Category Archives: Commentary

American, Commentary, Food Halls, Italian, Midtown West, Ramen, Restaurant Reviews, Spanish

Gotham West Market

March 15, 2014 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

Hell’s Kitchen NYC is really starting to put meaning into the KITCHEN aspect of the neighborhood’s name. Not only have many great restaurants popped up recently, but now there are half a dozen ramen shops, several awesome burger joints, and even a smattering of small niche joints serving things like like Korean fried chicken or Vietnamese banh mi sandwiches. The most recent thing on my radar is Gotham West Market. It’s basically an upscale food court featuring a bunch of really nice pop-up restaurants, a gourmet food market, and even a store selling kitchen items, cooking gear, and baking supplies.

I first came here to try the Ivan Ramen Slurp Shop.

My wife and I tried the Shio and Shoyu styles. They were both good, but they contained green onion cut in such a way that it became overbearing and difficult to pluck off of the noodles. I like a standard cross cut to my scallions. This “long ways” cut sucks. The soup base was good, on the other hand, and the rye noodles were delicious.

My wife went back two times without me and tried most of the other spots in there, like The Cannibal, El Colmado, Little Chef, The Brooklyn Kitchen, Genuine Roadside, and Court Street Grocers Sandwich Shop. Poke around her Instagram feed to see some of her escapades. Or simply hit up the #gwmarket tag on there. Here are a couple of collages of her pics:

So today we went in for lunch, which was my wife’s 4th time going in 3 weeks, since I have been dying to try some of the stuff I’ve seen on Instagram from El Colmado and The Cannibal. I’ll take these fuckers down one at a time for you below.

THE CANNIBAL
We sat down to a nice beer and a Bloody Mary to start. The Bloody came with some pickled items on top – a beet, a cucumber, and a pepper.

We ordered three items here. The first was an octopus terrine, garnished with some pickled fennel and dill. This was so amazing, especially after having such a shitty plate of octopus two nights earlier at a local Long Island restaurant that completely fucked the octo up, turning it into rubber. THIS, on the other hand, was a masterpiece. Soft, tender, juicy, and nicely dressed – just like a prom date. One of the best octo preparations I’ve ever tasted.

Next up was the pig head terrine. Essentially a head cheese of sorts. It was really tender and flavorful, and it even had some capers jammed in there too for a nice bite of brine. They served it with some crispy bread, lemon butter, and herbs. Delicious.

Last was the lamb tartare. You can see below that it’s sitting on top of the little mustard smear that mixed well with the flavorful meat. In the back were the little planks of lettuce upon which we spread the tartare before shoving into our mouths.

EL COLMADO
I was excited to have some shaved-by-hand cured piggy, so we started with an order of sliced Serrano ham. Not too salty, very soft and delicious. I expected nothing less in terms of quality when it comes to Chef Seamus Mullen, of The Next Iron Chef fame.

In keeping with the theme from The Cannibal, we doubled down on octopus and lamb items. First is the lamb meatballs. Succulent, juicy, and rich with lamby goodness.

The octopus here was grilled to perfection and served with some vinegary fingerling potatoes. Very nice tasting, and beautifully plated I might add. Needless to say, all memory of terrible octopus from the local Long Island place has been erased. This was superb.

Well – not all memory is erased. We still need to remember that is WAS bad, and that we will never go back there again. Ahh, El Colmado & The Cannibal – you made my day. Two of the finest places I’ve been to in a long time.

So anyway, we finished up at El Colmado with a nice saffron flan for dessert. Perfect texture, and great flavor.

So what’s the moral of this story? GO TO GOTHAM WEST MARKET ASAP!

And if you like burgers, then check out my Genuine Roadside review.

There’s something there for everyone. I snapped a shitload of pics from all over in there – I’ll leave you with that:

GOTHAM WEST MARKET
600 11th Ave.
New York, NY 10036

Commentary, Deli, New Jersey, NY Strip, Restaurant Reviews, Rib Eye, Steakhouse Reviews

Atlantic City

March 3, 2014 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

The crux of this entry is going to focus on two food stops we made while we were here: Morton’s and White House Sub Shop.

