I really like this new carving knife set that Cangshan Cutlery sent me to test out. Here’s a quick unboxing video:
I used it today to slice up a small porterhouse. The set was clearly overpowered for this job, so next week I’ll cut up something bigger.
I really love the knife set. As I mentioned in the video, it’s sharp and ready to rock, right out of the box. It sports a sleek, beautiful design, and it’s well made. It feels natural in your hands with the correct weight balance as well. Can’t wait to use it again.
My wife and I went to the Rainbow Room/Bar Sixty Five as guests of our friend who was hosting a special Macallan scotch cocktail pairing dinner.
The meal started with this “Breakfast for Dinner” cocktail that had some bubbles, blueberry and, of course, Macallan scotch. The garnish was actually blueberries and pancakes. Kinda cool.
This was paired with the two appetizers that my wife and I shared, scallops and peekytoe crab toast.
Next up was this vanilla, ginger beer and scotch cocktail that was garnished with a fresh sprig of rosemary. This tasted like cream soda.
Naturally, this paired nicely with the burger and steak entrees.
The hanger was great. 9/10. Super tender and flavorful despite being grass finished.
The burger was a monster. It was unwieldy to eat as a whole, so I pretty much ate each component separately.
To start off the dessert items, we had this really special drink called The Sixth Borough:
This delicious smoked cocktail is made with rare cask Macallan, 50-60 year old amaro and bitters, charcoal and rosemary. It’s stir-chilled with an ice sphere and then dropped into an ornate gold filigree glass from a chandelier platform that’s a replica of the iconic Rainbow Room. What a special treat!
That paired nicely with the Baked Alaska that I had. My wife had the cheesecake with apple sorbet. I obviously had a taste, and it was delicious as well.
RAINBOW ROOM / BAR SIXTY FIVE
30 Rockefeller Plaza
65th Floor
New York, NY 10112
My wife and I came here for our 10th wedding anniversary.
We did the six course chef’s tasting menu. But first we started with some nice cocktails.
We did the groundskeeper and the terracotta navy. Here’s what’s in them:
The first thing to come out was this interesting tartlet amuse that had some sort of cheese and mushrooms inside a tiny pie crust.
The bread service consisted of a nice rosemary focaccia and small buns of pretzel bread.
The first of the six courses was their egg on egg on egg. Custard, yolk and caviar with a toasted brioche stick. Really delicious and easily a top dish for the year.
Next was this snapper crudo/tartare preparation.
Another top dish for the year goes to this foie gras tart with strawberries. Both white/green strawberries (tart) and red (sweet). A perfect dish in every way, with some meringue and tart strawberry salsa on top. Really nicely balanced between savory and sweet.
Next up was the first of the main proteins; the sea bass with mushroom in minestrone broth. Really light and flavorful, and it came with a pasta made from noodle-ized celtuse root.
This five-spiced, dry-aged Long Island duck was the winner for the mains though. Beautifully tender with lots of flavorful punch from the Thai basil puree and leaves.
Along with our complimentary anniversary cupcake (pictured above), they brought us a dessert amuse of mango fruit leather and ice cream, made to look like dim sum.
And finally, our dessert was this nice pistachio cake with lemon ice cream, white chocolate, balsamic reduction and some crumble.
We really enjoyed this meal. It was hefty in price, but we truly loved every dish. Also this is a no-tipping restaurant. Here’s the William:
I finally got around to trying the Japanese import ramen shop Ichiran. This place allows you to completely customize your bowl, where you choose the strength of the broth, the firmness of the noodle, and all of the toppings. Here’s how I ordered:
The ramen was awesome.
Deliciously rich, velvety pork broth. Perfectly cooked, firm noodles. Fork tender slices of pork loin and chashu.
The matcha pudding is really nice too, and I usually don’t like matcha very much.
So glad that this shop opened up so close to home on 49th.
In my quest for all things parm, I came across Isle of Capri. With prices under $30 for these entrees, I just had to grab both the veal and the chicken parm.
At $27.25 this might be one of the best high end chicken parm deals you can find. I’ve had better at higher price points elsewhere, but this is very good for the money.
The same goes for the veal:
I was kinda hoping for a nice beautiful bone-in chop, but again just $28? I can’t complain.
I’d like to come back and try some pasta dishes soon. Everything looks good.
Who makes your favorite prime rib? In NYC, lots of steak joints offer them, but sometimes only on specific days of the week. Keeping track of them all can be a chore, so I’ve published this handy prime rib weekly scheduler for you to use as a guide.
There are some ambitious places that offer prime rib on the menu every day that they’re open – just make sure you check their business hours, as some joints may be closed on Sundays or Mondays, or they only offer the prime rib for dinner as opposed to lunch, etc. Here are some of the acclaimed ones:
Just a heads up: I’m probably missing some here that always offer prime rib. But the point of this post is really to organize the days of the week as I’ve done for you down below.
In addition to those that have an always-on-the-menu prime rib, there are places like Holy Ground which simply need a four hour heads up for you to reserve one, any day of the week that they’re open. I would also be remiss not to mention the seared and roasted spinalis dorsi pinwheel from Le Rivage at this point. You’ll need to call ahead for that at least two days in advance though, but the plus side is that you can customize how big you want it for how many people you need to feed. Talk to Chef Paul DeNamiel for that.
Monday: Since Mondays are typically the slow day for many NYC restaurants, I did not have much luck finding any joints that dedicate this as their prime rib day. In that case, I refer you to the above joints that always have prime rib available on the menu, or the ones that just need an advance heads up before you go in.
Tuesday: Peter Luger offers prime rib from Tuesday through Thursday. I haven’t had it yet, but I promise I’ll get to it ASAP and update the review.
