All posts by Johnny Prime

Long Island, Rib Eye, Steakhouse Reviews

Majors (Woodbury)

February 10, 2014 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

Majors overall score: 69

UPDATE: MAJOR’S IS NOW CLOSED!

Flavor: 7

Majors isn’t winning any accolades for steak flavor, but I must say it was a decent steak that surprised me a little. Well seasoned, evenly cooked, and at the correct temperature.

Choice of Cuts & Quality Available: 6

They have all the basic cuts here at what I imagine is good quality choice grade. They seem to know how to cook it too, so that’s a bonus. Obviously coming off of a lot of prime and better cuts tends to make steaks at these kinds of joints seem pretty rough. But for what this place is meant to be, its not too terrible.

Portion Size & Plating: 8

Portions are all sizable here. That’s one plus about the burbs – people want big portions, and Majors delivers. The plating is very basic – nothing fancy at all.

Price: 8

Very reasonable. I think my scotch (Macallan 18) ended up costing almost as much as my steak at $30. There are other places to get a better buy for your dollar, but it was definitely nice to have a rest from the NYC prices.

Bar: 8

The bar is cool here. I could see myself slamming a few drinks on occasion just to shoot the shit.

Specials and Other Meats: 7

This is your standard local steakhouse with nothing too outlandish on the menu. They cover the basics in various sizes, and there’s really not much more you can ask for.

Apps, Sides & Desserts: 5

I had an iceberg wedge and it was decent. It takes serious effort to fuck one up. I wasn’t crazy about the bottled style blue cheese dressing. I was sort of hoping for some real deal crumbles, but it was otherwise edible.

Seafood Selection: 7

Clam dishes, crab cake, tuna items: all very basic and expected. It’s a neighborhood joint and it’s a step up from the bullshit chains like Outback and Boulder Creek.

Service: 7

Standard good service here. A friend of mine who ate with us even scored digits from the waitress who served us. Bonus! One down side was a wobbly table. With 8 people seated around it, it got kind of ridiculous.

Ambiance: 6

A typical pub style ambiance, with red and white plastic-ish checkerboard table coverings. It had a very similar feel (though not quite as cool) to Arthur’s Tavern. They even have the silver bowl filled with picked items to start the meal, same as Arthur’s.

Hot Pot, Korean, Queens, Restaurant Reviews

Sik Gaek Seafood Hot Pot

February 9, 2014 Johnny Prime 3 Comments

Me, my wife, and some of our friends went to this pretty crazy Korean restaurant in Woodside called Sik Gaek. Good luck reading the website if you can’t read Korean. However the pics are nice under the “Delicious Table” drop down menu. They have some nice looking meats and fish.

I say “crazy” not to be judgmental of other cultures, but rather to demonstrate the purely subjective boundaries which I needed to cross to actually partake in the ingesting of food here. It’s crazy for ME, in other words. I typically eat my food cooked (with the exception of sushi, ceviche, shellfish and tartare). Not only that, but I usually eat my animals and fish AFTER they are good and dead (again, with the exception of shellfish). Also – my food usually isn’t MOVING. As you’ll see below, these western culinary conventions are thrown out the window at Sik Gaek. And that’s a good thing.

This place (the Flushing location rather than the Woodside spot we went to) was actually featured on an episode of Anthony Bourdain’s show on the Travel Channel called “No Reservations.” The show is now off the air, as he has moved to CNN with “Parts Unknown” (it’s essentially the same show). In the “No Reservations” episode clipped below, he was in the midst of doing a tour of various “hidden” Asian food and culture spots around Queens with renowned chef David Chang. Watch as he eats still-moving, live, marinated and chopped octopus:

It makes me think of a shocking scene from the Korean film Old Boy, which has one of the most fucked-up twist endings ever, and is one of the most fucked-up but excellent movies of our time. No doubt this film will garner even more attention when Spike Lee fucks it up upon the release of his remake later this year, starring Josh Brolin:

Anyway… on to the actual food that we ate. It turns out there was a huge disappointment. They were out of live octopus. So after all that babble above, I didn’t really get to test the limits of my culinary tolerances. We did enjoy some delicious food though, and some of it was still moving while it cooked in the hot pot. Check out the pics below.

