Category Archives: American

American, Burgers, Non-Steakhouse Steaks, Other Cuts, Parms, Press Reviews, Restaurant Reviews, Rib Eye, West Village

Hancock Street

June 19, 2021 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

Last night I checked out the new joint from Mercer Street Hospitality Group (Lure Fishbar, Bowery Meat Company, etc.), Hancock Street. Everything was awesome, so let me get right into it.

APPS:

The sea urchin on crispy potato was a great bite to start the meal.

Uni has been replaced with tuna on a different potato.

We followed this with an absolutely delicious steak tartare.

Loved the pigs in a blanket with everything spice. Great dijon mustard and cherry BBQ sauce dips.

PASTA:

Adult kids pasta/mac & cheese is really fun.

The squid ink linguine with calamari, crispy garlic, and sea beans was really unique and beautiful.

New version is better:

But the duck bolognese mafaldine was the better of the two.

The radiatore were the best though.

SIDES:

Excellent fries!

I was even impressed with the veggies. Both the cauliflower and the carrots are worth your time. If I had to choose just one, I’d go with the cauliflower.

MAINS:

Great burger.

The short rib felt more like a grill or broil, or a very fast braise. I expected a more tender, pull-apart preparation. It was still tasty as hell though. 7/10.

The veal schnitzel was the best dish of the night. Amazing flavor profile with the capers and onions underneath, and a beautiful light and airy crisp on the breading. 10/10.

They overcooked the first steak that came out, but they made it right with a second one. It was really delicious, well seasoned, and came as a composed dish with a side of mushrooms. 8/10.

Second visit was better.

ENHANCE!

Chicken was nice too.

DESSERT:

The rhubarb crumble was a great finish to this great meal!

Mini yuzu jelly donuts! Get them. I didn’t take a photo, but here is a nice martini.

I would definitely go here again, and I recommend you go as well!

HANCOCK STREET
257 6th Avenue
New York, NY 10014

American, Lower East Side/Chinatown, Restaurant Reviews

Bar Belly

June 14, 2021 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

Bar Belly has a pretty great happy hour that features dollar oysters, among other deals. We went with two dozen of these delicious, crisp, clean oysters, some fries for $6, and, of course, drinks. I highly recommend this oyster happy hour. It goes until 7pm every night.

BAR BELLY
14 Orchard St
New York, NY 10002

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

Mila’s Fish & Hook

May 9, 2021 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

My wife and I popped in here for a quick lunch and to take advantage of the all day dollar oyster special.

The oysters were great. Mild, creamy, fresh and crisp. I only wish they also served them with horseradish and a cocktail sauce. The grilled calamari appetizer was great, served atop a salad of arugula with balsamic and orange supremes.

My wife had fish tacos, which were very nice (no pics), and I had the burger. This was great, though I wish I had gone with cheddar instead of Swiss (they were out of American). That little thing on top, under the pickles, is crispy cheese! That was a nice bonus.

We will definitely be going back here.

MILA’S FISH & HOOK
81 Ludlow St
New York, NY 10002

American, Burgers, Filet Mignon, Non-Steakhouse Steaks, Restaurant Reviews

Beetlehouse

April 12, 2021 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

A friend of mine’s cousin is the chef here at Beetlehouse, a Tim Burton themed bar/restaurant in the East Village, that delivers quality in both the food/drink and atmosphere/decor departments.

You’ll feel like you stepped onto a movie set when you walk in.

The bar is incredible. I really hope NYC starts allowing people to actually sit at them again soon.

They mix up some really nice cocktails, many of which come to the table bubbling and smoking like magic potions!

This place is definitely for the Burton fans. They even have hired actors walking around the dining room and performing, giving you a show along with your meal.

They currently have a $50 price fix menu, where you get an app, an entree and dessert. We started with the pork belly and the Fanta sesame wings. Wild flavor! They even have root beer and Pop Rocks flavored wings.

Between those two, we preferred the pork belly. It was just so tender and flavorful. It even comes plated up on a bed of tasty grits, like a composed entree!

For entrees, we had the filet mignon and the burger.

Both were cooked perfectly, as you can see below:

Between these two, we preferred the burger. I generally don’t love egg on a burger, but I went with the way it was presented on the menu and it really worked! Delicious. The fries were perfect by the way. Highly recommended.

Dessert was the same for both of us – a pudding of sorts, with crumbled chocolate cake, whipped cream, and Nerds candy. I fucking loved it, and ate both mine and my wife’s.

