One Asian restaurant went away quietly this week and another announced its closure with an angry note.
Pitaya, a Japanese restaurant on 105th street between Amsterdam and Broadway, has apparently closed its doors, a tipster tells us. Workers were cleaning out the restaurant earlier this week. No one answered the phone at the restaurant on Tuesday. Pitaya had just opened last spring and had gotten strong Yelp reviews, with an average rating of four stars out of five. One reviewer noted late last year that the food was good, but the word wasn’t getting around:
“I have never written a yelp review before and have generally been content free riding off of the wonderful service of others. I felt compelled to buck this trend for once because Pitaya has not been the most crowded at any of times I have gone; they deserve significantly more exposure given the quality of their joint. It would be a shame for the neighborhood to lose this place. Go give it a try!”
Columbia Cottage, a Chinese restaurant beloved by Columbia students on 111th and Amsterdam, is closing on Feb. 26 because of a rent increase. The restaurant, which had been around for 22 years, posted a note on the door criticizing the landlord for failing to negotiate in good faith and putting the space on the market at twice the rent. The Columbia Lion has photos of the note. The owners also run The Cottage on 77th and Amsterdam. They’re looking for as new space for Columbia Cottage. As reader Diane wrote to us: “It wasn’t the greatest Chinese food, but about all we have in the neighborhood!”
Columbia Cottage took us former regulars completely for granted. There were enough authentic dishes hidden in their oddly bad everyday dishes to make it worth it, despite frequent new customer complaints about terrible food based on lame sauce and a huge pile of chopped celery, except for their odd attempts to seat me in the near back behind a blocky column, instead of in the various empty tables facing the windows. Once I insisted on a table at least facing the open space instead of that weird corner table I never once accepted, and this aggressive male waiter kept banging into my chair as he passed. After warning him after the second time, I announced to the hostess behind the counter that I was not coming back again, after he did it yet again. That’s a war on regular customers, so good riddance. It was only popular with students due to free Franzia white wine, including refills. It was the sort of place that would earn a bachelor of any age demerit points unless he knew the menu really well and then, well, no brownie points unless he played it up as an adventure into the world of obnoxious Ivy League basket case gossipers about nothing in particular. Their constant insecurity complexes grate upon the adult soul. Pearls on 99th/Amst is just fine, including free wine.
Columbia Cottage was disgusting…its amazing they lasted as long as they did.
The Cottage on 77th and Amsterdam has been going down hill for some time now. It used to be very good. Now it is less than ordinary.