Then it was time for lunch at Cafe O’Lei. This joint is nice inside. It’s on the second floor of a strip mall type group of storefronts right near S&Q’s. There’s a big bar in the center of the restaurant, and some interesting paintings by local artists on the walls:
Here, I really wanted to try either the prime rib or the roast pork entrees, but they are only offered at dinner time. Instead, I had my first official burger of the trip. It was cooked almost correctly – slightly over medium – but the large helping of ooey-gooey cheddar cheese really took this burger up a notch.
My wife and I shared a pair of crab cakes. These were sweet, using snow crab meat, fruit and avocado in the preparation. Very nice. Meaty and crispy.
My wife had the Mahi Mahi fish and chips, which were expertly batter-fried to a light, golden crisp. The fries here were top notch, by the way. Really nicely done.
By 7am we were at Kula Lodge for a nice warming meal before heading the rest of the way down the mountain. This joint actually had a fireplace going, and the well-manicured grounds boast trees, plants and shrubs that would easily qualify this spot as an arboretum. There was even an incredible outdoor cooking station that made me insanely fucking jealous.
Breakfast was pretty simple but well executed. I had the “Haleakala Mountain of a Meal,” which was two eggs over easy, two pancakes and Portuguese sausage. Since I’m a fat guy deep down, I also added a side of corned beef hash browns. This shit hit the spot nicely. The hash was some of the greatest I’ve ever had. It contained large, juicy chunks of corned beef brisket with all the signature crispy fried bits that you expect from good hash. This was my first time eating Portuguese sausage – awesome. Slightly spicy, a little sweet, and tons of snappy flavor. One thing I particularly enjoyed about this place was the fresh coconut syrup. Fucking awesome on the pancakes and I don’t think I can ever eat them again without the shit. It’s more watery than regular maple syrup, but it has a nice mild, not-too-sweet coconut kick. Lovely.
My wife had the French toast, which was massive and topped with loads of toasted macadamia nuts for good measure. Excellent cinnamon and nutmeg flavoring that warmed us after that chilly Haleakala mountain expedition. I also got to eat half of this as well. Haha!
To make the meal even better, we were graced by an awesome full-arc rainbow over the scenic grounds, which was visible in all its glory right from our table, out the big lodge windows.
Gray’s is a NYC institution. I believe the chain has dwindled down to one remaining shop, on Broadway & 72nd Street. There are/were a few knock-off versions, if I recall, like Mike’s Papaya and Papaya King, but Gray’s is the one and only. Get it while you still can, if you feel the overwhelming need to try one.
They’re known for cheap-ass grilled “franks,” which are essentially their snappy lips-and-assholes hot dogs slapped on a bun, which are then guzzled down with some fruit slush type exotic drinks. The juices are pure sugar deliciousness.
When I was in law school, the “Recession Special” was $2.75 for two dogs and a small drink. Fast forward 15 years and we are still in a recession, yet the price for the special is now $5.75.
These fuckers will give you heartburn, stinky burps, and the runs, but they’re great in a bind or when you’re in a hurry …or when you are completely fucking wasted.
In need of a fried chicken fix, and with no real deal fried chicken joints in my area, Fuku+ became the spot to hit on a Sunday evening.
My wife and I tried the “mini me” sandwich and some bites. All of the chicken is dark meat, so you’re getting good flavor and tenderness each time you sink your teeth in. One thing to note: the green sauce that comes with the bites is fucking incredible. It’s a jalapeno jelly of sorts. Spicy, sweet, thick and the heat stays with you a few minutes.
Each item was $6, so reasonably priced. I just feel that the mini me sandwich needs lettuce, tomato and mayo and it would be perfect. All that comes with it are two slices of pickle. But the breading and crisp are nice, and the potato bun rocks.
While we were there we ordered some fried chicken from Ma Peche to go; their famous habanero fried chicken. Kind of a let down, in my opinion. The batter was overcooked and slightly burned, and it lacked seasoning. The habanero kick was barely present at the aftertaste mark. Also one of my drumsticks was not fully cooked on the inside. Bummer. At $30 per order (pictured below are two orders), this is simply not fucking worth it. You’re better off going to Fuku+ for a few orders of the bites if you need your fried chicken fix.
On a second visit to Fuku+ with my friend Matt Bruck, we sampled a few other items. First was the “Juicy Lucy” burger, which is made with a cheese-stuffed Niman Ranch patty, topped with grilled onions and special sauce, and slapped between a nice, soft, supple-yet-strong potato bun.
This fucker was cooked to about medium well, despite the waitress warning us that it would be “cooked through,” presumably to well done (so that all the cheese inside adequately melts down). Some reviews online reported that this was a rubbery, overcooked burger. We didn’t have that experience, though I do sympathize. The all-natural burger, being cooked and formed a bit differently than a traditional patty, certainly has a different texture than you might expect. The flavors smack of teriyaki or some other Asian influence. It reminded me a bit of the burger I had in Maui at Bully’s (the roadside joint I will mention in my forthcoming Maui blog post).
