All posts by Johnny Prime

Latin/Mexican & Caribbean, Queens, Restaurant Reviews

Queens Taco Crawl

September 4, 2024 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

First, check out my episode of Around the Hood in 8 Minutes HERE:

We hit six or seven spots on this awesome food crawl through Queens. Let me hit them one by one.

Taqueria Santa Fe

This first spot ended up being my favorite. The al pastor taco stood out. Crispy, yet juicy. Well seasoned, great toppings. The only thing to make it better would be a more toasted tortilla, like Mr. Burrito had.

Mr. Burrito Loco

The carnitas taco here took third place, but the tortilla shells were the best of the day. Great spot! I want to try the crispy fish tacos next, and, of course, a burrito!

El Sabor Del Rancho

The carnitas taco here took second place. All it needed was a little hit of salt and it would have been a contender for first place!

Al Chile Cafe

The al pastor here was a bit more saucy than other spots, so that made for a juicier and more flavorful bite, generally. The only down side was that there were a few bites with rubbery/chewy sinew that I had to spit out. Bonus here because they give you roasted onions and jalapenos on the side!

La Esquina Del Camaron Mexicano

This place was fun! Big portion for $17, mixed octopus and shrimp. Bring vodka with you to make a Bloody Mary with the leftover sauce/juice at the end. Or tequila for a Bloody Maria!

Lemon Ice King of Corona

An absolute classic. I got the lemon, and I loved it.

TAQUERIA SANTA FE
47-08 47th Ave.
Woodside, NY 11377

MR. BURRITO LOCO
4320 Greenpoint Ave.
Sunnyside, NY 11104

EL SABOR DEL RANCHO
41-21 58th St.
Woodside, NY 11377

AL CHILE CAFE
3809 69th St.
Woodside, NY 11377

LA ESQUINA DEL CAMARON MEXICO
80-02 Roosevelt Ave.
Jackson Heights, NY 11372

THE LEMON ICE KING OF CORONA
52-02 108th St.
Corona, NY 11368

East Village, Flash Deals, Japanese, Restaurant Reviews

Shiso

September 2, 2024 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

First, check out my Ride & Review HERE:

My wife picked up a Pulsd deal for this joint, which was $99 for two 18-course omakase dinners, including two shots of sake each. That’s not a bad deal!

My favorite pieces were the various jack fish (amberjack, strip jack), the ebi shrimp with tobiko, and the uni. The squid was nice too.

The most unique piece (and really delicious too) was the eel with banana! So different. I really liked that.

Service was a bit wonky, because we got started at a different time than others who were late for their reservations, and one couple was doing a different coursing than the rest of us. As a result there was a little mix up where we received our dessert before the final piece of sushi (uni), and our sushi plate and chopsticks were already cleared. But everyone was really nice, and I think the Pulsd deal was worth it. I might not go otherwise, since the regular price is a bit steep for what you get. Also… there was no shiso served at this restaurant named Shiso.

SHISO
214 E 9th St.
New York, NY 10003

Lower East Side/Chinatown, Pho, Restaurant Reviews, Vietnamese

Pho Ga Vang

September 1, 2024 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

First, check out my Ride & Review HERE:

My wife and I tried four items here. We would have tried more, but a few things were not yet available (they just opened).

The pork belly was thinly sliced and really delicious. The rice quality here is top notch as well.

I really enjoyed the egg rolls as well.

We tried two soups: the chicken pho and beef pho.

Both were good. My wife preferred the beef over the chicken, and I was the reverse.

My wife makes both better at home, but this place is good for the price, I think it’s better than a lot of the other spots in Chinatown in the same price range. We will definitely be back to try more items when they are fully rolling.

PHO GA VANG
30 Market St.
New York, NY 10002

Burgers, Lower East Side/Chinatown, Restaurant Reviews, Spanish

Eel Bar

August 30, 2024 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

First, check out my Ride & Review HERE:

This joint, run by the same folks as Cervos, just opened nearby. My wife and I tried five items:

Squid Pintxos

These were awesome. I would get them again and again. I only wish there was more on the plate! Perfectly fried and dressed, and really nice toasty bread underneath. I was transported back to San Sebastian.

Fried Mussels

I would pass on these. They tasted like canned or tinned mussels that were breaded and fried. A bit too potent. I’m curious if they might be better on another night. Perhaps just a funky batch?

White Shrimp

Best item of the night. These were perfectly cooked and dressed in a deliciously light and garlicky tomato sauce and drizzled with olive oil. Make sure you ask for extra sourdough to soak up the sauce!

