This secretive omakase joint in the back of an ice cream shop serves up 14 or 18 course omakase meals with unlimited sake for just $96 or $126, respectively.
My favorite pieces were the snappers, scallop and tuna. But the real stars of the show were the appetizers: cod sperm sack and chawanmushi with uni and crab meat!
Snappers:
Scallop:
Tuna:
I can’t believe I ate cum. And I’ll definitely be back for more, especially the soft serve ice cream (not made from cum).
My wife and I came here twice. The first visit was just for a snack and a drink, so I never wrote it up. But now that we’ve had a full meal here, I figured I would put together a review from both experiences.
On the first visit, we had drinks, an Israeli scotch egg, and some cake. They have a nice selection of beer and wine. Saison Dupont is my favorite of all time.
The Israeli scotch egg is surrounded by falafel, which was unique and delicious.
On the second visit we did some entrees. My wife had the lamb burger, which comes with crunchy slaw and a harissa mayo. She added Gruyere cheese at the owner’s suggestion. It was absolutely delicious. Easily a top three lamb burger.
I had the chicken schnitzel plate, which came with fries and a salad. The schnitzel was unique in that it was breaded with a sesame seed batter!
I really liked it.
The cake we had on our first visit was a flourless chocolate birthday cake, which, I think, may have even been vegan. I liked it more than my wife did.
We will definitely be back to try more items from Eastwood. Super friendly staff, great prices, and great food!
This small burrito joint just opened up on Orchard Street in the lower east side. I had heard great things about it before learning that Golden Packing supplies their beef and chicken! Once I heard that, I was all in! I tried three different burritos: shrimp, chicken and beef.
Check out the grill marks!
The shimp burrito is the owner’s favorite, so I had to give it a try. It’s chock full of perfectly cooked, big, juicy shrimp. There’s a nice sauce in there too, along with the guacamole, beans and onions.
That’s right – NO RICE in these burritos. All substance. No filler.
The carne asada beef/steak burrito is made with high end middle meats and strip steak from Golden Packing, most of it being prime grade. The caramelized onions give you a steak sandwich vibe. Delicious.
My favorite, though, was the chicken burrito. They use thigh meat, which is the ultimate for retaining juiciness and flavor.
This place is absolutely incredible. Don’t be intimidated by the crowds in front. Most of them are just waiting for their order as opposed to lining up.
This little Sicilian shop has some pretty tasty shit! My friend and I tried their potato pizza, their tomato garlic and anchovy pizza, their meat arancini, and their orange olive oil cake.
Everything was awesome. For me, the favorite was probably the potato pizza with the tomato slice close behind. These were in the Roman style for pizza, which I love to see done right like this.
They also sell some nice looking sandwiches, and great, difficult to find groceries like Castelvetrano olive spread and pistachio cream.
BEST SICILY BOTTEGA
87 Beaver St.
New York, NY 10005
First was Sun Hing Lung, which I already covered in a previous Ride & Review HERE, so check that out!
This time I added an egg to the Chinese sausage and mixed veggies roll. It was divine! Noodles here are always a bit mushy, but you really can’t beat it for the price. Adding all of the sauces is the right move (peanut, soy, hoisin and hot sauce).
Chang Lai Fishballs Noodles
They ran out of rice rolls by time we arrived here, but the curry fish balls mixed with pork skin was the best bite of the day, by far. Make sure you try that!
Yin Ji Chang Fen
This is where we really got our rice roll fix. We tried five or six different rice rolls, but the clear favorites were the truffle and mushroom, the fried dough, and the special dried shrimp and scallion rolls.
New Kam Hing Coffee Shop
The sponge cake here is famous, so we had to give it a try. I have to say it was really unique and tasty. Not really my thing, in general, but I can see the appeal.
Dumpling Story
This new spot was really nice inside. We tried four different dumpling items: truffle pork soup dumplings, spicy crab meat with pork soup dumplings, chicken pot stickers and fried pork soup dumplings. Of those, the crab and fried pork were probably tied for the best. The fried beef udon noodles were excellent! Great texture and flavor.
