Dim Sum Garden in Chinatown has always been a favorite of ours, but it's hard to look past all the dumplings and find room in your stomach for anything else from the six page menu. On a whim we ordered the Pork with Sauce Noodle, learning later from Facebook and Twitter comments that it's apparently a favorite of many regulars. No wonder there's a picture of it on the menu. Handmade noodles, beef, scallions and not much else, it's a $6 dream. Swing into Dim Sum Garden for this, plus an order of soup dumplings, and you're golden.
One of the most delicious pastas we tasted this fall was the capelletti with sausage in a butternut and lemon sauce at new restaurant, Aldine from George and Jennifer Sabatino of Stateside fame. When Jennifer came over to our bar seats to ask how it was, I think I summed up my feelings well with, "you should really serve this in buckets" because that's how much of it I would eat. The tender housemade cheese-stuffed pockets and light but extremely flavorful sauce was really something special - almost didn't even need the sausage. It was a small portion at $16 though, so prepare for a more expensive night out in order to get your fill of food and drink. But don't skip this dish when your order.