After all these years in NYC, I finally made it over to Loreley Beer Garden for a bite and a drink.
The 7-sausage platter was amazing. I enjoyed both the tots and the fries as well.
There’s a great selection of beer (obviously), wine and cocktails, and the place gets pretty decked out for the holidays.
LORELEY BEER GARDEN
7 Rivington Street
New York, NY 10002
This new Vietnamese joint specializes in hot pot, but their regular menu items are pretty great too.
We tried the pork jowls, the baby clams, and the beef pho. All were awesome, and I think the pho here is my favorite of all time. Also huge props to the wagyu betel leaf wraps. I really loved those as well.
The hot pot we ordered was a mix of seafood and beef. I felt the broth was a bit too sweet, but over all it was very good.
MOC MAC
79 2nd Avenue
New York, NY 10003
I came here with two other guys from law school, so we were able to give the menu a real good attack! Check it out.
Flavor: 9
We had the dry aged strip, the dry aged rib eye, and the 10oz filet mignon. All were really great. Nicely cooked to medium rare, and good aged flavor on these prime cuts.
Choice of Cuts & Quality Available: 9
There’s a great selection of prime cuts here with multiple sizes and age statements.
Portion Size & Plating: 10
The portions here are big, and the plating is a step above the rest, with garnishes of cherry tomato, charred lemon and rosemary. One thing I wish they did was roast those tomatoes a little bit.
Price: 9
Beef prices are sky high right now, but Il Mulino Prime keeps the cost in check. I was really happy with the pricing on the menu here.
Bar: 8
The bar here is beautiful. Sean mixed a great martini. The cocktail menu looked nice, and the wine list is impressive.
Specials and Other Meats: 9
We tried the veal chop (parm style), which was listed on the specials menu. Despite not having a bone (really just for presentation purposes), this packed a ton of flavor and was a stunner in the looks department.
Apps, Sides & Desserts: 8
We tried the garlic sauteed spinach and the fries on the side. Both were good, but the fries stole the show here for me. We did not try any desserts (just coffee).
Seafood Selection: 7
There’s standard steakhouse seafood fare here. We didn’t try any so can’t really rate it, but I would definitely try the clams.
Service: 8
Service was good albeit a little slow. We sat at 5:30 and didn’t finish until 8:30. They also initially forgot to bring out or fire our Filet Mignon, and I had some water spilled on me at one point (really not a big deal). Otherwise the people were super nice and pleasant.
Table bread was a nice focaccia (cold), and there was also a nice plate of olives, cheese and tapenade.
Ambiance: 7
Despite being small, the place feels bright and airy due to the high ceilings. It’s a nice space and it felt more like a mom and pop joint than part of the larger group of Il Mulino restaurants that now span the country. I would definitely go back to try more – especially the pasta dishes.
IL MULINO PRIME
331 West Broadway
New York, NY 10013
My wife and I had been meaning to try this spot for a while. The day after Thanksgiving, we gave it a shot.
First, the complimentary egg drop soup was fantastic. I could eat a gallo.
The chicken sisig bites were more like cold chicken salad than the sisig I expected. But they were still good.
The butter shrimp were perfectly cooked and came in a delicious sauce that went well with everything, especially rice.
What better way to come down from Thanksgiving than with a 3lb cripsy pork shank?
This was an insane deal at $50.
We finished off with banana and jack fruit egg rolls and guanabana ice cream.
Delicious meal. I will definitely be back for some of the stew dishes, a proper sisig entree dish, and the lechon. Also worth noting – this place serves up some really unique and delicious cocktails.
BINONDO
50 East Broadway
New York, NY 10002
My foodie friends and I hit this place before the holidays for our annual “Friendsgiving.” My wife and I had ordered delivery from here before, and we liked everything we got. It was time to go in for a proper sit-down meal.
Here’s what we had:
The duck was by far the favorite of the night, with the dumplings coming in second. From prior delivery orders, I can also recommend the kung pao chicken.
YONG CHUAN
90 Clinton Street
New York, NY 10002
Bufon is a new meat and seafood focused joint in the lower east side. My wife and I tried five items from a menu that we really wanted to ravage. We definitely plan to go back to try more items.
Sunchoke
This was fantastic. Really nice, fresh and mildly starchy.
Halibut
The sauce on this was crack. It was some sort of buerre blanc with bottarga.
Pork Chop
Delicious. Served with butter beans and chopped up Chinese sausage. Super unique.
Picanha
Roasted to perfection. The fat was delicious as well. Scored and rendered to become a beef gelatin of sorts. Skip the vinegar based Creole salsa and get the au poivre for a more classic Sunday roast feel. 9/10.
Crispy Confit Potato
I didn’t expect a fancy hash brown, but it was really good.
No dessert was offered yet. They literally just opened. Interior decor still a work in progress, and the windows still needed to be cleaned!
BUFON
78 Rivington Street
New York NY 10002
My wife and I came here during the joint’s opening week. We ate at a high top near the bar so we could enjoy some of the awesome happy hour deals.