My buddy and I flew down like CEOs on a 30 minute flight from Long Island to check out a classic car auction that was going on at the convention center. I won’t bore you foodies with pics of the awesome cars. Instead I’ll get right to the good shit.

Had I known there was an Asian culinary battle going on down there, I would have registered to view/taste. Too bad I didn’t know until it was too late. This was right at the bottom of our elevator bank:

Morton’s

I haven’t been to a Morton’s in a long time but I remember them being really great. My memory served me well. We went to Morton’s on Friday after we checked in. The rib eye was nearly perfect, aside from some bits of inedible gristle. Evenly cooked, juicy, with that signature aged flavor. 9/10.

My buddy tried the peppercorn strip steak. It was great too – really nice flavor, though I would go without the sauce. 9/10.

As a beef eater, I got my typical gin martini, made with Beefeater:

On the side we had some bacon and onion mac & cheese, which was really good. Creamy, good smoke flavor.

We also did a wedge salad – pretty standard:

But the highlight of the meal was the “bacon steak” appetizer. It was soft and tender – don’t let the grill marks and charred looks deceive you in this image. It was thick, smokey, and delicious. We went back for more on Sunday, but they didn’t open until 5pm and we had a flight to catch.

The service here was excellent. Our waitress, Nicole, knew her steak well and made great suggestions to us, and the management was good enough to come over and check in on us to make sure everything was to our liking. The price was right too: at only about $100 each we thought we got a great deal for all that food.

White House Sub Shop

This place is awesome. We went on Sunday morning at about 11am. I went with a cheesesteak loaded with the works: hot peppers, grilled onions, lettuce, and tomato. PACKED with flavor, not too salty or greasy, good quality bread. Just right. And for $8.66 you really can’t beat it. Check out all the pics:

Worst part of the trip: Noodle Bar at Caesar’s. We were excited to go the first time, especially since I saw pho on the menu. Too bad it sucked. It was bland, and the meat quality was low to poor at best. Also WAY too many noodles and not enough meat. Overpriced too, at $16 for a shitty bowl that is much better and costs only $6 in NYC.

On Saturday night we were starving since we skipped dinner and had $2 beers at Mountain Bar instead.

The only place open nearby at 1am, that we knew about anyway, was the fucking Noodle Bar. So we went back in. This time I ordered salt & pepper pork chops. They were pretty good, but I didn’t expect them to be deep fried and DRENCHED in table salt. WAY too salty. I only ate about half after doing my best to dust all the salt off.

Lucky for us, we were able to salvage the night before with a good Bloody Mary at Phillips the next morning.

And some gelato at the hotel lobby:

And when I got home, my wife had this waiting for me – a new custom cell phone case with one of my logos on it. Best wife ever.

Commentary

The Food Of Vietnam

February 27, 2014 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

Last year my wife and I went on the trip of a lifetime: Vietnam. We started in Hanoi, then took excursions to the mountains of Sapa and the caves of Halong Bay. After that we relaxed in Hoi An for a few days before heading down to Saigon. Below are some of the foods we encountered along the way.

This is what I woke up to, looking out the window of our hotel room in Hanoi:

The restaurant workers are cleaning and gutting the chickens right on the sidewalk! I was fascinated. I must have shot 50 photos of this.

The hotel had some pretty amazing food. There was a complimentary breakfast buffet which consisted of both American and Vietnamese food, complete with a made-to-order pho station (beef or chicken). Heaven. Below are some images of the dinner selections.

Crispy Fried Chicken Platter — crispy fried chicken

Goi Cuon: Vietnamese "Summer Rolls" — Goi Cuon: Vietnamese “Summer Rolls”

By far my favorite part of the trip was the time we spent in Sapa. The mountains were beautiful, the small towns were rustic and quaint, and the food was both stunning and delicious.

