Category Archives: Brooklyn

Atlas Steakhouse

Atlas Steakhouse overall score: 78

My wife and I came to this Mediterranean style steak joint for a press meal. For us, heading out to Brooklyn is almost like a road trip, so we were looking forward to coming here and trying something new, outside the usual midtown hustle. This joint is a small mom-and-pop style restaurant, so it was a welcome change from the big mega steakhouses that are bankrolled by huge restaurant group chains in midtown. There aren’t many fine dining restaurants in this area of Brooklyn, so this is a welcome addition. It opened in the Summer of 2015 and seems to be doing well so far.

Flavor: 7
My wife and I split the tomahawk bone-in rib eye for two. The meat itself was nice and juicy, and had good flavor from the generous peppering. It could  have used a bit more crusting, but that’s not a big deal because there was very little bleed-out (as you can see from the photo of the plate below).

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Unfortunately, however, it was overcooked. We ordered it medium rare, and it came out closer to medium well. Part of that is due to the thickness of the cut (difficult to cook evenly throughout), but part was simply just a mistake in the kitchen.

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If I  had to guess what happened, based on how the meat looked when it came out, I’d say it was probably cooked to rare, then sliced and finished off under the broiler to bring it up a bit more. Aside from that, it was tasty.

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Each steak comes with four sauces. One is a horseradish sauce, one is steak sauce, one is peppercorn gravy and one is a tomato-based sauce. All were good, but I think I liked the steak sauce the best (left).

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Choice of Cuts & Quality Available: 7
There’s a good deal of options here. All the basics are covered for the major chops (plus a skirt), and there are various size and bone options for each. Very nice. Our cut didn’t have too much of the Spinalis cap, but from what I understand they offer table-side meat selection, so you can typically pick exactly the right cut for you. The website indicates that Atlas ages their steak on site, but I’m not certain whether the quality is prime or choice. The quality of fat on our cut was a bit more gristled than what I usually like, but not unacceptable by any means. There was very little waste on our place. We gobbled down everything. Some portions of the steak were a little bit grainy in texture, but I think that was because of the overcooking mishap.

Portion Size & Plating: 8
Portions are big here. Our rib eye was 48oz! And the plating is done nicely here because they use an elevated platter, that way the big steak plate doesn’t crowd the table and take up valuable dining space. I wish more steakhouses would do the same! Other than that, it is pretty basic. Nothing too fancy. Just simple and elegant.

Price: 9
The prices here are something you might expect in the suburbs. It’s refreshing to see a huge 48oz steak for two listed at just $76. Excellent! And it’s just a quick subway ride away on the B/Q. If you’re on a tighter budget but still looking for a pretty good steak, then this is your place.

Bar: 8
The bar is beautifully decorated. It’s situated near the street so you get some good light, and being located on a major street like Coney Island Avenue makes for a good place to pop in for a drink or a quick bite at the bar, especially if the live music is in session. They have a great looking burger selection on the menu. What better place to throw down on a lamb burger that at the bar?

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Specials and Other Meats: 7
There were no specials off the menu, but you can go with lamb, veal or chicken if you aren’t man enough for beef. They even offer some vegetarian options for the truly vaginal.

Apps, Sides & Desserts: 7
We started with the crab cake. This was a good size, and chock full of meat. It had a light crisp on the outside. I think it just needed a pop of some other kind of flavor inside. Perhaps a hit of spice like jalapeño or cherry pepper, or even some celery for a lithe more crunch.

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We also tried the Moroccan oxtail cigars. These are essentially egg roll wrappers that have a nice braised, tender, spiced oxtail meat inside. These were our favorite of the appetizers we tried.

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One of the highlights of this section is the mushroom and spinach gratin. Essentially this is creamed spinach with minced mushrooms in the mix. Absolutely delicious, and it’s one of the best spinach dishes I’ve had at a steakhouse! The big monster steak joints of Manhattan should take note of this gem of a dish. The mushrooms soak up tons of flavor, and the texture becomes dynamic rather than just a mushy goop. I loved it.

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For our first dessert, we tried this crepe cake with chocolate mousse in the layers. Beautiful.

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It was a bit more stiff in texture than I expected, likely because they have to prepare it well ahead of time and store it in the fridge, but I enjoyed it because it had great flavor and was something different from the standard, run-of-the mill steakhouse desserts like tiramisu, creme brûlée and flan.

Next up was yet another unique item, but this one was much more successful. The menu labels it a mango tiramisu, though it is more like a mango mousse re-invention of, or spin on, tiramisu.

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The mango and whipped cream mixture will take you back to the flavor of creamsicles from your childhood. Also there are little buried treasures hidden within the mousse: cream puffs!!! We absolutely loved this dessert. Coffee was good too. Strong!

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Seafood Selection: 7
There’s salmon, branzino and tuna on the entree menu, and a good deal of shellfish on the appetizer menu. Not a bad showing for a small steakhouse! This is on par with the big boys in midtown.

