This joint serves up nice thick dry aged burgers, sourced from a local farm.
Excellent. I was really impressed!
I’d pass on the wings though. They needed both more seasoning and more crisp.
BOYLAN HEIGHTS
102 14th St NW
Charlottesville, VA 22903
All posts by Johnny Prime
Banh Mi Co Ut
This little Vietnamese sandwich joint in Chinatown serves up some of the best I’ve had. The bread really sets this place apart from the rest.
At this point, I’ve tried about six different kinds, and my favorite is the #4, the traditional sandwich but with SMOKED Viet ham rather than regular. I also like to order with hot peppers and extra cilantro. They don’t charge!
BANH MI CO UT
83 Elizabeth St
New York, NY 10013
Bacaro
I’m officially hooked on this place. A while back, my wife and I stopped in for a drink and an app – the fritto misto. We were already sort of full, but that plate of mixed fried items like calamari, olives, lemon rinds, shrimp, and artichoke really made us want to go back.
Last night we finally did! We tried two more apps, meatballs and fried zucchini blossoms. All were incredible. In fact, the meatballs are some of the best I’ve had outside of family.
The fried zucchini blossoms are stuffed with velvery smooth ricotta and served with an anchovy pesto oil. I liked swiping them in the meatball sauce though.
The pasta entrees are pretty large servings! Check out this massive bowl of gnocchi with peas and mushrooms.
The cavatelli with duck meat ragu was a massive serving too.
They had to be half a pound each. We couldn’t finish! I’ll definitely be back here to try more pastas, and perhaps one or two of the fish items from their entree menu.
On another trip, we tried more shit. The radicchio salad and bresaola were both excellent, as were the negronis.
This cuttlefish ink pasta reminded me of Venice.
Finished every damn bite of it.
Great light red sauce with clams too, which reminded me of home.
This pork shank is incredible, on a huge bed of cheese polenta!
This marinated rib eye is decent. I’d get the pork over this, but I still enjoyed because I knew exactly what to expect given the description and the price point.
I give this a 6/10 since I’m comparing it to the big boys in dedicated steak joints, but I would definitely get it again.
For dessert, we tried the hazelnut crumble gelato, the panna cotta and the tiramisu. All really nice.
BACARO
136 Division St
New York, NY 10002
Little Rebel
I came here with my wife and another couple to try out some of the menu items, as this place just recently opened about a month ago.
We tried two flavors of wings: maple waffle, and everything bagel. My favorite was the everything bagel. They even came with little blobs of creamed cheese.
The popcorn shrimp was addictive. I could easily eat 3 bowls
Massive chicken sandwich, topped with excellent quality thick cut bacon.
Both regular and truffle fries are great as well. And the burger was executed perfectly.
The pork belly was a bit too sweet from the candied orange on top, but otherwise it was very nicely cooked and tender.
They also have some really creative coctails.
Definitely give this place a shot. For bar food, this place has an elegant setting and some really high quality menu items.
LITTLE REBEL
219 2nd Ave
New York, NY 10003
Baker & Co.
My wife and I came here with another couple for a double date. We started with the pizzette that was on special, which involved squash, figs and balsamic:
Excellent. The fried calamari was great too, and, in fact, was mixed with fried shrimp and artichoke as well.
Speaking of artichokes, this fried artichoke salad was probably the low key winner of the starters.
For my main, I had the paccheri with lamb ragu and fava beans. Delicious!
My wife’s duck with black truffle and mushrooms entree was the winner, however. I wish I took a pic.
Dessert: Vanilla panna cotta. Perfection.
I would definitely go back here for another meal. They have a dry aged burger on the menu – maybe I’ll try that!
BAKER & CO.
259 Bleecker St
New York, NY 10014
Joe Junior
This joint came highly recommended by a food reviewer and meat expert friend of mine, Nick Solares. He has waxed eloquent about the burger here many times!
It’s deceptively simple. Nick ordered it for me: Rare, simply seasoned with just salt, and seared on the plancha, with cheese melted on both sides of the bun.
I have to say, for under $8 (sans fries), this thing rivals many of our city’s great steakhouse burgers. They’re using real quality ground beef, and they certainly know how to cook it. Rare was warm to the touch in the center, but not much bleed out or drips on the plate. Impressive.
And total steal at that price point. Go give it a shot!
JOE JUNIOR
167 3rd Ave
New York, NY 10003
Syosaku Knives
Check it out – I did a sharpness test with this beautiful sujihiki knife that I got from Syosaku:
Awesome! Grape tomatoes weigh almost nothing, so that blade is sharp as hell!!!
I whipped it out at a cookout last week and it was a hit. Check out the prep and also the final slicing here, with some tenderloin tail tacos:
These knives are great! If you think you want to buy one, follow THIS LINK.
7th Street Burger
SMASH BURGER MADNESS!
The city has become inundated with smash burger joints, and I love it. They’re so fucking tasty – especially the ones here at 7th Street Burger.
I tried a double, and I really loved it. Greasy, messy, and delicious. I’ll be back for more, for sure.
7TH STREET BURGER
91 E 7th St
New York, NY 10009
Pineapple Club
I stopped into this joint real quick to try some cocktails and their burger. The cocktails were great (no pics), and the burger was just mediocre.
It had a great crust on the patties, and the fries were battered style and super crisp, but the cheese needed a little more melt and the “special sauce” didn’t seem very present.
I would definitely go back here for some other menu items though, and absolutely for the tiki inspired cocktails. But there’s a better burger next door at NOWON if that’s what you’re looking for.
Oh and here are some avocado fries. They were tasty!
PINEAPPLE CLUB
509 E 6th St
New York, NY 10009
Cervos
My wife and I finally tried this spot. It’s been getting very popular lately in the food scene, mainly because of the crispy shrimp heads seen here:
They paired nicely with the house hot sauce.
They’re delicious! But so are the other items they offer, like the mussels escabeche:
The fried skate wing:
And the piri piri chicken with french fries:
Fries were perfect, chicken was juicy! Great cocktails as well.
We’ll definitely be back to try the Manila clams and a few other items that looked tasty.
UPDATE! Clams were pretty good, but I probably wouldn’t order them again in terms of portion size.
These Louisiana white prawns were excellent. I would definitely order them again. There were five on the plate.
CERVOS
43 Canal St
New York, NY 10002