Next we had the mission Chinese chicken fingers. These are nice and spicy, and it’s the only white meat chicken you will find here at Fuku+. These were breaded with a crispy crust that was steeped in chili and five spice. Really nice, and I highly recommend it.
Last was the pickled mussels. These were okay. They were a little bit unwieldy, being served in a jar and meant to be eaten on the provided toasty slices of French bread. They were definitely pungent and had a touch of spice from the pickling process.
FUKU+ / MA PESCHE
Chambers Hotel
15 W. 56th St.
New York, NY 10022
Wogies is known around town as having some great Philly cheesesteaks. I had been to the one in the west village once before. When I was downtown to meet a friend at a bar, I noticed a new Wogies location down by Rector Street on Trinity. I gave it a shot on my way home.
I tried a chicken and regular Philly cheesesteak, both with wiz, American and onions.
Pretty tasty. Only down side is that the cheese was not evenly distributed throughout the meat. It was mostly packed into the back of the sandwich, where the top and bottom sandwich bread meet, at the crease.
This other one I tried from the west village location was a cheeseburger hero. Pretty good, though heavy on the lettuce:
This joint is awesome in the summer time. The music is going, the doors and windows are all wide open, and everyone is at the bar or eating outside along the pier.
I tried the burger. It was very under seasoned, but it did have a really nice char. The potato bun was slightly stale, but the rest of the toppings and the ratio of toppings to meat was correct.
They also cooked it just right, so this place is on the right path to a good burger. It just needs some minor tweaking.
Fries were pretty good. Thick, seasoned style fries that had a good crisp exterior and a soft interior.
PIER A HARBOR HOUSE
22 Battery Pl.
New York, NY 10004
My wife and I ordered some stuff here for delivery. I was excited at the prospect of eating roasted chicken from a place that specifically deals in such an item and nearly nothing else. I was expecting one of the best roasted chickens in my life. If that’s all you really do, as a restaurant, you need to excel at it. Unfortunately Poulette failed to deliver good roasted chicken. We ordered a half chicken. It was pretty dry and the flavoring on the skin had a bitter component that I wasn’t too fond of.
The brussels side was cooked with a vinegar and mustard base that really ruined the flavor of the sprouts. All you really need to do is roast them with some seasoning and chicken drippings from the roasting process for a really successful item. What a failure.
On the bright side, the french fries were good, as were the salt and pepper chicken wings. Both remained very crispy despite closed-container transport. The wings were expertly seasoned and cooked to a beautiful golden brown. They consisted of drumettes and wings with the little wing bone still attached, for extra nibbling. Sadly, the sesame glazed wings were a let-down. They were overly sauced to the point of undesirable sogginess. Good flavor in the sauce, but executed poorly. Perhaps that sauce needs to be in a container on the side rather than drenched all over the wings.
Apologies for the lack of photos. I was too hungry to whip out the cell phone this time. Take my advice though: if you come here, stick to the salt and pepper wings and the french fries. If roasted chicken is what you are craving, I say go to Inti.
Allow me to introduce you to one of the coolest eating experiences in NYC.
These folks have a big ass ferry boat that has been decked out with bars and seating, where they serve up shit like lobster rolls, grilled whole lobster, burgers, and even fresh shellfish. It’s docked over on 41st and the West Side Highway.
The boat is free to ride. You can board and eat starting at noon. It takes about five or six 45-minute long rides each day, at which point you can enjoy views of the upper west side’s skyline as you approach the GWB (without actually going under it).
We tried a whole mess of shit when my wife and I went with her family. The food is just mediocre, really, but the atmosphere is awesome, especially on a nice sunny day like we had.
Here’s the lobster roll, which was more like lobster salad. I enjoyed it, but I’ve definitely had better around town. It comes with a bag of nice kettle cooked potato chips and coleslaw.
The lobster tacos are comprised of essentially the same meat/salad as the lobster roll, only with the slaw on the taco itself, accompanied by a bit of guacamole, some lettuce and a wedge of lime.
The Pat LaFrieda burger was a bit overcooked for my liking, and slightly grainy in texture, but it was a decent burger nonetheless. I wasn’t about to be a hard critic given the fact that I was eating out of a floating kitchen.
Here’s a look at the french fries. One order was regular, which came with the burger, and the other was a separate order of truffle blue cheese fries, which were really tasty.
This interesting snack was a lobster corn dog. Essentially a lobster meat mash that has been battered and deep fried on a stick. Nice.
They serve up a variety of beer and sodas too. The blueberry soda was nice, as was this lobster ale:
The cost is a bit pricey, but you are also on a boat, so take that into account.