Service: 10
The service here is great. Our waitress had great suggestions for dessert, and everything was nicely timed and cleaned up quickly. They’re attentive, without being in your face.

The table bread was toasty warm – super fresh – and came with a delicious garlic herb butter.

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Ambiance: 8
This place has a really nice decor. It’s a great chic look, but still comfortable. I was very impressed at this place for being a small operation, and they’re truly done an amazing job with the space.

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Atlas also has live music in the evenings (smooth guitar, mellow saxophone and piano), and they just started offering brunch on weekends. They’re also affiliated with the newly restored King’s Theater nearby, which is beautiful. They are one of three vendors who are permitted to advertise and serve in the establishment. That’ll be great for business!

ATLAS STEAKHOUSE
943 Coney Island Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11230

Rockaway Brewery, Meat Hook & Stagg Jam & Marmalade

I recently went to a release event for Rockaway Brewery’s newest beer, “Meat in the Middle,” with the man behind The Dishelin Guide.

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“Meat in the Middle” (4.8% abv) is a rauchbier that’s brewed with slow-smoked NY State barley. What makes it special and “meaty” is that it’s smoked with cherry wood at Brooklyn specialty butcher and sandwich shop, The Meat Hook.

The beer itself is pretty good. You get a hint of that smoke in there, with a malt-forward beer flavor. Very nice. I tried it in a flight of some other goodies. In this photo, it’s all the way on the left:

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The porters and dark beers here are really fantastic:

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After working up a little buzz, we hopped on one of the brewery tours and picked up some additional info about the brew process:

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By then we were hungry, so we ventured upstairs to try some of the sausages that The Meat Hook was selling.

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We tried both the Long Dong Bud and the Beet & Onion sausages.

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Check out the color on the Beet & Onion. Incredible! It was really nice, and topped with a kale kimchi type of slaw that really made the flavors pop.

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Long Dong Bud was topped with some shredded cheese, and a pineapple relish. It definitely had more of a traditional German type flavor profile, other than the relish.

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We were torn on which we liked best. I went one way (Long Dong Bud), and Jay went the other (Beet & Onion). In any event, if you can get over to The Meat Hook and try these, I highly recommend them.

Ben Turley, a butcher from The Meat Hook, gave us a demo of how he breaks down a “rear quarter” of a cow – a beef shank (a back leg).

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As he explained what he was doing, he trimmed off various specialty cuts within, like the oyster steak and merlot steak.

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Here’s a shot of the oyster steak:

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And some various other items like portions of the top round and eye of round.

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He parted out the femur bone, too.

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The coolest thing about this was that they were just slicing up parts of the lean beef sections and passing it around to eat raw, with just a little bit of salt on top. Awesome!

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One of the thicker cuts benefited from just a quick, hot sear:

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So this day was basically a dream come true. Good beer, Good food and a dead cow. And Ben basically has my dream job.

On my way out, I picked up a jar of this really crazy banana jam too, from Stagg Jam & Marmalade.

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They had a table set up where you could try all four of their jams on crackers. This bacon jam has a hint of citrus and vanilla that really explodes with flavor.

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ROCKAWAY BREWERY
46-01 5th St.
Long Island City, NY 11101

THE MEAT HOOK
100 Frost St.
Brooklyn, NY 11211

DeStefano’s Steakhouse

DeStefano’s overall score: 80

DeStefano’s seems to regularly offer Groupon deals in which you pay X number of dollars for Y amount of restaurant credit. Those are always the best kinds of deals. In our case, we had $90 credit for about $50. Our discount, however, was nearly voided completely when the lovely City of New York decided to shut down the L train in both directions due to police activity stemming from the infamous annual “pants off subway ride.” So after $25 in cab fare, we arrived to our destination about 30 minutes late.

Flavor: 8
This joint offers something a bit unique: a rib eye that is cooked with fennel. This highly Italian preparation doesn’t add much sweetness, as you might expect (Which is good), but the resulting “grilled fennel” that comes with the steak has a grilled onion quality, only less salty and more mild. I liked it. While the meat itself was aged (28 days) and prime, I felt that it could have benefited from a slight hit of more salt. The pepper usage was perfect, and the meat was cooked to a very nice medium rare. The only other down side was that the steak was sitting in a pool of butter and/or oil. I don’t mind that too much, but soaking in that will remove any good seared crust that may have developed on the outside of the steak during cooking.

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Below is a closer look at the fennel. The steak comes served on a bed of sliced and grilled fennel (unless you request otherwise).

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I should note here that the porterhouse cuts looked amazing. I saw two come out for other tables and my eyes lit up. You all know that I’m primarily a rib eye guy, so for me to get excited over a porterhouse is kind of a big deal. I’d definitely like to come back and try one of those big fuckers.

Choice of Cuts & Quality Available: 9
You have all your basics here, but the quality is prime and the meats are aged to give the cuts a great flavor. My cut had a good amount of tasty beef jelly fat between the spinalis and the eye. I like that. It’s like marrow!

