LA vs. NY dining out

by Sarah J. Gim, Posted Apr 12th 2006 @ 8:56PM

You can't compare New York to LA, so says Kim Raver, actress on tv show 24.

A recent article follows Kim on a little dinner at downtown LA's R-23 for sushi, and her statement got me thinking about why NYC-ers hate the LA food scene, why the converse is true, and what the differences really are. Are certain things better here (I'm in LA) than there? What's so great about a specific food, i.e. pizza, in NY? Is one city really better than the other, or can't they both be beautiful in the differences?

I wouldn't bat an eye when saying that sushi is much better in LA in general. There is a wide variety of places that offer sushi, from holes in the wall to places like Urasawa. I would also say that in general, the there is a greater variety of types of fish.

On New York's side, I would give them the benefit of pizza, street foods like hot dogs, delis, and black and white cookies. Restaurants are also open later, and its much easier to enjoy restaurants as part of a long nightlife.

But other than that, what else? Bagels? Tofu?

Filed Under: Raves & Reviews, Chefs & Restaurants, Restaurants
Tags: america, dinner, east coast, LA, Los Angeles, lunch, New York, NY, NYC, restaurants, west coast

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Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)

4-13-2006 @3:44AM PFU said... I'm a NYer, but love LA. I don't hate the LA food scene -- I just think there are key differences between the two. LA clearly has better sushi (in general), though at the top, ultra-expensive end, NYC sushi is just as good if not better than LA. Mexican and Korean are also hands down better in LA.

I think NY has a greater diversity of ethnic foods -- from russian, german, afghani, ethiopian, swedish, etc. along with the more traditional French and "new" American which are generally done better in NYC. I think the diversity of food and concentration of top tier restaurants is what makes NYC frequently considered as one of the top 3 restaurant cities in the US. LA unfortunately, is not typically considered as a top 3 US restaurant city -- mayeb not even top 5. SF, Chicago, Las Vegas and NY are all generally considered better, with LA, New Orleans and Philadelphia battling for spots 5-7.

As a case in point, your sister site Luxist recently mentioned Restaurant magazine's listing of the 20 best restaurants in the world. Of the top 20 restaurants, only 5 were in the US. Of the 5 US restaurants, 3 are in NYC (Per Se, Jean Georges, and Daniel), and the other 2 are in the Bay Area (French Laundry, Chez Panisse).
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