I guess pho for breakfast is a pretty normal thing in Vietnam, because this is what we had at our hotel in Sapa – best bowl I’ve ever had!

Also a buffet breakfast, I followed that up with some veggie noodles, sausage, and sun bread:

Oh yeah – and some amazing banh cuon (usually beef or pork meat and mushrooms folded into a rice noodle wrap and topped with fish sauce and fried shallots) – also made to order right on the spot, like the pho:

Charged up from a great breakfast, we wandered around the town:

Then we took a little private tour of some of the mountain villages, and a nearby food market:

The highlight of this excursion was the tour of the farming village. We went into an actual village home and hung out with the residents:

We stopped off at a local restaurant for lunch:

On the way back we saw a local giving new meaning to the phrase “bringing home the bacon.”

And a sign for dog & cat meat for human consumption – don’t tell PETA:

After a long day, it was nice to relax back at the hotel with some fruit, and another beer.

The next day we went to Halong Bay to explore the beautiful caves there. On the ferry over, we had some homemade snacks and drinks that my wife’s relatives brought along with them:

a ghetto banh mi sandwich - just bread and mystery bologna — a ghetto banh mi sandwich – just bread and mystery bologna

and a salty lime drink, which would be perfect for margaritas

After a day in the caves, we needed some time in the sun. Hoi An was the perfect way to relax after doing lots of touristy stuff. We had some fresh seafood on the beach:

And of course, a few cold refreshing beers by the water:

Hoi An had an amazing food scene. Check out some of the tasty shit:

"bun" - noodles with pork — “bun” – noodles with pork

Here was an interesting food cart that had some fresh breads along with fried blue claw crabs:

After our down-time in Hoi An, we flew down to Saigon to finish off our amazing trip. This first grouping of pics are street vendors and food market shots:

Then we did a huge sampling of local, exotic fruits. Below you’ll see sour sop, longan, rambutan, durian fruit, dragon fruit, passion fruit, and others:

On our boat ride to the Cu Chi tunnels, we were served some clay pot pork, summer rolls, veggies and rice:

And for dinner we had a home cooked meal at a relative’s house:

I tried to limit all of this to just the food, but if you’re interested to see more of my vacation pics (the mountains, the people, the street scenes, the farms, the riverside towns, etc.), then go to MY PHOTOGRAPHY WEBSITE.

Commentary

The Steak Cake

February 15, 2014 Johnny Prime 2 Comments

No: this is not a real steak. Yes: this is cake.

I have the pleasure of being married to a baker. She goes by the name “The Cake Dealer.” When I first started this blog, she was pretty well into her baking hobby. She was asking me what kind of cake I wanted and I suggested a cake that looks like a steak. It’s only fitting, right?

Well this is what she came up with. A perfectly grilled medium rare porterhouse with a side of mashed potatoes and string beans. Unbelievable.

The mashed potatoes are made from mashed up vanilla cake mixed with vanilla frosting, and topped with a slightly melted-looking yellow square of fondant as the butter:

The green beans are shaped from green fondant:

When I said medium rare inside I wasn’t fucking kidding. It’s strawberry cake, nice and pink all the way through, but it still maintains nice grill marks on top with a healthy sear (brown fondant with lines made from food coloring):

The details are where this piece really shines though. That t-bone is absolute perfection. It looks like it is REAL and glistening. Made from fondant as well. And on top there is black and white sugar to look like kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper.

Not only did it LOOK amazing, but it TASTED amazing too. The fondant was made from marshmallows, so it didn’t have that grainy, chalky texture that is always disgustingly sweet. The cake was soft, light and moist. Man, I fucking love my wife.

To see more of her amazing creations, like her cake that looks like a burger, fries, and a shake (below), go to HER WEBSITE.

