Category Archives: Restaurant Reviews

Chinese, Fusion, Japanese, Korean, Midtown West, Restaurant Reviews, Thai, Vietnamese

SEA by Jungsik

January 4, 2026 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

This place is a sister restaurant to the Michelin-starred Jungsik restaurant. We went big here, so I’m going to make it quick. Check this out:

First off, the oysters here are probably the best I’ve ever had. I think that has to do with the jalapeno and cilantro granita (ice), and their version of a mignonette.

I also really enjoyed their steak tartare.

The prawn rolls, sticky rice sausage, and fried eggs were great too, but my focus on a re-visit might be on the other stuff above.

The stars of the show were the short rib special and the crispy pork belly.

I would get these every time I visit. The pork belly was the best version of this dish I’ve ever had. The fat was completely rendered and soft, the meat extremely tender (no stringy bits), and the skin was nice and crisp without being too hard and hurting your teeth/mouth.

The crab fried rice was a bit fishy, but beautiful nonetheless. It went nicely with the curry, actually.

The soft serve dessert sundae was a great way to end the meal.

I will definitely be back here again. I highly recommend it.

SEA BY JUNGSIK
151 W 30th Street
New York, NY 10001

Carcass Club/Beast Feast, Restaurant Reviews, Spanish, West Village

Bartolo

January 4, 2026 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

First, check this little video out:

This meal was incredible. We started off with the anchovies with butter, the terrine, the crab and uni pintxos, and the pork belly chicharrones.

These were all top notch and incredible. Tough to choose a favorite, but maybe the chicharrones.

For mains, we had the tripe, the foie gras lentils, and the cochinillo asado (roast suckling pig).

The tripe and the pig were shop stoppers, and the pig came with a really nice salad and fries.

We ate everything but the hoof.

We finished off the meal with this nice flan dish.

I can’t wait to go back and try the steak and roast suckling lamb specials.

BARTOLO
310 W 4th Street
New York, NY 10014

Brooklyn, Pho, Restaurant Reviews, Vietnamese

High Lua

January 4, 2026 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

My wife and I stopped in this small Vietnamese joint for a quick lunch. I had the turmeric noodles with pork and shrimp, and she had the special pho.

Both were decent, but not at the level of our favorites. It did hit the spot though.

HIGH LUA
182 S 2nd Street
Brooklyn New York, NY 11211

Burgers, Nolita/Soho, Pub Food, Restaurant Reviews

O’Nieal’s

January 4, 2026 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

This joint has a great burger menu, and I’m glad I finally made it in for a taste. They offer a burger and beer special for $20 (no fries though), or you can get the burger with fries for $20 (no beer). I went with the Grand Street burger, with American cheese.

Nice medium temp on the inside.

I will definitely be back to try more.

O’NIEAL’S
174 Grand Street
New York, NY 10013

Japanese, Queens, Restaurant Reviews

Gyu Kaku

December 17, 2025 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

Gyu Kaku is a Japenese BBQ chain that serves up some great grub at a good price. We ate like fat kings and drank like poor sailors, all in, for just $120. Can’t beat that with a bat!

GYU KAKU
44-45 21st Street
Long Island City, NY 11101

German, Lower East Side/Chinatown, Restaurant Reviews

Loreley Beer Garden

December 15, 2025 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

After all these years in NYC, I finally made it over to Loreley Beer Garden for a bite and a drink.

The 7-sausage platter was amazing. I enjoyed both the tots and the fries as well.

There’s a great selection of beer (obviously), wine and cocktails, and the place gets pretty decked out for the holidays.

LORELEY BEER GARDEN
7 Rivington Street
New York, NY 10002

East Village, Pho, Restaurant Reviews, Vietnamese

Moc Mac

December 15, 2025 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

This new Vietnamese joint specializes in hot pot, but their regular menu items are pretty great too.

We tried the pork jowls, the baby clams, and the beef pho. All were awesome, and I think the pho here is my favorite of all time. Also huge props to the wagyu betel leaf wraps. I really loved those as well.

The hot pot we ordered was a mix of seafood and beef. I felt the broth was a bit too sweet, but over all it was very good.

MOC MAC
79 2nd Avenue
New York, NY 10003

Lower East Side/Chinatown, Other, Restaurant Reviews

Binondo

November 29, 2025 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

My wife and I had been meaning to try this spot for a while. The day after Thanksgiving, we gave it a shot.

First, the complimentary egg drop soup was fantastic. I could eat a gallo.

The chicken sisig bites were more like cold chicken salad than the sisig I expected. But they were still good.

The butter shrimp were perfectly cooked and came in a delicious sauce that went well with everything, especially rice.

What better way to come down from Thanksgiving than with a 3lb cripsy pork shank?

This was an insane deal at $50.

We finished off with banana and jack fruit egg rolls and guanabana ice cream.

Delicious meal. I will definitely be back for some of the stew dishes, a proper sisig entree dish, and the lechon. Also worth noting – this place serves up some really unique and delicious cocktails.

BINONDO
50 East Broadway
New York, NY 10002

Chinese, Lower East Side/Chinatown, Restaurant Reviews

Yong Chuan

November 19, 2025 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

My foodie friends and I hit this place before the holidays for our annual “Friendsgiving.” My wife and I had ordered delivery from here before, and we liked everything we got. It was time to go in for a proper sit-down meal.

Here’s what we had:

The duck was by far the favorite of the night, with the dumplings coming in second. From prior delivery orders, I can also recommend the kung pao chicken.

YONG CHUAN
90 Clinton Street
New York, NY 10002

American, Lower East Side/Chinatown, Non-Steakhouse Steaks, Other Cuts, Restaurant Reviews

Bufon

November 16, 2025 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

Bufon is a new meat and seafood focused joint in the lower east side. My wife and I tried five items from a menu that we really wanted to ravage. We definitely plan to go back to try more items.

Sunchoke

This was fantastic. Really nice, fresh and mildly starchy.

Halibut

The sauce on this was crack. It was some sort of buerre blanc with bottarga.

Pork Chop

Delicious. Served with butter beans and chopped up Chinese sausage. Super unique.

Picanha

Roasted to perfection. The fat was delicious as well. Scored and rendered to become a beef gelatin of sorts. Skip the vinegar based Creole salsa and get the au poivre for a more classic Sunday roast feel. 9/10.

Crispy Confit Potato