Portion Size & Plating: 9
My steak was a 24oz bone-in cut, served on a silver platter. Very nice. Sides can be ordered for one or for two, and the sizes are generous.

Price: 8
My rib eye was $58. That is midtown pricing. A bit high, in my opinion, for something that didn’t get full points for flavor, but balance that against the fact that DeStefano’s almost always has a Groupon deal available and it evens out. I also can’t complain too much here because the management generously comp’d our dessert.

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Bar: 5
There is a small three-seat bar beside the host station when you walk into the restaurant. This is certainly not the kind of place you go for, say, a happy hour or to just hang out at the bar. They do, however, make a good martini. My wife’s old fashioned was just so-so, she reported.

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Specials and Other Meats: 8
Our waiter David read off some special apps for us, so there are definitely some off-menu items to explore. For other meats, you have lamb, veal and chicken. Not a bad showing.

Apps, Sides & Desserts: 8
We tried two apps. First was the sweet and spicy bacon. This slab came in just under $5 and was nicely cooked to a soft yet crunchy texture.

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Next up was DeStefano’s version of carpaccio; a shoulder cut of beef that is tenderized and seared on the outside before slicing thin and serving with arugula, lemon and shaved parmesan. This reminded me of my dad’s “steak salad.”

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It went nicely with the sliced table bread as well.

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On the side we tried an order of creamed spinach. This was okay. I’ve had better, and I’ve certainly had worse. The top had a nice crunchy texture from baked breadcrumbs, and the spinach itself was only lightly creamy, which, in general, I like.

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For dessert we had tiramisu. This was creamy and soft, not too boozed up, and very light. I enjoyed it, and it was a good recommendation from our waiter.

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Seafood Selection: 7
There’s grilled mahi mahi and a pair of seafood pasta items on the entree menu, otherwise you’re limited to the app and salad section for your seafood (crab cakes, BBQ shrimp, lump crab, etc). But you’re coming here for steak anyway, so don’t get all bent out of shape over this.

Service: 10
David was an excellent waiter, and all the staff was helpful and nice. Our water was always filled, we never had to wait long for anything, and the management was very generous for comping our dessert. I’d definitely eat here again – especially to try that porterhouse I mentioned above. The table bread is nice – basic, nothing too fancy – and served with extra virgin olive oil and balsamic.

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Ambiance: 8
You’re actually entering someone’s former home when you eat here. You feel like the home owners have cleared out their living room and set up nice dining tables for you to eat their home cooked meal. It’s very charming, and all the walls are covered in family photos going back to the 50’s (perhaps even earlier) and coming up to present day.

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DESTEFANO’S
89 Conselyea St.
Brooklyn, NY 11211

Red Hook Lobster Pound

By far the more superior lobster roll when compared to Luke’s. This is only rivaled by Burger & Lobster.

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Even after a walk home in the bag from the new outpost at Urban Space, Vanderbilt, this was still buttery and delicious. One side of the bun was a little soggy, but that was only due to the transport. Robust lobster flavors, excellent, perfectly cooked knuckle and claw meat, and great dressing. Well played!

Fresh from the Brooklyn flagship was pretty great too, though I still find lobster rolls to be too expensive, in general.

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RED HOOK LOBSTER POUND
Urban Space Vanderbilt
230 Park Ave.
New York, NY 10169

RED HOOK LOBSTER POUND
284 Van Brunt St
Brooklyn, NY 11231

The Pines

NOTE: THIS JOINT IS NOW CLOSED

Last month when I was at Meatopia I had the pleasure of meeting John Poiarkoff, the genius chef behind the wheels of steel at The Pines in Brooklyn.

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In our inevitable conversation about meat and steak, I discovered that his carnivorous endeavors at the restaurant were not only out of the ordinary and interesting, but exemplified that rare love of beef possessed only by a true connoisseur.

For example, he explained how the blade steak (aka Denver cut, part of the chuck) on the menu was prepared sous vide style. It bathes for several hours in a sealed bag, allowing the tentacle-like marbling to render down, making the steak super tender before it gets seared off in a pan for a nice outer crisp.

He also mentioned that he had some rib eyes in an outdoor walk-in that he converted into a dry-aging room. When he said how long they were in there, 106 days, I nearly lost my shit. I kindly asked him again. “How long did you say?” 106 days!

He went on to say that they would soon be breaking the rack down into portioned cuts and serving them as special menu items. Needless to say, I was all over it. I made sure to follow The Pines on Instagram and to keep my eye out for any news about that steak. Sure enough, just a few weeks later I saw the post announcing that they were going to be serving those rib eyes. The very next day my wife and I headed over.

To my excitement, the menu was chock full of delicious looking meat goodies. We sipped on a pair of nice cocktails while we wrestled with what to order.

On the left is The Pines, a rye drink with douglas fir (burnt/smoked pine needles for a really nice woodsy, aromatic nose) and yuzu; on the right is the Air & Sea, a gin drink with dulse, lemon and violet.

