I recently received an email from the gent who co-created The SteakAger. He offered to send me a unit to review here on the site. I had no idea what the product was until I clicked over to their website to check it out. It’s an in-fridge box for dry-aging steaks at home!!! Check out their video:
Okay so just what is aged beef and dry-aging? I have a nice article about all that HERE, but the quick and dirty summary is that aging is a way to concentrate and intensify beef flavor and create a more tender steak.
I have had some limited experience dry-aging steaks with dry aging bags in the past, and the results were, surprisingly, very good! Since then, I have been secretly trying to figure out a way to fit a dedicated dry-aging fridge in our small NYC apartment. Needless to say, I was not excited about using more cubic footage for food stuff. In addition to our fridge, we have a drop-freezer, a baking work bench, and extra shelving for all of our cooking dedications. So The SteakAger was perfect for us; it goes right into the fridge! Most days the fridge is pretty empty anyway. We eat out a lot, as you can imagine, since NYC is pretty abundant with awesome restaurants. I do, however, like to cook steaks at home on occasion, to save a little dough here and there.
Anyway, my package arrived and I rushed home to get it before the package room in our building closed for the night. Here are some unboxing photos:
AC power and extension cable, along with other materials:
Keys are in there so you can get an idea of the sizing:
Charcoal pad slips into air passage:
Salt goes into the burlap bag and then gets placed at the bottom of the SteakAger, inside the box:
Sizing in my fridge:
It also fits if I turn it sideways, and it even has a viewing window on the side as well. Awesome! This orientation leaves me with a bit more space in the fridge.
So the way this works, is you connect an extension wire to the back of The SteakAger, which you can see above on the upper left portion of the unit. You then snake that through the door hinge of the fridge and plug it into a socket behind the fridge. I was apprehensive at first, wondering whether the wire coming out of the fridge would mess with my fridge’s efficiency, but it does not. The seal is still tight, and everything in the fridge is still nice and cold.
So after monitoring my local grocery stores and butchers, I found a good sale on beef. I picked up about 7lbs of top sirloin and popped it into The Steak Ager.
I adjusted my fridge setting down a bit to keep the temperature slightly colder than usual, at about 37 degrees. Then came the hard part: waiting… I started this baby on April 11th, 2016. Here’s a peek at it after 34 days in the box:
As you can see, a nice dark bark formed around the outside. I carved that off and portioned the meat into two top sirloin cap filets (aka Culotte), and two top sirloin steaks.
Here’s a time-lapse video of me doing that:
Right away, I cooked up a culotte. I seasoned it with salt, pepper and garlic powder, and seared it in a cast iron skillet with some butter.
I’m really happy with this product. It costs less than $250 with shipping. That’s a great deal for the ability to access dry-aged beef any time you want from your own fridge. I highly recommend this product to all beef aficionados.
UPDATE: Standalone Unit – Master 45 Series. AMAZING!
Bohemian is a dine-by-referral-only joint on Great Jones Street that’s nestled in the back of a high-end butcher shop called Japan Premium Beef. My wife scored a referral to eat here through one of her friends, so we set up a meal with her sister and her sister’s husband to celebrate their anniversary and sample as much as we could fit in our stomachs.
We started with a bunch of cocktails, which are all really great and unique. We tried about seven or eight over the course of the meal. Here are a few pics of some of them:
They have a great selection of hard-to-find Japanese beers too:
Plates here are small and pricey, but very good. We started with this poke bowl that consisted of high grade tuna, soy, sesame and micro greens. Absolutely delicious and super fresh.
Next up was the wagyu short rib sashimi. This had great fat content and was super tender. Each piece gets topped with a little bit of wasabi and fried garlic slices.
This fois gras sushi with aged balsamic and sea salt was incredibly decadent, but pricey at $17 for the pair:
My favorite of the starter items were these wagyu beef tartare squares, served on blue cheese stuffed toasted grilled cheese. The cheese was mild and didn’t overwhelm the awesome flavors of the beef. Add a bit of dijon from the smear on the plate and you’re set.
This mac and cheese is served with a tomato butter toast that is out of this world. The mac itself is perfect in every way: creamy, smooth and topped with a crunch.
This slab of bacon was a bit chewy in the part that I had. My wife had a better experience with her piece. The good bits were super tasty though, so maybe the slab itself was just a little inconsistent.
And why not have a pair of wagyu mini burgers with pecorino? They were perfectly cooked to medium rare, and served with some pickles for good measure.
The miso black cod was really nicely cooked, but a bit on the small side in terms of portion.
We regretted not going with the branzino when we saw that it was a beautifully presented whole fish and smelled like charcoal. But I wasn’t too worried because we were about to eat some fantastic wagyu beef. We started with a trio of beef (3.5oz each) that contained flatiron steak, culotte (top sirloin cap) and skirt. We liked them from best to worst in that order. I’ll review them now in the same order.
The flatiron was buttery and tender, cooked perfectly to medium rare and came in, for me, at an easy 9/10 for flavor.
The culotte was similarly buttery, but a bit tougher in texture. It reminded me of strip loin, but a little less grainy. 7/10.
I wish I had used a knife to cut these skirt steak bits a little smaller because they were too tough in the size that was served to us. They were cooked perfectly, but just lacked a bit on the flavor and texture fronts. 6/10.
All of the beef was served with a small tray of sea salt that you could use to season as you saw fit. This was key, because otherwise the cuts were all a little too bland.
