The folks behind Mister Paradise, one of my favorite burgers of all time, just opened up Highlife Burger a street or two up from Mister Paradise. The cake dealer and I went in to try it out, and we were very happy with the food!
The burgers are reminiscent of “In n Out,” a California staple. They’re much better, though.
The hot dog is pretty great too. It comes covered in melty cheese sauce and potato chips.
The fries are great too, though I didn’t get a photo. They’re sort of like a batter-fried McDonalds style.
I will definitely be back here for more. $7.50 for a single and $10.50 for a double are great prices!
I finally got over to Foul Witch, named for the strange character in David Lynch’s “Mulholland Drive” (one of my all time favorite movies). I had heard good things about this place, as it’s a sister restaurant to the popular pizza joint Roberta’s.
Like Roberta’s, they offer an item called Fire & Ice. This is basically the same thing at Foul Witch, but instead of being toppings on a pizza, it is a bunch of deliciousness on a plate. Stracciatella cheese, fresh pepper, extra virgin olive oil, and a Calabrian chili paste spread.
Absolutely delicious, especially when stuffed into their sesame focaccia with cultured butter as a makeshift sandwich (I didn’t snap a pic of that mashup).
We also did a side of their Sorana beans with salsa verde, which ate like cannelini beans with an avocado mousse on top. Very nice.
In the middle, we housed two pastas and their Dutch Baby.
The Dutch Baby is a cross between a pop-over and Yorkshire pudding, topped with duck liver mousse and apple. As tasty as it was pretty.
The first pasta was turnip and poppyseed caramelle. This was nice, but the broth had a little bit of a burnt, bitter flavor (likely from the turnip). Otherwise very unique.
The second pasta was Pici al Peposo, which is like extra thick spaghetti served with a peppery meat, horseradish and Parmigiano cheese. We sort of identified the meat as short rib, but traditionally this dish is made with either stewed short rib or shank. This was really nice, although a bit heavy.
Finally, we finished with their wagyu chuck steak.
This was perfectly cooked, super tender, juicy, flavorful, well-seasoned and just over all delightful. 9/10. It was served with a Bearnaise sauce and various types of allium (onions, garlic, chives, shallots, leeks, etc).
We would have tried a dessert, but the charcoal grilling going on in the kitchen set off the smoke alarms, and it just became unbearable to stay any longer. FDNY showed up. Haha! In any case, I would definitely go back to try more things here.
My wife picked up a Pulsd deal for this joint, which was $99 for two 18-course omakase dinners, including two shots of sake each. That’s not a bad deal!
My favorite pieces were the various jack fish (amberjack, strip jack), the ebi shrimp with tobiko, and the uni. The squid was nice too.
The most unique piece (and really delicious too) was the eel with banana! So different. I really liked that.
Service was a bit wonky, because we got started at a different time than others who were late for their reservations, and one couple was doing a different coursing than the rest of us. As a result there was a little mix up where we received our dessert before the final piece of sushi (uni), and our sushi plate and chopsticks were already cleared. But everyone was really nice, and I think the Pulsd deal was worth it. I might not go otherwise, since the regular price is a bit steep for what you get. Also… there was no shiso served at this restaurant named Shiso.
This joint serves up a 15-course omakase for just $89! It’s really close by, so we had to give it a try.
My favorite items were the crab handroll, the stripekack, and the scallop with uni.
Great spot! No liquor license yet, and they don’t let you BYOB, but they said the license is in the works and they should have beer and wine soon.
I can’t wait to go back to try it again. The chef said the fish can change on a daily basis, and he likes to use a lot of unique and different fish than you normally see.
A second location of the popular Williamsburg bar “The Commodore” just opened in the lower east side at Avenue C and Houston Street. My wife and I have been eagerly awaiting the open since we saw renovations going on there last year. The interior is really cool, almost like you’re aboard a yacht. They even have life fish in a tank along the right side wall, with circular portals for viewing.
We started with two frozen drinks and both were great. The winner between the Orange Julio and the frozen mojito was the mojito, however. They also serve $4 cans of Schaefer, which is a steal. During happy hour, you can get a beer and a shot for $7, which is a price that’s on par with the cheapest dives in town.
Speaking of happy hour, they offer their burger with fries for $14 (normally just the burger costs $14, but at happy hour the fries come with). The burger is a nice crumbly patty that’s well seasoned and dressed with all the fixings.
We also tried their fried chicken, which, despite saying three thighs on the menu, actually came with four. Also great biscuits, two hot sauces and a sweet honey butter. At $22 this is a great deal, especially considering how crispy outside and juicy inside the chicken was. Delicious.
We also tried their fried green tomato sandwich with slaw. I enjoyed this, and the baguette was a really nice surprice here on this sandwich. I expected it to be too hard and rough, but it was warm, soft and really nicely butter-toasted.
Definitely can’t wait to go back and try their fish items, grilled cheese and nachos.