Commentary, Japanese, Lower East Side/Chinatown, Press Reviews, Restaurant Reviews

Tabelog Event At Maison O

February 12, 2014 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

The good folks over at Tabelog saw fit to invite me to once again join them for one of their elite tasting events. This time, the event was at Maison O in SoHo to celebrate Japanese department store Isetan’s newest pop-up store that was open in SoHo for fashion week, in line with Japan’s “Nipponista” movement.

What is “Nipponista,” you ask? It’s part of a Japanese project called “Cool Japan” that was created to spread Japanese fashion, design, art and food throughout the world. “Cool Japan” and “Gross National Cool” became slogans for Japan’s growing and expanding cultural movement, which eventually arrived here at NYC fashion week.

Chef Tadashi Ono, the former executive chef of Matsuri, presented his culinary creations at the Tabelog event. We enjoyed a special tasting menu of Dashi and Agar, along with Mizubasho sake pairings. As with any good meal, you start out with some booze. Our official booze man was Shoichi Nagai, of the Mizubasho brand. Here is a shot of him explaining the differences between some of the sake we tasted:

See below for the mouth-watering images of our meal and sake pairings.

First we had some sparkling sake with dashikarikori-kan (dashi jelly) with black truffle, sitting on a slice of radish and topped with scallion. The sake was like champagne, only better, because I hate champagne and I love sake. The dashi was earthy, had a really nice meaty texture, and it delivered a great crunch from the radish.

We also had a Kumamoto oyster with ponzu ice to go along with the with sparkling sake. It was tart, with a sour, grapefruit type of finish, but very crisp and clean.

Then one of the dashi specialists explained to us the difference in miso soup that uses just miso + water versus miso + dashi, and he showed us the two main components of dashi (kombu kelp and katsuobushi/benito flakes). We were easily able to taste a vast world of difference between the two cups of miso. The miso + dashi was way more rich, earthier, and generally much more awesome.

Next came the fish course: black cod with a sake and dashi-kanten gravy (dashi plus agar for thickening and flavor). It was paired with a cold-aged, 2-year sake that was crisp and complex. We drank it from two cups (one glass and one tin) and the type of cup you drink from actually alters the flavors. Tin cup is much better. As for the cod; the aroma was amazing, and the flavor was light but powerful. It was cooked perfectly.

Our next course was beef rib eye with caramelized onion and grilled rice ball. NOW we’re talking! The onions were the real star here. They were minced and delicious. The dish came with a grilled shishito pepper too, which was nice and smokey. The steak was slightly over-cooked, but still very tasty and tender. I didn’t mind at all. The rice ball was crisped like it was grilled on the same surface as the beef, and it even retained a little of that meaty flavor from whatever it picked up off the grill. The sake pairing was a 2004 vintage, 10yr cold-aged sake that was limited quantity (only 40 bottles remain). It was clean and easy to drink, light, flavorful, and paired remarkably well with grilled meat even though it wasn’t as robust as a red wine.

For dessert we had a sweet, 2009 dessert sake that was reminiscent of ice wine. They said it would pair nicely with everything from sweets to fois gras and even uni or salmon roe. I could see it for the uni, as the taste was somewhat aromatic and perfumed, as is uni. This was presented with a coconut panna cotta and green tea tiramisu. The tiramisu had great flavor, and the panna cotta was firm and packed a lot of punch for something that looked so light.

Then chef Ono came out to greet us and talk with us.

And here’s a decor shot for the road:

And a list of the menu items we had, just in case you are keeping track:

You can see a quick video of the event HERE, although the page itself and most of the video contents are in Japanese. Unfortunately my incredibly handsome face didn’t make it into the edited clip. It could have benefitted from my gorgeousness, or at least from that of my stunning wife.

MAISON’O IS NOW CLOSED

Commentary

Uncle Giuseppe’s

February 8, 2014 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

I recently discovered Uncle Giuseppe’s Marketplace in Massapequa (Long Island). It’s a really fantastic gourmet Italian grocery store. My wife and I went there for a lobster sale ($3.99/lb), but I was blown away by the meat selection. The quality was great. Check out these two pics I snapped.

