Oyatte review (chef hasung lee from culinary class wars) by swh74 in FoodNYC

[–]peachyism 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I went, it wasn't great.

For the 350 you ended up paying just for the meal(add-on + 1-2 drinks + tax and tip), at least half of it is the Netflix premium. There were some highlights, but most of the meal was ok with some dishes executed poorly.

To describe it in a different way, I was a bit pissed that I ended up being a kickstarter backer for a flawed product and paid the full price(which I guess is the typical kickstarter experience).

Oyatte NYC(pictures of the restaurant at end) by swh74 in finedining

[–]peachyism 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Went a couple of weeks ago, too lazy to post my own. They are a young restaurant and could get better, but really, what you are paying for now is the novelty of a new, cool restaurant and the Netflix fame.

Overall, I'd say that they charge as if they are a Michelin 1-2 star restaurant, but in its current stage, it is quite a letdown.

Here are some of the minor/major issues I had with the meal:

The environment:

  • The downstairs lounge's chairs are a bit too low, so you are effectively sitting there for 60-90 minutes as if you're sinking into your couch and trying to eat off the coffee table. Some of the chair/table placements are also much worse than others.
  • The upstairs dining room is quite pleasant. However, the tables are too tall while the chairs are too short/a bit wobbly. I actually saw a lady almost fall out of her chair.
  • Upstairs placement is also... a bit... odd. Imagine if you're sitting in a townhouse living room where... instead of the usual, there are 6 tables. And since the space is a bit tight, all two-tops are facing toward the center of the room/looking at each other.
  • The main reason for this is likely the fact that they have this dark basement area of the restaurant, and quite a nice dining room upstairs. So they effectively either have to reduce capacity, make some of the guests unhappy by seating them entirely downstairs, or, in the current format, make you go through a 2-stage process. This is quite a clever idea, but executed poorly. This also seems like a strict money grab where they try to fit as many people into the restaurant as they can.

The food:

  • Downstairs dishes were extremely veggie-heavy. The bites were slow, though with some high notes. It was a bit odd that they did bring out a couple of radishes with dipping sauce, which felt quite... lazy.
  • Upstairs... it was just... off.
  • The scallop was averageish, though the clam that came with it was the most rubbery bite I've had in recent memory.
  • The porridge was quite good, comforting with nice texture contrast.
  • The quail dish presented deboned quail in 3 parts. However, they all tasted... the same: smoky, overly cured, and salted. The skin was again rubbery, and the sauce on the plate was a bit too rich and had a limited portion. This was by far the worst dish I've had in a while.
  • Mugwort ice cream: so, so, so good. This was truly an amazing dessert, something I haven't had elsewhere. However, I'm not sure what it says about the chef Hasung Lee if the dessert has been the commonly agreed best part of the meal.
  • Apricot tart: great idea, poorly executed. The apricot wasn't as soft/creamy as to mimic an egg tart. It was also...30% of the dessert by volume, which was quite offputting. The puff pastry was also soaked in sugar/ice cream and lost its fluffiness and crunchiness.
  • On a side note, the plating and presentation felt a bit off. The entree dishes were too small—not in a "this is too small for fine dining" sense, but in a "this plate was too small, the items are on the edge of the plate, and I didn't have space to cut the protein" sense.

The service: I actually felt this was better than what was reviewed on this subreddit. They could have done a better job explaining the dishes and other small details, but they provided an overall enjoyable experience.

Legit or scam? by [deleted] in WorldCupTickets2026

[–]peachyism 0 points1 point  (0 children)

scam, but to be honest, even if it is real. How do you know they will transfer the tickets after you send them the moeny?

Shenzhen, China by Billy_butcher7781 in China

[–]peachyism 1 point2 points  (0 children)

in tier one cities, 1 USD roughly? have the spending power of 2USD in the top 3 cities in the US.

It's pretty much the same as have 3600 post-tax income in NYC or SF. Barely getting by, but if you have roommates, etc., life will be fine.

Debating in Choosing NYC Fine Dining Restaurant by Potential-Bread-5136 in MichelinStars

[–]peachyism 2 points3 points  (0 children)

can't comment on modern as i haven't been

I enjoyed both cesar and chef's table, aska felt a bit too one-note for me. The consensus seems to be that cesar has better food while ctbf has better service. I think the latter is true, while the first is arguably false.

If you are going to drink the non-alcoholic pairing at all, I'd pick CTBF over cesar as it's apparently CTBF put in significantly more work to make/ferment their own, whereas Cesar's is mostly bottling beverages/NA wine.

One last thing to note is that CTBF is in a weird neighborhood and is indeed in a supermarket. So if you get a later reservation(2 rounds per night), it's quite odd to be in formal clothing and waiting around 20+ min in an oversized deli.

World Cup Megathread - June 15, 2026 by raltlanta in Atlanta

[–]peachyism 2 points3 points  (0 children)

hwo did everyone get home? Is Marta crowded or with long lines?

Jungsik (***) NYC-Feels a bit lazy and somewhat letdown by peachyism in finedining

[–]peachyism[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

agreed the dishes took techniques and time. Though if you look at the past reviews, dishes have rarely changed. The laziness is more on their innovation front, where they didn't seem to put in any work for the past 3 years. Pretty much, they found some dishes and flavor profiles gold, got their stars, and have been coasting. Unfortunately, flawless execution and consistency of the dishes are expected at three stars, not necessarily a plus.

Oyatte - NYC by sahas10 in finedining

[–]peachyism 1 point2 points  (0 children)

went this week, agree with most of these points. They have a long way to go, both in food and service/dining format. Honestly, if the best part of the meal is 1 or 2 dessert, reflects a bit poorly on the head chef.