This place has been popping up all over Instagram, and once I saw the images of their burger and mortadella sandwich, I knew I had to get in ASAP to try.
We went right when they opened at 5pm on a Saturday, and the place was jammed by 5:30. Apparently everyone had the same idea!
We started with the fried mozzarella and Lions baked potato (with sour cream and an egg yolk).
The baked potato was a game changer. It was so freaking flavorful. We both loved it. As for the mozzarella…
Perfect temperature for stretching! And surprisingly light. Very flavorful.
The burger was 100% perfection. A nice thick aged patty, topped with two slices of American cheese, atop a slice of grilled onion, which helps to protect the beautiful sesame seed bottom bun. Four slices of pickle came on the plate as well. We obviously put them on top.
My pictures sucked, but the interior was a perfect medium rare / medium, which is ideal for this ind of “steakhouse” style burger. This was a killer. On par with Luger or Red Hook Tavern for just $18. For $4 you can get fries with it, and the fries were excellent. Nice and crispy, not too salty. The only down was that they charged us for the side order of fries ($8) rather than the “accompanying” fried ($4). I was wondering why this was such a huge order.
The mortadella sandwich was excellent too. While it ate a bit salty due to the Calabrian chili tapenade, the flavor was out of this world. The pistachio studded mortadella had a ton of porky character, and the blue cheese on this was more like a spread than a crumble or a saucy mess. It worked, though I questioned whether it would when I saw it on the menu.
As you can see, this came with chips. So we had three types of potato with this meal: chips, fries and a baked potato.
Side note: They also make a great martini.
This place is also going to be offering a steak night on Wednesdays for something like $35, and monthly “Beefsteak” meals which will be an all-inclusive price that covers drinks, starters, steak and dessert. I really can’t want to try those!
Amigo is now Bad Hombre! Ruben transformed the space and made it absolutely gorgeous inside.
What an amazing bar, matched by amazing cocktails.
We basically tried the entire menu, except for a few items here and there. As is common with Ruben’s restaurants, everything was off the charts delicious. These were some of the best, most delicious oysters I’ve ever had.
This scallop crudo was a great balance of natural sweetness with some seasoned heat.
Shrimp and octopus aguachile? HELL YES! The octopus here was cooked perfectly.
This corn gratin dip was a nice combo of sweet and heat too. It may not look like much, but it packed a wallop of flavor.
We tried three different tortilla based items: shrimp tacos, a fish tostada, and a mushroom quesadilla. I am hard pressed to choose a favorite among these, but I think the mushroom was a real standout to me. Much like the mushroom carpaccio at Nai and Emelia. A true winner.
The grilled octopus here was absolutely gorgeous, and the black bean puree sauce hits you with some Indian and middle eastern spices that will blow you away.
I could not resist the chimichurri skirt steak. Delicious!
These St. Louis ribs fell apart when I picked them up. So friggin’ tender! They were cooked confit style and glazed with soy and sesame.
But honestly, I was caught off guard by how insanely tasty these crispy habanero aioli Brussels sprouts were. I could eat them every day for the rest of my life and never get tired of them.
Dessert was also a home run. The chocolate mousse with sea salt flakes was rich without being heavy. It was fluffy and extremely well balanced – not too sweet.
This semi-frozen panna cotta with pineapple granita was so creamy and delicious too. What an understated and gentle but powerful flavor bomb!
I can not wait to go back here for more meals. Everything Ruben touches is incredible.
Crazy Burger is a brand new smash burger joint on Avenue C at 12th Street. Their double cheeseburger is just $9.50 and it tastes like a cross between a White Castle slider and a Big Mac.
The fries are the batter-fried style, with that great crisp on the outside of each log.
Great food at a great price. I will definitely be back.
I finally got over to Jimmy & Yen’s husband restaurant to Madame Vo, aptly named Monsieur Vo. All I can say is… WOW!
We started with this incredible beef tartare made from rib eye!
Fried soft shell crab egg drop soup? Hell yes! I absolutely loved this. it also had corn and asparagus in it. really tasty! Big thanks to The Cake Dealer for snapping some of these pics that I’m using here…
These prawns served over steamed rice cake crepe type thingies were also delicious, and perfectly cooked, I might add. Tons of flavor.
We also tried their dry chicken pho dish, which is made with juicy chicken thigh, crispy chicken skin, and lots of herbs and spices. It will hit you with both sweet and savory together in perfect harmony. I loved it!
The star of the show for me was the beef shank in bun bo hue (spicy lemongrass) sauce.
This thing is enormous. We got the sice that’s meant for 4-6 people, just so you know.
It was fall-apart tender, juicy and crazy flavorful.
This is definitely up there with some of my favorite “beast feasts.” You need to try it!
For dessert, their toasted rice ice cream over flan with boba was the perfect ending to an incredible meal.
I was really excited to learn that Golden Packing supplies most of their meat proteins too! Love those guys! Best in the biz.
