Comal is a new Mexico City -inspired restaurant in the lower east side. They offer up some really unique dishes that you won’t commonly see at popular Mexican restaurants.
We started the meal with three skewers: al pastor chicken, beef tongue, and mushrooms.
The al pastor was our favorite of these. I think the mushrooms would have been better grilled, and the tongue was a bit gamey in flavor.
Next up, the cobia aguachile. This had great flavor; bright, fresh and refreshingly spicy.
The beef tartare was nice as well. It came with some lettuce cups and was topped with fried crickets! I’ve had them before. They’re not really my thing, so I let The Cake Dealer have them all.
For our main courses we did the skate wing in squid ink sauce, which are like a delicious spicy mole/curry cross breed. The fish was perfectly cooked.
We also had the half chicken, which was really tender and juicy. All the flavor was in the skin and the earthy, spicy sauce.
The stuffed wing with pickled tomatillo was a nice tough to go with it, but ultimately it seemed like a lot of extra chef work for little reward on our end. We liked the regular parts of the chicken better.
On the side, we had the Comal rice, which was essentially a small bowl of rice and beans for $10 (overpriced), and the squash and zucchini with cherries and cheese (so unique and awesome).
For dessert, we had their raspberry and vanilla soft serve swirl. This his the spot on a hot day.
This spot offers a great 18-course omakase for just $100. I’m just going to dump the photos I snapped for each piece, but our favorites were the following: oyster appetizer, shrimp, red snapper, shima aji, both medium and fatty tuna, uni, salmon, wagyu spoon, and the shrimp and uni hand roll we added at the end. We would definitely come back here again.
Bar Oliver is a small Spanish style tapas and pintxos joint at the intersection of Oliver, St. James, East Broadway, Bowery and Worth downtown.
My wife and I stopped in for drinks when they first opened, but now that the menu is fully built out, we wanted to go in and try some food.
We started with the Montauk red shrimp pintxos. These were tasty little bites. Expensive at $18 for two, but that’s the way of live here now I guess.
Next up, the mushrooms. These come with a beautiful egg yolk on top to break and mix in. Loved this dish.
We also tried the skate cheeks. These were served in a nice bright tomato sauce and ate more like a soup than I had expected. There were three to four good sized fish cheeks in there.
We contemplated getting a larger format rib eye, but instead we went with the wagyu hanger steak, which comes with fries and is served atop a really nice piquillo pepper sauce.
The steak was perfectly cooked, but it was a bit small for my liking. I’d say around 6oz. But at $39 it isn’t a bad deal. I give this a, 9/10. Perfectly cooked, nicely seasoned, great flavor and texture.
For dessert we did the Spanish cheesecake. To me, it ate more like a standard cheesecake. Still good though.
I would definitely go back to try more items. Especially the larger steaks. They had a good selection of local beef and domestic wagyu cross breed, all dry aged.
This had a kombu crust that made for a totally unique flavor. This was a 10, for sure. Perfectly cooked with some mild dry-aging on it.
We had the 48-day dry-aged bone-in strip steak that was on special for the day. The flavor was great, but there was definitely a good amount of chew to the meat. Due to that, the score is a 7. It was really beautiful though. Sadly, that drops the overall flavor score average to 8.5, which I have rounded up to 9.
Choice of Cuts & Quality Available: 9
There’s a great selection of cuts here, showcasing everything from A5 grade Wagyu, US dry-aged prime, cuts for two, cuts for one, and even some off-cuts like Denver steak and top round. I only took a point due to the quality issue on the strip steak that we had (a bit “toothsome”).
Portion Size & Plating: 8
The portions are good here, especially for the steaks. The sides are certainly shareable, but the desserts seem to be made for one. Plating is simple and rustic, using cast iron platters, ramekins and things like that.
Price: 9
The price is high here in midtown, with a whopping $145 for the king cut prime rib (16oz). Some of the larger aged steaks are about $6/oz, which can get pricy if you go big. The good thing here is that the food is worth the price, and they have some very reasonable options for smaller appetites. They even participate in restaurant week.
Bar: 8
The bar downstairs (Bar 92) is a small but beautiful art deco stretch. They make great cocktails, and the martini cart is fun. It’s dim and lively. I can see myself having a drink here before a meal, for sure.
Specials and Other Meats: 7
The only non-beef meat protein on the entree menu is chicken. I respect the clarity and focus, but I was surprised there wasn’t a nice big pork option. Perhaps they run it as a special some days, as they did read off some beef specials to us.
Apps, Sides & Desserts: 7
We started with four items. First, the brioche. The butter is delicious but I would skip this. It’s a bit pricey and slightly underwhelming.
The “double cut bacon” is nice though. Thick cut bacon with a gochujang type sauce.
I would skip the dumplings. They needed a bit more salt on the filling inside, and just didn’t hit the mark for us.
The shrimp were delicious. Four per order, head on, and with a nice szechuan chili oil sauce (could have used a bit more kick to it, but enjoyable nonetheless).
On the side, we had three items. First was the creamy, cheesy corn. This was nice.
I would skip the carrots. I bit into a forkful of them and there was some woody texture that I had to spit out. Perhaps stems were left on for visual appeal and I didn’t realize?
The mixed mushrooms were excellent, but could have used a bit more of the truffle flavor.
He had four desserts. My favorite was the coconut milk panna cotta.
The earl grey ice cream was nice too, but they need to put the crumble on top instead of at the bottom of the dish.
