure joy.  The crust was sweet, thin and crispy.  The sauce was almost non-existent, keeping the pizza from getting too soupy.  The cheese and toppings were all extremely tasty.  Thankfully it was too much for the four of us to eat in one go so I got to enjoy it again a day later.  Looking forward to trying New Haven's supposed best apizza at Sally's and Pepe's.

Darbar India

www.yelp.com/biz/darbar-india-branford

Branford, CT

1070 Main St

My folks live in Branford, a small town just east of New Haven, on the Long Island Sound.  I have enjoyed the local ice cream parlor on summer nights but for whatever reason had never eaten dinner in Branford.  Apparently New Haven has a number of good indian restaurants but some say that Darbar India, in Branford, is the best in the area for your money.  I was impressed.  It is straight up Northern Indian cuisine, so if you aren't into the New Delhi style then this isn't for you.  Each dish was really well spiced and had its own clear flavor.  For me that is the mark of a good indian place.  Ingredients were fresh.  Although it wasn't listed as part of the meal, they brought us bowls of dal soup and desserts on the house.  Service was good.  If you are ever passing through Branford and looking for a meal, you now know where to go.

Momofuku Ko - NYTimes 10 Best

The NYTimes just put out its top ten restaurant list for the year:

www.nytimes.com/2008/12/31/dining/31yten.html

Headlining is Momofuku Ko, a small Sushi bar with French influences in the Momofuku restaurant group.  Sounds super good.  Will try to check it out soon.  Tho it will probably be very hard to get reservations for some time to come.

Momofuku Ko

www.momofuku.com/ko

East Village

163 1st Ave

Intro Momofuku ChikaLicious Himalayan Cafe Mamoun's

Welcome to the first post.  I moved to New York City in May of 2007.  I've eaten out way more than not for the last six months so I'll need to eventually fill in the past.  For today I'll start with dinning from the last week.

Momofuku

www.momufuku.com/noodle

East Village

171 1st Ave

This was my second visit to this noodle joint.  Both times I had the 'Momofuku' noodle which is a pork and ramen noodle soup loaded with stuff.  The first time I went I tried to eat the bowl all myself.  Way too much food.  Second time I shared with Suzanne and we split the bbq pork buns as well.  Again, very full.  It was nice styling.  It's a little crazy with how crowded and loud it gets.  Wait staff are fine but not really great.  I think the food is too rich for me and not interesting enough.  Maybe the fish is good but I've had better noodles in the neighborhood for less (Yakitori Taisho).

ChikaLicious

www.chikalicious.com

East Village

203 East 10th St

Japanese influenced dessert bar.  Bobby and Lisa took me and Suzanne here after eating at Momofuku.  I thought I was way too full to eat dessert, but I was wrong.  The bar maybe seats ten to twelve people and there are a few tables.  It is worth trying to sit at the bar because you get to see Chika, the owner and creator of the desserts, at work.  Service is top notch.  It has a $12 fixed price.  You pick the main dessert dish and then it comes with 'petit fours', which are four other courses of extremely small desserts.  It sounds like a lot of food and it will fill you up but everything is very small and stunningly displayed.  Some of the flavors are familiar while some are not - like the peppercorn icecream.  Everything tasted great.  We went back the next night with Suzanne's sister Meg and ordered everything on the menu that we hadn't had the night before.  Lots of fun and super yummy.

Himalayan Cafe

www.yelp.com/biz/himalayan-cafe-new-york

East Village

78 E 1st St

I love this place.  I eat here regularly after sitting with the Dharma Punx.  Nepalese cuisine cooked and served by a really sweet couple.  They bring food out fast and it tastes great every time.  The vegetarian momos are my favorite but the noodle soups and stir-fry dishes are also good.  It is also really inexpensive.

Mamoun's Falafel

www.mamounsfalafel.com

Washington Square

119 MacDougal St

I eat at Mamoun's at least once a week.  They serve up the best falafel I've had in NYC in a minute or two and charge you only $2.50.  Their hot sauce is hotter than hell but used in moderation is heaven.  It isn't always super clean and often there isn't a place to sit at their few tables but, who's complaining?  Btw, don't go to the crappy competitor across the street.  Mamoun's is so much better.