Category Archives: Restaurant Reviews

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

Comal

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First, check out my Ride & Review video HERE:

Comal is a new Mexico City -inspired restaurant in the lower east side. They offer up some really unique dishes that you won’t commonly see at popular Mexican restaurants.

We started the meal with three skewers: al pastor chicken, beef tongue, and mushrooms.

The al pastor was our favorite of these. I think the mushrooms would have been better grilled, and the tongue was a bit gamey in flavor.

Next up, the cobia aguachile. This had great flavor; bright, fresh and refreshingly spicy.

The beef tartare was nice as well. It came with some lettuce cups and was topped with fried crickets! I’ve had them before. They’re not really my thing, so I let The Cake Dealer have them all.

For our main courses we did the skate wing in squid ink sauce, which are like a delicious spicy mole/curry cross breed. The fish was perfectly cooked.

We also had the half chicken, which was really tender and juicy. All the flavor was in the skin and the earthy, spicy sauce.

The stuffed wing with pickled tomatillo was a nice tough to go with it, but ultimately it seemed like a lot of extra chef work for little reward on our end. We liked the regular parts of the chicken better.

On the side, we had the Comal rice, which was essentially a small bowl of rice and beans for $10 (overpriced), and the squash and zucchini with cherries and cheese (so unique and awesome).

For dessert, we had their raspberry and vanilla soft serve swirl. This his the spot on a hot day.

COMAL
116 Forsyth St.
New York, NY 10002

East Village, Japanese, Restaurant Reviews

Sushi By M

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First, check out my Ride & Review video HERE:

This spot offers a great 18-course omakase for just $100. I’m just going to dump the photos I snapped for each piece, but our favorites were the following: oyster appetizer, shrimp, red snapper,  shima aji, both medium and fatty tuna, uni, salmon, wagyu spoon, and the shrimp and uni hand roll we added at the end. We would definitely come back here again.

SUSHI BY M
75 E 4th Street
New York, NY 10003

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

Bar Oliver

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First, check out my Ride & Review video HERE:

Bar Oliver is a small Spanish style tapas and pintxos joint at the intersection of Oliver, St. James, East Broadway, Bowery and Worth downtown.

My wife and I stopped in for drinks when they first opened, but now that the menu is fully built out, we wanted to go in and try some food.

We started with the Montauk red shrimp pintxos. These were tasty little bites. Expensive at $18 for two, but that’s the way of live here now I guess.

Next up, the mushrooms. These come with a beautiful egg yolk on top to break and mix in. Loved this dish.

We also tried the skate cheeks. These were served in a nice bright tomato sauce and ate more like a soup than I had expected. There were three to four good sized fish cheeks in there.

We contemplated getting a larger format rib eye, but instead we went with the wagyu hanger steak, which comes with fries and is served atop a really nice piquillo pepper sauce.

The steak was perfectly cooked, but it was a bit small for my liking. I’d say around 6oz. But at $39 it isn’t a bad deal. I give this a, 9/10. Perfectly cooked, nicely seasoned, great flavor and texture.

For dessert we did the Spanish cheesecake. To me, it ate more like a standard cheesecake. Still good though.

I would definitely go back to try more items. Especially the larger steaks. They had a good selection of local beef and domestic wagyu cross breed, all dry aged.

BAR OLIVER
1 Oliver St
New York, NY 10038

Brooklyn, Latin/Mexican & Caribbean, Restaurant Reviews

Tortilleria Mexicana Los Hermanos

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First, check out my Ride & Review HERE:

I pulled up on this Bushwick spot before hitting Electric Wednesday nearby at KCBC.

I went with their $11 special; three carnitas tacos.

These were really great. They’re served sort of gringo style, meaning they have lettuce, tomato and sour cream on them. I’m totally fine with that!

I think the tortillas could spend a bit more time getting toasted on the flat top, and the carnitas could have more variable chunks in the mix. The meat almost seemed more like pulled pork that had been crisped up a little bit on the plancha, but really no complaints about that at all.

I will definitely go back here and try more!

TORTILLERIA MEXICANA LOS HERMANOS
271 Starr St.
Brooklyn, NY 11237

East Village, Italian, Parms, Restaurant Reviews

House of Pasta

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First, check out my Ride & Review video HERE:

My wife and I popped in here because we heard good things. We started with some nice cocktails, and a beautiful bread basket with focaccia and basil-infused olive oil.

Then moved on to the roasted octopus and crispy artichokes.

Both of these were great, and the octopus came with a few pieces of crispy artichoke as well. We were glad that we ordered the artichoke side dish for some extra though. They were delicious! Also the cauliflower puree underneath the octopus was so flavorful. I could eat that like a dip all day!

In the middle course, we had the dinner special of truffle pappardelle with chicken milanese, as well as the fusili with red pesto and straciatella.

Both of these were expertly seasoned and beautifully plated. We really enjoyed these. The red pesto was a unique mix of walnuts and red pepper that I had never had before. The Milanese was fried super crisp and pounded super thin. Perfect.

For the main course, we had their crispy pork shoulder with fennel and arugula salad. At $22 this is an absolute steal.

The skin was perfectly crisp, covering a layer of deliciously sticky fat and tender, juicy braised pork. Amazing.