Sliced skirt steak that looked like a meat monster

And a gorgeous rack that rivals the hottest Playmates that Hugh Heffner can muster up at the Playboy mansion.

Chinese, Commentary, Food Halls, Hot Pot, Long Island, Queens, Restaurant Reviews

Flushing & Shabu Shabu

January 22, 2014 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

We, my wife, and a friend took a trip to Flushing to explore some of the great food joints in the area – this was a while back, in mid 2012.

It’s kind of like a food paradise here. There are secret, hidden indoor (and sometimes underground) malls of food kiosks tucked away in unassuming buildings. Check out some of the pics:

After some wandering, we ended up trying hot pot at Baidu Shabu Shabu. I think it was like $25-$35pp all you can eat, and all you can drink beer. We got the spicy pot, and a shit-heap of different stuff to throw in, like lamb, beef tongue, beef brisket, beef rib eye, beef belly, pork belly, a host of veggies, and noodles. Needless to say we were fattened up like pigs afterward. I recommend this place – lots of fun. Check out the pics:

Okay so fast-forward over a year later. My wife is feeling sick. We were about to go back to Flushing just to get some soup, but we ended up finding out about a tiny little place called Tao’s Delicacies out on Long Island that we were interested to try out. Turns out it was pretty legit, and $25pp all you can eat, with unlimited soda/canned drinks. They had quality beef stomach, lotus root, mushrooms, shrimp (with the heads on), fish balls with pork inside, veggies, and even tofu skin (my favorite). If you are out on the island, and feel up for the experience of eating in someone’s living room, then check out this hidden gem of a restaurant. Pics below:

BAIDU SHABU SHABU
37-04 Prince St.
Flushing, NY 11354

TAO’S DELICACIES
1310 Middle Country Rd.
Selden, NY 11784

Commentary, Education, Restaurant Reviews

The Great Noodle Chase

January 18, 2014 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

Lately I’ve been on a Japanese ramen binge, but I should also mention my decade-long hankering for Vietnamese pho as well. My wife is Vietnamese, so real-deal, authentic pho is more common in my belly than good ramen. But after having it a few times lately, I felt the need to whip up a post about the two dishes, with pics of course.

First, pho (pronounced like you are saying the word FUN but without the N, and with a tone as if you are asking a question):

For those who may not know, I’ve give a quick rundown of what this awesome shit is. Pho is a very aromatic and highly flavorful beef soup (pho bo) made with LOTS of different parts of the animal: oxtail, marrow, tripe, brisket, eye-round, processed beef balls, etc. The meats are stewed to tender perfection and then served in an almost clear consomme broth that simmered for hours with all the meats and spices like star anise, cinnamon, clove, ginger, and other warm, comforting flavors. The rice noodles used are long and flat, almost like a linguini. It’s topped with cilantro, chilies (optional, of course), bean sprouts, scallions, thinly sliced onion, and a wedge of lime. It’s usually accompanied with plum sauce (hoisin) and chili paste (sri racha) on the side for you to add to taste. The result is something so delicious that you will crave it every day of your life. It’s light, yet hearty. You’ll never find a broth so clear and thin with so much flavor packed in it. Most Vietnamese joints will offer it with chicken too (pho ga), but come on… really? If you are getting it, get a big bowl of the mixed beef. Although, I must say, sometimes I like to order with just the thin-sliced eye-round meat, or that and beef meatballs.

By far the most delicious bowl we ever had was in Vietnam, up in the mountains of Sapa at a resort. It should be noted that pho in Vietnam is different than here in the states. First: there’s a more robust flavor. Second: the sri racha is non-existent as it is not needed. They just utilize their abundance of fresh chili peppers. They DO have a chili paste in Vietnam, but it’s creamier and sweeter than sri racha, and probably better for dipping with fried items than mixing into soup.

