Category Archives: Midtown West

Filet Mignon, Midtown West, NY Strip, Press Reviews, Restaurant Week, Rib Eye, Steakhouse Reviews

Ocean Prime

February 4, 2016 Johnny Prime 3 Comments

Ocean Prime overall score: 90

I rolled through Ocean Prime for a quick NYC Restaurant Week meal one night after work with a friend of mine. They were booked solid, so we grabbed a seat in the lounge area near the bar to eat. While the menu was limited to a small filet for restaurant week (in terms of beef), I figured it was a good opportunity to test-drive the steakhouse before going balls-deep with a big rib eye. Here’s what I thought:

Flavor: 9
The filet was delicious, and was cooked to an absolutely perfect medium rare. It had a good seasoned outside, and the inside was juicy and flavorful. While the outside wasn’t super crisp, it still managed to hold in all the juices.

I’m looking forward to heading back for a proper rib eye. I have to say… for a place to score an 88 on a test run with a severely limited restaurant week menu… I’m impressed.

Second trip: perfectly cooked rib eye. Similar notes regarding the sear, as the rib eye had a slight wetness on top. Otherwise absolutely delicious. With a bit more crisp on the edges, this would deb full points for flavor.

Choice of Cuts & Quality Available: 8
Three filets, two strips and a rib eye are offered here. There is no beef porterhouse. I have to take a few points for that. The menu indicates that all steaks are prime quality, but nothing is noted about aging. Perhaps a few more bone-in options would also beef up the selection here as well. But with consistent, top notch quality, it might not matter too much. Second trip: upgraded to 8/10.

Portion Size & Plating: 8
Portions are slightly smaller than most places for the price range of midtown steak joints. The plating is elegant and clean, nothing too fancy.

Price: 8
This is an expensive joint, with a small 8oz filet coming in at almost $50, however their most expensive steak is $57, a 12oz “bone-in filet,” so the range isn’t too wide. In any case, they do participate in NYC Restaurant Week, where they offer a three-course meal for $38 that includes an app, an entree, two sides and a dessert.

Bar: 10
This is a great bar for hanging out after work. The crowd is all suits from Bankville, USA, but the space is beautifully apportioned and you can watch the street from the well-lit seating arrangement.

Specials and Other Meats: 9
There’s lamb, chicken, and a pork porterhouse in terms of other meats. That’s a nice showing, especially considering that this place is a bit lighter on the beef selections and a bit heavier on the seafood selections. Also, on a second trip there were lots of specials read to us from all menu categories, including steak.

Second trip: 14oz strip steak with brie special. Upgraded to 9/10.

Apps, Sides & Desserts: 9
I had the Point Judith calamari, which was perfectly breaded and fried to a golden crisp, and drizzled with just the right amount of sweet chili sauce. It also comes with roasted cashews, which nails home the distinct Asian dimension to the dish.

My steak came with mashed potatoes and green beans for the restaurant week menu, so I got to taste a few items. Both were good, but nothing incredible.

The desserts, however, were a different story. I tried both the peanut butter mousse with chocolate ganache, and the carrot cake, which Ocean Prime is famous for at this point. Del Frisco’s has the lemon cake. Strip House has the chocolate cake. Ocean Prime has the carrot cake, which i shy far my favorite, and I DO love the lemon cake at Del’s. Typically, the cake is 10 layers high and a massive wedge. This restaurant week portion was just right for me, as I was already kind of full. The frosting had a great fall-spice to it, and the cake was moist without being too dense.

The full carrot cake slice from the dinner menu:

The peanut butter and chocolate pie was good too, but too sweet for my liking. It was light due to the mousse element, though, which is nice. It was also beautiful to look at.

Second trip: surf and turf appetizer of braised short rib and scallop was incredible. Perfectly executed.

Second trip: 99% meat in this crab cake. Lots of good crab flavor, nicely accented with a corn salad. This rivals Del Frisco’s.

Second trip: chop house corn. Very tasty, but I was expecting something more to it. Maybe the addition of some pancetta would do the trick.

Seafood Selection: 10
There’s a shitload of great looking seafood here. The menu is too extensive to list them all. I was able to try some of the scallops that my buddy ordered, and so far I’m impressed.

