All posts by Johnny Prime

Burgers, Flash Deals, Other, Restaurant Reviews, West Village

La Frite

March 2, 2015 Johnny Prime 2 Comments

La Frite is a little french fry joint on Macdougal just above Bleecker. They have a great $8 special that gets you two sliders and an order of fries. Not too bad.

But my wife and I actually liked the veggie slider (the actual veggie one, not the black bean one) better than the beef slider! Go figure.

For the fries, you can cheese regular or thin cut, and you can also get them “signature” style, with bacon crisps on top, or truffle fries (sprinkled with parmesan cheese and fried with truffle oil involved in the process). We tried thin truffle fries, and regular classic cut fries. We liked the thin cut truffle fries better, though we didn’t try any of the special dipping sauces (just mayo and ketchup).

I don’t know that I’d go out of my way for these fries. There are better around the city, but I like the idea of a french fries only type of place.

LA FRITE
99 Macdougal St.
New York, NY 10014

Pizza, West Village

Slice & Co. Pizza

March 2, 2015 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

Strolled past this little dollar joint and gave their shit a try. It was pretty good. Great crispy crust, thin. Decent cheese and sauce. I think this place is solid but right around the corner is Percy’s, which I think is a little better.

Nice thing about tho splice: $2 draft beers!

SLICE & CO. PIZZA
95 MacDougal St
New York, NY 10012

Other, Pub Food, Restaurant Reviews, Tribeca

Smith & Mills

March 2, 2015 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

Smith & Mills is a tiny little joint in Tribeca that’s known for serving up great cocktails. They use herbs, fire, egg whites, spices, the whole nine. But what is less known is that they serve up some really great food as well. My wife and I came here and we sampled some of the stuff.

Mussels. Packed with flavor, delicious broth for dipping the bread too. Sop that shit up.

Burrata. Absolutely perfect. Soft, savory, sweet, tomatoes were juicy and flavorful, and the bread was again fantastic.

Plus, if you can get one of their pull-back toy cars to ride across the entire length of the bar, you get a free drink! Beware of the Corvette though. Getting it to generate enough speed is difficult, and it likes to pull to the right.

SMITH & MILLS
71 N. Moore St.
New York, NY 10013

Commentary

The Great Steak Debate

March 2, 2015 Johnny Prime 2 Comments

Last night I attended the Great Steak Debate with my wife.

The event was sponsored by Audi and Inside Hook, and hosted by Marc Forgione at his American Cut steakhouse (Tribeca NYC location). The idea was to try strip steaks from eight different meat purveyors and do a blind taste test to see which we all liked best.

The evening started with a nice cocktail hour, featuring Snow Leopard vodka martinis, Highland Park scotch (neat/rocks, or in a kickass cocktail with Cointreau, Drambuie, OJ and simple syrup), Peroni beer and Carnivor wine.

Steve Bryant, the executive editor from Inside Hook, gave an intro to the event and warmed up the crowd.

Chef Forgione spoke as well, but this pic of him listening to Steve came out a little more clear:

Then the fucking meat came out and I nearly crapped myself with glee. They assigned a letter to each purveyor’s strip, and provided us with a card and stamp with which to cast our votes.

This shot below has E, F, G and H from top down, since the plates got attacked too soon for me to snap photos.

A booklet we were all given contained some info about each purveyor, and it even had a few blank pages in the back for tasting notes. As you can see, I had them ranked as follows: H, G, B, E, D, A, C, F. The purveyors we were sampling were Belcampo, Bunn Gourmet, Chicago Steak Company, Crystal River Meats, Debragga, Kansas City Steaks, Main Street Meats, and Omaha Steaks.

The meat was also served with steakhouse classics like creamed spinach (Marc’s stellar “sunchoked spinach” is off the fucking charts amazing) and mashed potatoes.

The big reveal was made, and the judges chose E for first place, C for second, and D for third. That was Belcampo, Debragga, and Kansas City, respectively.

The rest of our votes were tallied from the crowd.

We chose G for first place, E for second, and C for third. That was Chicago Steak Company, Belcampo, and Debragga, respectively.