Rainbow Trout

I was surprised that this was a whole fish (deboned)! It was really light but flavorful. I would get it again.

Burger

Yes – that burger has fried anchovies on it. It wasn’t as nasty as I expected. It was actually tasty, in a way. The roquefort lessened the fishy flavor, but it did feel like I was eating a burger on the seaside. Nice medium rare temp with a good crust too. I probably wouldn’t get it again, but I’m glad I tried it.

We will definitely be back to try more items! FYI: There is no eel on the menu, at all.

EEL BAR
252 Broome St.
New York, NY 10002

American, Latin/Mexican & Caribbean, Lower East Side/Chinatown, Restaurant Reviews, West Village

Red Lion & El Cabron Taqueria

August 20, 2024 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

Red Lion is a Bleecker Street bar that’s been around forever. They started offering 50-cent wings on Wednesdays, so me and some buddies took our Zooz bikes out for a ride to check them out.

The wings were pretty good! The best flavor was hot – way better than mild, garlic parm or bbq.

The tacos joint was great. Nice budget friendly tacos at under $5 each, and on Tuesdays they are even cheaper for “Taco Tuesday.”

Here’s a video of the food:

At the end, you can see us grabbing some boilermakers at 169 Bar. $6 beer and a shot!

RED LION
151 Bleecker St.
New York, NY 10012

EL CABRON TAQUERIA
26 Essex St.
New York, NY 10002

Lower East Side/Chinatown, Other, Restaurant Reviews

87 Ludlow

August 18, 2024 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

87 Ludlow is a relatively new bar and restaurant that offers up an ice happy hour, chock full of nice cocktails and interesting Filipino food.

My wife and I stopped in for a quick meal last week. Here’s what we got:

Oyster Sisig, which I didn’t get a photo of, but you can see a bit of it in the beginning of this video here (my wife is mixing the quail egg into it):

The Isaw (crispy pork intestines) was excellent!

I think the penang curry mussels were my favoritie though:

We also enjoyed the crispy pork knuckle.

And last, the uni noodles:

87 LUDLOW
87 Ludlow St.
New York, NY 10002

Brooklyn, Pizza

L&B Spumoni Gardens

August 18, 2024 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

I finally made it over to L&B Spumoni Gardens out near Coney Island. My buddy and I took a ride out on our Zooz bikes and feasted.

https://youtube.com/shorts/opi2NhAAC5Q

I had the famous upside down Sicilian slice, which is unique because the cheese is under the sauce, directly on the dough.

This was awesome, and it definitely lived up to the hype. The dough itself was a little dense, but not enough to feel very heavy. It had a nice crisp on the outside. I also thought $4 was high, but not out of step with what other popular pizza joints are charging for a regular slice these days. And a Sicilian slice always feels more substantial than a regular slice.

The regular slice was … well … regular. You could get something on par with this at almost any NYC slice joint in town.

That said, it was still good to above average.

For dessert, the classic spumoni, of course. I got the small size for $5, which consists of chocolate, pistachio and cherry flavors.

This place is iconic, and an absolutely legendary NYC institution. I highly recommend a visit, especially on a nice summer day when you can sit outside.

L&B SPUMONI GARDENS
2725 86th St.
Brooklyn, NY 11223

Chinese, Lower East Side/Chinatown, Restaurant Reviews, Vietnamese

Bo Ky

August 18, 2024 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

Bo Ky is a mixed Vietnamese pho and Chinese restaurant in Chinatown that’s been around for a long ass time.

I went in last weekend with my wife, who hadn’t been there since college, and we tried some stuff.

I ordered the beef belly soup, which was really good with a hit of spice.

My wife ordered a Cambodian style hu teiu soup that had mixed seafood and pork in it. This was more like a consomme and had some sweetness to it.

We also shared a fried shrimp roll on the side. This reminded me of shrimp toast.

Nice spot! I would go back.

BO KY
80 Bayard St.
New York, NY 10013

Japanese, Nolita/Soho, Restaurant Week

Kintsugi

August 14, 2024 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

First, check out my Ride & Review video HERE:

Kintsugi was offering a nice discounted, pre-paid omakase for restaurant week, so my wife jumped on the deal.

We really enjoyed this spot, but I think the best item of the meal was the add-on uni hand roll that we did at the end of the tasting. It was loaded with really nice uni, but expensive at $30 each. The regular uni piece was pretty good too.