The last cut of beef we tries was a 10oz hanger steak. This was super tender and extremely delicious, and cooked absolutely perfectly with a great crust and a bright pinkish red center. 10/10. It was served on a mountain of potatoes that seemed to have been baked first, and then fried to a golden crisp on the outside. Awesome.
Dessert was pretty nice too. We tried two ice creams: ricotta and strawberry balsamic. The strawberry was tart, but really nicely balanced between the sweet aspect of it. It ate more like a sorbet at times. The ricotta was light and fluffy, more like frozen cheese or a semifreddo. The ricotta cheese flavor was definitely prominent. What was best was mixing these two flavors in each bite. It was like eating a delicious frozen strawberry cheesecake.
Sorry for the shitty pics. At this point the lighting changed drastically in the joint, and I didn’t bother to fix my settings.
We also tried the trio dessert sampler, which consisted of creme brulee, matcha green tie cake and cheesecake.
My favorite of the three was the creme brulee. It was really smooth and creamy.
I met up here with two friends for a meal after hearing a lot of good reviews about the joint. I wasn’t really sure I should call this place a steakhouse, and when I spoke with owner John McDonald he confirmed my thoughts. The idea, according to John, it seems, is not to pigeon hole the place as being a traditional steakhouse (usually just attracting an all male crowd, for the most part), but, rather, a meat-centric restaurant with a menu that appeals to all kinds of diners. Not only that, but he and his business partner/chef Josh Capon have endeavored to put together a unique menu, with cuts that you don’t often see in other restaurants, if ever. Other restaurants they are involved with include Lure Fishbar, Burger & Barrel Winepub and El Toro Blanco.
Given the above discussion about the term “steakhouse,” I decided not to rate this joint on my traditional 100-point scoring system (though I will include it on the list for convenience purposes). Instead, I will respect the owner’s concept and write it up like I do other restaurants. It just happens to be a wonderful meatopia!
The bar is a nice marble stretch, wide, lots of room, and has high-top seating behind, along the street. Easily a fun place to hang out. There’s also some lounge seating and regular tables beside it. This is a neat spot because every so often you can steal a glance into the kitchen through the swinging door next to the bar. There’s plenty of room to walk in and eat in the bar/lounge area if you can’t score a rez in the main dining room; just try to beat the crowd.
I started with a “Sagely Seventy-Five,” which was a really refreshing gin drink with lime, pear bitters and garnished with a sage leaf. No: I did not grow a vagina. I actually love gin drinks, mixed or straight up. It smelled and tasted exactly how I expected. The bartender, Alison, did a great job with the mix too.
I swiped a taste of my buddy’s “Loneliest Monk” as well, which was a really nice rye, chartreuse, amaro and orange bitters concoction. Very classy.
The bar, by the way, was a warm and comfortable place. Lots of elbow room too, which is nice. The bartenders and patrons were all very sociable. In fact, we had the good fortune of sitting next to a gent who is close friends with Chef Josh, so he gave us some pointers about what to get from the menu.
After our cocktails, we took a seat at a table next to the bar, in the lounge. Our waitress, Melanie, had a really deep knowledge and appreciation for beer. She made some excellent suggestions throughout the meal, the best of which, I thought, was this really effervescent Belgian beer that packed a ton of flavor without being hoppy or bitter. I fucking hate IPA shit, so this was excellent for me:
We then had the great pleasure of meeting the man of the hour, Chef Josh Capon. He was a really fun, down-to-earth guy, cracking jokes with us, being vulgar and ridiculous (like we are), but at the same time making us feel not only welcome, but like we were kings. He was awesome: warm, friendly, easy to talk to, and it felt like we’ve known him forever. Check out this incredible display of meats he brought to the table, explaining each cut and how they are prepared:
The first thing to come out was a plate of warm, sliced rosemary focaccia and some slices of soppressata. The bread was savory and herby, and the meat was soft and melty. I thought it was very cool and thoughtful that they put enough for each of us to try our own: three slices of each. That kind of attention to the diners does not go unnoticed by me. You’ll see the same thing was done for other dishes.
Next was a little plate of bone marrow and oxtail rice balls: again one for each of us. These are called “arancini,” and they were spiced with lemon zest. I think at some point “put my balls in your mouth” was uttered by at least one of us, if not Chef Josh. The man had us cracking up hysterically at the table with his wit and outgoing personality. These were amazing little bites, by the way. Flash freeze these and put them on the shelves of stores in the frozen food section and you could make a killing!
One of my buddies was too slow in putting Josh’s rice ball into his mouth, so there was a little bit of a threat happening with a tomahawk chop:
Next, Josh brought out a sample of the crispy polenta for us to try. I enjoyed this. It had a nice texture with bold earthy flavors from the mushroom and shaved cheese on top.
I think the star of the amuses (if you can call them that), was the dry aged wagyu meatball. When explaining it to us, we were all blown away, jaws dropped and salivating like wolves at the scent of fresh blood. I think Josh even said something like, “Yeah, it’s great. Basically, if you don’t like this meatball, then you can go fuck yourself.” HAHA! And he’s absolutely right. If you go to this restaurant and you try this meatball and DON’T like it, then I will say you can go fuck yourself. You don’t need to hear it from the man himself; you can take my word on it. It is amazing. Everything from the meat itself, to the consistency of the ball, to the herbs folded in, and to the sauce were all done with unrivaled culinary prowess. And I’m a hard man to please when it comes to meatballs!