Their Korean spin on the Paris Brest (Jeju Brest) was nice. It wasn’t as crunchy as I expected, but it sort of ate like a jelly donut crepe. Very tasty.
Lastly, the black and white mousse cake was incredible. Rich, flavorful, well-balanced, and a really good portion size if you want to share a dessert. If I was more of a chocolate lover, this would have been my favorite dessert.
Seafood Selection: 8
There’s a bunch of nice looking seafood selections here. We only ate the shrimp, but based on how well the other stuff came out, I can confidently say that the seafood here will be good. Next time.
Service: 10
Amazing. One of my friends has an egg yolk allergy, and the staff was really considerate, knowledgeable and friendly when we were trying to navigate the menu and ask about special preparations. They were also really attentive, they knew their meats and cuts, and they were super generous, giving us a few items on the house as compliments of the chef. The only negative was they forgot a potato item that we ordered. We had plenty to eat, though, and didn’t even realize it until after we left.
Ambiance: 9
Despite being upstairs in the Times Square area, this place really transports you. It’s a mix of art deco, mid century modern and dark/dim classy. I really like the space, and I’ll definitely be back for more.
I pulled up on this Bushwick spot before hitting Electric Wednesday nearby at KCBC.
I went with their $11 special; three carnitas tacos.
These were really great. They’re served sort of gringo style, meaning they have lettuce, tomato and sour cream on them. I’m totally fine with that!
I think the tortillas could spend a bit more time getting toasted on the flat top, and the carnitas could have more variable chunks in the mix. The meat almost seemed more like pulled pork that had been crisped up a little bit on the plancha, but really no complaints about that at all.
I will definitely go back here and try more!
TORTILLERIA MEXICANA LOS HERMANOS
271 Starr St.
Brooklyn, NY 11237
The rib eye with bone marrow and fried chives packs a ton of flavor. I’m not sure if there’s a lot of aged flavor happening, but we both enjoyed this steak.
Choice of Cuts & Quality Available: 8
There are a few large format steaks and a few single portion steaks available on the menu here. I’m not really sure this place can be called a full blown steakhouse, but there is enough beef on the menu to justify the categorization.
Portion Size & Plating: 8
Portions are great here. The rib eye is 16oz, off the bone, which is pretty good. The only drawback is that the steak is skinny, and you run the risk of overcooking if you want a really good char on the outside. There was some gristle that I didn’t eat, but over all the fat was nice and tasty too.
Price: 7
The pricing here is scary. $85 for the 16oz rib eye seemd crazy to me. However, there are other places around the menu that are more budget friendly, and since this place is in the heart of midtown, you sort of have to expect crazy pricing.
Bar: 8
This place has a gorgeous bar at the entrance, and they mix up some great cocktails.
Specials and Other Meats: 7
The move here for “other meats” is to go with the tacos. We tried the carnitas, because we saw that there were two in the order; one for each of us.
The braised pork shank was good, but the sauce was slightly bland. I was expected a deeper, more earthy punch with heat.
Apps, Sides & Desserts: 9
We loved the roasted truffle cauliflower app. It packed a ton of flavor and was huge. This could be a meal if you’re going veg.
I already mentioned the tacos above, which we had an an appetizer; and below in the seafood section I will touch on the octopus chicharrones.
The grilled mango dessert was unique and light, just what we wanted to close out the meal.
Seafood Selection: 8
There’s a nice selection of fish here. We tried the octopus chicharrones with our appetizers, and the meat was tender inside and crisp outside. Very nicely cooked.
Service: 10
Service was excellent here, as is expected when considering the location and the price. The chips and sauces that come to the table here on the house are fantastic.
Since we were celebrating a special occasion, they even gave us each a little passionfruit frozen martini on the house. Awesome!
Ambiance: 9
This place is absolutely gorgeous inside. It’s big, it smells good, and it isn’t too loud either. I would definitely go back to try more of the menu – especially the steak tacos.
My wife and I popped in here because we heard good things. We started with some nice cocktails, and a beautiful bread basket with focaccia and basil-infused olive oil.
Then moved on to the roasted octopus and crispy artichokes.
Both of these were great, and the octopus came with a few pieces of crispy artichoke as well. We were glad that we ordered the artichoke side dish for some extra though. They were delicious! Also the cauliflower puree underneath the octopus was so flavorful. I could eat that like a dip all day!
In the middle course, we had the dinner special of truffle pappardelle with chicken milanese, as well as the fusili with red pesto and straciatella.
Both of these were expertly seasoned and beautifully plated. We really enjoyed these. The red pesto was a unique mix of walnuts and red pepper that I had never had before. The Milanese was fried super crisp and pounded super thin. Perfect.
For the main course, we had their crispy pork shoulder with fennel and arugula salad. At $22 this is an absolute steal.
The skin was perfectly crisp, covering a layer of deliciously sticky fat and tender, juicy braised pork. Amazing.
For dessert, we had their tiramisu. This was really nice as well.
We love this place, and we can’t wait to go back! We also noticed that they have some excellent buy-one get-one free deals on Uber Eats. Needless to say, we will definitely be going back and also ordering delivery.
This place was pretty great. I didn’t take any photos, so you’ll just have to check out the video to see what we had. The best items were the shellfish, the fishballs, and the sliced meats like lamb, rib eye and pork belly.
Definitely give this place a shot! It was really a great deal at just about $100 for two people including drinks!
GANGNAM HOT POT
125 Division St Suite B
New York, NY 10002