As for my votes, I chose Main Street Meats in first place, which I was excited about since they are from close to my home town on Long Island. In second place was Chicago Steak Company, and third place was Omaha Steaks. Caught me by surprise! What an amazing sampling of steaks. There was not one that I didn’t like.

The cool thing was that it turns out the purveyors from Main Street were sitting right at our table with us! Everyone at the table was great to chat and eat with.

Oh yeah! I forgot about this little shot of fizzy chocolate milk ice cream at the end of the meal. Very nice touch!

It was a pretty awesome night. At the end, we got to spend some time talking with Chef Forgione about his menu ideas, our favorite steakhouses, and family roots in food, and then we hung out a bit with Steve from Inside Hook at a nearby bar.

Filet Mignon, Latin/Mexican & Caribbean, Midtown West, Other Cuts, Restaurant Reviews, Restaurant Week, Rib Eye, Steakhouse Reviews

Fogo de Chao

March 2, 2015 Johnny Prime 3 Comments

This is a big all-you-can-eat Brazilian steak joint in midtown.

I’ve always been a fan of these types of places because you get to sample a great variety of meats to whatever extent that you want. This place offered about 11 or 12 different items.

A few different awesome things, like suckling pig, sometimes show up at other places that do Rodizio Churrascaria as well.

The idea is pretty simple. Start off at the salad bar, which is typically amazing by itself. I’ve seen some places offer sushi there as well. I usually go with the smoked salmon, cured meats and hearts of palm right off. This joint had some decent selections (though no sushi):

The salmon was amazing. So once you have had your fill of salad, you flip your little circular card over to the green side (as opposed to red), and then the meat guys start coming around:

Each diner is equipped with a small pair of tongs to grab the slices of meat as they are carved off the skewers by the swordsmen. Then you start making piles of delicious meat on your plate. Dig in!

Above you’ll see a little roasted drumette piece of chicken. This was actually my favorite thing they served. So fucking good. There was a lot of different preparations of sirloin, but I think my favorite of the beef was the bottom sirloin, which is pictured just above, next to the lamb chop.

Don’t forget to slam a beer; shit is salty and you will get thirsty:

The sides are free (the meal is a set price) and also “all-you-can-eat.” Here, you’ll want to stick with the caramelized bananas and fried polenta.

The mashed potatoes sucked. They were dry and chalky.

Save a little bit of room for dessert too, because this shit is pretty good. I had a delicious slice of key lime pie, but they also have flan, creme brûlée, passion fruit mousse, and lava cake with ice cream.

Afterwards, the dessert booze cart comes around, along with the bill, of course:

Just a quick FYI about this place during restaurant week: $25 for most of the same meats, the exact same salad bar and sides, and a slightly smaller portion of dessert. Best deal in town! I give the flavor 9/10, but despite this being a “steakhouse” I am not giving it the full review treatment.

FOGO DE CHAO
40 W. 53rd St.
New York, NY 10019

Chinese, Commentary, East Village, Fusion, Press Reviews, Restaurant Reviews

Tuome

February 26, 2015 Johnny Prime 2 Comments

I had the pleasure of being invited to another awesome food party event hosted by Tabelog. Here’s a fun shot of some of the people who run the shit here in NYC:

This time, the location was Alphabet City Asian fusion restaurant Tuome, which is run by fellow Long Island boy-made-good, Chef Thomas Chen. It’s gotten a great deal of good press lately in the food world, and now I understand why.

When I asked him about what inspired him to craft this sort of menu, he said, “It’s all based on things I grew up eating.” Long island is a mixed bag, at least in some parts that are closer to the five boroughs. Lots of cultural fusion happens naturally there, so it makes sense. But the execution of these concepts was spot on. I was impressed with this young dude’s skills.

Well hang on a sec… I’m getting ahead of myself. First we had some cocktails that were specially made for the night:

Fire in the Sky – sake, thai chili, yuzu.

Tuome City Limits – sherry, kina, Chinese five spice

East Village Blossom – brut rose, hibiscus, blood orange

All three were fantastic, but since I have a pair of ball between my legs, I’d have to say that the Tuome City Limits was my favorite of the three. The other two were incredibly tasty as well though.