First, the drinks. Two types of beer, two types of soju, and a watermelon full of vagina juice (watermelon punch):

Almost forgot the Psy shot glass:

Next, the starters. First up, eggs and veggies:

Then rice cakes and tofu skin with spicy sauce, along with some pickled items and dips:

Then we had some thick cut pork belly:

Then we moved on to the seafood hot pot, which contained lobster, blue claw crab, shrimp, clams, mussels, razor clams, abalone, baby octopus, squid, udon noodles, bean sprouts, and cabbage. They even give you a trash bucket beside the table to throw all the shells in.

And YES – the lobster was still moving at our table while it cooked:

Since they knew we were there for the live octopus, and we had made the reservation and tried to reserve a ‘pus for the table way in advance of getting there, they felt bad and gave us a plate of bacon wrapped mushrooms on the house:

One of the best parts of the meal was using the broth pan to cook fried rice. Packed with flavor, and nice and crispy:

Two more shots – one of the restaurant space, and one of a little kitchen flood:

SIK GAEK
49-11 Roosevelt Ave.
Woodside, NY 11377

Commentary

Uncle Giuseppe’s

February 8, 2014 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

I recently discovered Uncle Giuseppe’s Marketplace in Massapequa (Long Island). It’s a really fantastic gourmet Italian grocery store. My wife and I went there for a lobster sale ($3.99/lb), but I was blown away by the meat selection. The quality was great. Check out these two pics I snapped.

Sliced skirt steak that looked like a meat monster

And a gorgeous rack that rivals the hottest Playmates that Hugh Heffner can muster up at the Playboy mansion.

Long Island, Pizza

Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza

February 1, 2014 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

You may not know it, but I happen to be a huge pizz-o-phile. Growing up, I was spoiled by having my mother’s homemade pizza available on a nearly daily basis, so I have pretty high standards when it comes to the old sauce, cheese & dough combo. There are lots of different styles of pizza out there. I prefer a very crispy dough/crust, thin, with fresh mozzarella and a nice flavorful tomato sauce. Currently my absolute favorite, outside of my own and my mother’s, is Saluggi’s in Tribeca NY. Thin, crispy, fresh, and fucking delicious.

So anyway – the point of this quick post is to say that ALL New Yorkers are spoiled when it comes to pizza – not just the eye-talians who grew up with great home made shit. We have it made here for food in general, and when it comes to pizza, we are the best (FUCK Chicago – that’s right – I said it…).

That said, I recently became aware of Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza, a budding pizza (and wings) chain. I was fascinated by the pics I saw, and by the method of cooking (mounds of ember-glowing coals roasting the pizza BBQ style in huge ovens), so I had to give it a try.

I must say – I am impressed. This is good pizza. Great sauce, nice crispy crust but with enough depth to satisfy those who like a little more chew or substance to the dough, and good bubbly, quality cheese. If this is the standard that the rest of the country can expect at these establishments, then pizza is finally going to be good outside of NY/NJ/CT/FL. FINALLY the rest of the country will get a taste of what REAL pizza is like. Not Dominos, not Pizza Hut, not California Pizza Kitchen, not Chicago deep dish garbage, which requires a fucking fork and knife instead of a one-hand fold… REAL NY PIZZA.

I wish them great success, and I hope they spread to more states. This is good news for the middle-of-nowhere places that get one of these chains in their strip malls. They will understand finally what pizza really means.

The wings are pretty good to boot. They taste like they’re fresh off the BBQ grill, roasty, crispy, and a little char. Very nice.