When I return, I’ll definitely be trying more seafood. I like the idea of a steak joint that really raises the bar on the seafood. A lot of places just do lobster and salmon, shrimp and oysters. They don’t go outside the box. Here it is a totally different seafood experience. And it is perfect place for dates: the men can eat their red meat, and the women can watch their figure with some seafood, because sexism rules.

Service: 10
Even in the busy and crowded bar area, we had excellent service. The first course came out fast, and the waitress, Jenny, was really nice and attentive. The fun part about sitting in the bar area is that they give you a free bowl of popcorn, which is wonderfully seasoned. The bread, by the way, is delicious. You get piping hot pretzel bread logs and bread with a soft, whipped butter. Excellent.

Ambiance: 9
While the main dining room is big and industrial looking, it still has a nice feel to it. It’s spacious, which is good, but it just lacks a little bit of character. One thing that’s cool is that you can view how the kitchen operates by peeking though the long glass window that is visible from the dining room. Upstairs there are some private dining areas, and the bathrooms are beautifully appointed. Second trip: I took more of the ambiance in and I am sold on it being a solid 9/10.

UPDATE 7/17/19

I recently returned to try some more stuff.

Steak Tartare

This was awesome. Up there with some of the best I’ve had. If tartare is your thing, then get this shit.

Lobster Mac & Cheese

This was incredible. I actually ate more of this than anything else the night we came back. Addictive!

Lobster Tails

These twin beauties tasted as great as they looked. You can’t go wrong on the seafood here.

Surf & Turf

Seared scallops with braised short rib? Yup. I loved this appetizer. Solid way to start a meal.

Mixed Sushi Rolls

Everything served on this platter was delicious but I kept hitting that thinly sliced wagyu beef roll. Amazing.

Crab Cake

If that sauce was spicy it would be on par with Del Frisco’s.

Assorted Sides

All great (especially the jalapeño au gratin), except they skimped on the cauliflower & broccoli.

Pork Porterhouse

This was nice. When comparing to Belcampo, this one fell a bit short. But it was by no means bad. Still probably a 7 or 8 out of 10.

Dry Aged Kansas City Strip

This bone in beauty brought a lot of earthy flavor to the table. Of the steaks we tried, this was the winner for sure. 9/10.

Dry Aged Rib Eye

This was less seasoned and had less aged flavor than the strip, but was still a great steak. 8/10.

Dessert Platter

As you may already know, the 10-layer carrot cake here is one of my favorite steakhouse desserts. They also served us a butter cake, which is also one of my favorite steakhouse desserts (but from Del Frisco’s).

OCEAN PRIME
123 W. 52nd St.
New York, NY 10019

American, Midtown West, Non-Steakhouse Steaks, Other Cuts, Restaurant Reviews, Restaurant Week

The Back Room at One57

January 30, 2016 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

NOTE: THIS JOINT IS NOW CLOSED

NYC restaurant week now includes this joint at the One57 building on Billionaire’s Row, “The Back Room.” They offer a really great menu. The decor is beautiful and vast. It’s a huge place. Tables are wide and spacious. Very different from the usual situation in NYC.

The onion bread with garlic and herb cream cheese is a delicious way to start the meal here:

We also sipped on some really excellent cocktails.

The charcuterie board had five different styles of cured meat with some pickled items. I thought this was really generous. The quality of these meats was top notch, too. Coppa, cacciatorini, fennel sausage, soppressata, spicy nduja, lardon. The fat content was so soft and sticky that it was clinging to the bottom of my tongue like peanut butter. So good.

We also had the reginetti pasta, which are like little squiggly brain shapes that hold the sauce nicely in the convolutions.

For our main courses we went with the beef cheek and the quail. The beef cheek was braised in red wine to a perfect tenderness that still retained a nice juicy inside. It was served on a parsnip and rutabaga puree, and topped with crispy onions and a red onion jam.

My wife’s quail dish was nicely cooked and had good flavor, but it was slightly gamey. The quail was in no way bad. It just didn’t hit the same high mark as the beef.

Dessert was pretty great. Maybe restaurants in NYC are finally understanding that people want to see something different than tiramisu, creme brûlée, chocolate cake and fucking flan. First up was this cocoa toffee pudding with brulee’d bananas, salty cocoa nibs and malted coconut ice cream. Excellent.

We also had the meyer lemon zabaglione with whipped tea, lemon confit and earl grey ice cream. Very inventive and unique, and a nice bright way to end a meal.

