Category Archives: Restaurant Reviews

American, Filet Mignon, Midtown West, Non-Steakhouse Steaks, Restaurant Reviews

David Burke Fabrick

August 4, 2014 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

NOTE: THIS JOINT IS NOW CLOSED

Okay so listen up. I saw this awesome photo on Chef David Burke’s Instagram feed. I showed my wife and we immediately decided that we needed to go.

We made a reservation for an hour or two later, psyched as all hell to dig into that incredible looking hunk of beef.

When we sat, the waiter brought out a little shot of strained cold gazpacho; tomato with melon. Very refreshing.

I had the “rabbit hunter” cocktail: bourbon, lime, ginger beer and mint. It was good; like a bourbon mojito.

My wife had the “antica Manhattan,” which was made with buffalo trace bourbon, antica carpano, maple syrup, bitters and brandied cherry. It was excellent, except for the fact that later on during the meal we found a gnat floating belly up in it. Doh!

We started with a pair of apps. First was the “skin and bones,” which was essentially chicken liver pate sandwiched between two pieces of crispy chicken skin, and served with chicken dumplings drizzled with vindaloo sauce. The cool thing about these dumplings was that they were “bone-in.” The chicken bones were little handles to grab the dumplings. Observe:

Next was octopus tacos (can we call them tactos?) with guacamole, chipotle sauce and salsa. These were excellent. The octopus was nice and charred but tender inside, and the sauces were great. Maybe a few jalapeno slices or some lettuce would have made this dish perfect.

We ordered a side of chic pea fries to go with our steak too. These were interesting. Crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside. The dipping sauce was more of the chipotle cream from the tacos.

So now for the big fucker. The Bronx filet for two, with bone marrow. The presentation is gorgeous, isn’t it?

Even that first slice up front. Looks delectable, no? Hmm… Maybe just a little too much grey on the edges?

Oh FUCK. After that first, nice looking piece, it looks like whoever sliced this puppy was trying to hide the incredibly overcooked portions!

I kid about the hiding. But, yeah… It turns out that the rest of the steak was really well done. We ordered it medium rare. I guess with these big hunks, lots of chefs have trouble getting an even cook across the meat. The bone still had blood on it. It certainly was an awkward size and shape. What a shame. When it’s done properly it is probably an incredible meal.

When the waiter came around to ask how everything was, I mentioned that it tasted good but that it was severely overcooked. He grabbed a manager and she agreed, though she relayed what the chef said, which was that the edges are over but the middle is okay. Unfortunately that just wasn’t the case. There were about 3 or 4 bites of medium rare combined from all slices, and the rest was hockey puck. The manager generously offered to have the chef fire up another for us, which would be ready in 25 minutes, but we declined because we had to get back home to field some interview calls for a New York Times story that is being written up about the two of us. The steak normally takes 40 minutes to cook, and we were already pushing it on time. So we put on our big-boy pants and ate the dry, grey meat as best as we could. It was still yummy, but really dry and over done. I imagine it to be a great item when properly cooked. 5/10.

The manager was kind enough to send out some free desserts for us, and we were not charged for the overcooked steak. For dessert we had the “Burke-n-bag.” This one is great for photo ops. It is essentially a really amazing candy bar dolled up to look like a purse, and served with a little scoop of vanilla bean ice cream.

We also had the frozen yogurt banana split. This was pretty good. The fro-yo was actually delicious, and the pink stuff you see is the sauce that was poured over and then hardened into a shell. Magic Shell!?! Total blast from the past. The banana was just so-so; maybe a little under-ripe. The brownies weren’t really needed, I don’t think.

Last are the cheese cake pops with bubble gum whipped cream. I wasn’t a big fan of these, but I can see how someone could love them. When it comes to all-things cheesecake, nothing can compare to my sister’s cheesecake. MY sister’s cheesecake is so good that it’ll make you want to murder YOUR sister.

So anyway – moral of the story is this: beautiful pics of food can be deceiving. Also the table next door had a wrong item taken to them. Red snapper instead of tuna. So maybe this place was just having a bad night. Our steak was ruined, there was a gnat in my wife’s drink and the table next door had the wrong item delivered to them that apparently no one at any other table had ordered. Ehh, whatever. We all know David Burke is an amazing chef. It’s just too bad he wasn’t actually there cooking for us this evening.

FABRICK
Archer Hotel New York
47 W. 38th St.
New York, NY 10018

Carcass Club/Beast Feast, Chinese, Flash Deals, Fusion, Japanese, Nolita/Soho, Restaurant Reviews

The General

July 28, 2014 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

My wife purchased a steak for two deal at this Latino steakhouse down on 14th street, but soon after the joint closed down. WTF! Anyway, the restaurant group honored the deal at one of their other joints called The General. We had heard some good things about it, so we were happy to take the deal to that location. Instead of steak, though, we went with their Peking duck. It was fucking amazing.