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We ended up going for three entrees instead of the traditional apps, sides and entrees routine. But before our first item came out, John sent over an order of duck rillettes. This is aged duck served terrine style with a pastrami sandwich theme: dill sauce (it tasted like pickles), a cabbage kraut, mustard and crunchy puffed rye grains.

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This inventive dish threw us for a tasty loop, and it set the tone for what was one of the most fun, innovative and delicious meals we’ve had in a long time.

John paired the duck with this really smooth, clean sake:

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Oh and there was this nice little amuse of carrot soup/puree with sage oil. It had a spicy and smoky kick to it.

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Our first entree was pork jowl. If you’ve never had this, it is essentially bacon from the face of a pig. It’s cured, smoked cheek meat. If you know anything about the cheek meat of an animal, you know that it is some of the most tender and sought after bits of goodness you can find. This tasted like really awesome smoked bacon. It was savory yet slightly sweet, and sat on a pumpkin and cabbage pancake that was somewhat reminiscent of corn bread.

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I could very happily eat that shit every morning for breakfast, though I may be tempted to throw a fried egg on top – you know – because breakfast is the perfect time to eat like a savage barbarian. Anyway this dish wasn’t heavy or greasy like you might expect from bacon. The curing and smoking helps in that respect.

Our first steak dish came out next. After hearing about that blade steak, I couldn’t pass it up.

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John mixed the normal blade steak plate up a bit and served it with some roasted broccoli, braised oxtail and cheesy potato puree.

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As you can see, there’s even a bit of shaved horseradish over the top to punch up the salt and tie the meat in with the potato. Really nice.

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This steak is incredibly good. John has taken a lesser known, less desirable and rarely featured cut and showcased it in a way that will have you searching for it in every restaurant. It’s easily 10/10 for flavor. It was so juicy and tender inside. Perfectly cooked, as you can see, and the sear on the outside locked in all that flavor. It was super crispy on the outside without any part of the inside getting cooked beyond medium rare. Just awesome!

John paired this with a unique and unexpected rose, which had some tartness to it. The cool thing about The Pines is that, if you’re interested, you can learn a lot about the food you’re eating and the stuff you’re drinking. John gets to know all the people who provide his source material. The vintner of this wine, for example, or the farmers and ranchers who provide the meat and produce. He gets to know their stories, and he shares it with diners for a more rich, engaging experience. I dig and appreciate that, and it’s exactly what I was talking about on here recently – that I want to see more of it.

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I should probably mention here that The Pines sources all of its beef from Happy Valley Meat Co., which is based out of Central PA. Both John and his sous chef Neel Patil (the creative force behind the duck rillettes dish, featured above) are extremely modest in that they attribute so much credit for the success of their menu to those farmers. While much credit is indeed deserved by the farmers, it is very easy to fuck up good meat if you don’t know what you’re doing. John and Neel clearly deserve as much credit as the farmers, because they knocked the beef dishes out of the park!

So now comes the big boy – the 106-day, dry-aged rib eye. John explained that the process for these is as follows: First it hits a hot grill for a little smoke and sear, and those lovely grill marks. Then it gets a nice warm sous vide bath. Last, it hits a hot pan to lock in all the juices and get a crispy sear. Thrice cooked rib eye! Here’s a shot of John holding our cut before it hits the pan:

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And here it is after the pan, resting, but before serving. Just look at that gorgeous sear!!!

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While we waited for it to be sliced and plated, John rolled out another pairing for us.

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This wine was truly incredible. He poured us a taste from two different bottles: one that was just opened 30 minutes prior, an another that was already opened for two days.

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The difference was astounding. The freshly opened wine was really nice and flavorful, full bodied and robust without being overpowering. It had a nice round, smooth finish. The wine that was opened for two days had all the same characteristics, but the after taste was of dry aged beef or truffled charcuterie. It was incredible! I kept going at it. It was like having a delicious meat snack with each sip, and it reminded me of the awesome Trufa Seca sausage I had with my latest Carnivore Club box. It paired perfectly with the steak.

Anyway then the masterpiece came out:

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It was plated with grilled Japanese mushrooms, bone marrow, potatoes that were pretty much confit style, and this awesome kimchi cabbage that was finished with rendered beef fat:

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This right here is the best steak I’ve ever eaten at a non-steakhouse, and I can tell you it seriously rivals the best steakhouses as well – it may even be better than all of them.

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I’m still trying to wrap my mind around how incredible this thing was, and I don’t know if it can really compare to anything I’ve had at a steakhouse other than the long bone wagyu rib eye at Del Frisco’s. This thing is really in that kind of league. And look at how perfectly executed this thing is:

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It was so tender and flavorful. Every bite was a “wow,” and the cap was fucking INSANE! I’ve never had anything like it before. I was expecting a lot of game and funk with this meat, but it was just the right subtle amount of “blue cheese” flavor. It came out most when I smeared some marrow onto the slices of eye meat. And the fat around the cap was even softer and more delicious than the marrow.

I don’t know how we did it, but we managed to fit dessert into our guts as well. Probably because what we saw on the menu was new and unique. We had to try something.