Clearly not everyone can just up and leave to the mountains of Vietnam for a bowl of soup. So if you can’t, try this bowl, from Thai Son restaurant on Baxter Street in NYC. Yes: it’s a Vietnamese food restaurant, not Thai. Definitely not as good as the one above, but at around $6 a bowl you really can’t go wrong:

Okay now for Japanese ramen:

First, check out this little film to get a sense of what real ramen is. I’m not talking about the little fucking soup packets for $0.33 each in the supermarket, which contain so much fucking sodium that they can be used to salt the highways of a major city in a snowstorm.

The few places I’ve been to in NYC have a variety of flavors and broth bases, ranging from the more traditional pork, to chicken, to miso, to veggie. They vary based on noodle type too – wavy or straight, etc., and also toppings. Some places will serve a basic bowl with a few things in it, and charge a nominal amount for extra toppings like extra pork belly or lean pork, a boiled egg, spicy paste, extra noodles, etc. I tend to lean more toward the pork broth (tonkotsu), although I’ve had some really good chicken based and even curry based broths.

Note: there are lots of people who make it their mission to hunt down the great ramen places all over town, especially in Japan. I can’t compete with those guys… yet… My experience is very limited, but I WILL share a few of my favorite bowls so far, along with location:

Mega Ramen at Totto II in Hell’s Kitchen (51st & 10th) – no need for ordering extras on this. It’s a chicken based broth (REALLY good, by the way – not your average bullshit chicken stock). So hearty and fatty, and topped with tons of different kinds of pork meat. I refer to this one as the pork pool party. $15.

Tondaku Green Curry Ramen at Bassanova in Chinatown (Mott Street). Different, but really good. More greenery than you would normally expect but it really works. $15. Egg was extra.

Tondaku Ramen, also at Bassanova. Traditional tonkotsu pork ramen made with Berkshire pork. $13.

That’s all I’ve got for you assholes right now, other than the fact that the guy from the video is the guy who opened Bassanova.

Do yourselves a favor and go for a swim in a pork pool party – your gullet will thank you. In the meantime, if anyone knows of a beef or rib eye ramen, I’d love to try it. Does it exist? If not, maybe it’s time…

UPDATE 3/15/14 – Real deal beef ramen DOES exist. I heard about some late night ramen joint in the west village called Takashi that serves up an all-beef broth ramen on Friday and Saturday nights only, from 12:00am to 2:00am. It was tough, but I ended up getting a seat for my wife and I to slurp up some of this delicious shit. We started with some beer and took in the surroundings:

As I mentioned, it’s a beef broth, but it contains crispy beef intestines, FUCKING BRAISED KOBE BEEF BELLY!!!, a soft boiled egg, and alkaline ramen noodles. The little blob of red you see in the middle is the spicy paste that my wife got with her bowl. I prefer no spicy paste, as it masks the beef flavor too much for my liking (though I DO love very spicy foods):

If you’re in town overnight on a weekend and are up for something bold and adventurous, give this bowl a try. The only problem is that you will need to try for a reservation on the Monday prior at 5pm. That’s when they start taking reservations. I emailed on Tuesday afternoon for my rez and they were already booked solid. They asked if I wanted to be on a waiting list in case someone cancels: I said yes. I found out on Friday at about 4:00pm that they had an opening for me and my wife at midnight. SWEET!

