my NYC food notables

Fancy:

*Gramercy Tavern around Union Square
WD-50 on the Lower East Side
Spice Market in the Meatpacking District
The Modern (bar room and restaurant) in Midtown

Not quite as fancy:

Norma's in Midtown for brunch (in Le Parker Meridien hotel)
Grimaldi's pizza in DUMBO
*tapas at Tia Pol in Chelsea
Grandma's Original Pizzeria in Bay Ridge
Wondee Siam in Midtown

Dirt cheap:

#184 at Pho Viet Huong in Chinatown
lunch specials at 86 Noodle in Bay Ridge
street meat from the chicken and rice cart at 53rd and 7th in Midtown
Mahmoun's falafel at St Marks
Grey's Papaya everywhere
Hong Kong Station in Chinatown
Nicky's Vietnamese Sandwiches (in Brooklyn and the Lower East Side)
*Pho at Pho Hoai in Bay Ridge

interesting/unique and good:
202 in Chelsea Market
*Kyotofu in Hell's Kitchen
Chinatown ice cream parlor
Burger Joint (also in Le Parker Meridien) in Midtown
ChikaLicious in the East Village
F&B on 23rd st

Sentimental value:

huge pizza slices at Koronet by Columbia on the Upper West Side
late night slices at Pizza Wagon in Bay Ridge
*ktown (in general)
chinatown (in general)
St Marks japanese (in general)
Craft around Union Square
Mozart Cafe on the Upper West Side
Junior's in Brooklyn

Hates:

Momofuku Noodle Bar (actually, I hate you, David Chang)
Aureole (sent the food back it was so bad)
Serendipity III (is it even worth going for the frozen hot chocolate? nope.)
Famiglia (epitome of gross nyc italian deli/fast food and pizza)
Tavern on the Green (yay, it's bankrupt)
*generic NYC delis on each street corner with old-looking food behind glass, a boring salad bar, stale donuts, and rude and angry workers serving it all to you in plastic containers and paper bags

Wish list:

*Per Se
Le Bernardin
Lucky Cheng's (ok...not really for the food, though...)


*top of each list. I'm sure I'm forgetting many...there definitely are tons of mediocre/middle of the street restaurants I've been to that aren't even worth mentioning...