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We went back and forth between two and ultimately left it in John’s hands. He came out with both; the chocolate cake, and the miso butterscotch pudding.

The chocolate cake was mildly sweet because it was expertly cut by the cashew and sage ice cream. The pomegranate balanced the whole thing with a nice acidic and tart zing.

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The miso butterscotch pudding is definitely something for the more adventurous dessert person. I seemed to focus my attention more on the celery ice cream than the pudding at first, but that pudding was so freaking good. The ice cream was like a palette cleanser, and the pudding was creamy and velvety – almost like a liquified peanut butter in texture – extremely innovative.

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With dessert, we sipped on a trio of amaro selections, as well as a bitter lemon soda digestif that was made in house. Of these, our favorite was the Brovo #1 (center). It had a spicy cinnamon flavor that was easy to drink. And, as is true with the other stuff above, you can learn all about the people who make these spirits as you dine, because John and his staff are happy to share that information with you if you’re interested, like we were.

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Want to hear something really amazing? This is the kitchen:

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So small, yet so powerful. It is run like a well-oiled machine by incredibly skilled mechanics, pumping out what is absolutely some the finest food in NYC.

Please do yourselves a favor and go here. They may even give you a quick tour of the aging room out back if you ask nicely. Take a look at the ducks and steaks aging away! I think those ducks are at two weeks, and the steak is something like 86 days.

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I went back with a crew of food bloggers and instagrammers for a nice meal around the holidays.

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Here’s a photogasm of everything we ate, which included a duo of rib eyes – one aged for 35 days and another aged for over 80 days.

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Molasses gingerbread cookies stuffed with fois gras and pistachios:

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Kale salad with toasted barley:

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Grilled radicchio salad:

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Roasted broccoli with shaved horseradish:

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Fettuccine with mussels and chilies in a Parmesan cream sauce:

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Presentation of beef!!!

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Post slicing:

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Gnawing on the bone is always fun:

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Dessert 1: bread pudding.

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Dessert 2: herbaceous chocolate ganache.

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We even drank some Japanese whisky from a bone marrow slide!

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Chef John even got in on the action. Marrow luges rule!!!

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THE PINES
284 3rd Ave.
Brooklyn, NY 11215

Saint Anselm

Saint Anselm overall score: 77

This small Williamsburg joint has gotten wildly popular among meat aficionados on a budget, due to their highly affordable $17 hanger steak. See how it stacks up below.

Flavor: 8
This was a tough one. My wife and I came here with a friend of ours, so we ordered an “axe handle” rib eye and the well-known hanger steak, to give it all a try. As it turns out, the axe handle was about a six or seven in flavor, but the hanger steak was a nine. So I split the baby here with an eight. The hanger was simply prepared. Salt, pepper, butter and grilled like a mo-fo. It was perfectly medium rare, super juicy and tender.

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The rib eye was a bit overcooked. We ordered medium rare, but it was more like medium to medium well. The flavor was good, nicely seasoned, and not much waste or fat at all. There wasn’t much in the way of fat cap, but the eye was tasty. The main loss of points here was due to improper cooking.

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Choice of Cuts & Quality Available: 6
This place only offers strip, hanger and rib eye. Lack of a filet or porterhouse really cut into the point score here, but the hanger is an excellent and welcome addition to the repertoire.

Portion Size & Plating: 8
Portions here are pretty substantial. the hanger steak is definitely good enough to fill someone, with a side item or app. The rib eye is served in sizes of 39oz, 47oz, and upwards to giganto-portions. We went with 39oz.

Price: 9
The apps and the hanger are nicely priced, but the rib eye is a bit overpriced in comparison to the rest of the menu. At $2.70/oz, that comes out to midtown prices or higher. Anyway here’s the full bill. As you can see the other items all seemed pretty reasonable.

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Bar: 7
This seems like a great place to hang out. However, I don’t think you’re allowed to sit at the bar unless you are getting food (see “service” comments below). I was a little bummed out by my experience on that angle.

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Specials and Other Meats: 8
There were three specials and a substitution menu item (grilled clams were grilled mussels instead, which we actually ordered and enjoyed). They also serve multiple veal, pork, lamb and chicken dishes up in this bitch, so good on them for that!

Apps, Sides & Desserts: 8
I was saddened to see that the bacon item was no longer offered on the menu, but we still had some decent side items. We started with the grilled mussels ($7). These were fantastic. A simple lemon and butter sauce with some bread for dipping. The flavor was clean and crisp, really nice.

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Next we had the sardines. I was glad to see that there were three in the serving, so we could each have our own. These were a little rough to navigate given the tiny bones, but the meat itself was really delicious.

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Last, we tried the spinach gratin. The spinach was nice: not overly creamy. It was on the dry side, which I wasn’t sure that I liked at first, but it grew on me. The cheese on top was hard and didn’t really mix into the spinach too well. It was more of a crust on top.