Check out the pics:

20140201_150055_LLS — and that’s-a-da chicken wing

ANTHONY’S COAL FIRED PIZZA
4180 Veterans Memorial Hwy
Bohemia, NY 11716

Carcass Club/Beast Feast, East Village, Fusion, Other, Restaurant Reviews

Whole Rotisserie Duck At Momofuku Ssam Bar

January 25, 2014 Johnny Prime 6 Comments

Check this shit out, you salivating scumbags:

Keeping in line with my recent non-steak-related commentary dealing with other delicious foods around NYC, I present to you the whole rotisserie duck at Momofuku:

This particular dish is available at Momofuku Ssam Bar on 2nd Avenue at 13th Street. For $140 you get the duck (breast stuffed with duck sausage just under the skin and roasted) served atop a bed of jasmine rice; some chive pancakes and Bibb lettuce for wrapping; two seasonal sides (we chose the pickled veggies and kimchi, and the baby bok choy seasonal greens); and crispy shallots, cilantro, mint, Thai basil, watercress, hoisin sauce, Korean BBQ sauce and duck scallion sauce for toppings. They even bring out some duck broth made fresh at the end of the meal.

The duck is locally sourced too, for all your eco-assholes out there that actually give a shit. It’s from Crescent Duck in Aquebogue, Long Island.

Now on with the pics. Duck off, or go duck yourself:

First, my wife ordered a Bloody Mary. Here. it’s made with rye, sake, tomato, apple, ham, and togarashi. We thought it was a little on the small side for $11, and a little sweet, but it was meaty, spicy and otherwise good. Nice ice cube in there too.

Next we ordered an app of liver mousse. Delicious, light and creamy. Topped with pickled radish and some greens.

Here is one of the side items that came with the duck meal – the pickled veggie jars:

And the “seasonal greens” – aka baby bok choy:

Then they brought out the pre-sliced duck to show it to us:

Here it is all sliced up and presented nice-nice:

Here’s the lettuce and sauce collection:

And finally they bring out a little bowl of duck broth to finish off the meal. Very rich.

Here are some more pics of the duck. If you look closely you can see the layer where the duck sausage splits from the duck breast. Each little slice was like a two-in-one punch of roasty, crispy, juicy flavor. Fucking awesome.

constructing a duck ssam on a scallion pancake

And here’s one last shot – the kitchen in full swing:

MOMOFUKU SSAM BAR
207 2nd Ave.
New York, NY 10003

Chinese, Commentary, Food Halls, Hot Pot, Long Island, Queens, Restaurant Reviews

Flushing & Shabu Shabu

January 22, 2014 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

We, my wife, and a friend took a trip to Flushing to explore some of the great food joints in the area – this was a while back, in mid 2012.

It’s kind of like a food paradise here. There are secret, hidden indoor (and sometimes underground) malls of food kiosks tucked away in unassuming buildings. Check out some of the pics:

After some wandering, we ended up trying hot pot at Baidu Shabu Shabu. I think it was like $25-$35pp all you can eat, and all you can drink beer. We got the spicy pot, and a shit-heap of different stuff to throw in, like lamb, beef tongue, beef brisket, beef rib eye, beef belly, pork belly, a host of veggies, and noodles. Needless to say we were fattened up like pigs afterward. I recommend this place – lots of fun. Check out the pics:

Okay so fast-forward over a year later. My wife is feeling sick. We were about to go back to Flushing just to get some soup, but we ended up finding out about a tiny little place called Tao’s Delicacies out on Long Island that we were interested to try out. Turns out it was pretty legit, and $25pp all you can eat, with unlimited soda/canned drinks. They had quality beef stomach, lotus root, mushrooms, shrimp (with the heads on), fish balls with pork inside, veggies, and even tofu skin (my favorite). If you are out on the island, and feel up for the experience of eating in someone’s living room, then check out this hidden gem of a restaurant. Pics below:

BAIDU SHABU SHABU
37-04 Prince St.
Flushing, NY 11354

TAO’S DELICACIES
1310 Middle Country Rd.
Selden, NY 11784

American, Italian, Non-Steakhouse Steaks, Restaurant Reviews, Rib Eye, Union Square/Flatiron

Corkbuzz Wine Studio

January 20, 2014 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

I’m not quite sure how to handle this write-up for the website. Is it a review, or commentary? Corkbuzz isn’t a steakhouse, and this meal is kind of a “limited time offer,” so I am going to go with commentary, and not give it a full steakhouse review.