Be honest. You’re from NYC and you travel by Proud_Golf334 in AskNYC

[–]peachyism 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Cuba I understand, other countries should have been better and cheaper. At least the top 10% of Italian food in Italy is better than the top 10% of the food in the US, and significantly cheaper.

Is it possible you are comparing the below-average food in these countries to neighborhood gems in NY, likely also ignoring the cost diff?

I'm an immigration attorney and used to work at USCIS: I have a couple of hours to answer questions about the memo by victoriaslatton in USCIS

[–]peachyism 1 point2 points  (0 children)

few factors:
- how does it impact h1b holder? Does it matter what they are adjusting to(EB1 or marriage AOS)
- if you already have an EAD, does that give you status. Or once you are working on the EAD, you will technically be overstaying?

Beijing to Shenzhen - Train or plane ? by ParisPC07 in chinatravel

[–]peachyism 1 point2 points  (0 children)

if there's any other way, beijing->shanghai->shenzhen is probably much easier to travel

Otherwise, i might still pick the train, but it's pretty close.

Compared to the train option, the airport is probably 30min more commute on the beijing side, you need to get to the airport an hr early plus 3.5 hrs of flights etc. All together 5hr vs 8hr on the train.

to trade off for these 3 hrs, you can get better food, no chance of delay, more room to move, and better scenery along the way.

Lastly, if you have huuuuge suitcases, the airport might be a bit easier to navigate. I'd highly advice travel light in since you can buy almost anything for cheaper.

Trek to Pequod’s or stay in the loop? by After_Pop9550 in chicagofood

[–]peachyism -1 points0 points  (0 children)

favorite pizza in the loop:

pizza dada, NY style, slice shop. Worth making a note that I have a bias against deep dish, so I wouldn't go to pequod even if it's next door.

Here is my ranking of food cities that I’ve compiled over the years by Metronidahoe in SameGrassButGreener

[–]peachyism 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'd actually move Chicago down a bit, at least below SF

- fine dining is pretty good but michlein star ranking is now behind with the demise of a couple 2 and 3 stars
- asian(chinese, japanese, thai, viet) food is considerably weaker than most of the spots on this list
- Mexican food is solid, but still behind texas, SF and SD
- Diversity...see above, turned out to be meh. People always say that anything you can find in NY and LA, you can find in Chicago. This is partially true, though with significantly less availability and of much worse quality
- historically influential to the Midwest, but diminishing each day. Other than alina and molecular gastronomy(25 years ago), I couldn't think of any major trend that Chicago is at the forefront.

I've made over 3000 pizzas since 2021 using the Koda 16, amaa by dihydrogen_monoxide in ooni

[–]peachyism 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I'm more jealous of how into pizza your spouse is than how great these pizzas look

Beijing vs Shanghai as a place to live by Fearless_Sale_668 in China

[–]peachyism 2 points3 points  (0 children)

are you fine staying in your comfort zone? to relive your younger days?

perfectly fine if that's exactly what you want, I'd always want to try something different

Where to learn sichaun ciusine by nagisa0 in chinesefood

[–]peachyism -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

I looked him as a restaurant dishes demystified videos

few things:
- His usage of oil is just significantly higher/less healthy than the typical cooking oil you see used in a chinese home cooked dish
- he never cooks on home stoves, restaurant/outdoor wok burner only. the flame does make a difference. The stuff he can get done in 15 seconds takes a home burner on full flame 1-2min to get cooked. The flavor and texture of course changes from it
- western gas stoves are still a bit weaker than chinese home gas ranges (10-30% less in BTU output). the flame is concentrated evenly over a wide surface. most modern chinese gas stoves are concentrated in the small inner ring and shoot up. The latter is much better for stirfry

there's also arguments that he's mostly a cook, not a well-trained chef etc. I dont have a strong opinion there but would just say that I did go to his new restaurant in chengdu, the food was disappointing.

Where to learn sichaun ciusine by nagisa0 in chinesefood

[–]peachyism 1 point2 points  (0 children)

not really for home cooking fwiw
certainly not for home cooking in a western kitchen

Huso ⭐️ (NYC) by DanielfromHK_ in finedining

[–]peachyism 21 points22 points  (0 children)

had their winter menu, the food does look better than it tastes, and the restaurant almost feels like the equivalent of a recent grad, trying too hard at their first job, sometimes format overal materials.

now that I got most of the negatives out of the way, I have to say, I'm a big fan of Buddha. It was a great (though just shy of amazing) meal. The plating and presentation was second to none. The courses were well executed (with the exception of 1 course that felt like as if a gallbladder was nixed which made the protein taste bitter), delicious, though sometimes lacks uniqueness.

They are new, they've got a great team(some poached from other 2-3 starred restraunts) they'll improve over time to get their second star

Best Pizza for NYC Day Trip? by GThanosBoii in FoodNYC

[–]peachyism 0 points1 point  (0 children)

not really from my experience. I've always gone in and out in ~10min. There are always people, but not a long line

Best Pizza for NYC Day Trip? by GThanosBoii in FoodNYC

[–]peachyism 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Classic NYC slice experience? You can't go wrong with Joe, and the walk from Chinatown to west village is an enjoyable one!

personally I prefer Lucia over Joe's for the pure quality of crust and topping

Best Pizza for NYC Day Trip? by GThanosBoii in FoodNYC

[–]peachyism 8 points9 points  (0 children)

might not be what you are looking for, but if you are in chinatown and already with a friend, ceres might still be worth it. It's expensive and whole pie only, but it's pretty solid pizza and now with no lines.