Okay now back to the food. Here’s a composed plate of all the items we sampled. Everything here is on the menu with the exception of the oxtail roll.

First was the beet with quinoa, five spice yogurt and pumpkin seed. This was a really fresh bite of food, with a crunch texture and complex flavors to mix things up.

Next was the chicken liver mousse spread onto milk bread and topped with NY maple. Fucking delicious. So smooth and decadent, yet light.

Then I had the oxtail egg roll with cumin mint dipping sauce. This was one of my favorites of the night.

There was a really delicious blue crab mac and cheese too, with karee and mascarpone. I could eat this shit all day long. In fact, I wish more steakhouses would swap king crab and lobster mac and cheese dishes out for blue claw. Them shits be better, yo.

Next favorite of the night was the crispy fucking pork belly. Hoooolyyyyyyy shiiiiiiit was this good. Before the water pulled away I tried three. One with no sauce, and one with each of the two sauces they were serving it with. One was a mignonette style, and the other was tomato based, I think.

The last savory item was a soon-to-be wildly famous crispy fried deviled egg with chili. This was by far the ultimate winning dish of the night. Unbelievable. So tasty. Creamy, crunchy, with a little spicy kick to it. Perfect. I apologize for the blurry photo. I was so excited that I started furiously jerking while trying to shoot the photo. Needless to say I was shaking a little.

And finally, there was an ice cream filled beignet. It was more like a cream puff to my taste buds, but filled with ice cream and sweet red bean instead of cream filling. It definitely reminded me of some classic Asian desserts, but with a cream puff twist to it. Nicely done.

It was a really fun night. As always, the folks at Tabelog always make us bloggers feel like kings and queens, putting us at the center of attention. They’re a great crew, and the website is truly a great resource for your dining research needs. Here’s a shot of all the bloggers with some of the Tabelog peeps:

UPDATE: Photos from the “Pig Out” meal.

TUOME
536 E. 5th St.
New York, NY 10009

Burgers, Midtown West, Pub Food, Restaurant Reviews

House of Brews

February 26, 2015 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

This place has a huge selection of beer, including one of my favorites: a 15%ABV Goose Island Bourbon County stout that will fuck you up in no time. Tonight, however, my buddy and I sampled some stuff from this brewer, who was offering free pints to patrons that were interested in their shit (the Imperial Stout was legit):

The main reason for our visit was burgers. Of course my puss-bag friend went with a turkey burger because he’s watching his girlish figure, but I took down the Brew Burger with American cheese and jalapeños.

It stacked up nice: not too tall, and easy to wrap your mouth around. Kinda like Peter North, for all you ladies out there.

It was cooked to a perfect medium, and the bun held up under strict scrutiny. No soggy bottom, and, despite the toasted under-portion of the top bun, there was no flaking or crumbling.

Fries were pretty solid too. Nice and crispy. I’ve had better at several places, but for a $12 base burger (served WITH fries) this is a steal.

Wednesday night happy hour has 2-for-1 Bluepoints and $5 select drafts to boot. Not too shabby.

HOUSE OF BREWS
302 W. 51st St.
New York, NY 10019

East Village, Ramen

Minca

February 25, 2015 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

Minca is a little spot on East 5th Street between Avenues A and B.

I stopped in for a nice hot bowl of pork broth ramen to warm up from the insane cold. The broth itself was a little thin and watery, but the quality of the pork meat within was definitely excellent. I tend to like a more thick or viscous broth – something approaching sauce almost. Flavor was definitely heavy on garlic. I typically don’t mind that, but it came close to bitterness in this case.

Mushrooms, egg, scallions and all other toppings were good quality.

I liked the thin, strait noodles. Nice and al dente, how I prefer them:

I’d definitely go back to try the spicy (which I had ordered “on the side” but they didn’t give me a blob of it).

MINCA
536 E 5th St
New York, NY 10009

Japanese, Midtown West, Ramen, Restaurant Reviews

Nippori

February 24, 2015 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

This little Japanese joint opened up in April of 2014. My ramen-master buddy found it while perusing a Yelp search for ramen in midtown west. He has tried nearly everything else in the city, so this was a new spot for him.

