Off Topic The Review Thread

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sb_73 said:
Still worth doing though, even if a bit short. Definitely on the list. It’s a lot easier flying to the east coast/Chicago in terms of time and jet lag. This will be my fifth and my wife’s third time to Chicago in 4 years, I absolutely love it, and am lucky that I can tag a couple of days there on to work trips, if I get the flight routing right.

I’m growing to like tours. The architecture boat tour on the Chicago River is so good I’ve done it twice, had a truly memorable tapas, wine and history tour in Barcelona (6 in the group),and will probably do the Circle Line boat trip around Manhattan in a few weeks.
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One recommendation for your New York trip is to walk the High Line, if you haven't done it before.

https://www.thehighline.org/

It starts near Greenwich Village and ends not far from the Circle Line pier (only about a mile and a half), so you could make it coincide with your boat trip.
 
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Stroller said:
One recommendation for your New York trip is to walk the High Line, if you haven't done it before.

https://www.thehighline.org/

It starts near Greenwich Village and ends not far from the Circle Line pier (only about a mile and a half), so you make it coincide with your boat trip.
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Cheers Strolls, looks good. So far we have the Circle line trip, Ellis Island on the recommendation of my daughter, going up a tall building at some stage , MOMA and excessive wandering around. Directed wandering around fits in well.

Did you have any outstanding meals in NY?
 
sb_73 said:
Did you have any outstanding meals in NY?
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The River Cafe below Brooklyn Bridge takes some beating for the view, didn't get to eat here as you need to book but the walk back across this iconic bridge towards Manhattan is worth it. Just out of interest, where are you staying?

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QPR999 said:
The River Cafe below Brooklyn Bridge takes some beating for the view, didn't get to eat here as you need to book but the walk back across this iconic bridge towards Manhattan is worth it. Just out of interest, where are you staying?

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Is that related to the River Cafe in Fulham? That’s a brilliant restaurant.

We are at the Omni on East 52nd Street, Midtown
 
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sb_73 said:
Is that related to the River Cafe in Fulham? That’s a brilliant restaurant.

We are at the Omni on East 52nd Street, Midtown
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No they're separate entities. That's a top location you're in, right in the heart of everything. We stayed at The Paramount West 46th street which was too busy as it was virtually on Times Square. St Patrick's Cathedral on your doorstep is well worth a visit as is Grand Central Terminal where many great films were set.
 
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QPR999 said:
No they're separate entities. That's a top location you're in, right in the heart of everything. We stayed at The Paramount West 46th street which was too busy as it was virtually on Times Square. St Patrick's Cathedral on your doorstep is well worth a visit as is Grand Central Terminal where many great films were set.
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It was carefully selected.....

Just had my annual kidney check up and been given the thumbs up all round, which is handy as I plan to punish myself next week. New York will be just me and my wife, but the second leg in Chicago where we meet up with our mates, who already have every restaurant reserved, will involve large numbers of beverages. I expect to be overserved frequently.
 
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sb_73 said:
Cheers Strolls, looks good. So far we have the Circle line trip, Ellis Island on the recommendation of my daughter, going up a tall building at some stage , MOMA and excessive wandering around. Directed wandering around fits in well.

Did you have any outstanding meals in NY?
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I don't remember anything outstanding, but my wife was really impressed with an Italian place - Patsy's on W 56th Street. I'm not a fan of Italian food because I'm not fond of tomatoes, so it didn't really stand out for me. I seem to remember it being a cool place, though. On our recent trip to San Francisco, everybody was making a fuss about a place called Tony's which was supposed to make the best pizzas outside of Naples. I found it pretty ordinary, but at another place we went to, Tratto, I got the most enjoyable pizza I've ever had. No tomato paste, just cheese, mushrooms and roasted garlic. Delicious.

Edit: It won't be of help in NY, but I just looked up the Tratto menu and I didn't do the description justice. It was actually:

Mushrooms, poached garlic, fontina, truffle oil, sage

The business.
 
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Stroller said:
I don't remember anything outstanding, but my wife was really impressed with an Italian place - Patsy's on W 56th Street. I'm not a fan of Italian food because I'm not fond of tomatoes, so it didn't really stand out for me. I seem to remember it being a cool place, though. On our recent trip to San Francisco, everybody was making a fuss about a place called Tony's which was supposed to make the best pizzas outside of Naples. I found it pretty ordinary, but at another place we went to, Tratto, I got the most enjoyable pizza I've ever had. No tomato paste, just cheese, mushrooms and roasted garlic. Delicious.

Edit: It won't be of help in NY, but I just looked up the Tratto menu and I didn't do the description justice. It was actually:

Mushrooms, poached garlic, fontina, truffle oil, sage

The business.
Click to expand...
The right amount of truffle oil on anything is transformative. A couple of drops mixed in honey to dip manchego cheese in is delicious.
 
Just heard the first part of a radio 4 programme where a singer, Elvis Costello in this case, talks about his/her work and plays a few songs. In a previous episode they had Randy Newman, who was brilliant, very funny, self deprecating and played perfect versions of his songs.

