I’ve been thinking about mine since I’ve been admiring Gary Shteyngart’s on Twitter — from Thai East Village spot Soothr (his second fave is in there too). As a way of getting to know you, we’d love for you to tell us where you’re based, and a favorite dish you’ve had in a restaurant this year. No post is too short or too long: If you feel like writing a love letter to your restaurant of choice, now is the time. Thanks for reading Broken Palate this year and for your participation. — Melissa
I'm late to the conversation but my favorite dish of the year was really simple...Bacalaitos (cod fritters) at Jose Enrique in San Juan, PR. We like to visit the island as often as we can - which was tough to do last year - and our favorite spot is Jose Enrique's restaurant. Jose "moved on up" from the little pink house in La Placita to the strip in Condado, but the food is still the same. And although there a number of great local dishes on the menu (try the Pez Schnitzel - it's pounded and breaded swordfish) I can't ever get enough of the Bacalaitos!
I live in New Orleans and so I have to pick a local favorite as well! 2021 was a lot of take out so my favorite dish was a toss up between the margherita pizza at Pizza Domenica (I ate a lot of pizza in 2021!), lobster dumplings from GW Fins (whenever I could muster the energy to venture into the french quarter to pick up takeout : ), and the Louisiana blue crab hummus from Saba!
Big shout out to all the restaurants in the world and all they've had to endure through the pandemic! Having a great meal - and wine - is one of my favorite things to do. Look forward to doing more indoor dining soon.
I'm from NYC and I live in Miami but my favorite restaurant is Purple Pig in Chicago. Before COVID I would fly in just for dinner a few times a year. I finally returned after nearly two years and it was as good as I remembered. My favorite dish is the cauliflower with cornichons. Those little French pickles -- sliced and tossed into the roast cauliflower -- add zest to the dish. It's an undeniable favorite of mine.
I had to be in Phoenix earlier in the year and always stop at Pizzeria Bianco and while I love almost everything that Chef Chris Bianco has on that menu the one thing I just crave is the Wiseguy pizza with house smoked mozz, onions and fennel sausage. If you find yourself in AZ this is a must stop kind of place.
Living on the NH/ME state line, local restaurants here are "MEH!". Nothing to crow about. I love Japanese cooking. trouble is that so called local "Japanese" restaurants, there are no Japanese running any of those restaurants. Most of the foods have a Chinese slant on it. It looks like one giant Chinese corporation running all those Japanese restaurants with different names.
i live in new york and love soothr as well....HOWEVER, my favourite of the year goes to Jing restaurant in Aspen for the scallop sashimi, each piece sliced perfectly and uniformly set around the plate like white rose petals, topped with a glistening dew drop of caviar.
And thank you for this happy blog full of positive comments and wonderful recommendations. A site for all of our sore eyes --and hungry souls! 🙏
The only place we went all of last year was the Thai restaurant near where we live. I like their panang curry, pad pak, and Pad Thai. No menu item is bad there.
July 2021. Boudro's on San Antonio's riverwalk. Tableside guacamole and blue crab seacakes washed down with a prickly pear margarita. In my 50+ years on this green-blue earth, I can count on both hands how many meals I recall that make my mouth water and this is one of them.
My favorite dessert was the Door County cherry tart we had at Aria at the St.Kate’s hotel. It was delicious- and since I’m from Wisconsin and consider myself an expert on all things cherry😆 I absolutely recommend the Aria, the food was amazing also, their prime rib was melt in your mouth delicious! And the chef makes his childhood chicken and dumpling soup- so good, just like grandma made! Highly recommend this place!
My other favorite is the yellow pepper carpaccio I had at Dirt Candy in August. It looks like just some color on a plate, barely even a shape, and tastes as intense as a mezcal.
I'm based in Jersey City and loved Yu Kitchen at 102/Broadway so much that we would drive there for pickup. It primarily served students and tragically closed about a month ago. One chef was from Sichuan and the other from Xi'an. They made this hauntingly delicious Xi'an beef dumpling soup that hit the sour and spicy notes that I could not get enough of, as well as a glorious purple-spicy fern noodles that I'm determined to find again. Sichuan Mountain House is also great (the lamb spine dish is amazing) but they just nixed their outdoor dining in the East Village.