Flavor: 7
We had the porterhouse. There is a nice amount of dry aged flavor on this steak, but it just needed a bit more seasoning to really pop.
The steak was also a little overcooked, rendering some of the slices dry and mealy in texture. But nothing that a sauce couldn’t fix. I chalk this up to opening week jitters.
Choice of Cuts & Quality Available: 8
There are five different steaks on the menu, including some wagyu. All the bases are covered (filet, strip, rib eye, porterhouse), but perhaps something like a skirt or flat iron could round out the selections for their steak frites item (currently that is just another strip steak, likely boneless and smaller than their dry-aged offering). My suspicion is that everything here is choice, given the low pricing and the lack of “prime” statement on the menu (with the exception of the wagyu filet – ungraded Mishima Reserve, 8oz for $83).
Portion Size & Plating: 8
All of the portions here seemed generous for the price. We had a few happy hour items that were discounted, so that definitely helped in the whole “bang for your buck” department. Plating was very nicely executed in steel platters.
Price: 10
You get a lot for your money here. The prices feel like they’re dialed back to 10 years ago. Happy hour drinks were $9, which is excellent. And $1.50 oysters and other discounted plates made the appetizer round a steal.
Bar: 9
Gorgeous bar. A great place out hang out and people watch along the windows on the high tops. It can be a bit crammed along the side wall, but the bar is roomy and beautiful. Their Applewood Smoked Old Fashioned was a steal at $9 for happy hour.
Specials and Other Meats: 7
We had the lamb shank and kofta meatballs alongside our steak. Both could have used a bit more salt, but execution and flavor was on point for these.
Apps, Sides & Desserts: 8
We ordered some happy hour starters like oysters, truffle parm fries, and fried calamari. These were all excellent and at a great price for happy hour.
The steak came with za’atar spiced smashed fingerling potatoes (also comes with their steak frites). These were actually my favorite item of the night!
The broccolini was nice, but also needed some salt. In fact the only things that didn’t need salt were the fried items and the dessert
For dessert, we tried the pineapple cake, which sort of tasted like corn bread – both in flavor and texture. I enjoyed it but the cake dealer did not.
Seafood Selection: 7
There’s standard steakhouse seafood fare here on the appetizer menu, but the only offering on the entree menu is branzino. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, and maybe the menu will change seasonally. But the seafood we DID have was great.
Service: 10
Service was great here. Staff knew their menu well, and they were considerate enough to ask us if we wanted to sit in the bar area to take advantage of happy hour.
Ambiance: 10
The dining space here is gorgeous. There is an upstairs seating area, and a high ceiling downstairs area in back. They really did a great job of creating a big steakhouse feel in a small-ish neighborhood joint. I will definitely be back to try their burger, rib eye, strip steak and steak frites.
ESSEX RESTAURANT
124 Rivington Street
New York, NY 10002
My wife and I stopped in Tre for their weekend happy hour menu, which is a great deal and runs from 2-7pm.
We started with some cocktails, which were excellent. The espresso martini and aperol spritz were both well made.
We tried five items.
The fried calamari was dry and rubbery. Skip these.
The sautéed broccoli rabe was tasty, but at $13 it was too small of a portion size (this was from the regular menu, not the happy hour menu).
The fried artichokes were great. Nice crisp, good seasoning, tender.
I also liked the linguine al limone. For a discounted happy hour deal, this was a great buy. Lots of garlic though.
We also ordered the chicken milanese from the main menu. This was perfectly crisp, tender inside, pounded thin, and topped with a nice arugula and tomato salad.
Keep an eye out for the operating fee, which is a 4% charge added to your bill. Not sure why they don’t just raise prices instead. On the flip side, they also offer a cash discount.
Would definitely come back to try more stuff. Give this place a shot.
TRE
173 Ludlow Stree
New York, NY 10002
I stopped in this spot with some ebike friends before our Electric Wednesday weekly meet-up. I was blown away by the size and quality for the price. Tacos range from $4.50 to $5.00, but they’re packed with quality ingredients, and the blue corn tortilla sets them off as unique.
I ate six tacos; carnitas, al pastor, grilled pig’s ear, chorizo, tongue and tripe. All were excellent, but I think the carnitas was the best. The shredded pork was thrown back on the plancha to get crisp. So delicious. I can’t wait to go back and try more.
TACOS EL GUERO
48-11 43rd Ave.
Long Island City, NY 11104
I hit Seafire Grill with some buddies from high school. While this can technically fit into the steakhouse review format, I decided to keep it quick and easy, since the thrust of the menu here is seafood.
Speaking of seafood, we had a nice selection of raw east and west coast oysters to start, along with grilled calamari and Spanish octopus.
Of course I had steak for my main course. This was a nice 8/10. Rib eye, dry-aged on sight.
Nice seared tuna entree.
The sides were all good. We did creamed spinach, truffle mashed potatoes, and caulilini. For dessert, pecan pie and apple strudel.
They also mix a good martini at the bar.
SEAFIRE GRILL
158 E 48th St.
New York, NY 10017