Okay so now let me tell you what we actually ordered for the apps. Yeah: all that stuff above was just to wet our beaks! Wait – I just typed out “wet our beaks.” Who do I think we are, a bunch of fuckin’ Don Fanuccis from The Godfather?!??
Anyway, we started with the broiled oysters with garlic, romano cheese, breadcrumbs and parsley. Delicious! But watch your mouth because these muthafuckas are HOT! I typically don’t like cooked oysters, but these were done really nicely. They were briny and soft, properly cooked, yet crisp from the breadcrumbs. A great texture contrast.
Next app: fois gras and chicken liver parfait. This was so rich and decadent, yet not heavy or filling. It was served with an onion jam and spread across toasted brioche. Chef Josh even spread the delicious shit on our bread for us when he served it. Amazing service! This is a must-try dish if you are into this sort of thing. All three of us absolutely loved it.
Our third and final app was the Chinese BBQ pork belly lettuce wraps. Fresh, savory, light, bright and packed with porky goodness. The touch of acidic pickled veggies on the side, fresh cilantro and lime, and sliced chili peppers really made these bitches pop. So simple, yet so complex: a conundrum.
For our mains, my bitch-ass friends wanted to share two entrees rather than three. Whatever. We ordered the Bowery Steak, which is the first time I have ever seen anything like it on a menu. It’s essentially a pinwheel-wrapped fat cap from a rib eye, fashioned into a circle/spiral that’s roughly 10oz, if I had to guess, trussed, and cooked like a proper cut of steak. They serve it on top of creamy whipped potatoes, and top it with a chimichurri-like salsa verde.
The owner, John, explained to me how the dish was conceptualized one night when coming home from a wedding that he and Josh had attended. They prepped that night, and the next day they brought it to life. Bravo, gents. You’ve made me very happy. This steak was fantastic, unique, innovative, tasty and perfectly cooked. Medium rare inside with a nice crust on the edges. Mmm.
We also tried the cheeseburger, which is said to be made with 40-day dry-aged beef. This baby has been gaining some serious notoriety in burger circles, so I was excited to try it. It comes topped with griddled onions, raclette cheese and tomato aioli.
Unfortunately, splitting it three ways left me wanting more, much more. It’s tough to make a solid review off just a bite or two. I did notice, though, that it was a bit salty, and could certainly have benefited from a cool, crunch element like lettuce. Here’s my pathetically small third of a burger. Thanks boys… Next time I’m ordering my own.
The burger also came with fries, and a little tray of pickled tomato, okra and cucumber. The fries were really nice. Beautiful golden brown, crispy, herby and flavorful. I suppose we should have topped the burger with some of the pickles to get that needed crunch element, but digging into them on the side was nice too.
We also took down an order of garlic spinach. This was really flavorful without being too overpowering on the garlic angle. Unlike typical sauteed spinach items, this wasn’t laden with oil either. It was fresh and light. Definitely a good choice.
We were going to skip dessert, but Chef Josh brought out a nice trio of dolce de leche ice cream balls. This was a nice snack to take in with a glass of amaro, as we did.
That about does it. If you’re wondering what the damage was, it really wasn’t too bad at all, especially given all the samples that Chef Josh brought out to the table for us to try. Here’s Sir William Price, in all his glory. Very fair, if you ask me.
On a second visit, I had the pleasure of meeting Chef Paul, who fired up this amazing 38oz cote de boeuf, which I think is probably the best large-format rib eye I’ve ever had in my life. It had a nice seasoned crust that crisped up nice under the broiler. Also – unlike most thick cuts of beef, it wasn’t overcooked on the outside and undercooked on the inside. it was just right. A perfect medium rare.
Alright so I am forcing this into the review system despite the fact that they don’t claim to be a “steakhouse.” Let’s be honest – this shit is a steak joint!
The Charlie Bird restaurant team recently opened this joint, and since opening it has gotten a lot of hype and attention from the food fanatic community. Namely, for the pizza and the pasta.
My wife and I came here with a crew of other food instagrammers so that we could try a lot of stuff and snap a bunch of pretty pictures.
The menu isn’t too extensive, which I liked. It listed a bunch of eye catching stuff that I wanted to try. I was also happy to see escarole make an appearance here in the greens section (though I didn’t get to try it out).
We tried three starters: pane carasau, cuttlefish and sugar snap peas. All were good, but slightly small in terms of portion size for the price point. While this is a “no tipping” restaurant and one should expect higher pricing, I felt that they went a bit too far. Based on my accounting of things, I’d say they are charging about 40-50% more per item. If you figure a 20% tip into the math, then you’re still overpaying by 20-30%, depending on the particular item in question. So while the idea of a no tipping restaurant may seem great, the real loser is the customer, who can no longer adjust their tip downward for low food quality or poor service. Our waiter was kind of a dick, and I wasn’t super impressed with the food either. As such, I felt like I over-paid for several aspects of the meal.
The pane carasau is essentially what you might get for free in a bread basket at a high end Italian joint. It was really just thin, crispy bread chips with a small dollop of delicious, warm honey and black pepper ricotta. $9.
The cuttlefish was steep at $18 for this plate:
The pickled peppers on top were a nice hit of heat, and it was cooked nicely in terms of texture, with only a slight bit of it being, perhaps, a bit overcooked and chewy. It tasted clean, though, and the charcoal grilling method added a nice earthy ash flavor to it.
