Category Archives: Restaurant Reviews

Burgers, Midtown West, Press Reviews, Pub Food, Restaurant Reviews

Haswell Green’s

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having gone to Haswell Green’s several times for cocktails over the years, I finally made it over there to try the food. I have to say: the burger matches the quality of the cocktails: AWESOME!

It’s a double smash patty burger on a potato bun with pickles, cheese and special sauce. Very simple, but really well executed. Go give it a shot. I actually think this might be my favorite burger in that part of town. Better than Black Tap, all the steakhouses nearby, and any other bar or fast food joint slinging burgers for theater patrons.

The boneless wings pork+veal meatballs are decent as well.

But make sure you try some of their cocktails. Really nicely crafted.

HASWELL’S GREEN
240 W 52nd St
New York, NY 10019

Italian, Parms, Press Reviews, Restaurant Reviews, West Village

Arthur & Sons

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On June 8th, the west village will have a brand new, old school style red sauce Italian joint: Arthur & Sons.

The concept comes from the guy who brought you Black Tap’s burgers and iconic shakes, Joe Isidori.

The small, bright and warm space feels like home. A seat at the window-side bar with a mezcal negroni was the right move to start the evening.

Don’t skip on the antipasto.

This and the bread with house flavored oil are the sirens tempting your appetite to a shipwreck of over-eating, though. Save room for what’s next!

Meatball parm sandwich.

Mozzarella en carozza.

FRIED GALAMAD!!!

Just like home at an Italian’s house, that’s only the beginning. Then comes the pasta: spicy rigatoni alla vodka.

Of course Benny Bowties is smiling.

Look at those tubes – no flop!

And holy shit – the chicken parm is a feast!!!

And to finish off the night, some cannoli.

This place is going to pop, so get ready! I can’t wait to try everything else.

ARTHUR & SONS
38 8th Avenue
New York, NY 10014

Italian, Midtown West, Parms, Restaurant Reviews

Il Corso

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My wife and I came here with another couple to try out the amazing food that Il Corso is known for. This place definitely lived up to its reputation!

We started with some stuffed, fried olives, fried zucchini, and beef carpaccio. All of these were excellent, but I think if I had to choose a favorite, I’d go with the zucchini. Crazy! Next time I will try the Fritto Misto, which also has squid and shrimp.

My wife had the paccheri with pistachio cream sauce and crumbled sausage. Amazing! Easily a top five pasta dish for me.

I had the veal cutlet Milanese.

Added some nice fresh shaved parm on top:

It was perfect. Super crisp outside, tender and juicy inside. Ate every last bit of it!

And for dessert, Nutella pie, lemon bomb cake, and flan. All delicious, but I think the flan “took the cake.”

I can’t wait to go back here and the the lamb ragu pappardelle, and so many other dishes.

IL CORSO
54 W 55th S
New York, NY 10019

Latin/Mexican & Caribbean, Lower East Side/Chinatown, Restaurant Reviews

Mictlan Mexico

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This newish neighborhood Mexican joint was a hit!

My wife and I started with some “two for $10” tacos.

We did two orders (four tacos): two BBQ lamb, and two fish. Both were really great. The lamb was unique, and after having it, I kinda wished they had a BBQ lamb dish on the entree menu as well, for a composed plate (like lamb over rice with beans, etc). The fish taco was grilled as opposed to crispy/fried like many other places do. We loved it.

For mains, my wife ordered the chile relleno, and I ordered the cochinita pibil burrito.

This was a great burrito for $14. Hefty and tasty. My only criticism is that I don’t want sauce on the outside of the tortilla. I had to scrape it off. It was just getting too messy to eat. My wife’s plate came with a side of rice and beans, which were also good. A great deal for $17.

In fact, everything here is reasonably priced – even the cocktails ($14) and beer ($5 cans). The flan was pretty good too. Nice plating, but the coconut shavings threw the silky texture off a bit.

