All posts by Johnny Prime

Fini Pizza

If you’d rather WATCH this review, check out my ride and review video. If you’d rather read it, then continue below.

That bike makes the city so small. I can get everywhere so fast now. If you’re interested in one for yourself, use my coupon code JOHNNYPRIME for $150 off at www.zoozbikes.com.

I tried two slices here, pepperoni and Sicilian.

The regular pepperoni slice was good. Great crust. The sauce was a little sweet so I was happy to have the pepperoni on there to balance it out with some spice.

The Sicilian was incredible. I highly recommend this. It has a homemade flavor to it, but with pro-quality amazing dough. Light. Airy. Crisp. PERFECT.

I’m usually not a fan of Sicilian because it can get heavy. But I can easily eat a bunch of slices of Fini’s Sicilian. Look at this:

I’ll definitely be back to try some more pies.

FINI PIZZA
305 Bedford Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11211

Joey Roses

Joey Roses dive bar/social club on the Lower East Side that was recently featured on Eater as a spot where you can still get some cheap, good eats. After reading the article and seeing how close it was to home, I had to try it.

The thrust of the article was that, from 5pm-7pm and from 10pm-12am, they offer “buy two get a third free” deal on their sandwiches. Their sandwiches are regularly priced at $8. Can’t beat it!

They’re nicely packed Italian sandwiches, filled with mortadella, beef, salami, you name it. They have a few different selections you can make. My wife and I picked up three different sandwiches. All were good, but the mortadella sandwich was king. It comes with mozz and sweet cherry peppers on it. Killer.

Make sure you also get some of their crispy fried Brussels Sprouts. The touch of agave syrup on them really sets them apart from others. They’re perfect!

This place is so close – we will definitely be back.

JOEY ROSES
174 Rivington St
New York, NY 10002

Bobwhite Counter

This little fried chicken joint is on Avenue C at 6th Street.

There’s a craft beer spot next door called ABC Beer Co., which has nice covered outdoor seating and a great selection of beer. My wife and I snagged some fried chicken tenders and french fries to try with our beer.

The fries were a little soggy, but the tenders were good. Tender, juicy, great crisp on the outside. Good enough to make us want to go back to try the actual fried chicken pieces as well as the sandwiches. I will update this review once we get around to trying.

BOBWHITE COUNTER
94 Loisaida Ave (Avenue C)
New York, NY 10009

Zest Sushi

Weird name, great happy hour.

Zest Sushi has a very extensive menu of items for just $5.50 during happy hour, which also includes their beer and sake offerings as well. My wife and I tried a bunch of stuff, and pretty much everything was great. Here’s the run down:

Mini salmon don.

“Salmon Dream” torched sashimi.

Skewers of crispy squid tentacles.

Crispy oysters (this was the only item I wouldn’t get again).

Takoyaki (fried balls of octopus with bonito).

Crispy salmon skin roll.

For drinks, the better bet is to get the sake. They give you about 10oz for $5.50, and it’s pretty good.

ZEST SUSHI
249 Broome St
New York, NY 10002

Ramerino Italian Prime

I was recently invited into this place for a media dinner, complimentary in exchange for posting content on Instagram. Here’s what we had:

The Good

Perfect espresso martini. And I mean perfect!

Awesome pappardelle with porcini mushrooms. Pictured here is a half portion size. They split the dish even though I asked them not to.

 

Octopus with chic pea puree. This was on the upper side of okay, just about at the good level.

The Bad & The Ugly

Complimentary plate of cheese and meats. Meh.

Steak Tartare. This needed salt/seasoning. I also didn’t like the burrata cream on the bottom, but the sun dried tomato was a nice, unique  topper. It was ugly though, and I had to add some crumbled parm from the plate above to give it a pop of flavor.

The porterhouse was overcooked, under seasoned, dry, and tasted as if it was a plate of leftovers that was re-heated in a toaster oven. If you’ve ever done that, you know exactly what I mean. It was noted as being dry-aged, but I didn’t taste it. There was little to no char on it either. 4/10.

We skipped dessert since it was starting to get late. The service was slow toward the end of the meal (busy overcooking the steak, perhaps). I kid. The restaurant did get pretty full and busy later on. The restaurant is in the back of a Hyatt hotel lobby, which is weird. I wonder if that’s where they serve the complimentary breakfast in the morning.

I probably won’t go back, but if I did, I would definitely stick to the pasta selections and the wine/cocktails.

RAMERINO ITALIAN PRIME
16 E 39th St
New York, NY 10016

Ebike Accessories, Parts & Tools

This page is just a landing spot for all the items I’ve picked up along the way for my Zooz bike. Eventually I’ll supplement this for my Chimera BMX as well.