Corkbuzz is a unique place in the food world. Primarily it is a wine bar and wine-centric restaurant, but it is also a home-base for wine education, according to their website. As you all may know, I am generally a martini kind of guy, despite the fact that me, my father, and my grandfather all make/made wine (I’ve even made flavored meads, or honey-based wines). Seriously – and I’m not saying this just because he’s my dad: the best wine I’ve ever tasted was my dad’s pinot noir, which he made from scratch with fresh grapes.

So anyway – a buddy of mine emailed me asking if I knew anything about this place, and if I thought the “Steakhouse Sundays” deal was good. He showed me this page:

$500 for 6 people, including tip, with 4 bottles of wine, Pat LaFrieda rib eye, and sides/apps?!?? Uhh… YES… no brainer, that is a GREAT fucking deal! So I told my wife about it, and we decided that we had to jump on it as well. Check out the results below:

First we sat at the bar and waited for our party to arrive. Nice view, and the cocktails were awesome.

Once seated, they presented the first wine:

And brought us the wedge salad:

And shrimp cocktail (a little pathetic, but whatever…)

Next came the red wines…

Then the sides arrived… Roasted cauliflower, and creamed spinach…

Then the steak with potatoes and onion rings…

And finally a pumpkin bread pudding dessert with ricotta whipped cream…

Here are the wines again, for those who are all about it…

Everything was great. We were all full, but not ridiculously over-stuffed to the point of vomitude. The steak was great. I noted that it was a little under-salted, but the steak sauce (some kind of wine reduction) was plenty salty to inject that back into the meat. The sides were all great – especially the roasted cauliflower. The creamed spinach was a bit too firm for my liking, but it was nice that it wasn’t so overly creamy. The potato item would have been better if it was crispy (was a little soggy), but overall a really great meal. The wine alone was worth the price we paid.

CORKBUZZ WINE STUDIO
13 E. 13th St.
New York, NY 10003

Education

Beef Charts

January 19, 2014 Johnny Prime 1 Comment

Ever wonder what other products are made from beef?

A photo posted by Nat’l Cattlemen’s Beef Assn. (@beefusa) on Aug 23, 2016 at 12:33pm PDT

Interactive Beef Infographic from Gourmet Society

CutsofBeef_515c59b0b3865 — From http://holykaw.alltop.com/cuts-of-beef-infographic

beef-2 — From http://www.businessinsider.com/beef-cuts-chart-2014-10

Commentary, Education, Restaurant Reviews

The Great Noodle Chase

January 18, 2014 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

Lately I’ve been on a Japanese ramen binge, but I should also mention my decade-long hankering for Vietnamese pho as well. My wife is Vietnamese, so real-deal, authentic pho is more common in my belly than good ramen. But after having it a few times lately, I felt the need to whip up a post about the two dishes, with pics of course.

First, pho (pronounced like you are saying the word FUN but without the N, and with a tone as if you are asking a question):

For those who may not know, I’ve give a quick rundown of what this awesome shit is. Pho is a very aromatic and highly flavorful beef soup (pho bo) made with LOTS of different parts of the animal: oxtail, marrow, tripe, brisket, eye-round, processed beef balls, etc. The meats are stewed to tender perfection and then served in an almost clear consomme broth that simmered for hours with all the meats and spices like star anise, cinnamon, clove, ginger, and other warm, comforting flavors. The rice noodles used are long and flat, almost like a linguini. It’s topped with cilantro, chilies (optional, of course), bean sprouts, scallions, thinly sliced onion, and a wedge of lime. It’s usually accompanied with plum sauce (hoisin) and chili paste (sri racha) on the side for you to add to taste. The result is something so delicious that you will crave it every day of your life. It’s light, yet hearty. You’ll never find a broth so clear and thin with so much flavor packed in it. Most Vietnamese joints will offer it with chicken too (pho ga), but come on… really? If you are getting it, get a big bowl of the mixed beef. Although, I must say, sometimes I like to order with just the thin-sliced eye-round meat, or that and beef meatballs.

By far the most delicious bowl we ever had was in Vietnam, up in the mountains of Sapa at a resort. It should be noted that pho in Vietnam is different than here in the states. First: there’s a more robust flavor. Second: the sri racha is non-existent as it is not needed. They just utilize their abundance of fresh chili peppers. They DO have a chili paste in Vietnam, but it’s creamier and sweeter than sri racha, and probably better for dipping with fried items than mixing into soup.