This place is a blast. The menu is basically bar food that has a fun twist, so don’t expect something like Per Se. We felt that both the wings and the filet could have benefitted from a hit of salt, but otherwise all good. I’d definitely go back for the pork belly and the burger. They also have some topped french fry appetizer items that I want to try, now that I know the fries are absolutely perfect.

BEETLEHOUSE
308 E 6th St
New York, NY 10003

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

Dudley’s

December 25, 2020 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

Just a quick note here about Dudley’s, which has a great brunch on weekends. My wife and I tried their Bloody Mary with “chicken salt” rim – delicious. I got mine with mezcal, she got hers with vodka.

They make a great double cheeseburger, reminiscent of Big Mac flavors. I’ll definitely be back for this more often, now that I live close by.

And on the healthier side, poached eggs with smoked salmon and salad. Very nice.

DUDLEY’S
85 Orchard St
New York, NY 10002

American, Non-Steakhouse Steaks, Restaurant Reviews, Rib Eye, Union Square/Flatiron

Oceans

February 16, 2020 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

My wife took me to this joint for a belated Valentine’s Day date. This spot has some great seafood. We tried a lot of it, so I’ll get moving.

First, their bread service is incredible. I didn’t take a great picture of it, but the focaccia and sourdough are perfect. They bring it out with a dish of whipped butter mixed with some seriously high quality olive oil.

We started the meal with some fresh uni. This was a bit steep at $38, but it was so damn delicious, seasoned simply with some flake salt.

The stone crab claws were probably the low point of the meal. It was difficult to extract the meat (didn’t come out in good sized chunks), and over all it was just average in terms of flavor. For $25 a pop, we would have spent that $50 on more langoustines or carabineros (you’ll see that ahead).

The octopus with gigante beans was a good dish, but not excellent like some of the others. I would pass on this next time and focus more on the other seafood options.

Here’s one of those excellent dishes now: grilled langoustines.

These were perfectly cooked and incredibly flavorful. Make sure you save some bread so you can scoop out the succulent brains and eat them together like a makeshift lobster roll.

The carabineros shrimp were our favorite part of the meal. These giant, head-on shrimp from Spain are so deeply flavorful that it’s almost hard to explain. That dark red flesh is packed with natural fatty juices too. You’ll want to wipe some bread into that shit as well.

For our mains, we had Japanese snapper and a Niman Ranch rib eye. Both were served as composed dishes with sides of vegetables, and both were cooked really nicely. The steak was a solid 8/10.

For dessert, 16-layer lemon cake. So good with that blood orange sherbet swirl.

I definitely plan to go here again. They have beef tataki and lamb belly pasta on the menu that I need to try, but the daily seafood specials will be difficult to pass up again, I’m sure of it. Go give this place a shot.

OCEANS
233 Park Ave S
New York, NY 10003

American, Deli, New Orleans, Restaurant Reviews

St James Cheese Company

January 6, 2020 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

This nice sandwich and cheese shop is a fun place to stop in for a quick lunch if you’re in the area. The bloodies are good, and the sandwiches and cheese are nice.

I could’ve used a little more roast beef on this sandwich, and thinner sliced, but the smoked blue cheese sorta made up for it. That was unique. But I think I’m starting to notice a NOLA trend with small amounts of sandwich meat down here. Not a good look!

ST. JAMES CHEESE COMPANY
641 Tchoupitoulas St,
New Orleans, LA 70130

American, New Orleans, Restaurant Reviews

Revolution

January 6, 2020 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

I, my wife and some friends ate at this joint for New Year’s Eve dinner before heading to a party in New Orleans. We tried a bunch of shit so I’ll get right to it.

STARTERS: steak tartare, charbroiled oysters, and crispy fried sweetbreads with mushrooms.

Of these, my favorite was the sweetbreads. They were crispy outside, creamy inside, and packed with lots of earthy flavor from the mushrooms. The oysters were great too, and over all the charbroiled oysters in this town are amazing almost everywhere we had them.

ENTREES: lamb chops and game pie.

These were both pretty good. I’d definitely recommend either one if you’re dining here.

SIDE: artichoke gratin.

This dish ate more like a dip, and as such would have benefitted from some bread or chips for dipping.

RESTAURANT REVOLUTION
777 Bienville St
New Orleans, LA 70130

American, New Orleans, Restaurant Reviews

NOLA Po’Boys

January 5, 2020 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

This little joint is the perfect spot to stagger into for some great drunk eats after hitting Bourbon Street. The po’boy is pretty good, despite not being on the traditional French bread.