The snap pea dish with watercress and cream was probably the best of the three, but, again, extremely overpriced at $17.
The peas carried a nice sweetness, but I was hoping for more cream.
Now for the pizza (category 1: full pies only, no slices available). We tried two pies: little neck clam and the special pizza of the day, which was a morel mushroom and cheese pie. The clam pie had good flavor, but it felt a little sparse on the actual clams and toppings. That means the diner feels ripped off when paying $24 for six small slices. That’s a hell of a profit margin when you think about how cheap it is to make this shit!
The morel pizza could have used more toppings a bit closer to the edge of the crust. That wasted real estate also translates to the feeling of being ripped off when the bill comes. This was, however, the better of the two pies, in my opinion. The morels had a meaty quality to them, and a good amount of earthiness.
On the pasta angle, we went with the baby goat pappardelle. This was a delicious dish. The meat was very tender, and the pasta was well dressed with sauce. The texture of the pasta was just right. While the portion size felt a little bit small for $23, I didn’t mind as much because it was top notch quality.
For the meats, we tried two dishes: pork shank for two, and dry aged rib eye for two. Let’s start with the pork.
This was delicious. While a bit small for two, the price of $48 wasn’t too bad. Well, I mean, when you compare it to the outstanding crackling pork shank with firecracker apple sauce at Maloney & Porcelli, which only costs $36 and can feed two people with extra to bring home, then, yeah, it’s way overpriced here. But given all else on the menu, I felt this was probably the best bargain. The flavors were outstanding and it had hints of sausage spice from the fennel and rosemary. This is a must-order if you decide to come here.
You can pass on the rib eye, however. It definitely delivered on the dry-aged flavor, but it was very small for two people to share at $125. If I had to guess, I’d say this was about 22oz on the bone. Maybe 24oz. For that size steak at a steakhouse, you pay between $50 and $60. So here, I would have expected to pay about $75 to account for the tip being included. At $125, we are looking at a massive fucking mark-up.
Contrast this with the best rib eye in Manhattan over at Osteria Morini, just around the corner, which offers a steak that’s more than twice the size of this thing at 52oz, with 120 days of dry-aging flavor, and accompanied by two generously-sized sides for just $145. Uhh… no brainer. Anyway, this steak had a bit of chew to it. Not as tender as we had hoped and expected from dry-aging.
It was cooked perfectly to medium rare, and it had a great crust on the outside. The crispy meat surrounding the bone was excellent as well. However there was no rib cap to speak of. Perhaps it was butchered off for some other use. 7/10.
The steak came with this nice roasted onion:
And something came with this side of citrus-dressed arugula:
But the highlight of the night, aside from the pork shank, was seeing Michael J. Fox and Dennis Leary in the dining room, eating together with their wives.
To sum up: skip this place unless you are focused on the pork shank. If that’s not your thing, then stick with the pizza and pasta, but I, personally, would still go elsewhere for those even though both were pretty tasty.
By now many of you have navigated to my guide to regional American BBQ styles. But there’s so much more to know about BBQ, even more than what I provided about the meats and an overview of the regional techniques.
For example, one could easily spend years just learning about and perfecting the various side items that go along with American BBQ – baked beans, pickles, corn bread, grits, collared greens and what have you. But those are just the basic ones. What about molasses cake, or ginger cake? Well, in my quest to dig deeper into the world of BBQ, I came across a really informative, useful and practical book.
Be The BBQ Pitmaster, by Will Budiaman, hit me with a thorough history of American BBQ, detailed discussions of the various regional techniques (well beyond what I covered in my guide), tips for wood selection, smoking instructions, analyses of various types of smokers, an exacting survey of the various ingredients and spices involved in BBQ, and even recipes from well known pitmasters in each region. I actually met one of those pitmasters last year at Meatopia (Tyson Ho, of Arrogant Swine), so I can personally vouch for the expertise that’s captured within the book.
It’s seriously a one-stop-shop for all your BBQ research and cooking application needs. The book obviously comes chock full of delicious-looking photos and recipes, but it’s also intuitively laid out and presented in such a manner that keeps the reader constantly engaged from cover to cover.
It starts with an overview of BBQ, and then dives deep into each regional style, with chapters neatly organized accordingly. Recipes are included that correspond to each region within these chapters. The book is an invaluable resource and recipe guide that will benefit both the novice and the seasoned smoker alike. And while I am unable to keep and maintain a smoker here in my microscopic NYC apartment, I will certainly be tackling some of the other recipes within the book.
This book is a seriously informative food guide. That’s why I felt compelled to write a review about it here for you meat mavens. I feel like, since you guys like this blog, then you’ll probably like this book.
Check it out. It’s available in both ebook and physical formats:
Be the BBQ Pitmaster: A Regional Smoker Cookbook Celebrating America’s Best Barbecue By Will Budiaman
Sonoma Press, May 2, 2016 Paperback: $14.95 (250 pages) Kindle: $6.99
Last year, my buddy and I came up with a concept to rally together NYC’s classiest and most well-dressed folks for a day of martini drinking and fancy-pants conversation. It was a blast!