Clearly not everyone can just up and leave to the mountains of Vietnam for a bowl of soup. So if you can’t, try this bowl, from Thai Son restaurant on Baxter Street in NYC. Yes: it’s a Vietnamese food restaurant, not Thai. Definitely not as good as the one above, but at around $6 a bowl you really can’t go wrong:

Okay now for Japanese ramen:

First, check out this little film to get a sense of what real ramen is. I’m not talking about the little fucking soup packets for $0.33 each in the supermarket, which contain so much fucking sodium that they can be used to salt the highways of a major city in a snowstorm.

The few places I’ve been to in NYC have a variety of flavors and broth bases, ranging from the more traditional pork, to chicken, to miso, to veggie. They vary based on noodle type too – wavy or straight, etc., and also toppings. Some places will serve a basic bowl with a few things in it, and charge a nominal amount for extra toppings like extra pork belly or lean pork, a boiled egg, spicy paste, extra noodles, etc. I tend to lean more toward the pork broth (tonkotsu), although I’ve had some really good chicken based and even curry based broths.

Note: there are lots of people who make it their mission to hunt down the great ramen places all over town, especially in Japan. I can’t compete with those guys… yet… My experience is very limited, but I WILL share a few of my favorite bowls so far, along with location:

Mega Ramen at Totto II in Hell’s Kitchen (51st & 10th) – no need for ordering extras on this. It’s a chicken based broth (REALLY good, by the way – not your average bullshit chicken stock). So hearty and fatty, and topped with tons of different kinds of pork meat. I refer to this one as the pork pool party. $15.

Tondaku Green Curry Ramen at Bassanova in Chinatown (Mott Street). Different, but really good. More greenery than you would normally expect but it really works. $15. Egg was extra.

Tondaku Ramen, also at Bassanova. Traditional tonkotsu pork ramen made with Berkshire pork. $13.

That’s all I’ve got for you assholes right now, other than the fact that the guy from the video is the guy who opened Bassanova.

Do yourselves a favor and go for a swim in a pork pool party – your gullet will thank you. In the meantime, if anyone knows of a beef or rib eye ramen, I’d love to try it. Does it exist? If not, maybe it’s time…

UPDATE 3/15/14 – Real deal beef ramen DOES exist. I heard about some late night ramen joint in the west village called Takashi that serves up an all-beef broth ramen on Friday and Saturday nights only, from 12:00am to 2:00am. It was tough, but I ended up getting a seat for my wife and I to slurp up some of this delicious shit. We started with some beer and took in the surroundings:

As I mentioned, it’s a beef broth, but it contains crispy beef intestines, FUCKING BRAISED KOBE BEEF BELLY!!!, a soft boiled egg, and alkaline ramen noodles. The little blob of red you see in the middle is the spicy paste that my wife got with her bowl. I prefer no spicy paste, as it masks the beef flavor too much for my liking (though I DO love very spicy foods):

If you’re in town overnight on a weekend and are up for something bold and adventurous, give this bowl a try. The only problem is that you will need to try for a reservation on the Monday prior at 5pm. That’s when they start taking reservations. I emailed on Tuesday afternoon for my rez and they were already booked solid. They asked if I wanted to be on a waiting list in case someone cancels: I said yes. I found out on Friday at about 4:00pm that they had an opening for me and my wife at midnight. SWEET!

Carcass Club/Beast Feast, Lower East Side/Chinatown, Other, Restaurant Reviews

Whole Roast Suckling Pig

December 28, 2013 Johnny Prime 4 Comments

Occasionally I whip up a quick blurb about something awesome that I ate aside from steaks. Last night I had an amazing meal at Pig & Khao, which is run by Leah Cohen of Top Chef fame. Seven of us feasted upon a whole roasted suckling pig. It was done perfectly. The meat was tender, juicy, and it packed a lot of flavor. The skin, though, is always the best part of a dead pig. DELICIOUS. Check out the pics below, and when you get a group together you should definitely try this place.