The Chowhound's Guide to the New York Tristate Area (Paperback)

by Chowhound (Author)
Key Phrases: nabe index, chowhound favorite, unknown chow, East Village, The Chowhound's Guide, Greenwich Village (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
The editors at Chowhound.com, an Internet site "for those who live to eat," have compiled tips from the site's message boards into an eclectic guide for those who are willing to go to extreme lengths for great grub. This directory of miscellaneous buffets, cafeterias and restaurants is broken into groupings like Lesser-Known Italians, Veg-Friendly Brooklyn and the more exotic Israeli Flavors in an Israeli Atmosphere. Woven throughout are profiles of dedicated Chowhounds, who divulge everything from their favorite haunts to their weight management tips. Though this offbeat guide initially appears to be a disorganized, A to Z hodgepodge of restaurants and locations, it's really a massive list of notable eateries missed by more traditional surveys. Honduran Breakfast, Asian Mousses and Kissable Grits-this book covers the gamut, and all of the information is conveniently indexed according to location, restaurant and cuisine. The only drawback is the reference's chaotic layout. Some words are written in all caps and some bold; the roundup headings are strangely indented; and the addresses of the restaurants appear in columns before each roundup-all of which can be an eye strain. Still, food fanatics-particularly those who live in New York City, where many of these restaurants are located-may find that navigating this book is part of the adventure.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review
Leff is obsessed with the most obscure corners of the restaurant industry and writes about them passionately… (Eric Asimov, The New York Times) [Leff is] the city’s most intrepid food writer. (Chris Erickson, New York Daily News)

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Product Details

• Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (April 26, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0143034405
• ISBN-13: 978-0143034407
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #826,192 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best guide to the best food, April 28, 2005

By	Jack Stoller (Brooklyn, New York) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

www.chowhound.com is a grass-roots website where anyone can post about the most delicious food they can find. I've been lurking and posting on chowhound for some years now, and the culinary pleasures this website has reaped for me over the years are priceless, certainly more than any other food guide or restaurant critic I've ever seen. Not only have I enjoyed delicious food that I otherwise would have never found (often in places it wouldn't otherwise occur to me to go to), but the site has inspired me to "chowhound" as well, seeking out cuisines and neighborhoods that are yet unknown on the site.

This book, a compendium of the best tips from chowhound for the New York City area, is a dream come true. (Full disclosure: a couple of my tips are there, which I didn't know until I bought it). While it's been reassuring to see a lot of my favorite places to eat reviewed, it's surprising how much even a food geek like me hasn't tried yet that the book recommends.

The laserbeam focus on deliciousness as an end in itself make this book and the site tremendously rewarding. The biggets downside is that it will ratchet your standards up so high that your friends will start to think that you're a food snob. They'll forgive you, though, when you share the fruits of the chowhound community's searches.

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The distilled wisdom of the sharpest online food community, May 1, 2005

By	Barry T. Campbell (New York, NY) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I've been a happy user of the Chowhound.com web site since the summer of 2000. It has not only ensured that I eat well here at home in New York City, it has virtually guaranteed that I eat well when I travel, too.

As you can imagine, I was delighted to learn that Chowhound was publishing printed guides to New York and San Francisco area food-exploring. I bought copies of both books (I travel to the SF area as often as I can) but as I live in New York, that's the book I immediately devoured, and the one that I'm reviewing.

Food lovers with adventurous spirits would be well-advised to get their hands on a copy. It's a delight to browse (you can literally open it at random and start reading, as the individual articles are short and to the point) but the editors helpfully provided detailed indexes--by restaurant name, by NYC neighborhood, and even by cuisine--when time is short and you need to do focused research.

The tips come from the user community of the Chowhound site, who post thousands of messages a week to the busy discussion boards. This guidebook represents the "best of the best," and I guarantee you that no matter how hip a Chowhound you think you are, you'll find undiscovered treasures between these covers.

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Soulful chow choices in a city of eats, May 2, 2005

By	Josh (New York) - See all my reviews

There is restaurant life beyond a certain popular guide that starts with a Z -- and it's pretty darn tasty! This witty reference guide captures some of the best of the chowhound.com message board, THE web resource for passionate and intelligent discourse on navigating NYC-metro's vast culinary landscape.

But please, do check the hype at the door. Style may be nice, but as the website states, chowhounds "blaze trails, combing gleefully through neighborhoods for hidden culinary treasure. They despise hype, and while they appreciate refined ambiance and service, they can't be fooled by mere flash." From debating the best five-for-a-buck dumplings south of Delancey Street, to discussions on what to order at New York's finest dining establishments, to helping someone find a restaurant that serves Katsu but can also accomodate two Kosher guys and Vegan, the web chowhounds cover it all. Kudos to Jim Leff for capturing the spirit and passion of the chowhounds in this book.

Like with many of the restaurants discussed, the book may initially appear disorganized, but dig a little deeper and you'll find something special. Leisurely read it front to back for inspiration, or jump to the handy cuisine and neighborhood indexes in the back for quick access to what you want or where you want it.

Overall, I highly recommend this guide for anyone in the NYC metro area who is passionate about dining or simply wants a little help in being more adventurous.