If you can’t tell, Tux-Con is meant to be NYC’s classy, warm-weather answer to Santa-Con. Think of it like Bruce Wayne throwing a block party / cocktail crawl. This is open invite, so you are all welcome to join us. We are going to start at the Loeb Boat House in Central Park, hit a few other joints along the way with plenty of photos, and then circle back up to possibly end at The Mandarin Oriental. Everything will be within walking distance. The date is this Saturday, April 30th 2016, with a rain date of Saturday, May 14th. Men wear tuxes, black suits, fancy pinstriped attire, etc. Women wear gowns, dresses, etc. If you’re interested, check out the website for updates, or follow us on Facebook. This shit is going to be legit!
Keep an eye out for the invite cards too. We’ll be passing them around any chance we can get.
My wife and I came here for our anniversary before catching a play at Lincoln Center. They had a great looking “early bird” price fix menu, and a solid looking selection of cuts on the regular menu. Check out the verdict below:
Flavor: 9
I ordered the rib eye from the dinner menu.
It had a great seared crust on the outside, and a good sized fat cap around the edge. The kitchen prepared this thing spot on to medium rare, cooked perfectly.
My wife went with the price fix menu deal, and chose the hanger steak. This, too, was super tender and cooked perfectly.
This was pretty big for a $39 price fix deal, and it came with an app, a side and a dessert. If I had to guess, I’d say this was about 12-14oz. Great seasoning and crust on the outside. These guys really know what they’re doing in the kitchen.
Here’s the porterhouse, which I had on a later, comped visit. 8/10
Choice of Cuts & Quality Available: 9
In addition to the rib eye and the hanger, they also offer two sizes of filet, two different strips, and varying sizes of porterhouse. Excellent showing, and most steaks are prime and dry aged.
Portion Size & Plating: 8
Portions are generous here. The hanger was a big size, and the rib eye felt right for the price. Plating is simple, nothing too fancy.
Price: 9
The prices here are comparable to midtown steakhouses, which can get steep at times, but I feel like here you are getting your money’s worth. Not to mention the price fix deal for $39 is awesome.
Bar: 9
While the location is somewhat tucked away just west of Amsterdam on 70th street, the bar here is really fantastic. It’s large and lounge-like, with high tops along the windows and a long, warm and inviting stretch of bar.
I’d definitely hang out here on a non-steak night. The cocktail menu is interesting as well, with unique twists on classic bar drinks.
Specials and Other Meats: 10
There’s a great selection of alternative meats here. If the standard cuts of beef aren’t your thing for some retarded reason, you can go with lamb, veal, pork or chicken, as well as braised short rib. Great selection, and with that kind of showing of meat, they don’t really need to offer any specials.
The chicken parm comes out pizza style. $40.
Apps, Sides & Desserts: 9
We started with some Bluepoint oysters and Canadian bacon; that’s the way any red-blooded American should begin a steak dinner.
The oysters were big, crisp and fresh. The bacon was perfectly cooked and seasoned. It went nicely with the steak sauce.
The waiter brought out some ravioli for us next, compliments of the house. Mushroom cream sauce. Very tasty.
For the sides, we tried both the creamed spinach and the truffle mac and cheese. Both were perfect. In fact, we actually finished both sides, which almost never happens. The spinach had that “creamless” texture that I love, and it packed a ton of flavor. The mac was nice and cheesy without being too heavy. The truffle flavor was definitely present and most welcomed.
For dessert, we tried the cheesecake, and the staff sent out a complimentary chocolate soufflé in honor of our anniversary.
I liked the cheesecake best, but the soufflé was very soft and moist inside. Nicely executed.
Seafood Selection: 8
There’s salmon, tuna, shrimp, swordfish, branzino, sea bass and lobster on the seafood entree menu. That’s amazing. While I can’t give full points here until I go back and try one or two of the seafood entrees, I can attest to the oysters being top notch.
Service: 10
The service here is incredible. Our waiter, Nol, was very attentive, made great suggestions, and was very nice and genuine. We were greeted immediately with some specially printed up menus that said “Happy Anniversary,” just because my wife made a notation on the OpenTable reservation.
And as you saw in the dessert section above, they comp’d a soufflé for us as well. Later on, when we got to talking more about steak, my website came up and it turns out that the manager, Bruno, knew of my endeavors here. Then even MORE stuff was comp’d.
I love it when that happens!
Another thing I’ll note here is the great table bread: fresh baked popovers that come out nice and warm, and with soft, spreadable butter. I love that shit!
Ambiance: 10
This joint is truly decked out from front to back, top to bottom. It has an intimate feeling with all the red coloring going on, and for even more intimacy there are some separate dining rooms of varying sizes. Great layout with different levels. Here’s a shot of the main dining room.
UPDATE 3/10/17 – GROUPON REVIEW
This is a pretty great deal. You get a bottle of wine, two apps, two entrees, two sides and two desserts for about $100.
The wine selection was from about three or four varietals per red or white. We went with a Malbec.
Not bad. Pretty smooth. Our apps were fried calamari and steak tartare. The calamari were lightly battered, super crisp and perfectly seasoned. Inside they were cooked just right.
The tartare was a bit too salty, but when you stacked it up onto the crostini with some of the dressed greens, it was cooled down a bit. If I had to guess, it was all filet mignon meat.
For our sides we went with the truffled creamed spinach again (but this time we didn’t detect any truffle flavor), and garlic and herb fries. They were pretty good, but I’ve definitely had better.
My steak was a petite filet mignon, about 8oz.
It was cooked to a nice medium rare, but for some reason it felt dry rather than juicy. It did have good flavor and a good crust though. 8/10.
The filet had nothing on my wife’s pork chops though.