Elvis, however, was a huge disappointment. I have way too many of his records, and think he is a genius songwriter. But I have never really liked his voice, a nasal false American accented drone. He was trying to talk in a humorous, humble way but came over as anything but humble. Plus he really can’t sing very well at all, my wife was wincing through a version of Accidents Will Happen which was horribly flat. He was accompanied by Steve Nieve though, who is clearly a great pianist and must have the patience of a saint.

Pity.
 
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Today is National Album Day. To celebrate, Radio 6 DJs have all been selecting an album they love, playing it in full whilst interviewing a band member - Liz Kershaw selected Dark Side of the Moon and was accompanied by Nick Mason. Wonderful hour of radio whilst decorating this afternoon....

Liz Kershaw - Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon - National Album Day - @bbc6music http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0000psp
 
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Continuing the National Album Day, watched a documentary on BBC4 last night about the Beach Boys and their album Pet Sounds (although it's mainly Brian Wilsons' project).......

Classic Albums, The Beach Boys: Pet Sounds: www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b07ljcxf via @bbciplayer

If you've never seen it, there's a brilliant film with Paul Dano and John Cusack, Love & Mercy, covering the same period but also into the 80s, covering his descent into pyschosis during and after the making of Pet Sounds and how he became a shadow of himself due to the "care" of a dodgy doctor and how his new partner got him out of the rut that he had found himself.
 
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Venom - went to see it tonight, enjoyable, but not quite in Guardians of the Galaxy league. Some good humour (especially once Venom takes hold of his host), good effects, worth a watch if you enjoy the Marvel franchise, although I did find one of the CGI fight scenes a bit chaotic. Good to see Marvel go a bit darker, with Tom Hardy a good anti-hero, disgraced, a heavy drinker, and down on his luck looking for a last chnnce to aave himself.

Was made to sit behind during the credits as my son informed me there were a couple of after-credit scenes - I'm looking forward to the sequel, as Woody Harrelson is playing the role of the bad-guy, an actor who I truly rate.

However, is there a dearth of acting talent in America? Why do they keep casting good British actors into roles, and then force them to put on semi-acceptable American accents? Tom Hardy and Riz Ahmed, both brilliant actors, put on faux accents in this film which really doesn't add to the story in any way - either amend the script to add a single line to allow them to keep their accents, or employ American actors. Idris Elba is another victim of this.
 
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As a forum resource, first edition of eating suggestions for NYC.

Eataly Flatiron, 5th Avenue. Eataly is an excellent chain (I think there is one in London), part authentic Italian deli, part informal restaurant with various eating stations - pasta, pizza, meat, fish etc. Ideal for jet lagged snack before collapse. Sharing platter of cheese and cured meats, wine $50 for two. No tomatoes were harmed in the creation of this meal.

Breakfast in New York - Norma’s, W 56th St. Outstanding venue (in the Meridien hotel), great food, but a one off, ludicrously expensive. My first $100 breakfast (for two). Something a little more reasonable today I think, trying the Pershing Square Cafe, more traditional diner.

Dinner - Fig & Olive, E 52nd St. Really good Italian, modernist style/presentation , fantastic flavours, lively and busy. $150 for two. Cheeky suggestion on the bill to give a 25% tip. 20% tops for excellent service (which is the norm). Only one crostini had tomato on it for the entire meal Strolls, and lots of truffle/truffle oil.

For a city where you can get food literally on every corner, the populace is, unlike the rest of the US, surprisingly slim. Perhaps because they all seem to be in a hurry. Great, great city, but Chicago shading it for me at the moment.

MOMA, and the High Line Walk on the list for today. Circle Line trip around Manhattan Island yesterday, very good, but don’t expect to hear much of the commentary.
 
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Anyone watch Informer on BBC1 on Tuesday? Thought it was very good, and watched the rest of the series on iPlayer. Good plot, couple of twists, and good performances by the leads, well worth a watch IMO
 
NYC food continued....

Firstly, cheers Strolls the Highline was excellent, great way to see the city and the really good new architecture being built on the west side.

Breakfast - Pershing Square Cafe, right opposite Grand Central Station. Very big, busy, noisy place, great atmosphere. Recommended, blueberry pancakes exceptional. $60 for two.

Dinner - abandoned booking at Vandal, a trendy tapas type place in the Bowery when it transpired it would take 30 minutes by Uber to go a couple of miles and we were knackered. Good move, walked ten minutes to Urban Space, Vanderbilt Street, a great food hall, collection of 20 chef driven/artisanal food and drink bars, ranging from lobster to doughnuts. Bustling with locals mainly after work. Went fancying the highly rated pizza at Roberta’s, which did look good, but ended up with fish and shrimp tacos at Seamore’s. A very reasonable $50 for two. Walked it off by strolling to the Empire State and going up it - no queues at 9.30 pm. But chilly on the observation deck.

Really must do MOMA today.
 
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