Category Archives: Restaurant Reviews

Deli, Press Reviews, Restaurant Reviews, Upper East Side

PJ Bernstein

July 12, 2021 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

I stopped here for lunch and was really pleased with the meal. Started with a fried knish and wasn’t disappointed. Hot and crisp, super velvety interior.

The Butcher’s Special sandwich, with tongue, corned beef and pastrami, was a big win. Half a pound of meat!

The Rueben sandwich is served open face style, and was equally delightful.

Topped that off with some fries and pirogies. The fries were perfect. As for the dumplings, I preferred the meat ones over the potato.

Then washed it all down with some chicken soup. DELICIOUS!

This place is great. I definitely recommend.

PJ BERNSTEIN
1215 3rd Ave
New York, NY 10021

American, Midtown West, Press Reviews, Restaurant Reviews

Life Rooftop

July 12, 2021 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

Life Rooftop took over the space formerly known as the Viceroy at the top of Le Meridien hotel, near Central Park. The views are spectacular.

The cocktails are excellent.

And the food, which is more along the bites and small portions angle, is really delicious. The seafood tower is impressive. It comes with lobster, king crab, langoustines, shrimp, clams, oysters, caviar, tuna tartare and hamachi crudo.

The lobster roll is pretty packed full of meat too.

The stars of the meal for me, though, were the deviled eggs with caviar, and the wagyu tartare.

Their dessert sundae and churros were really great too. I’d definitely eat here again.

LIFE ROOFTOP
24 W 57th St
29th Floor
New York, NY 10019

Fusion, Korean, Nolita/Soho, Other, Restaurant Reviews

Kjun

July 12, 2021 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

Kjun is a Korean/Cajun fusion food concept that offers delivery service around NYC. They will soon reopen a physical location, but for now, the delivery is thoughtfully packaged, arrives hot, and travels well – nothing soggy, everything remains crisp that needs to.

We tried the fried chicken, ribs, and pork belly lettuce wraps. All were awesome. I especially liked the sides like the noodles and pickled watermelon rinds. Delicious food! Can’t wait to try their hanger steak dishes next.

Full Points for Flavor, Fusion, Nolita/Soho, Non-Steakhouse Steaks, Restaurant Reviews, Rib Eye

Kimika

July 3, 2021 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

Most fusion restaurants are characterized by a big swing, and a big miss. The intentions are usually good, and the concepts make sense on paper, but at bat on the plate, they just don’t have the right swing. Kimika is the exception. Chef Christine Lau VERY successfully marries Japanese, and other aspects of regional Asian cuisine, with high end Italian cuisine. She knocks it out of the park! My wife and I went with another food-obsessed couple, so we were able to try most of the menu.

First off, excellent cocktails! I loved their take on an old fashioned.

To start, we snacked on a bowl of spiced olives, tuna tartare and wagyu + uni skewers. All fantastic.

This squash and sunflower pesto pizzette was an incredible expression of Asian + Italian – also very light and crisp. A great snack.

The “pasta” dishes are where you really see that marriage, though. This shrimp and prosciutto tortellini with mochi in a Japanese broth was probably our favorite bite of the night.

The crispy rice cake lasagna with Italian sausage was up there though, and I’m finding myself craving this as I write…

Even the vegetable selections are all beautiful mash-ups of Italian and Asian flavors, and all of them were great! Our favorite was the charred green beans with olive tapenade and prosciutto (first pic below).

The mains are pretty incredible here. We started with an amazing porchetta. Look at that crispy skin!

Then we moved on to a surf & turf plate, composed of spot prawns that were basted with uni butter, and a killer dry-aged steak with a pickled greens and wasabi spread.

So good! And easily one of the best steaks I’ve had in a very long time. 10/10 – it really brought the funk!

Dessert was also a homerun with the yakult soft serve (our favorite), tiramisu and warm mochi bomboloncini.

I highly recommend this place, and I can’t wait to go back!

KIMIKA
40 Kenmare St,
New York, NY 10012

American, Burgers, Non-Steakhouse Steaks, Other Cuts, Parms, Press Reviews, Restaurant Reviews, Rib Eye, West Village

Hancock Street

June 19, 2021 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

Watch the RIDE & REVIEW!