The order came with two nice sized rib chops that were cooked perfectly through the center.
So juicy, so flavorful, and we couldn’t finish because each chop was about the size of my filet. Amazing deal.
Desserts were hit and miss. The cream puffs were a little bland and didn’t have too much flavor.
But the tiramisu was velvety smooth, rich with flavor and super soft.
LINCOLN SQUARE STEAK
208 West 70th Street
New York, NY 10023
Uncle Jack’s has three locations in New york. My buddy and I decided to give the midtown location a try. Overall the food was better than good. I’d definitely give another location a shot, especially since I was pretty hammered toward the end of the meal.
Flavor: 8
I had the ribeye (8/10), and my friend had the bone-in strip (7/10). Both were pretty good, though I liked mine better. There was a slightly marinated flavor to the meat that I wasn’t sure I liked too much, but the fat was good and melty, and there was nothing left on the bone when I was through with it. Can’t complain too much.
Choice of Cuts & Quality Available: 9
Uncle Jack’s has filet mignon in two sizes, a big ass ribeye, two sizes of strip, porterhouse for two or more, and a “Kobe” selection as well. Everything is USDA Prime, and dry-aged for 3-4 weeks. Top notch stuff.
Portion Size & Plating: 9
For the steak, the filet comes in puss-bag size (10oz) or awesome size (16oz). I must say, ordering a filet here is manly. That’s a full pound of no-waste beef. The ribeye is 30oz (bone-in), the strips are 16oz bone-in or 16oz boneless, and the porterhouses start at 48oz (24oz pp). Everything is pretty much on the large side here, which is good.
Price: 8 => 9 (see update below)
The price is a bit high, with the ribeye at $55, but this seems to becoming all too normal in the NYC steak world. Inflation is hitting the industry hard. Our total bill for a dozen oysters, the two steaks, two sides, and several martinis was $240. One great thing I noticed was that on Sundays they offer a $99 price fix lunch for two that comes with a shared caesar salad; crab cakes; choice of 10oz filet, 16oz strip, or a 2lb lobster; two sides; and dessert + coffee or tea. Freaking sweet!
Bar: 8
The bar is a little small; not the kind of place that will generate a crowd. But the bartenders are really nice, and they mix a good cold, crisp martini ($14). They offer a nice bar menu with things like “Kobe” meatball pops and “Kobe” sliders. A bit expensive, but it is nice to see the quality. They also have a pretty good single malt scotch selection.
Specials and Other Meats: 7
On special there were some appetizer items, and a veal steak. As mentioned earlier, they had “Kobe” offerings, which is fantastic (but be aware of the Kobe & Wagyu sham). This place doesn’t fuck around. On the entree menu there is NOTHING BUT BEEF (and lobster under surf & turf). Good for them, but not good for everyone. I like the boldness but I can’t give full points when the only thing regularly offered is beef.
Apps, Sides & Desserts: 9
We had a dozen Bluepoint oysters, and they were creamy, crisp, cold and refreshing. The creamed spinach was fantastic too – just right with the creamy and savory balance. We also had the sauteed mushrooms, which went really well with the spinach when you mixed them together. We skipped dessert.
Seafood Selection: 7
Uncle Jack’s has no real seafood entrees, aside from a surf and turf item. I am fine with that, but it’s a good thing I have balls between my legs, otherwise I might have wanted something more lame, like fish. For apps, they have the usual smattering of shellfish and seafood cocktails, but I can’t give a high review. See above. Without anything to offer, I can’t give full points, even though I dig their boldness for holding strictly to beef.
Service: 9 => 10 (see update below)
Our waiter was good – he knew his meat well. He talked about the need to cook ribeyes a little longer than strips, so that the fat has a chance to melt away a bit more. On the table we had a nice selection of warm breads and rolls. The butter was a bit hard though.
Ambiance: 9
Uncle Jack’s has a nice “exposed brick” look on the outer walls; elegant but classy and old fashioned looking. There’s a beautiful half-spiral stairway that winds up to a second floor when you first walk in, and it looks over the bar from the balcony railings. The downstairs has a patterned tin ceiling, and the upstairs has ornate molding and recessed trims with dark cherry and marble accents. They rock the traditional all-male wait staff with bow ties and vests, black and white. The crowd was slightly touristy based on the cougar count, and based on the fact that the older couple next to us was up from WV for a three-play weekend. Bathrooms were nice and clean, and smelled like apples and cinnamon due to a huge glass bucket of potpourri.
UPDATE 4/24/2016: Brunch
Uncle Jack’s offers an amazing brunch deal on Sundays for $34.95. You get unlimited bloodies, bellinis or mimosas, you get biscuits and popovers, a jar of ricotta and honey, and your choice between one of ten entrees.
If you’re not already full after those started, which you probably will be, the entrees are fucking dynamite. My wife went with chorizo, thick bacon, black beans, eggs and plantains.
My mom went with this baked eggs dish, which came with sausage and chorizo as well.
My dad had this burger, which comes with what I consider to be some of the best fries in town.
For an $8 upcharge, you can do the steak and eggs brunch, which is a nice 14oz strip steak that comes served in a skillet with potatoes, onions, spinach and eggs however you like.
This strip was an improvement over the one I tasted last time I was here. It was nice, juicy and flavorful. 8/10.
Given the amazing value that this brunch deal adds to the mix, I am bumping this score up by a point for price, from 8/10 to 9/10.