So the deal went like this: any two apps, then the Peking duck, a side, and any dessert to share.

Drinks were not included but we had some good ones. I had a blueberry compote and vodka drink called “The General’s Elixir.” Garnished with a sprig of rosemary for aroma. it was nice. My wife had a traditional sake box.

We started with the seared toro – normally a $30 menu item. It was really nice, delicate, and packed with flavor and just a little bit of heat from the jalapenos.

Then there was the Kate roll, which involved Alaskan king crab, salmon, and a cucumber wrap. Really fresh and delicious. We were sort of wishing that we tried the artichoke and hamachi app instead, but this roll was really good. If the Peking duck wasn’t to filling, we would have tried that as a third app.

Then the shit hit the fucking fan, and this bitch came out to the party:

Here’s the actual presentation after slicing, with the steamed buns and everything. This was one of the best Peking ducks we’ve ever had. The skin was crispy, yet juicy. The meat was tender and moist, packed with deliciousness. It came with sliced scallions, cucumbers, and pineapple. And that’s a little sauce pan of watery hoisin sauce to drizzle on your buns. Fuck yeah!

The only down side: those beautiful red chili peppers were NOT sliced and presented with the duck. Sad.

The rice we ordered as a side was a bit greasy for our liking, but it was really tasty, with shrimp, Chinese sausage, a whole bunch of other yummy tid-bits, and topped with a fried egg. My wife makes a much better fried rice, but this was fine for me as a side.

For dessert we shared an assortment of frozen treats and pops called “The General’s Freezer.” It was like they took inspiration from a little bit of everything you’d find on an ice cream truck (toasted almond, strawberry shortcake, ice cream sandwich, etc), elevated them to gourmet, miniaturized them, and served them in pairs so we could each try one. This was fun!

Some decor:

THE GENERAL IS CLOSED

American, Midtown West, Non-Steakhouse Steaks, Restaurant Reviews, Restaurant Week, Rib Eye

Butter

July 28, 2014 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

My buddy celebrated his 40th birthday out back in the garden here at Butter, and when we got good and hungry, my wife and I went inside to eat some grub at the bar.

My wife had the restaurant week menu, which came with veal bacon, hake (fish), and chocolate cake.

The veal bacon was the real star here, drizzled with a nice mustard seed sauce, and accompanied with a side of sesame oil cabbage slaw.

The fish was better than alright. Nice and clean, good flavor, and pretty tasty overall. Maybe I was just too hungry for my rib eye to pay any real attention to the fish bullshit.

Here’s the “butter cut” rib eye, served with crispy purple potato wedges and a hay stack of onion straws. Really juicy, good fat content, and cooked correctly to medium rare. This would hang with the big boys in the steak house world for sure.

Fuck the chocolate cake. I didn’t take pics of it. it was really good though. Dark chocolate, very rich but not too sweet.

A shot of our drinks from earlier at the birthday party. I had the Alagash, and my wife had the pink lemonade thingy.

BUTTER
70 W. 45th St.
New York, NY 10036

American, Burgers, Non-Steakhouse Steaks, Other Cuts, Restaurant Reviews, Upper West Side

PJ Clarkes

July 28, 2014 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

Check this shit out: this isn’t the original flagship location or anything, but the restaurant is big and beautiful inside, and the burger was pretty much fantastic, with the exception of a bottom bun being too thin. My wife and I took my parents here for lunch when they came in to see the new apartment.

I started with an amazing bloody Mary called “Sister Mary Walks Funny” – it involves sri racha sauce. Spicy and perfectly mixed, with blue cheese olives to boot.

My burger was called “the Cadillac” – mostly I ordered it because it had American cheese and bacon on it. Look at the perfect cook job done on this bitch:

The fries were nice and crispy too.

My wife had some mussels with olive oil, garlic and tomato. An interesting change up from the typical white wine preparation. We dug it.

On the side we put down some bacon mac & cheese. Yup. Good shit. That’s wide fusilli, muthafucka!

I’m thoroughly impressed. I saw that on Saturday’s they offer a rib eye. I might have to stop back in for one of those.

On a second visit, I quickly noticed that they stock my favorite gin when I was reading over the cocktail menu: Fifth Pounds Gin. AWESOME! I ordered up a nice martini with that shit.

My wife ordered a “Tall English Redhead,” which was a very refreshing, summery type drink with mango iced tea.

Since it was Sunday, and the rib eye is only offered on Saturday, I went with the skirt steak frites. It was okay. I’ve had better, but it got the job done at a relatively cost-friendly price.

My wife got a breakfast plate of baked eggs and cheddar cheese with fingerling potatoes and sausage. Pretty good substitute since they were out of their bubble & squeak, but it was a bit greasy.

We also shared an order of creamed spinach, which was pretty good for a non-steakhouse. We finished the whole crock of it. Not too salty, not overly creamed, and you could still make out the distinct spinach flavor so you FEEL like you’re eating healthy, even though you aren’t.