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Seafood Selection: 8
There’s just as many fish items as any other type of meat, whether it’s pork, beef, veal or lamb. We didn’t try any (aside from apps), but one of the specials was a salmon head that sounded great, as did the wine braised octopus. I’m not positive, but I think I also heard that this place serves dollar oysters as well. WIN!

Service: 7
When the place first unlocked its doors at 5pm, I walked in alone and said that I would be a group of three. They wouldn’t sit me until everyone arrived. I can somewhat understand that kind of policy, typically when a restaurant is very crowded or only has limited seating. But the place was literally empty. Okay. No big deal. I asked if I could sit at the bar. It was about 90 degrees outside and I was sweating. It was cool inside. I was told that the bar seating is reserved for dining customers. I looked around, shocked. I didn’t see any customers. She said she could check for me if it was okay. I said nah. Fuck it. I will wait outside. That shit just put a bad taste in my mouth. Fucking dead empty and I can’t sit at the bar to wait for my other two party members? I totally would have ordered a drink! Assholes. Anyway our waiter was awesome, and we had absolutely no complaints about the actual service during our dinner. By the way: the bar was still empty halfway through our meal. Toward the end, it was starting to fill up, but still plenty of space for one guy to sit and wait for the rest of his party to arrive.

Ambiance: 8
Despite the fact that this is a small, narrow bar type joint, they’ve really done a great job with what they’ve got. Brick walls, olde tyme sigils and banners all over the walls, etc. Very cool. It’s tough to compete with big budget steakhouses in the ambiance category when you’re a mom and pop type place, but this was one of the better mom and pop joints that I’ve been to.

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ST. ANSELM
355 Metropolitan Ave.
Brooklyn, NY 11211

Umami Burger

My wife and I took a stroll through Hudson Eats and took down one of these burgers. I gotta say; it WAS pretty good. We had the manly burger and an order of truffled up fries. Very nice, though with a Six Point Sweet Action the total came to about $28. I can totally get behind the big hype on this joint though. Truffle burger might have to be next!

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On a second visit to this location, I lost a little of the oomph for this place. My wife and I ordered a sunny side burger (with the egg on top), a truffle burger (sorely in need of a crunch element), and the Korean fries (big let down).

The sunny side burger was pretty great, mostly because the softness of the bun and burger were broken up by a parmesan chip and some arugula. However, the meat was well done – very overcooked.

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The truffle burger was delicious, with truffle cheese and all that oniony goodness. It was cooked to about medium well, which is okay for me but not ideal. The meat tasted overworked (very uniform and springy), a little greasy, and like it was not fresh/formerly frozen. I’ve had better burgers at diners. Worst thing about this was that it was in dire need of a crunch element. No lettuce? Come on, people…

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The Korean fries sucked. They were sweet potato fries with some kimchi on them. Soggy too – no crispy crunch whatsoever.

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The onion rings, however, were pretty good. They were very fluffy with an almost dough batter fried around them. Pretty fun and quite filling in the tummy.

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I went back to the location in Williamsburg recently for an 8-burger tasting, and I have to say this place is back on the up. While our meal was free due to it being a press event, the quality of all the burgers we tried was top notch. They still need to work lettuce or crunch elements into their burgers, but overall it was a big success.

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UMAMI BURGER – HUDSON EATS
Brookfield Place
225 Liberty St
New York, NY 10281

UMAMI BURGER – WILLIAMSBURG
158 N 4th St
Brooklyn, NY 11211

Ramen Yebisu

My wife and I came here with another couple that lives nearby. I read good things about the miso ramen so I was psyched for it.

We started with a round of Orion beers. Love this shit:

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We had a couple of apps too. The pork buns were pretty good, but the meat was more of the stewed variety as opposed to the grilled style. They were self-assembly:

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The gyoza were good too. They were nice and crispy fried flat, and served with black garlic and scallions:

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Okay so on to the good shit. I had the miso ramen with extra sliced pork and a soft boiled egg. The ramen was thick and rich, with hints of seafood flavor. The noodles were wavy egg noodles, by Sun, and perfectly cooked. The scallions weren’t overpowering wither, which I was happy about. Meat quality was pretty good for the most part. I typically don’t love miso ramen but this place was legit.

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My wife tried the house special “Yebisu Ramen,” which they only serve 10 times per day. It’s a seafood based broth, thin and clear. This is a light soup but really deep in flavor. You can tell they simmered that broth in crab shells and seafood husks for a long time. It’s topped with all sorts of goodies like mussels, scallops, shrimp and  crab legs. This is a big winner.

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Biggest loser of the night?  THIS GUY:

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RAMEN YEBISU
126 N 6th St
Brooklyn, NY 11211

Fushimi

This review is for the Williamsburg location of Fushimi (there are two others – one in Bay Ridge, and one in Staten Island). I was recently invited here for a complimentary press dinner.

First, a little bit about the joint: Fushimi is a Japanese and French fusion restaurant that focuses on traditional Japanese items but with a French twist. Why, you ask?