Battery Straps

 

Rear Fender

 

Brake Pads

 

Zooz Stem Headlight

 

Click Lights

 

Origin8 Chainring (44t 110/130 BCD 1/8)

 

KMC Chain 1/8 112 links

 

Vinyl for Custom Seat Cover

 

Pedals

 

Kickstand

Front Pegs

 

Rear Pegs

 

Grips

 

Grips

Bike Lock

 

Bike Lock

Folding Bike Lock

 

Cable Ties

 

Tire Valve Caps

 

Yellow Duro Tires

 

Tire Liner

 

Slime Tire Sealant

 

Thorn Resistant Tubes

 

Portable Hand Pump

 

Foot Pump

 

Portable Air Compressor

 

Riding Sunglasses

 

Riding Goggles

Mirrored Motocross Riding Goggles

 

Yellow Frame Motocross Goggles

Leather Riding Jacket

 

Riding Gloves

 

Leather Gloves

Winter Gloves

Fresh Bruce Lee Kicks

 

Neck Gaiter

 

Face Masks

 

Winter Helmet

 

Summer Helmet

 

Motocross Helmet

 

Floor Mat

 

Bike Chain Grease

 

WD-40

 

Torque Wrench 1/2″ Drive Size

 

Torque Wrench 3/8″ Drive Size

 

15mm Deep Socket, 3/8″ Drive Size

 

15mm Deep Socket, 1/2″ Drive Size

 

Socket Extenders

 

Socket Adapter

 

21mm Deep Socket, 3/8″ Drive Size

 

Metric Wrench Set

 

15mm Wrench

 

Metric Allen Hex Wrenches

 

Spoke Wrench

 

Bike Maintenance Stand

 

Paint Pens

 

GoPro Hero 8

 

GoPro Batteries

 

MicroSD Card Reader

 

MicroSD Card

 

GoPro Head and Chest Mount

 

Phone Mount Adapter

 

Corner Bar

This joint opened recently and is connected to the 9 Orchard hotel. There’s a lot I want to try here, but on this first trip my wife and I just stopped in for a couple of cocktails and some snacks.

The cocktails are great. I had a Gibson that used basil syrup in the mix. Very herbal and unique.

I also tried their amari-based old fashioned, which was really strong at first. But as the ice mellowed it out, it was perfect.

We had the Oysters Rockefeller, which were quite expensive at $24 for four. They were delicious, however, and reminded us of the flavor profile of escargots.

We also had an order of their perfectly cooked fries, which come with ketchup, mayo, and dijon. I love that they give you dijon automatically. It’s my favorite condiment.

Based on this trip, we will definitely be back to try more of the menu. Stay tuned for updates!

UPDATE 10-15-2022

On a second trip, after a LOT of hype in the food media world, I noticed a decline here.

First off, the nice ice cube in the old fashioned is gone now, and they replaced it with a bunch of small regular ice cubes. Bad move!

We started with the steak tartare, which was fairly good although it was very heavy on the onion and vinegar. The parm crisp on top was nice though.

The burger is no longer on the menu. I was excited to try it but they had a steak on special, so I went with that.

$185! Get the fuck outta here for 32oz!

It was just okay. Cooked perfectly, nice crust. But the meat itself was pretty dense and tough in places, and a good amount of connective tissue that was inedible. The best parts were along the bone, and edges, where some aged flavor managed to creep in. 6/10.

My wife’s duck was better, but parts of the dish were insanely salty.

The bread and butter here is fantastic, and complimentary. Get it.

Fries were still great, so there’s that.

CORNER BAR
60 Canal St
New York, NY 10002

Blue Collar Hamburgers

Check out the Ride & Review HERE:

I have to say, the simplicity and perfection of this burger blew me away. My photos suck, because I had to use a flash and didn’t have my light, but I really loved this (photos have since been updated). Nice regular patty – I’m so tired of smash burgers being everywhere now, although it WAS a bit smushed. Not quite smashed. Crisp texture on that patty! Great cheese coverage. Perfect soft bun. My only gripe was that the tomato was cut a bit thick.

 

I also got a hot dog – they’re split-griddled. PERFECT!

I will definitely be back here again.

BLUE COLLAR HAMBURGERS
160 Havemeyer St
Brooklyn, NY 11211

Gouie

This new sushi counter at Essex Market / The Market Line offers a fairly reasonable sushi dinner that consists of 8 pieces, a hand roll, ikura with rice and uni with rice – all for $85.

I usually love hand rolls, but I didn’t really enjoy this one. I think it was a mix of the Japanese pickle and a too thick/chewy seaweed wrapper.

The sushi pieces were great though, as was the ride. But the real star of the show was this salad that we ordered as a special. It was basically sashimi with some nice veggies.

Pass on the cauliflower, crab, uni and okra cold “soup” that they have on special as well. It was slimy and not soup-like at all. It also needed seasoning.

The light cocktails are a hit. There’s no hard liquor, but they’re made with apertifs, liqueurs and digestifs.

GOUIE
115 Delancey St.
New York, NY 10002

Chef Katsu Brooklyn

This place is great. Some of the guys from the NYC Zooz Club and I hit this spot after riding around for a bit. Their curry sauce covered fried chicken thigh sandwiches are amazing.

I got mine with cheese. It was perfect, and the fries were bangin’ too.

Get over here and try this place. I’ll definitely be back for sure. Also, if you want to see some video of our bike gang ride from the day, check out the below:

CHEF KATSU BROOKLYN
143 Greene Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11238