Wednesday: Tuscany Steakhouse just started offering prime rib on Wednesdays. There are only seven to eight orders available at the moment, so you’ll want to get there early. I’m told that they may soon offer prime rib on Fridays as well. Can’t get there? Then you can also hit Porterhouse Bar & Grill, Burger & Barrel, or Peter Luger.
Thursday: Porter House Bar & Grill offers prime rib on both Wednesdays and Thursdays, as well as a special extra dry-aged prime rib that’s available by calling ahead and setting up a special dinner. You may need a few days advance notice on that one. You can also hit Peter Luger on Thursdays as well.
Friday: Del Frisco’s Grille in Rockefeller Center has a nice bone-in prime rib that’s available on both Fridays and Saturdays.
Saturday: Burger & Barrel offers a very reasonably priced all-inclusive prime rib dinner on both Wednesday and Saturday. You get salads, apps, sides and dessert with it. If memory serves me correctly, you may be able to order this one in advance for a party of four or more people on any day, so long as they have sufficient notice and a deposit. That’s how I did it the three times I went, but they may have switched over to purely Wednesdays and Saturdays at this point. Call and check. You could also hit Del Frisco’s Grille on a Saturday.
Sunday: Beatrice Inn used to have a nice Sunday rib roast with all the expected twigs and berries that typically accompany Angie Mar’s beef cuts. However it seems now that she closes the restaurant on Sundays. But wait – here’s a good one for you: Boston Market just started serving rotisserie prime rib from Wednesday through Saturday after 5pm, and on Sundays after 12pm (while supplies last and at participating locations). Call me crazy, but at $16.99 I kinda liked this. I found it to be better than many expensive prime ribs at the big steak joints, several of which just never get this dish correct.
If that doesn’t float your boat, or if it’s too low brow for your standards, then I refer you back up to the top of this article for the always-on-the-menu options.
I hope this helps you bastards out a little bit. Enjoy the prime rib!
The Ribbon is a neighborhood bar and restaurant that serves up an impressive list of chops and roasts. The place is very popular with families, and you’ll see a ton of parents with their kids in there on weekends during the day. In fact I think my table was the only one in the back of the restaurant that didn’t have a child at it (aside from my immature ass, of course).
My wife and I started with cocktails. I enjoyed this Ol’ Thyme Gin, which had pear, thyme infused gin, amaro and lemon.
The Mr. Pimm was light and refreshing, pairing gin with cucumber, lemon, mint syrup and elderflower.
We started the steamed clams and a trio of pate, all of which were excellent. I was just hoping for a little heat with the clams since I saw “peppers” in the ingredient list. Probably just minced bells. The chorizo in there was nice though.
For our mains, we had the two prime ribs on the menu; pork and beef.
The pork was a little bit dry, but the apricot jam was a great way to get the juices flowing.
The 16oz king cut prime rib was great.
Nicely roasted to medium rare. I’m sick of ordering this dish and having it come to me raw and difficult to chew. They do it correctly here. It’s served with a nice jus and a light horseradish cream sauce. At $61 this may seem steep, but there’s no waste on it. Even the jiggly fat bits are edible. 8/10.
On the side we had some sauteed broccolini, which was a nice way to cut the fat.
And for dessert we shared the chocolate chip bread pudding (it comes with a scoop of vanilla ice cream). This had a nice brulee crunch to it on the edges, which made for a good mix of textures.
I definitely recommend this place, and I’ll be going back there to try more shit for sure. Here’s the William, FYI:
This is NOT a belated April Fools joke. I actually went to Boston Market to try their “21 days aged” rotisserie prime rib. The anticipation was building ever since I saw an ad for it in my neighborhood.
I live sorta close to one.
At $16.99 with two sides and cornbread, how bad can it be? The answer: not fucking bad at all! First of all, in a weird way, it was kinda beautiful. I ordered it just like what I saw in the picture, with string beans and mashed potatoes.
I was expecting something revolting, but what I got was really nicely crusted on the edges, with great peppery and savory flavors. The meat itself was good quality, and cooked pretty nicely for a chain fast food joint. I would definitely get this again, especially since it’s a third of the price of many expensive steak joints that just don’t get this dish right. So many places serve a chewy, undercooked, inferior product (despite using superior meats). 7/10. Well played, Boston Market. You have my respect, and my repeat business. Mainly because you gave me a BOGO coupon with my receipt, making a great deal even better.
Somehow, though, I suspect that this might be a hit and miss kind of item across all other locations. I guess we’ll see. Here’s where I got it:
This spot just took over the Char House location, which was an asian steakhouse (there’s another location by Washington Square Park too). The concept here is customizable bowls of pho with tableside boilers. You can even choose how rich your broth is, like some ramen joints offer; 8hrs, 16hrs, etc. My wife and I skipped that gimmicky stuff and went with some regular menu items instead.
For starters, we tried (1) the chili and tamarind sauce chicken wings; (2) the spicy chili oil pork knuckles; and (3) the spring rolls.
All three were great. The spring rolls were pretty standard in style and format (wrap them in lettuce with herbs and veg, then dip into fish sauce). The wings were delicious and crisp, with fried shallots on top. The pig knuckles were the stars of the starters though. Fork tender, jiggly, juicy, flavorful and spicy. I loved them. They reminded me of oxtail or braised chuck stew meat.
I had the surf and turf pho, which is beef broth with a half lobster and a nice big short rib on the bone. This is hefty at $25 for a bowl, but it really satisfies. Great broth and both the lobster and the short rib were perfect.
My wife had the bun bo hue, a spicy lemongrass pork and beef soup. It was delicious, and contained a ton of different meats within.
All in, this was $85 including tax and tip. High, but very tasty.
