Deborah "The Squab" H.'s Profile

I'm resurrecting my Yelp account for this place.  That should tell you how incredible it is.

The last two months have been extremely demanding in terms of flying, jet lag, lugging a million pounds of luggage, etc.  I had some lower back pain from all this (I sound like I'm 65 don't I?) and remembered the all-expenses-paid one-hour treatment gift certificate tucked at the back of my desk.  I called and emailed the spa, asked some questions about the massage types, and made an appointment for the next afternoon for the deep-tissue massage.  It was a weekday, so I don't know if it's more difficult to make appointments on weekends.

I was a little disappointed that I didn't have access to ALL the facilities (pool and gym) since they are reserved for the 90+ minute treatments.  I still went about half an hour early to use the shower, steam room, and sauna, which were all immaculate and luxurious, as expected.  At massage time, I plodded into the waiting room in my plushy slippers and robe, and was greeted by my massage therapist, Willy.

Willy.  Was.  Amazing.  After spending about 15 minutes on my lower back, all the stress and pain literally melted away.  Then he simply TOUCHED my shoulders and exclaimed "Wow, you clench your jaw don't you."  First time a massage therapist has EVER been able to deduce that.  FROM A TOUCH.  He had gone through similar health issues, so gave me tons of advice, and asked if he could spend the remaining time on my upper back (instead of moving onto limbs, etc).  I agreed happily.  This chat took no more than five minutes; he was completely cognizant of talking too much and interrupting the massage experience.

45 minutes of bliss later, I rose from the massage bed, COMPLETELY and utterly relaxed and with a newfound understanding of jaw clenching and the understanding that, yes, I would be returning and shelling out $195 (+tip) of my own cash to see him again.

Following the massage, Willy took me to the "resting room", which consisted of super comfy beds, snacks, and drinks.  I couldn't spend much time here but would have loved to take a nap.

Next time (there will be a next time), I will arrive even earlier to spend more time in the steam and sauna, and make sure I have time to nap afterward.

Oh, they provide most toiletries (razor, shampoo, conditioner, body lotion, hair stuff, spray deodorant, hair dryer) in the locker room but make sure you bring your own facial lotion, SPF, and toothbrush, if you need those items.

Wow.  Just, wow.  I don't know what kept me away from Toasties for so long but I regret it.  Sure, there was a slight wait even at noon, but the service is super quick and efficient, they give you a receipt without asking for one, and a standard sandwich is less than $8!

I ordered the Emily Waits (turkey, spinach, tomato, cheese, apple-butter spread) and was blown away.  Stuffed to the brim with meat and veggies (no scrimping like some delis), grilled in butter, yumm...  I scarfed it down in record time and am full and satisfied.  Sure I can see how adding chips and a drink can get you well over the $10 mark, but fat Americans: stop ingesting empty carbs (sugary sodas and juice) and unnecessary salt and grease, and see the pounds melt away...

Toasties, I will be back!  As a side note, my coworker just mentioned that you can request they grill any of the cold sandwiches.

For the area and price, this place isn't too bad.  I prefer the soon da bu and kimchi jigae to the ready-made bento boxes.  Don't expect anything super delicious, but I like that each meal comes with a free bowl of bean sprout soup.  On my last visit I saw that they started offering Korean tacos but haven't tried them yet.

For the location, this place is pretty decent.  My friend and I were the only people here on a Wed, but that didn't stop the keyboard-playing woman from entertaining us through the night.

The sushi was fresh and decently-priced, but $80 for two isn't necessarily a steal, especially when my standard Yasuda meal costs $35 =P

All in all not a bad option for the area, but for the price I'd probably rather go to a Chinese-run place and get some rainbow and dragon rolls.

The XLB are QDD (quite damn delicious) but I don't know, they're not the BEST I've had.  They are on the sweetish side, have an extremely delicate flavor, and are oh-so-pretty.  My favorite XLB in the tristate are still from Petite Soo Chow (http://www.yelp.com/bi...).

So why the four stars?  SCALLION OIL NOODLES (cong you mian).  They are cracktacular and RDD (ridiculously damn delicious).

I came here around 5PM on a Sunday and didn't have to wait, but it was really busy and got pretty crowded pretty fast.

One of the many things I miss about Shanghai is the ubiquitous (non-shady) massage parlor.  The Pig and I were wandering around Flushing and came across a sign for Sunlight Massage.  In we wandered and voila, we found ourselves transported into China!

I got a one-hour full body massage for $30, and Porko got a one-hour foot massage for $25.  My favorite place in Manhattan Chinatown gives a 1/2 hour shoulder and upper body massage WITH a foot massage, but alas, no such option here.