Commentary, Product Reviews

The Whisky Advent Calendar

December 24, 2013 Johnny Prime 2 Comments

I guess this can serve as the Johnny Prime Christmas post. Some of you may have seen some links of this thing floating around this year (or maybe last year, if you’re cool like me). My wife gave me this as an early Christmas gift in 2012. I didn’t drink them at the time, thinking that I might save them for a special time. But when this year rolled around, I figured what the fuck – may as well drink them now. A whisky a day keeps the steak cravings at bay, and I decided to use the empties as Christmas Tree decorations. There were some really fucking great scotches in this collection. Seriously. Take a look at some of the vintages. Bottles for some cost upwards of $200. Only bad thing: the advent calendar only has 24 days rather than 25. Not sure if that is traditionally the way the calendars worked. My only real experience with them is digging the molded chocolates out each day as a kid, or looking at the pictures behind the windows without really reading the scripture. So anyway… Merry Christmas. Here are all the whiskies, in all of Jesus’ birthday glory, each day with some taste notes I jotted down along the way. The pictures get a little more creative and interesting as you get toward the end.

a mix of medicinal with a slight fruity nose

smooth and creamy up front with a slight peat and smoke sting at the back end

day 3: aberlour a'bunadh batch 42 — day 3: aberlour a’bunadh batch 42

robust and peaty without overpowering

smooth, creamy and round, hints of caramel or vanilla

peaty, medicinal, but not blowing out the taste buds

smooth yet peaty

strong medicinal iodine, peat, smoke, leather, latakia tobacco

nutty, hints of chocolate

creamy, vanilla, butterscotch

cognac sherry, floral, fruity, hint of peat

citrus, fresh greens, oak spice

grassy, iodine, medicinal

creamy caramel with a peaty bite at the finish

fruity, sweet, vanilla, almond

smooth, creamy, oak

immaculate – very smooth

strong, woody

smoke, peat, leather, latakia tobacco, iodine, medicinal, but still smooth and round

*one of my personal favorites*

creamy smoke, with a sweet dark rum finish (as the label suggests)

*beside it are some bottles of snake whisky that I picked up in Vietnam*

smooth but potent (66.7% alcohol/133 proof), sweet, spicy roasted cocoa

smooth and easy

spicy vanilla cream

fruity (black cherry) and creamy, with a toasty finish

*the grinch who stole whisky*

toasted oak, cinnamon, nutmeg, coffee

*drinkin’ with JC*

christmas tree decorations made from the empties

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM JOHNNY PRIME!

Commentary, Japanese, Midtown East, Press Reviews, Restaurant Reviews

Tabelog Event at Jukai

November 20, 2013 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

Last night Tabelog hosted another incredible event for their elite team of prized food bloggers. They’ve set out to choose some of the more secret spots around NYC to host these things, as evidenced by their selection of Jukai, a very small, discrete Japanese joint on 53rd Street between 2nd and 3rd Avenues. My wife and I were blown away by how great the food was. To top it off, the event was sponsored by Asahi beer, so we got to sample some of their very popular super dry (goes nice with seafood) and dark (pairs well with beef) varietals. If the tasting/sampling is any indication of what an actual sit-down meal is like here, then I highly recommend that you reserve a table ASAP. You won’t be disappointed.

Okay so here’s the Food Pr0n in picture form:

First, the assorted starter. Pickled mushroom and onion, egg omelette with spinach, squid with sea urchin, smoked duck, and Jamon Iberico on top of persimmon. As you might have guessed the Iberico was my favorite portion of this plate, followed closely by the duck.

Then came my absolute favorite of the night – beef carpaccio. But not your ordinary beef. It was smokey, aged, and incredibly unique in flavor. And look at that fucking marbling…

Next, the mains. Salmon marinated in sake and then broiled, served with a grilled Shishito pepper. Very tasty. I usually dislike cooked salmon, but the experts at Jukai managed to keep the meat orange/pink inside for a beautiful rare temperature inside with a nice crisp on the outside…

Followed by Spanish mackerel with ground radish…

Then my wife’s favorite – a gigantic pacific oyster with all sorts of good toppings (I took this down in one bite)…

And a steaming bowl of garlicky shabu shabu with beef and cabbage.

For dessert we had a sampling of four delicious items: black tea panna cotta (my wife’s favorite), white sesame blancmange (almost like a pudding), creme brulee (my favorite), and chocolate truffles.