The waiter, Ivan, was great. He even brought over a candle and complimentary glass of honeyed dessert wine for my wife since they knew it was her birthday (was mentioned on the Open Table reservation).

On a second visit I tried their two-course lunch for $32, along with a taste of a few other things that the rest of the table had.

First was this delicious grilled octopus.

The texture was perfect. While the chimichurri-esque green sauce was a bit bland, I did like it a lot with the octopus, and even with the table bread as well.

I went with the skirt steak for my main course.

The dollop of garlic butter on top really added a great flavor and creaminess to the cut. It was perfectly cooked to medium rare.

While the steak itself was a bit small, it did pack a ton of flavor. 8/10.

Here’s a look at the lobster roll on the lunch menu. I think it could use a bit more quality, large chunks of claw meat. The bread was solid, but I’ve had better lobster rolls elsewhere.

The duck leg confit was brilliant. So tender and juicy, and beautifully plated as well.

And speaking of beautiful plating, this bowl of fried oyster mushrooms with lemon are served with an edible chive blossom.

For dessert we sampled a trio of eclairs and a chocolate espresso cake, which was super soft, smooth and decadent. The texture was more like soft fudge or a thick custardy pudding.

Of the three eclairs, I liked the pink and red one the best. All three had great creamy fillings and were beautiful as well as tasty.

THE BACK ROOM AT ONE57
157 W. 57th St.
New York, NY 10019

Japanese, Midtown West, Restaurant Reviews

Iroha

January 23, 2016 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

UPDATE: This place is closed!

Big Steak is king in the vast wasteland of Manhattan’s midtown “Bankville,” but Japanese cuisine is a strong and worthy adversary that’s rapidly encroaching on its territory (especially for lunch).

My wife and I stopped into one such Japanese joint, Iroha, for a quick dinner bite at the bar before seeing a Broadway show, and we were both pleasantly surprised by the quality of the food, the plating presentation and the price.

First off, there is a coupon for a free mug of beer online that you can use from 5-7pm. That was perfect for us, since our show was at 7pm.

We ordered a bunch of shit, and we could have kept going, because everything looked fucking awesome.

First was this amazing glass cup of rawness. Uni, salmon, salmon roe, tuna, yellow tail and avocado. Not only was it beautiful, but it was absolutely devourable. Get it. I can’t recall the name of it for the life of me, but you can’t miss the pretty picture in the highly visual menu.

Next was a pork belly and soft boiled egg appetizer, which had three generously sized thick-ass hunks of braised belly. Perfection. It’s ramen toppings without the soup and noodles, essentially. Can’t go wrong with bacon and eggs, ever.

I ordered a small version of the all-salmon Chirashi bowl (Salmon Oyako Don), which had four pieces of salmon sashimi and a good blob of briny and savory salmon roe. The sushi rice beneath was surprisingly tasty, and was topped with a good amount of fresh wasabi, ginger and sesame seeds.

My wife ordered a grilled eel dish that came with a LOT of eel (in the pic, there is an entire second slab of eel that is not visible because it is UNDER the rice). It is served with a miso broth of sorts, to mix in with the sweet-yet-savory flavored rice. There’s also a plate of pickled items and some puffed rice for a crunchy texture element.

In short, this place is great, and it is representative of the strong and growing force that is Japanese cuisine in midtown. We sat at the bar, and the guys were plating everything right in front of us. Some of the salad items were tremendous and included tons of proteins (fish). I will definitely be back here to try more shit in the future.

UPDATE: 7/17/17

AWESOME salmon don. Really good quality stuff.

IROHA
152 W. 49th St.
New York, NY 10019

Latin/Mexican & Caribbean, Midtown West, Restaurant Reviews

Mamasita

December 8, 2015 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

My wife and I ordered some take-out from this joint. It was a little pricey, but the food was pretty good. I imagine it would be much better at the actual restaurant, because at home, in the to-go containers, things were a bit messy.

I got the chicken burrito, which was filled with a good amount of nicely grilled chicken, rice, beans, plenty of cheese, sauteed mushrooms and peppers, and a nice sauce.

It came with refried beans and rice, as well as some lettuce, sour cream and guacamole.

My wife had the chili rellenos dish. They came to us completely unassembled/unstuffed, but the components were all nicely cooked and tasty, all pepper skin was removed, and this, too, came with rice and beans. Doesn’t look like much, however.