I’ll definitely be back here for more. At the very least we will be ordering for delivery regularly. And when you hit this place, make sure you try their orange and green sauces: DRINKABLE!

MICTLAN MEXICO
17 Orchard St
New York, NY 10002

Burgers, Lower East Side/Chinatown, Pub Food, Restaurant Reviews

Black Crescent

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The tiny burger at Black Crescent may be overpriced at $13, but it is damn delicious. Great char, lovely beefy chuck flavor, and plenty of cheese coverage.

It’s definitely more of a slider sized burger (it’s sitting on a small ketchup cup in the pic above), but whatever. As long as it’s good.

Pro tip: order the waffle fries for $10: it’s basically enough for three people.

BLACK CRESCENT
76 Clinton St
New York, NY 10002

American, Burgers, Lower East Side/Chinatown, Restaurant Reviews

King’s Cafe

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In my quest to try all the burgers in the lower east side, I came across another addition to the smash burger craze that’s sweeping the area: King’s Cafe.

The burger was beautiful, and well assembled. Cheddar, aioli, double patties, caramelized onions… Everything was great about it, except for the overwhelming flavor of onion water. It was as if the onions had been sitting in the bottom of a sink, just stewing there. I’m not really sure how else to put it!

Great seasoned fries, awesome bun, great ratios all over the place. Just that onion water… Odd.

KING’S CAFE
79 Clinton St
New York, NY 10002

American, Lower East Side/Chinatown, Restaurant Reviews

Scoville Hot Chicken

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This MASSIVE $10 chicken sandwich is a great buy. The meat is tender and juicy on the inside, and spicy and crisp on the outside. The sauce is sweet yet spicy. Teh cole slaw is crisp and refreshing. The pickled cut the heat perfectly. This is a winning sandwich!

SCOVILLE HOT CHICKEN
117 Orchard St
New York, NY 10002

East Village, Korean, Restaurant Reviews

Two Hands

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Two Hands is one of the deep-fried Korean style corndog joints that popped up all over the city in the last couple of years. This was the first time I ever tried one of them. I didn’t like it. Too sweet and too doughy, despite the beef dog inside being good quality.

TWO HANDS
147 Avenue A
SSTO
New York, NY 10009

Italian, Press Reviews, Restaurant Reviews

Nonna Dora

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The famous pasta making grandma from I Trulli and Ristoro del Cinghiale is now out on her own with the namesake Nonna Dora’s!

This place is serving up lots of favorites from Ristoro and I Trulli, like the wild boar pappardelle and their famous negronis.

My wife and I started with some meats and cheeses, fried cuttlefish, octopus salad, and meatballs.

All of this was delicious, but our favorite was the octopus.

We dug into two pasta dishes. First, a really fresh spring greens special dish, which featured super thick citarra style spaghetti.

It has leeks, spring onions, fiddlehead ferns, asparagus, ramps, and fava beans.

Then, burnt wheat pasta with confit duck! So good.

Finished off the meal with a tart and some spumoni.

I can’t wait to come back here again for more pasta dishes.

NONNA DORA’S
606 2nd Ave
New York, NY 10016

American, Burgers, East Village, Restaurant Reviews

Great Jones Distilling

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After trying their bourbon a few times and really enjoying it, I finally got over to Great Jones Distillery for some food and drinks.

My wife and I tried a flight of their spirits as well as their fancy burger.

The burger is topped with a bacon and bourbon jam, blue or cheddar cheese (we chose blue based on the waitress’ recommendation) and potato chips.

It was cooked perfectly, and the fries were good. However, we wish we picked cheddar since the blue sort of overpowered that bacon and bourbon jam. But otherwise it was good.

I’m a fan of their bourbon too, so we picked up a bottle on the way out. I’m looking forward to going back for a tour and a steak.

GREAT JONES DISTILLING CO
686 Broadway
New York, NY 10012