My masseuse was a strong-looking woman who really got the knots out.  I was a little confused since most Chinese massage places I've been do massage you over your clothes, or give you funny pajamas to change into, but she asked me to take it all off (except undies).  The place was admittedly not the cleanest, but seemed good enough.  I asked her to concentrate on my shoulders, and she did a fantastic job.  Ahhh!!!

Porko enjoyed his foot massage and we both agreed that we would return.  Note that there is a minimum $10 tip required.  Some people may balk at this, but I think it's reasonable.  It also may imply that the masseuse get NONE of the fee, and work only off tips.  C'mon now, even WITH the extra $10, this is probably half as much as you'd pay elsewhere.

3.5, rounded to 4 because of how freaking friendly these people are.

Thanks to midtownlunch, I've found myself grabbing lunch here on more than one occasion.  The winners are the egg sandwiches (unsurprisingly), and Mexican grilled cheese (YUM).  The losers are the tacos.  The shell is soggy and dry at the same time, and the meat tastes dry and low-quality.  It was bad enough to keep me away from this place for a few weeks.  It is hard to spend more than $7.50 here.

They have never been that busy when I stop by, but you can call your order in ahead of time.  They're very friendly, and on nice days, there is some outdoor seating in nearby office pavilions.

Check the twitter for specials: http://twitter.com/ETR...

The birdfriends and I had a fantastic time here at Fat Radish.  Despite some confusion (one hostess offered to seat us without a full party, another refused to), and a request for us to leave the table by a certain time (which was not enforced), the food was fantastic and I would not hesitate to visit again.

For appetizers, we shared the scotch egg, peekytoe crab gratin, and celery pot pie.  All were fantastic, with the scotch egg and gratin being more so.  I had the burger (quite delicious, but not quite orgasmic) and the birdfriends all had the duck, which I got a heavenly taste of.  I was looking forward to the duck-fat fries, but I was disappointed in the ginormous potato wedges with no such duck flavor.  We were too full for dessert.

Fat Radish, despite your lovely ambiance and ridiculously attractive crowd, your food is delicious and I will return!

Rating: 2.5, rounded to 2.

After reading rave reviews from mostly non-Asian food critics, and combing through some Yelp reviews, I knew exactly what Hung Ry would be: overpriced, overhyped, but probably somewhat delicious.  Still, I was drawn here on a cold winter night before my intramural indoor soccer match.

My friend got here right at the brink of ridiculous waiting times, around 6:45.  She and I got seated around 7:10ish, whereas people who came after us were quoted 1-2 hour waits (!!!).  They do take reservations, but were fully booked when she called earlier in the afternoon.

We decided to share the fried squid appetizer, and I really enjoyed this.  It's definitely not your standard calamari, with pumpkin seeds and a mildly spicy/sweet pepper.  Nicely crisp and QQ with a tasty sauce.  Bravo!  I ordered the duck noodles and my friend the pork belly noodles.  It's a restaurant that seats around 40ish and there is ONE dude making your noodles.  Yes, one.  So be prepared to wait.  There also appeared to be ONE waiter.  Come on Hung Ry, one noodle maker I can understand, but one waiter?  Appalling.  It turned out that our noodle order got lost somehow, which we realized when the table next to us (who sat down a good 1/2 hour after us and had ordered an app) got their noodles.  Even so, after our appetizer had been cleared, we were approached by our waiter not once, but TWICE, asking how our noodles were.  Like rubbing salt on a wound...

At this point, we were genuinely worried about digesting before our soccer game.  The waiter and manager graciously offered to comp sake and/or dessert, but we said we were in a hurry.  After finally getting our noodles, we dug in.  The noodles themselves were well-made (I got the thin, which did disappointingly have a large clumpy knot), and I liked the duck, but the broth was far too salty, with very little flavor, and the squash added no value whatsoever.  I liked my friend's more flavorful and less salty pork belly broth a bit more.  I can't put my finger on it, but there was something harmonious missing from the soup ingredients.

After slurping down the noodles I asked the busboy for  our check, which we did not receive for another 20 minutes, when we were finally able to flag down the manager.  He had comped the squid, which was nice, and would have offered dessert but he knew "we were in a hurry."  Umm...  If he knew this, why did he ignore us for 20 minutes?

We managed to roll into our soccer game, too full to play for the first half.

In summary:

Squid is excellent.
Restaurant REALLY needs to review their operations and hire more staff.
MUCH better value, and what I believe to be better food in Chinatown at Super Taste, Sheng Wang, or Lanzhou Hand-Pulled Noodles.

Hidechan, you showed promise at first, but now you SUCK.  Almost as much as the nosy couple we sat next to who thought that your food was amazing.

Your noodles are limp, your broth is overly-fatty and flavorless (didn't know it was possible to be both), and though your pork is pretty decent, it's not enough to make up for lackluster service and  your wannabe-cool-pork buns.

Stay FAR away from this place.