We even got some tortilla chips and salsa, as we would have, had we dined in the restaurant.

MAMASITA
818 10th Ave.
New York, NY 10019

Flash Deals, Midtown West, Ramen

I Noodles

November 25, 2015 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

This relatively new ramen joint just offered up a Groupon deal that included two bowls of ramen for $19.

We tried the tonkotsu (pork) and beef bowls. Both were a little bit weak in terms of broth strength, and the noodles themselves were a bit too soft/overcooked. The beef bowl came with straight alkali noodles, two slices of beef short rib, bamboo shoots, corn, cabbage, green onions and bean sprouts.

The broth had more of a Chinese soup flavor as opposed to the characteristic Japanese flavors you might normally associate with ramen. The meat was tender, but I think the use of cabbage watered down the broth too much and took away from what was meant to be a more full, thick and murky stock.

The better of the two was the tonkotsu, mainly because it came with seasoned boiled egg, which was the best part about both bowls of ramen here.

The pork meat was better too, and this came with mushrooms as well as the bamboo shoots, corn and green onion. The noodles in this were wavy egg style.

They offer a good happy hour with $3 beer and $5 wine, which is cool, but outside of using a Groupon I am not sure this place is ultimately worth your while. At full price I would have been annoyed at the quality, but since it was only $19 for two bowls it didn’t hurt as much. Caveat Emptor.

INOODLES
150 W 36th St
New York, NY 10018

Flash Deals, Indian, Midtown West, Restaurant Reviews

Akbar Palace

November 19, 2015 Johnny Prime 2 Comments

Nestled below a pole dancing and twerking school (I shit you not; you can see the poles in the windows above the right hand side of the entrance in the photo), is Akbar Palace.

We scored a flash deal for this joint: $20 gets you $40. The management was nice enough to honor our Groupon even after the expiration date too, which was cool.

Each table gets some flat cracker type bread with some chutneys.

There was tamarind sauce (left), apricot chutney (center), and a really nice tomato, onion and pepper chutney that I never tried before (right). That was my favorite of the three.

We started with a pair of apps that sounded delicious but ended up being a bit flat from our expectations. First was the pepper crusted scallops. I liked that they had a good grilled-on-the-flattop flavor, but the portion size was a bit small.

Same goes for the crispy calamari. The tempura-esque coating was interesting, though I didn’t get that curry leaf flavor that I expected from the menu description.

My wife ordered a boneless lamb dish but got semi-bone-in goat instead. No matter – it was really tasty, and the meat was tender.

I had chicken makhani, which is like chicken tikka, but served in a mildly spicy tomato and yogurt sauce. This was pretty good. The meat was of good quality and the sauce was nice over rice, or on top of the naan bread.

The naan was good. It was soft, yet crisp, and had good texture from the tandoori oven flames. It was lightly coated with olive oil as well.

We skipped dessert since we had the lassis earlier. They were smooth and creamy, tart and sweet, and ice cold. Perfect. This place is known for its mango lassis. They are truly excellent, so if you go here, make sure you try one.

I felt that the bill was a bit high even after applying our $40 credit to it. We still had to shell out $50 for the remainder, the tax and the tip. Does this look like a $90 meal to you? I don’t know… I’m starting to think that some of these Groupon deals aren’t so good. As Admiral Ackbar would say (namesake of this restaurant?): IT’S A TRAP!

My official recommendation on this flash deal: skip it, but stop by for a mango fucking lassi if you’re in the area.

AKBAR PALACE
47-49 W. 55th St.
New York, NY 10019

Midtown West, Press Reviews, Restaurant Reviews, Thai

Thai Select

November 17, 2015 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

Kate, the owner of Thai Select, invited me and my wife into the restaurant for a press meal to sample, and yammer about, some of their delicious menu selections.

I nearly got killed by three people going about 40mph on bicycles getting that shot, so please take the time to appreciate it more than usual. It was partially my fault, as I wasn’t watching where I was walking, but whatever. Bicycles still suck.

Anyway this joint is located in the heart of what I am now calling Thai Town in NYC. That’s 9th avenue from the 30s through the 50s. There are TONS of Thai joints on that stretch, and competition is pretty fucking fierce! There are lots of good places to dine here, and also lots of shitty ones as well. You need to know which is which, and that’s what I’m here for.