Lot of fabulous choices here in New Orleans. My hands down favorite is the gumbo at Gris-Gris followed by the oyster BLT
I'm late to the conversation but my favorite dish of the year was really simple...Bacalaitos (cod fritters) at Jose Enrique in San Juan, PR. We like to visit the island as often as we can - which was tough to do last year - and our favorite spot is Jose Enrique's restaurant. Jose "moved on up" from the little pink house in La Placita to the strip in Condado, but the food is still the same. And although there a number of great local dishes on the menu (try the Pez Schnitzel - it's pounded and breaded swordfish) I can't ever get enough of the Bacalaitos!
I live in New Orleans and so I have to pick a local favorite as well! 2021 was a lot of take out so my favorite dish was a toss up between the margherita pizza at Pizza Domenica (I ate a lot of pizza in 2021!), lobster dumplings from GW Fins (whenever I could muster the energy to venture into the french quarter to pick up takeout : ), and the Louisiana blue crab hummus from Saba!
Big shout out to all the restaurants in the world and all they've had to endure through the pandemic! Having a great meal - and wine - is one of my favorite things to do. Look forward to doing more indoor dining soon.
Lobster Pad Thai at Saffron Restaurant at Banyan Tree Resort, Mayakoba, Mexico
Pad Thai @thai kitchen east lansing mi
Favorite dish of 2021 was the Thai version of BBQ shrimp with roti from Krui Thai
I'm from NYC and I live in Miami but my favorite restaurant is Purple Pig in Chicago. Before COVID I would fly in just for dinner a few times a year. I finally returned after nearly two years and it was as good as I remembered. My favorite dish is the cauliflower with cornichons. Those little French pickles -- sliced and tossed into the roast cauliflower -- add zest to the dish. It's an undeniable favorite of mine.
I had to be in Phoenix earlier in the year and always stop at Pizzeria Bianco and while I love almost everything that Chef Chris Bianco has on that menu the one thing I just crave is the Wiseguy pizza with house smoked mozz, onions and fennel sausage. If you find yourself in AZ this is a must stop kind of place.
Mafaldine at Pammy's in Cambridge, MA. Bon appetit!
Living on the NH/ME state line, local restaurants here are "MEH!". Nothing to crow about. I love Japanese cooking. trouble is that so called local "Japanese" restaurants, there are no Japanese running any of those restaurants. Most of the foods have a Chinese slant on it. It looks like one giant Chinese corporation running all those Japanese restaurants with different names.
i live in new york and love soothr as well....HOWEVER, my favourite of the year goes to Jing restaurant in Aspen for the scallop sashimi, each piece sliced perfectly and uniformly set around the plate like white rose petals, topped with a glistening dew drop of caviar.
And thank you for this happy blog full of positive comments and wonderful recommendations. A site for all of our sore eyes --and hungry souls! 🙏
The only place we went all of last year was the Thai restaurant near where we live. I like their panang curry, pad pak, and Pad Thai. No menu item is bad there.
July 2021. Boudro's on San Antonio's riverwalk. Tableside guacamole and blue crab seacakes washed down with a prickly pear margarita. In my 50+ years on this green-blue earth, I can count on both hands how many meals I recall that make my mouth water and this is one of them.
My favorite dessert was the Door County cherry tart we had at Aria at the St.Kate’s hotel. It was delicious- and since I’m from Wisconsin and consider myself an expert on all things cherry😆 I absolutely recommend the Aria, the food was amazing also, their prime rib was melt in your mouth delicious! And the chef makes his childhood chicken and dumpling soup- so good, just like grandma made! Highly recommend this place!
My other favorite is the yellow pepper carpaccio I had at Dirt Candy in August. It looks like just some color on a plate, barely even a shape, and tastes as intense as a mezcal.
Peking Duck at Joomak Banjum. I've had two versions: a pristine, precise, tender and crispy slice, and an obscene, overwhelming puffed duck-skin taco.
Anything French or Italian. Too many to list.
I'm based in Jersey City and loved Yu Kitchen at 102/Broadway so much that we would drive there for pickup. It primarily served students and tragically closed about a month ago. One chef was from Sichuan and the other from Xi'an. They made this hauntingly delicious Xi'an beef dumpling soup that hit the sour and spicy notes that I could not get enough of, as well as a glorious purple-spicy fern noodles that I'm determined to find again. Sichuan Mountain House is also great (the lamb spine dish is amazing) but they just nixed their outdoor dining in the East Village.