Chef Chul Kee Ko’s parents had a Japanese restaurant in Seoul, where he spent a lot of time absorbing traditional Japanese food culture and techniques. But as a young man the intrigue of other cuisines ended up drawing him to a culinary school in Vancouver to further study his passion for French food. There, he worked his way up through several French restaurants before deciding it was time to honor his roots with a renewed focus on Asian cuisines. After honing his craft at such places as Buddha Bar, and with chefs like Jean-Georges Vongerichten, the fusion of the two food cultures was only natural when Ko came to New York to strike out on his own with Fushimi.

The ambiance at Fushimi is trendy and luxurious, with a purpose to be part of the nightlife scene as the evening progresses. That’s not really my speed, but as long as I can see my food and the music isn’t too loud, it’s all good with me – and it wasn’t loud or dark. We were there until about 9:45pm and I never felt like it was getting too loud, dim, or clubby. I certainly don’t mind if a business wants to cater to a lounge crowd as the evening transforms into night: Actually it’s probably a good idea given the vibrant neighborhood it’s in. And there’s plenty of room for them to do this, between the massive front bar and lounge area, the spacious booth and street-side table seating, and the rear sushi bar.

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There are some really interesting and modern fixtures and decorations throughout, with an amazing tunnel that leads back to an opulent bathroom area:

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Their logo can be seen everywhere, even in large format on the side of the building. Brand recognition:

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Chef Ko selects fresh ingredients daily and, as a result, the menu has a seasonal aspect to it. They offer a variety of dining options (lunch, brunch, dinner, early dinner, specials, parties, etc). Omakase means “I’ll leave it to you” in Japanese. Kaiseki is a multiple-course meal. We had Omakase Kaiseki, which you can figure out (if you are any degree sharper than a dull spoon) means that we left the contents of a multiple-course meal up to the chef. We simply sit back, relax, and enjoy the food without having to do much thinking about the menu. Here’s what we had:

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We started with some drinks. I had an awesome cucumber passion martini that was going down like a refreshing sports drink. I could very easily slam these all night.

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My wife had the sake sangria drink, which had bits of apple, strawberry, blueberry and orange within. It was like a boozy fruit salad:

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Now on to the food:

First was an amuse bouche of portobello mushroom veloute and a crispy risotto ball. The ball was crisp on the outside and soft on the inside. It was tasty and flavorful, with a hint of cheese flavor that kept it moist. The soup was really creamy and smooth: think of the best cream of mushroom soup you’ve ever had, only without the bits of mushroom in it.

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Next up was this kickass wooden tray of assorted appetizers. I loved this because I got to try a bunch of really nice items in one shot.

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There was yuzu gelee with yellow tomato inside. A really nice pop of sweet and sour in one shot.

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I usually don’t like eel very much, but this freshwater variety was light, mild and perfectly prepared. It really shined with some cured peppercorns on top. I think it was probably my favorite from the appetizer box.

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A close second, though, was this thinly sliced scallop with wasabi and shaved radish. So clean and nicely textured.

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This salad contains four different varieties of seaweed from Okinawa. Also very light, but brined with the flavor of the sea.

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The next compartment was fresh raw sea urchin atop a jumbo shrimp tartare. This was really nice as well, and vied for second place neck and neck with the sliced scallop. The uni was top quality shit, and the shrimp was super smooth as well. Everything worked, and the nori slices gave it some flavor and seasoning.

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Last of the appetizer box was the mixed veggies. Semi-raw string bean, carrot, and multi-colored cauliflower served with a sweet glaze. These were great and refreshing.

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As you can tell by now the plating at this joint is immaculate and beautiful. By now I was really excited to see how the rest of the meal was going to look. I pretty much already knew it would taste amazing after that last course. But I didn’t realize HOW good until I took a bite of this Chilean sea bass.

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This was honestly one of the best pieces of fish I’ve ever eaten, and probably our favorite dish of the evening. Lucky for everyone else, this is a very popular dish at the restaurant. I can see why. The top of the meat was crisp and flavorful, and the lower portion was so soft, flaky and moist. Perfect execution. The garnishes of roasted heirloom cherry tomato (sweet), pickled red onion  (sour), and black sesame ponzu puree (bitter and savory) all made for a really complex and well-balanced dish that was ultimately the exact amount of simplicity as well. Chef Ko really knows how to feature his ingredients in a way that makes them stand out as special.

Next was tuna tartare with seaweed paste, onion creme fraiche and salmon roe. I’m not as big a fan of seaweed flavors as other folks, so I felt this dish would have been better without it. However I do appreciate the seasoning added by the paste.  The tartare itself was great quality, same with the roe. I really liked the thick, sweet and savory ponzu sauce, along with the creme fraiche, so I wanted a bit more of that with each bite. The tartare was served with some crispy sliced bread as well.

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This chawanmushi was amazing:

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It was served in a covered bowl (beside a small vase of flowers) and then revealed table-side, so you get to smell that great waft of egg and mushroom in a nice blast of steam.