The service here is excellent too. Our waiter, Lenny, was great to converse with, whether it was about food in general or the latest TV show crazes. The manager, Wander, came to the table to check on us as well. He was very accommodating and even offered us a dessert on the house. We were so full by that time that we had to kindly pass. This place is a fantastic deal. I will definitely be back for brunch soon. There are five other things I wanted to try from the menu.
Chipping away at those items, my wife and I tried the house smoked salmon and the French toast bread pudding at the bar one afternoon. Richie, the bartender, was a total class act. Awesome barman, and I hope to get back soon.
My wife picked up a Living Social deal for this steakhouse that gave us $60 to spend on dinner. I think she may have paid something like $20, after applying some promo codes and other nonsense. I had never heard about this little joint until the deal, so the campaign is a success in terms of getting the word out about this place.
Let’s get into the “meat” of the review here:
UPDATE 4/20/16: I came in again for a press review. I’ve updated this review with italics on the newer-reviewed items. Since my first review, a new chef (Chef Charles) has taken the helm, and many new items grace the menu. The score, in total, has increased from 73 to 82. That’s a seriously great improvement!
Flavor: 8
I had the 18oz bone-in rib eye.
It wasn’t as tender or flavorful as some of the steaks I’ve been eating lately, although it was certainly cooked to a perfect medium rare. No question about it.
It was well rested, and had no bleed out. The texture was a little rubbery in parts, but the fat cap was good, and I ate everything except for a few bits of gristle.
The steak sauce went nicely with the few pieces of the seafood tower that were worth eating (see review below). It was less tomato and more hearty and brown, like an A1. I kinda liked it.
On a second visit for a press meal, the rib eye was listed at $58 and 22oz. I gave it a try. It was much more tender and juicy. It had some bleed out that wasn’t present last time, since this is grilled rather than seared in a pan (as you can see by the grill marks), but the flavors were a lot more robust and enjoyable. I bumped the score up a point from 7/10 to 8/10.
Choice of Cuts & Quality Available: 8
You’ve got porterhouse, filet, strip, rib eye and skirt on the menu here. Not a bad showing for a small joint.
This hit all the basics and added one or two flourishes for good measure. While the selection is there, however, the quality fell just a bit due to the flavor review. Kind of a bummer considering that this is apparently all prime beef.
On my second visit, the quality of the rib eye was improved. The cap was larger, and the meat was more tender and juicy. I increased the score here from a 7/10 to an 8/10.
Portion Size & Plating: 8
Portions are pretty good for the price, with the exception of the seafood tower (discussed below, but now removed from the menu). The plating is nice and has a modern yet classic, and modestly elegant presentation.
On the press visit, I noticed that the plating was markedly improved. Everything is beautiful to look at.
Price: 7
At $46, the rib eye seemed to be priced right for a smaller mom and pop type steakhouse, but I was a little bummed when it didn’t deliver the flavor I had hoped for. But that wasn’t really the issue in terms of price. For the steak, I didn’t feel ripped off. But the seafood tower “for two” was a complete waste of money at $62. The four shrimp were great, as well as the four oysters and four mussels. We ate those first. By time we got to the mushy, weird-flavored small lobster tail and mushy, shell-ridden crab meat, we figured it was sort of too late to send it back or complain on the spot. Had we tasted that stuff first, maybe we would have sent it back. The lobster and crab were both mushy and grainy, as if the texture of the meat had broken down somehow. Maybe it was old or not properly cleaned. Also, mussels are cheap – a few cents each at the most to purchase fresh. Seeing mussels in place of something nice like littleneck clams on a seafood tower like this is pretty much bullshit. FOUR???!? If this had a dozen mussels it would still be a fucking rip off. At $62 we felt completely taken when the “market price” bill came to the table. Not only was this the skimpiest seafood tower we have ever ordered, but it was probably the most expensive as well. A third complaint on price has to do with the cost of a glass of amaro. A full bottle of Amaro Nonino costs about $40, depending on where you purchase it. I noticed that the menu listed a glass of this average, common, easy to find amaro at $34. What the FUCK is going on here? It was priced higher than all of the scotches on the menu. Unbelievable. Either that’s a really bad typo, or someone has no idea of the actual value of this digestif. Fuckin’ $34… Anyway, I didn’t even order that but I felt compelled to discuss it. The overall take away for price here is that we felt like we overpaid even WITH the $60 off Living Social deal. Here’s the bill, before the $60 came off:
On the press visit, I noticed that the Amaro Nonino pricing was fixed, and the seafood tower had been pulled from the menu. WOW! I suddenly feel that all of my work here on the website actually matters. The people here at Village Prime must have actually read my review. I bumped the price score up from a 5/10 to a 7/10. The rib eye is still a bit overpriced at $58, but with a flavor score of 8/10 it isn’t criminal.
Bar: 8
There’s a small bar up by the street, with seating for about six people. There’s also some tables up there that are oriented to be somewhat part of the bar area. The wine list is extensive, there’s a good selection of beer, both in bottles and on tap, and they make some interesting cocktails. These were the “Meet Me Here” (lowball) and the “Fig Blossom” (martini glass) cocktails.
They also offer happy hour specials and dollar oysters until 7pm.
Specials and Other Meats: 8
In the back, There was a chalk board listing a bunch of specials. Some of the items on the board overlapped with the menu, or contained different information than what was on the menu, but the specials were mostly in the realm of apps, sides, drinks and non-steak entrees. For other meats, they offer veal and lamb in chop form.