Thai Select is one of the good ones. In fact, it’s probably one of the best. The inside is decorated with a lounge-like atmosphere, with exposed brick, a long bench seat with two-top tables going along the entirety of the wall.

There’s a bar on the opposite end that goes about a third of the length of the entire restaurant. There’s even a back area that is elevated, almost like a stage, for larger groups.

Chef Toni explained that on Friday and Saturday nights it gets pretty jammed. This was a Monday at 6pm, so we had some elbow room to eat, at least for a little while. It did get to nearly full capacity by time we left at around 7:30pm, which is a good sign.

They offer happy hour from 4pm to 7pm, and allow you to take advantage of those deals from your table. $4 beers is a pretty great deal, for one, but there are others as well. We started by sipping on this cocktail made with citron vodka, canton, fresh ginger and lime called the Springter. It was incredibly refreshing and bright.

Chef Toni sat with us and explained some of the new endeavors that Thai Select is undertaking. One is a new healthy menu, where everything is gluten free, no MSG and no saturated fats, and which highlights the health benefits of various Thai herbs and ingredients.

The offerings on this portion of the menu roll out officially next month, and they actually look really good, even the vegetarian stuff!

Chef Toni has been in the restaurant biz for about seven and a half years, and is already juggling two other joints nearby in Thai Town, in addition to this one.

He’s created a menu that is accessible and familiar to people of all cultures, whether it is American, Indian or Latin, in addition to classic Thai dishes and flavor profiles. Everything is made in house from scratch, all the way down to the dumpling wrappers. Toni’s expertise shines in the food. Everything we tasted was really excellent, so let’s get into it:

We started with this bowl of moo dad deaw, or “pork poppers.” This is small bits of pork jerky that are crispy on the outside and served with a spicy, “fire sauce” that reminded me very much of the sauces made in Vietnam for eating with fried foods. It’s like a sri racha, but more orange colored and slightly sweet, as opposed to all spicy.

I couldn’t eat these things fast enough. I ripped through that bowl like nothing. I could eat buckets of this shit. PLEASE – if you like meat snacks of any kind – do yourself a favor and order this when you go. You won’t be disappointed. If this was sold in bags, I’d be stockpiling for armageddon.

Next we tried the peanut dumplings.

These are stuffed with sweet turnip and ground peanut, and served with a sweet soy sauce.

The wrapper had the texture of a really nicely executed dim sum dumpling, but it held up to cutting without falling apart. Really tasty and healthy to boot.

Toni also brought out one of their better selling appetizer items, the crab rangoon.

These are hand made deep fried wanton wrappers filled with whipped cream cheese and crab meat. They were very creamy and soft inside, but crisp on the outside, and came with a light duck sauce for dipping. While I’m generally not a fan of cream cheese with any sort of meat, these were definitely addicting.

The entree I chose was a Bangkok spice pork stir fry wok dish.

It came with fresh peppers (spicy green chili and sweet red bell alike), green beans and onions. And a nice little cone of rice:

This was a really tasty dish. It had the kick that I expect from good Thai food, but without going over the top to blow out my palette.

My wife had what I think was the winning dish of the night. She ordered the pineapple curry duck.

This robust, spicy-yet-sweet curry is one of the best I’ve had. The duck was placed on top, skin side up, to keep all that delicious fried skin good and crispy throughout. This is actually smoked duck from Canada, so there is less chewy fat under the skin than normal.

There is no waste when you eat this – none at all. No bones, no messy picking up and chewing or gnawing through cartilage or fat, and no sticky smelly fingers afterward. It was awesome. And that curry. MAN! Toni should jar it and sell it at grocery stores. It was garnished with red bell peppers, tomato, green beans, fresh basil leaves, bamboo shoots and chunks of pineapple. Killer dish. No wonder why it is another one of their top sellers.

For dessert we had the fried bananas with coconut ice cream, which was drizzled with honey and chocolate syrup, and sprinkled with toasted and untoasted sesame seeds.

The ice cream was good and flavorful without being too sweet, as were the fried banana egg rolls. We washed this down with some ginger tea and Thai iced tea, which was nicely adorned with a straw-wrapper rose:

I love that chai tea flavor with sweet milk. It reminds me of the smell of fresh pipe tobacco for some reason.

That about wraps it up. Hope you enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed eating. Check this place out when you’re in the area and tell them I sent you.