It was a pretty nice little place. Inside, there’s lots of space – not your typical jammed-up ramen joint with a line out the door and no space to lift your fucking elbow from the table. The bar and table seating is spacious, and there’s a second bar in the back for sushi.

When we walked in, I saw an awesome looking grilled squid dish. I wanted it badly, but I mistakenly ordered the sautéed squid item just above it on the menu. It was okay (slightly chewy for my liking), but it had a good spicy flavor from the jalapeños:

We also tried the fried chicken thighs (karage). These were good. Juicy and crispy. Gotta love the thigh meat.

For ramen, I tried the tonkotsu that came with miso flavored pork belly. it was okay. The broth was a little light and the pork was a little chewy (I like the belly to be fall-apart soft in ramen). Also, I expected the belly to be a thick cut, as opposed to thin bacon style. The noodles were good: thin, straight, firm … like Quagmire’s erect cock (that’s a pure guess – I’ve never seen it).

My buddy has been to nearly every ramen place in the 5 boroughs. He said this bowl of tan tan men was good and recommended; I believe a possible 3.5 out of 5 on his very difficult scale. I though thought the broth was robust and flavorful, just the right amount of spicy. Perhaps I would get it with straight noodles, knowing now that it is served with wavy egg noodles.

All that said, this is a rare spot that serves up a full Japanese food menu in addition to some decent ramen. It’s not just a ramen shop by any means.

On a second trip I tried some other items. First, the grilled squid. This was pretty good, nicely cooked, etc.

My wife ordered the salmon saddle, which was really flavorful and perfectly fried. The fat from within the layers of fish flakes was really delicious.

I tried the signature Nippori ramen, which was coconut milk-based with chicken, cilantro and red onion. I liked it a lot but I think the similar style at Tabata was a little bit more to my liking. The wavy egg noodles were nicely cooked, the egg was soft and delicious, but I think this bowl would benefit from some sliced jalapeños.

My wife ordered a soba dish but we got this skillet fried ramen dish instead. The pork in the dish was similar to the kind in my first bowl of ramen, up top. It was a good dish, but totally not what we expected from an order of soba.

For dessert we tried two items. First was the espresso and chocolate coffee gelato. This was really tasty, and I would definitely recommend it.

The key lime cheesecake was okay. I wasn’t blown away by it. It did the job, but that ice cream / gelato was way better.

NIPPORI
245 W. 51st St.
New York, NY 10019

Burgers, Flash Deals, Midtown West, Pub Food, Restaurant Reviews

Concrete

February 20, 2015 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

I scooped up a Groupon deal for this place because I wanted to try the burger, and it was pretty close by work. I came by on a Sunday once and it was closed (Penn Station/Garment District area is a dead zone on weekends), but the weekday happy hour was a great deal: $3 domestics and $4 drafts from 5pm-8pm.

The menu is actually pretty decent here. The burger was good! Potato bun, good healthy amount of cheese (and by healthy I mean a lot), and good crisp on a fat burger. Just pushing the limits on the thickness that I like in a burger.

I got about nine french fries with my burger, which was a little lame, but at least they tasted good.

My vaginal buddy first ordered a chicken sandwich, but that was doused with mayo, which he doesn’t like, so he sent it back and asked for the chicken fingers instead, since he was in a rush. Service was a bit slow up until then, so it wasn’t a problem to swap the order. The fingers were unique; breaded with cornflakes and fried to a golden crisp. The meat was tender too. I think maybe they just needed a dusting of salt.

This next thing we got as a sort-of dessert. Fried peanut butter and jelly balls. They were tasty! But they took a very long time to come out. Good things come to those who wait, I guess. One/two thing(s) that would make them even better: a chocolate dipping sauce and/or a dusting of cinnamon.

I never expected good food to come out of this joint. They have a C rating on the window, and the place is a small dumpy little shit hole in a shit hole neighborhood. But I’d definitely go back for this tasty and unique grub. I recommend you give these items a try! They also have a nice looking spicy lamb burger as well.

Everything pictured here was good, and in the color of light brown. So you can guess what color my shit will be.

CONCRETE
320 W. 37th St.
New York, NY 10018

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