Last night I checked out the new joint from Mercer Street Hospitality Group (Lure Fishbar, Bowery Meat Company, etc.), Hancock Street. Everything was awesome, so let me get right into it.

APPS:

The sea urchin on crispy potato was a great bite to start the meal.

Uni has been replaced with tuna on a different potato.

We followed this with an absolutely delicious steak tartare.

Loved the pigs in a blanket with everything spice. Great dijon mustard and cherry BBQ sauce dips.

PASTA:

Adult kids pasta/mac & cheese is really fun.

The squid ink linguine with calamari, crispy garlic, and sea beans was really unique and beautiful.

New version is better:

But the duck bolognese mafaldine was the better of the two.

The radiatore were the best though.

SIDES:

Excellent fries!

I was even impressed with the veggies. Both the cauliflower and the carrots are worth your time. If I had to choose just one, I’d go with the cauliflower.

MAINS:

Great burger.

The short rib felt more like a grill or broil, or a very fast braise. I expected a more tender, pull-apart preparation. It was still tasty as hell though. 7/10.

The veal schnitzel was the best dish of the night. Amazing flavor profile with the capers and onions underneath, and a beautiful light and airy crisp on the breading. 10/10.

They overcooked the first steak that came out, but they made it right with a second one. It was really delicious, well seasoned, and came as a composed dish with a side of mushrooms. 8/10.

Second visit was better.

ENHANCE!

Chicken was nice too.

DESSERT:

The rhubarb crumble was a great finish to this great meal!

Mini yuzu jelly donuts! Get them. I didn’t take a photo, but here is a nice martini.

I would definitely go here again, and I recommend you go as well!

HANCOCK STREET
257 6th Avenue
New York, NY 10014

Long Island, Pub Food, Restaurant Reviews

Oakdale Brew House

June 14, 2021 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

This joint has undergone some make-overs through the years, but the newest iteration, Oakdale Brew House, is definitely the best so far. They have a lot of great local beers on tap, and a nice selection of bar food, even live music.

Definitely worth parking your ass here instead of a place like Applebee’s or Friday’s if you’re out this way in the ‘burbs.

OAKDALE BREW HOUSE
927a Montauk Hwy
Oakdale, NY 11769

American, Lower East Side/Chinatown, Restaurant Reviews

Bar Belly

June 14, 2021 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

Bar Belly has a pretty great happy hour that features dollar oysters, among other deals. We went with two dozen of these delicious, crisp, clean oysters, some fries for $6, and, of course, drinks. I highly recommend this oyster happy hour. It goes until 7pm every night.

BAR BELLY
14 Orchard St
New York, NY 10002

Chinese, East Village, Restaurant Reviews

Dim Sum Palace

June 14, 2021 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

This is really just a photo dump of the dim sum I tried here at Dim Sum Palace. Over all this is pretty good quality stuff, and I’d definitely come back again. Only down side is that they were slammed, so service was a little bit spotty. I recommend going at an off hour (for example, not at noon on Saturday).

DIM SUM PALACE
59 2nd Ave
New York, NY 10003

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

Mila’s Fish & Hook

May 9, 2021 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

My wife and I popped in here for a quick lunch and to take advantage of the all day dollar oyster special.

The oysters were great. Mild, creamy, fresh and crisp. I only wish they also served them with horseradish and a cocktail sauce. The grilled calamari appetizer was great, served atop a salad of arugula with balsamic and orange supremes.

My wife had fish tacos, which were very nice (no pics), and I had the burger. This was great, though I wish I had gone with cheddar instead of Swiss (they were out of American). That little thing on top, under the pickles, is crispy cheese! That was a nice bonus.

We will definitely be going back here.

MILA’S FISH & HOOK
81 Ludlow St
New York, NY 10002

Chinese, Lower East Side/Chinatown, Restaurant Reviews

Wo Hop

May 4, 2021 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

How have I never reviewed this place in all my years living here, and all my times eating here – especially from way back when I went to Law School and lived/worked nearby for years after?

Wo Hop is a NYC institution. They’ve been serving up excellent and affordable Chinese food in their iconic downstairs location since 1938! I have to say, the fried wontons are some of the best I’ve ever had.

On this visit, my wife and I had the sliced chicken with baby corn. I was expecting this to be much spicier, being printed in RED on the menu and under the spicy Szechaun section, but it was still delicious.