THAI SELECT
472 9th Ave.
New York, NY 10018

Latin/Mexican & Caribbean, Midtown West, Other Cuts, Rib Eye, Steakhouse Reviews

K*Rico

November 14, 2015 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

**K*Rico overall score: 92**

This is a relatively recent addition to the smaller scale steakhouse scene. The cuisine here is Latin American/South American style, but with a focus on steak, being a steakhouse and all.

This time we had three people dining, so we were able to sample a bit more than usual. Here’s the breakdown:

Flavor: 9
We had this massive 40oz tomahawk rib eye that was dry aged for 70 days. This is on special right now for $95, so if you like what you see, go get it while supplies last!

They bring it out to the table while it’s still sizzling hot. Then they take it back and let it rest before slicing and plating.

The meat was incredibly tender and flavorful. I held back from full points only because I think it needed a little bit more seasoning.

Both the cap and the eye were delicious and cooked perfectly to medium rare. Here’s a shot of the remaining hunk of bone:

We also did a mixed grill item (parrillada mixta) for $59, which came with skirt steak, languica (sausage), sirloin, pork belly, pork tenderloin, chicken and blood sausage. For non-discriminating meat lovers, this is totally the way to go.

That green sauce is a cilantro based spread that specifically goes well with the pork and chicken.

Choice of Cuts & Quality Available: 10
This place regularly offers skirt, two strips (48oz bone in, and a 16oz), rib eye (22oz), two filets (8oz and 14oz), porterhouse for two, and a mixed grill for two. In addition, they also offer daily specials from the meat department. That’s a full blown 10. Plus all steaks are prime and grilled on an authentic plancha.

Portion Size & Plating: 10
Portions are large for the price. As you can see above, presentation is very nice as well. They’ve elevated the traditional steakhouse minimalist plating concept to something that pops.

Price: 10
Prices are really fair here, though slightly different in the restaurant than they are online (not by much). Most porterhouses for two are coming in at around $100 now, but here it is listed at $79. Also the massive 48oz sirloin steak for two is under $50, and the 22oz rib eye is listed at just $42. These are great deals if you’re on a budget but still want some good quality meat.

Bar: 9
This bar is massive. It stretches almost the full length of the restaurant from front to back. While you do not have window seating, there is ample room and a beautiful decor to take in. Just take a look at that skull and horns center piece!

There’s a great selection of Argentinian wines and some really nice cocktails as well.

Specials and Other Meats: 9
There’s a 20oz double cut pork chop, Peruvian roasted chicken, and a mixed grill for two that comes with a host of tasty shit. As mentioned above, we ordered the special tomahawk chop that was offered. Amazing meat-centric place! Just missing lamb and veal.

Apps, Sides & Desserts: 8
We started with some empanadas, which were filled with prime beef, raisins, cilantro and aji amarillo aioli. These were perfectly crisp on the outside and juicy on the inside. Not too hot where you burn your mouth, and the flavors were really well balanced when eating with some of the pickled red onion.

On the side we had the cauliflower mashed potatoes, which were creamy and flavorful. You’d never know you were eating a healthier version of the standard mashed potato dish.

We also tried the sauteed yucca. These were a little dry and under-seasoned, but the crunchy texture was great.

The brussels with bacon were perfect. Great char, good flavor. This is the ideal side for a meat eating extravaganza, because it comes with additional meat in the form of thick bacon. We actually didn’t order this: it was complimentary – nice surprise!

Since we were busting-at-the-seams full, we all shared a dessert. Espresso flan. This had a nice even and smooth texture, with a very nice, not-too-sweet coffee flavor.

Seafood Selection: 8
There’s cod, corvina and seabass in entree form, in addition to the apps of ceviche, grilled octo, calamari, mussels, shrimp and oysters. Really great showing! When I come back for the giant bone-in sirloin, I will be definitely giving the ceviche and octopus a try. Until then, I have to score this with a placeholder of eight. I’m sure it will be a higher score once I sink my teeth in to actually try the seafood.

Service: 10
Owner Tommy and waitress Maria were both fantastic. In fact all of the staff was warm and helpful. Maria offered great menu suggestions, and really knew her shit. It was interesting to learn from Tommy that his brother is the chef, and that they also own 1 2 3 Burger Shot Beer, just nearby, as well as a spot downtown. Our “doggie bag” was from there:

I may as well mention it here: the table bread here is actually fried, flavored pasta! Really crunchy and good.