NORTH RIVER LOBSTER COMPANY
Pier 81
W 41st St
New York, NY 10036
We scored a deal on a three course meal at this famed upscale NYC joint. I was happy to see that there weren’t any restrictions on the deal too: three courses, app, entree and dessert, with no limitations other than paying extra for the super expensive items.
First let me just say that the bread at this joint is really good quality. Those little disc looking things were delicious, and all items were warm and toasty.
We started with the grilled octopus salad and veal carpaccio. I think the winner here was the octo salad. It was a warm salad, but it had great flavor from the olive, potato and tomato mix.
The veal was a bit on the dry side. The anchovy paste sauce was reminiscent of a German style mustard of sorts, so this had an unexpected taste. Caperberries were great though.
For our entrees, we tried the mini burgers and the skirt steak. The skirt steak was probably the best preparation of skirt that I’ve had out at a restaurant. It was charred nicely on the outside, and cooked to a perfect juicy medium rare on the inside. It was sliced nicely on the bias and at a steep angle. Just expertly handled all around. This is a 9 or 10 on flavor.
It came with a pine nut chimichurri type sauce on top, and it sat on a bed of lentils and crispy potato logs. There was even a miniature wedge salad on the side, and some pea puree blobs to boot. Really great composed dish here. I highly recommend.
The mini burgers were a little bit over salted and grainy in texture. They were nicely presented, though, and the abundantly massive side of fries that came with the burgers was a really delicious and near perfect execution of the item.
For dessert, we did the “floating island,” which was creme anglaise with merengue and fruit. Very nice and light. This was my favorite of the two, because each bite was dynamic.
The chocolate soufflé was perfectly executed, uniform thoughout and rich with flavor. I think I just got bored about halfway though. It was very large. I think soufflé fans will really enjoy it.
UPDATE 12/10/16
So it turns out that Le Cirque sectioned off part of its space to create “Sirio Ristorante,” which is, I guess, a more affordable and more casual dining option. My wife and I picked up a flash deal which gave us each a three course meal for $42 total (before tax and tip).
Much of the menu remains the same as above. We started with octopus and baccala.
Both were good but the baccala needed more chips to round out the fish.
For our entrees, we went with salmon in a truffle sauce and spaghetti “frutti di mare.”
The salmon was the big winner here, as it was perfectly cooked and had a great black truffle flavor. The pasta was a bit bland, and the sauce didn’t deliver. Some pieces of seafood were overcooked, while others were undercooked.
For dessert, we went with the creme brûlée and Crepes Suzette.
The crepes were fun. They tasted like a boozed up creamsicle.
Ice cream on top for the win:
The creme brûlée was perfectly done, and I was smiling when I saw the recipe hiding underneath the deliciousness.
RESTAURANT WEEK UPDATE 8/4/17
My wife got us a comped meal for restaurant week due to her photo skills on Instagram.
We started with the endive salad, garganelli pasta primavera and tuna tartare (they brought an extra for us). All were really great, but I think the tartare was the best, followed by the pasta. The tartare had a really nice curry accent to it that popped.
For entrees we tried the branzino and steak. The branzino had a great crispy skin on it, and was nicely cooked.
The steak didn’t come sliced, but it was a small filet of strip loin with fries and a Bernaise sauce. Pretty decent. 7/10.
For dessert, we had the chocolate fondant and another creme brûlée. It was essentially chocolate ganache and chocolate cake covered with a chocolate shell.
LE CIRQUE & SIRIO RISTORANTE
151 E. 58th St.
New York, NY 10065
My wife scored a nice Urban Daddy deal for brunch at Gallow Green that saved us a bunch of money and also gave us a carafe of mimosa. The brunch is all-you-can-eat, and includes music by their house band “The Heathens.”
I won’t say much other than the music was awesome, and the food was even better. They even sang songs about the bread pudding.
The fried chicken with black pepper honey was fucking outstanding. Close runners up were the salmon and caperberries, the bread pudding, and the cinnamon rolls.
The setting is great too, on the rooftop of the “McKittrick Hotel,” home to the spooky Sleep No More interactive play (Get tickets. It is amazing).
UPDATE 9/1/17 – CLUB CAR SURF & TURF
“Club Car” is Gallow Green’s surf and turf pop-up. My wife scored a Gilt City deal for a discount on the meal, which was great, because not only did it get us snacks, apps, entrees, and desserts, but it also got us two cocktails per person – all for about $120.
Cocktails:
Skillet bread and crudite:
Apps, chilled lobster corn soup, and endive with tomato salad:
Each person gets a 10oz cut of 30-day dry aged rib eye with their choice of seafood. My wife chose razor clams:
I chose… well… not seafood. I went with the oxtail and bone marrow, because beef.
Lemon chiffon cake and chocolate cake.
A seriously great meal. I was surprised at how much dry-aged flavor was packed into the steak at just 10oz and 30 days. The crust could have used a bit more char on it, but I was happy with the overall flavor and texture. 8/10.