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Look at the texture – like silken tofu, it was perfectly smooth and velvety. The shiitake mushroom flavor gave it a meaty quality as well. Earthy. Inside were some generous chunks of lobster and shrimp as well, which gave it a slight briney flavor. So good on a cold night.

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As a beef connoisseur, I was impressed by this next course. Filet Mignon with braised orange carrot confit (cooked for three hours in olive oil and orange juice, and then seasoned with cumin), asparagus tips, fig, and crispy fried potatoes. There was a port reduction sauce on top of a small puree of carrot as well, and some black garlic on the potatoes. Even a thinly shaved curl of asparagus as garnish, and a roasted tomato.

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At first glance you may think that there is too much going on here in this dish, but everything works really well together. Although this was a relatively sweet dish, the sweet of the carrot, port sauce and tomato are offset by the bitter of the cumin and garlic. The potato and asparagus gave it a nice texture of crunch, and the port wine sauce added some moisture and a little bit of pungent pop as well. As for the meat: cooked to a perfect medium rare with a peppered edge. Amazing.

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Next was some assorted tempura, served beautifully in a bamboo basket with some fried noodles as garnish.

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The basket included a macadamia-coconut crusted shrimp, green bean, shiso leaf and mixed veggie (squash/zucchini/sweet potato) items. The batter was light and crispy. No grease at all. There was a light soy-based dipping sauce and a small bowl of shaved salt for finishing. My favorite was the shrimp here – it was meaty and big, and expertly fried, unlike those monstrosity “Hawaiian shrimp” items you get at places like Applebee’s.

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Next we had some very lightly flavored brown rice green tea from a teapot that looked like a winking tiger or bear face when looking from top view. What animal do you see?

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Next was the sashimi course. This was a bit tough to photograph because of the glowing blue ice cube that was buried under the ice, but the plating was gorgeous. The fresh wasabi served with this was potent, and lots of little things placed on the ice were edible for balancing the flavors, like the kumquat to get some sweetness, or the shiso leaf for some green peppery punch, and of course the ginger for cleansing the palette.

There was a nicely dressed and fresh Kumomoto oyster sitting upon a little pillar made of ice, with scallions and sweet vinegar sauce.

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There was this yellow tail belly, which was super smooth and delicious:

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My favorite was the king salmon. So soft and flavorful. Beautiful color too:

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And a cured tuna with seared edges, peach sauce and Maui onion, then topped with some peppery micro greens.

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The last savory course of the evening was this delicious bowl of mixed seafood with a really tasty cajun lobster cream sauce. It reminded me of the food we had in New Orleans.

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I feel like each item worked better individually, that the dish didn’t really come together as a whole. But the execution on every item was pretty much perfect, with the small exception of the lobster tail meat. The claw meat was fine, but the tail was just a bit overcooked. Everything else was insanely delicious though, from the sauce to the edible flowers to the sweet corn and even the crispy cheese chip.

Check out this fried, stuffed squash blossom, stuffed with lobster meat, cabbage and ginger. This reminded me of a southeast Asian style egg roll:

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The scallop was something similar to what you’d find on a top rated Italian restaurant’s menu. It was buttery and perfect.

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And the uni was smooth and fresh. I never thought I’d like it warm like this, but it was so delicate and good.

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Perhaps if the ingredients were a bit more integrated, like in a soup or rice dish, this wouldn’t have felt disjointed. But that is a minor point about an otherwise amazing dish. I really loved it.

We tried two desserts. First was a caramel flan that was topped with grapefruit, pineapple and raspberry sorbet.

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I felt like we didn’t need the fruit, but the sorbet seemed to work nicely with the creamy and silky flan.

This bowl of green tea ice cream with sweet red beans on top was delicious.

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I think it may have been a bigger success with some chocolate crunchies or even candied coffee grinds instead of the lemon macaron, which sort of crumbled apart like cake when I bit into it. There was also some citrus from the blueberries and strawberries, but the yuzu gelee took it a little over the top for that flavor element. I know chocolate crunch, fresh strawberry and ice cream sounds a bit boring, but my taste buds were slightly confused by the sour elements. It certainly was interesting though, and the ice cream itself was texturally perfect.

I compliment Chef Ko for his inventive menu items. As you can tell, the plating at this place is really amazing; something to behold. Pictures don’t do the meal justice. You really have to just get over here and see/taste for yourself. There’s definitely something magical happening here at Fushimi. This is probably the best omakase kaiseki I’ve had – it easily beats out Megu, Ninja and other trendy, expensive places that I’ve been to.

FUSHIMI
475 Driggs Ave.
Brooklyn, NY 11211

Hanoi Vietnamese Kitchen

Stopped off in this place to test out their banh mi sandwich – classic style, of course. The bread was toasty and warm, and the veggies and herbs were all nice and fresh. Not my favorite, but it was okay for a much needed fix.

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The pho here is pretty good as well. Nice robust flavor. I’ve had better for cheaper, but the quality of the ingredients here seemed to be a little better.

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HANOI VIETNAMESE KITCHEN
448 9th St.
Brooklyn, NY 11215