Ambiance: 9
They’ve really made the best out of this typically narrow, storefront/brownstone location on 9th Avenue. They’ve done such a great job that this place easily contends with some of the gigantic, fancy steakhouses in midtown. The decor here is really classy and elegant. It’s Latin American/South American, but it’s not hitting you over the head with that fact. It’s subtle. The smaller size of this joint allows you to enjoy a more intimate or low key experience. However it’s great for dates as well as large groups, because once you get beyond the bar, the restaurant opens up to a wider dining space. Since the kitchen is a massive expanse down at the basement level, K*Rico takes full advantage of every square foot of space on the main dining floor. Very smart use of space.

K*RICO
772 9th Ave.
New York, NY 10019

Midtown West, Pizza, Pub Food, Restaurant Reviews

Kiabacca Bar

November 3, 2015 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

This Hell’s Kitchen pot-head pizza bar recently opened on 10th Ave and is owned by the same folks who run Pony Bar.

The beer selection is good, and they have a happy hour deal until 7pm where every draft beer is only $4 per pint.

On Mondays they run a special where all 12″ specialty pizzas are $9. Me and a buddy went in to try everything out. We tried three pizzas, to be exact. The margherita, the clam, and the prosciutto and arugula. The crust on all was good and crisp. It had a little bit of chew to it but was executed perfectly. These guys are using a wood fired oven, so the flavor is perfect.

For $9 a pop on Mondays this is a steal. While some of them might be a bit overpriced on other days, you’re at least getting good quality shit. I will definitely be back on another Monday to try out some more pizzas. Plus the happy hour deal is killer.

KIABACCA BAR
639 10th Ave.
New York, NY 10036

American, Midtown West, Restaurant Reviews

Chick-Fil-A

November 2, 2015 Johnny Prime 2 Comments

NYC has gone bonkers with the opening of its first official Chick-Fil-A restaurant (not counting the small, kiosk shop in an NYU cafeteria downtown, of course).

Amid equal parts protest and jubilation, the joint seems to be off and running to a great start. If you’re living under a rock and don’t know, Chick-Fil-A is all about the “traditional marriage” (knee slap) of fried chicken and sandwich bread to form the holy and spiritual union of said ingredients into one righteous chicken sandwich.

Needless to say, lines have been out the door since said doors have been open.

I ran down at noon on a Saturday and, to my surprise, the line ended AT the door. I was literally in the vestibule at the end of the line, and was told that the experience would only take about 10 mins. That was an accurate estimate, if not a “conservative” (kneeslap) one. I was probably back out the door, food in hand, within 8 minutes.

But my timing was impeccable. One could even say my timing was, oh, I don’t know… divinely inspired? Perhaps providential? As I left, I turned and noticed that the line had grown to go OUT the door and around the block:

Anyway, I ordered about $18 worth of food, which consisted of the traditional sandwich with cheese, lettuce and tomato:

The spicy sandwich with a spicy breading, pepper jack cheese, lettuce and tomato:

An 8-piece nuggets, with all the sauces:

And a medium order of waffle fries:

As far as fast food goes, this comes in on the upper 75th percentile, I’d say. I’ve had better, but I’ve definitely had worse. The chicken is tender and juicy, but when competing in NYC with the likes of places like Fuku+ for a chicken sandwich, there’s really no choice. Anyway take a look at the inside:

In conclusion I’ll say this: sort of like the entire Chick-Fil-A controversy itself, there’s just more hype and loud voices than actual substance when it comes to the taste of Chick-Fil-A. If you’re like me and you absolutely MUST try something that looks interesting, for fear of missing out, then go for it! But since this place is somewhat out of my hood, I will probably be sticking to Fuku+ from now on, which is literally just a few streets away and SO much better.

One last thing I’ll say is that the service truly was incredible, which is something that Chick-Fil-A is known for. Everyone was super friendly and accommodating, and the whole process was really fast. If I may say so, it was probably one of the best fast food buying experiences of my life. So there you have it.

CHICK FIL-A
1000 6th Ave.
New York, NY 10018

Ocean Prime overall score: 90

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K*Rico overall score: 92

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carnivore connoisseur

**K*Rico overall score: 92**