SUN HING LUNG
58 Henry St.
New York, NY 10002
CHANG LAI FISHBALLS NOODLES
55 Bayard St.
Store B
New York, NY 10013
YIN JI CHANG FEN
91 Bayard St.
New York, NY 10013
NEW KAM HING COFFEE SHOP
118 Baxter St.
New York, NY 10013
First, check out my episode of Around the Hood in 8 Minutes HERE:
We hit six or seven spots on this awesome food crawl through Queens. Let me hit them one by one.
Taqueria Santa Fe
This first spot ended up being my favorite. The al pastor taco stood out. Crispy, yet juicy. Well seasoned, great toppings. The only thing to make it better would be a more toasted tortilla, like Mr. Burrito had.
Mr. Burrito Loco
The carnitas taco here took third place, but the tortilla shells were the best of the day. Great spot! I want to try the crispy fish tacos next, and, of course, a burrito!
El Sabor Del Rancho
The carnitas taco here took second place. All it needed was a little hit of salt and it would have been a contender for first place!
Al Chile Cafe
The al pastor here was a bit more saucy than other spots, so that made for a juicier and more flavorful bite, generally. The only down side was that there were a few bites with rubbery/chewy sinew that I had to spit out. Bonus here because they give you roasted onions and jalapenos on the side!
La Esquina Del Camaron Mexicano
This place was fun! Big portion for $17, mixed octopus and shrimp. Bring vodka with you to make a Bloody Mary with the leftover sauce/juice at the end. Or tequila for a Bloody Maria!
Lemon Ice King of Corona
An absolute classic. I got the lemon, and I loved it.
TAQUERIA SANTA FE
47-08 47th Ave.
Woodside, NY 11377
MR. BURRITO LOCO
4320 Greenpoint Ave.
Sunnyside, NY 11104
EL SABOR DEL RANCHO
41-21 58th St.
Woodside, NY 11377
AL CHILE CAFE
3809 69th St.
Woodside, NY 11377
THE LEMON ICE KING OF CORONA
52-02 108th St.
Corona, NY 11368
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.
My wife and I tried four items here. We would have tried more, but a few things were not yet available (they just opened).
The pork belly was thinly sliced and really delicious. The rice quality here is top notch as well.
I really enjoyed the egg rolls as well.
We tried two soups: the chicken pho and beef pho.
Both were good. My wife preferred the beef over the chicken, and I was the reverse.
My wife makes both better at home, but this place is good for the price, I think it’s better than a lot of the other spots in Chinatown in the same price range. We will definitely be back to try more items when they are fully rolling.
This joint, run by the same folks as Cervos, just opened nearby. My wife and I tried five items:
Squid Pintxos
These were awesome. I would get them again and again. I only wish there was more on the plate! Perfectly fried and dressed, and really nice toasty bread underneath. I was transported back to San Sebastian.
Fried Mussels
I would pass on these. They tasted like canned or tinned mussels that were breaded and fried. A bit too potent. I’m curious if they might be better on another night. Perhaps just a funky batch?
White Shrimp
Best item of the night. These were perfectly cooked and dressed in a deliciously light and garlicky tomato sauce and drizzled with olive oil. Make sure you ask for extra sourdough to soak up the sauce!
Rainbow Trout
I was surprised that this was a whole fish (deboned)! It was really light but flavorful. I would get it again.
Burger
Yes – that burger has fried anchovies on it. It wasn’t as nasty as I expected. It was actually tasty, in a way. The roquefort lessened the fishy flavor, but it did feel like I was eating a burger on the seaside. Nice medium rare temp with a good crust too. I probably wouldn’t get it again, but I’m glad I tried it.
We will definitely be back to try more items! FYI: There is no eel on the menu, at all.
Red Lion is a Bleecker Street bar that’s been around forever. They started offering 50-cent wings on Wednesdays, so me and some buddies took our Zooz bikes out for a ride to check them out.
The wings were pretty good! The best flavor was hot – way better than mild, garlic parm or bbq.
The tacos joint was great. Nice budget friendly tacos at under $5 each, and on Tuesdays they are even cheaper for “Taco Tuesday.”