This chalkboard is no longer featuring specials and cocktails. It now features a nice image of a cow with the various beef cuts outlined. As the old board contents were a source of confusion, I think this was a great change. Once the new menu is fully implemented, they can always go back to featured specials and menu items here. The score here increased from 7/10 to 8/10.
My wife tried the “duck two ways” this time around. The breast was a bit overcooked and under-seasoned for her liking, but the confit leg was very good. The slight dryness that was present in the leg was not taking away from the flavor or enjoyment.
Apps, Sides & Desserts: 9
This fire roasted octopus app was delicious. It was charred crispy on the outside, cleaned of all skin and suckers, and tender on the inside. This was probably the highlight of the meal. It was served on a bed of Mediterranean-spiced bean puree or a hummus-type of thing, with some pepper relish and micro greens. Very tasty.
We also tried the tartare trio, which came with small portions of beef, salmon and tuna tartares. The beef was elegantly served with a raw quail egg on top, ready to rock:
The flavor had a hint of mustard, but it wasn’t as successful as other beef tartare dishes I’ve had. Perhaps it needed a bit of cracked black pepper or salt.
The salmon was fresh, but didn’t jump out in terms of flavor.
The best of the three, surprisingly (for me, anyway), was the tuna tartare. It had a good texture and fresh flavor, expertly dressed.
Along with our steaks we had the creamed spinach. This was heavier on the cream than some recent steak joints I’ve been to, but it wasn’t overpowering. It also had a nice bread crumb topping to crisp it up a bit. That was a nice touch.
This banana bread pudding that we had for dessert was another highlight of the meal. It was nice and warm, with a scoop of ice cream on top and a drizzle of caramel.
On the second visit, the score increased here from a 7/10 to a 9/10. This time we tried some of the new items and apps that Chef Charles has improved upon. First was this crab cake:
It had a nice crisp all around, and was chock-full of crab meat. While not the lump style of meat (it was shredded), this cake had a ton of great flavor.
Next was this incredible beef tartare. This was a huge improvement over the beef tartare I tasted last time. It was dressed and chopped perfectly, and the quail egg added a great smooth and velvety fatness into the meat. This has to go down as one of the best tartares in the city.
We also tried this eggplant stack as an appetizer. It is currently on the entree menu, but it will be moving over to the small plates menu, which I think is a great fit for it. The eggplant is sliced super thin and crisped up like a potato chip. It is then layered and stacked with goat cheese and a fig marmalade. Absolutely awesome. My wife HATES eggplant and even she liked this dish. It was nicely balanced with that hit of sweetness from the marmalade and goat cheese. Wonderful.
The desserts were improved on the second time around too. While I tended to like the older banana bread pudding better, the new ginger bread and lemon curd pudding was super unique and offered a great and balanced contrast of flavors.
In addition, these tiny biegnets were a fun addition to the menu. They were filled with a caramel sauce and served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Their size was the real display of skill here. They are smaller, so the crisp on the outside is in a more pleasing and balanced ratio to the soft dough inside. These were our favorite dessert between the two.
Seafood Selection: 8
There’s a lot of nice looking seafood items on the menu here: cuts of fish, nice apps, etc. Now, the octopus was great, but the seafood tower was pitiful. Recall from above all the nasty bits. And this was a whopping $62:
That shows inconsistency to me. So buyer beware if you dive any further into the sea at this joint. Maybe the fish entrees and pasta items featuring fish would be better? You decide.
Since the bad items have been removed from the menu, I have increased the score here from a 7/10 to an 8/10. I’m very happy to see that the restaurant is making good changes based on constructive criticism.
Service: 9
The service here is good. The wait staff all wear nice formal white shirts and ties, and they all seemed pleasant and helpful. The meal was nicely paced as well – not too fast, not too slow. Table bread was offered and even replenished when finished. It was warm and soft inside, and crusty outside. Very nice.
The new bread basket is similarly warm and tasty, but it now contains a mix of both savory and sweet bread, served with a light herb and veggie butter.
Ambiance: 9
Village Prime has done an amazing job with the decor and look of this place for a small West Village spot. The music was old fashioned, classic jazz and good dinner music. There’s a faux-beamed ceiling made from high quality wood and paneling, a dark wood floor, nice booth seating and a few tables up the center. Dim filament bulb lighting casts a warm glow across the dining space. There are nice wall sconces and accent wall panels that change up the decor from becoming too monotonous. The bathroom is really nice too, aside from the urinal that didn’t seem to flush properly.
My wife and I came in here on a Sunday morning for brunch. I was psyched to learn that they serve “real food” even before their official lunch time begins at noon. That means I was able to try their rib eye burger instead of getting some lame egg or pancake dish.
Their “rib eye burger” definitely has the flavor of a rib eye steak. It’s juicy and fatty, tender and tasty.
The bun held up to demanding scrutiny without getting sogged up and shitty, and the burger thickness was just right for the amount of toppings they used.
It was cooked nicely, and the aged cheddar and horseradish aioli really brought the punch. The fries were solid too. Heavily herbed with fried rosemary, these golden shoestrings were very addicting.
My wife tried the lobster crab and shrimp roll, which I also liked a lot. It was served with a saffron mayo and crispy shallots. The meat was dressed just right, and the quality of the meat was all very good.
I’ll probably be back in soon to try a steak, because why not?