For dessert, we had their tiramisu. This was really nice as well.

We love this place, and we can’t wait to go back! We also noticed that they have some excellent buy-one get-one free deals on Uber Eats. Needless to say, we will definitely be going back and also ordering delivery.

HOUSE OF PASTA
511 E 12th St.
New York, NY 10009

American, German, Italian, Parms, Restaurant Reviews, West Village

Anton’s

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First, check out my Ride & Review HERE:

This place was pretty good! We rode here in the afternoon on July 4th, so we took advantage of their hot dog special.

This was a really tasty veal dog with dijon and kraut on a sesame seed bun.

We also had their bucatini made with thick cut bacon in a sort of Amatriciana sauce.

The pasta was perfectly cooked!

Then we moved on to their chicken schnitzel.

Crispy fried, pounded flat dark meat served with a side of cucumber and baby romaine salad and a dijon relish. Awesome.

I would definitely go back here again to try more items.

ANTON’S
570 Hudson St.
New York, NY 10014

Hot Pot, Lower East Side/Chinatown, Restaurant Reviews

Gangnam Hot Pot

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First, check out my Ride & Review video HERE:

This place was pretty great. I didn’t take any photos, so you’ll just have to check out the video to see what we had. The best items were the shellfish, the fishballs, and the sliced meats like lamb, rib eye and pork belly.

Definitely give this place a shot! It was really a great deal at just about $100 for two people including drinks!

GANGNAM HOT POT
125 Division St Suite B
New York, NY 10002

African/Middle Eastern, East Village, Greek, Mediterranean, Restaurant Reviews

Au Za’atar

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First, check out my Ride & Review video HERE:

This place is pretty great. We started with some nicely mixed cocktails, and then dug into a nice stuffed zucchini app.

It came with a bunch of dips, pickled items, sauces and bread.

We also did the lamb shank, which was served in a delicious yogurt sauce with toasted pistachios. This was awesome.

Next up, the smaller sized mixed grill. The star here was the minced lamb kebab.

The fries were good, but could have used just a bit more crisp.

For dessert, a delicious and light yogurt based pudding with banana and strawberry. Similar to a nice flan.

I would definitely come back here to try more stuff, especially their braised lamb sholder.

AU ZA’ATAR
188 Avenue A
New York, NY 10009

Italian, Nolita/Soho, Non-Steakhouse Steaks, Parms, Restaurant Reviews, Rib Eye

Sartiano’s

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First, watch my Ride & Review video HERE:

I went to Sartiano’s with four of my law school buddies after a round or two of drinks at Zero Bond, so we were able to try a lot of stuff.

I apologize for the lack of quality images. I really just shot video here, so as to minimize my use of the light. All the pics below are screen grabs from my video.

The caviar cannoli were delicious bites of savory goodness. They’re pricey, but when you’re going big with a meal like Sartiano’s, you get these! As a matter of fact, these were on the house thanks to my friend being a regular here.

The steak tartare was one of the best I’ve had in a while. There were some crispy sunchokes on top that really made this dish pop!

The fried calamari was almost fried in like a tempura batter, and it came with fried slices of zucchini and squash. I really loved this. perfectly seasoned!

The baked clams are fantastic here. I highly recommend those as well. We grabbed two orders, that way everyone got a few. I actually forgot to mention these in the Ride & Review.

Even the Caesar salad was great. It’s served in layers; almost like a salad lasagna.

The tomahawk was pricey, but it was a solid 8/10 in terms of flavor. The aged flavor was mild, but they do dry-age meats on the premises. It was really nicely cooked (clearly grilled and not seared or broiled)), and adorned with delicious roasted garlic and herbs.

A real beauty.

The veal parm was excellent. This stole the show for us. It rivals Carbone, Ballato and all the other greats in the area. Perfectly crisp with some nice melty mozz and grated parm on tip.

We had some roasted carrots and smash-fried fingerling potatoes to go with the mains, but we also threw down on some pasta as well.

We even had some meatballs on the side, not realizing that we would be getting some more with the “Sunday Sauce.”

The “Sunday Sauce” has a serving of baked ziti (tubes arranged vertically in the dish for extra presentation points) along with a heaping bowl of tomato sauce with slow cooked short rib, sausage, and more meatballs within. Awesome.

We also tried the green cavatelli with Jonah crab, which was really nice and fresh. I wish I had the stomach space to eat more of this.

For dessert, we had some chocolate ice cream for my boring-ass friend Paul, and tiramisu. Both were great.

All in, this was a fantastic meal. I can definitely understand the hype for this place. If you can get a table, do it! Personally, I would love to go again if I could.

SARTIANO’S
99 Prince St.
New York, NY 10012

East Village, Japanese, Restaurant Reviews

Kawa Omakase

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First, check out my Ride & Review video HERE:

This new spot is located on 1st Street near 2nd Avenue. They offer a 14-course omakase for $88. We enjoyed the fatty tuna pieces, the shrimp, the king salmon appetizer, and especially the “New York” salmon piece (with tomato) and the tuna hand roll at the end.

I would definitely go back for seasonal menu changes and specials.

KAWA OMAKASE
37 E 1st St.
New York, NY 10003