PJ CLARKE’S
44 W. 63rd St.
New York, NY 10023

Carcass Club/Beast Feast, Japanese, Ramen, Restaurant Reviews, West Village

Takashi

July 18, 2014 Johnny Prime 3 Comments

To celebrate some good news, we decided to grab some meat at Takashi, a place which so craftily served us some delicious beef ramen just a week or two prior. For the run down on that, scroll down to the bottom of this review, or check out The Great Noodle Chase post.

This time around we wanted grilled beef the whole way. No broth. No noodles. Just the protein. And that’s kinda what Takashi is all the fuck about! They ONLY serve beef. No pork. No fucking chicken. BEEF. And not only that, but it’s all top notch kobe quality, and they ain’t afraid to serve up the nasty bits – the offal. Fuck… This place even has testicles on the menu, and they have no shame in putting the words BEEF BALLS on the fucking menu! Needless to say, this fucking place is made for guys like me.

First came some small dishes of Kim chi, bean sprouts and cabbage with soy ginger dressing. Yeah, I ate it…

Next was the raw sea urchin on top of a nice slice of kobe chuck flap with wasabi, shiso leaf and seaweed paper. This dish is called niku-uni. It was really clean and delicious. I could easily eat a dozen of these shits, no problem.

Then came the soft beef shank steamed buns with spicy mayo and scallions. These were tender and juicy, and fucking packed with bold flavor.

Then there was this awesomeness. Aged kobe prosciutto (whaaaaaat!?!!) with thinly sliced blue cheese and micro scallions, topped with a soy hazelnut honey mustard seed jam. It was earthy and robust. The characteristic aged flavors were highlighted with a nutty, funky-ass barnyard kick from the cheese. Yet it didn’t destroy the pallette. Props to the chef.

Then the grill heated up and the meats came out. Essentially the grill is just a heater coil element like what you have inside an electric oven. I think NYC has some shitty law that bans open flames in dining areas. So this is not technically the traditional open flame yakatori style you find in Japan, but it did fill the craving for grilled meat.

All of the meats were marinated in the house special Takashi sauce, and served with a small dish of sesame oil for dipping. They could have maybe brought out some lettuce leaves to wrap the meat, or a crunch element like fried crispy onion or shallot to sprinkle on top. The meat by itself was good, but I can see how maybe some people would want to mix up the textures a little bit.

Beef belly was the first plate of yum to come. Delicious. Not too chewy, not too fatty. It was cut about a quarter inch thick.

We ordered the chef’s selection of meats as well.

Here’s what came in that plate:

The front left is 1st stomach (cows have 4 stomachs, morons). It was chewy, and we were warned that this would be a lot of mouth work to get through. Why even serve it this way, I wonder? Better to braise it slow and low I would think.

On the front right we have beef heart. It cooked up like a very lean meat: good for a nice quick even sear.

The back right is 4th stomach. This was way more tender, thicker, juicier and flavorful than 1st stomach.

That’s liver on the back left. This was my least favorite. It was gamey, mealy, and very irony. I guess for my taste, liver is best served in pate form.

In the center are the sweetbreads. These glands were creamy and smooth. Very nice, with a great crisp.

The last meat we tried were the cheeks. This was the best of them all. It was sliced thin like bacon, and they crisped up nicely on the grill. Perfect.

Then we saw the table next to get the nose to tail beef platter.

Fucking bastards. We asked for it when we sat but they said we needed 4 people to order. Bullshit. We definitely could have finished it all, and I wouldn’t have minded paying 60pp for two instead of 30pp for four. Oh well. Maybe if there’s 4 of us next time…

Dessert was Madagascar vanilla soft serve ice cream, topped with soft chewy mochi balls, soy powder, sweet red beans, gold leaf and salted caramel sauce. Thankfully the sauce was served on the side. It was too bitter for our liking. The ice cream itself was great, and good with the sweet beans.

Pretty solid meal. It was a little pricey, but definitely enjoyable. I’d definitely go back to try out some more shit.

MIDNIGHT RAMEN

Real deal beef ramen DOES exist. I heard about some late night ramen joint in the west village called Takashi that serves up an all-beef broth ramen on Friday and Saturday nights only, from 12:00am to 2:00am. It was tough, but I ended up getting a seat for my wife and I to slurp up some of this delicious shit. We started with some beer and took in the surroundings:

As I mentioned, it’s a beef broth, but it contains crispy beef intestines, FUCKING BRAISED KOBE BEEF BELLY!!!, a soft boiled egg, and alkaline ramen noodles. The little blob of red you see in the middle is the spicy paste that my wife got with her bowl. I prefer no spicy paste, as it masks the beef flavor too much for my liking (though I DO love very spicy foods):

If you’re in town overnight on a weekend and are up for something bold and adventurous, give this bowl a try. The only problem is that you will need to try for a reservation on the Monday prior at 5pm. That’s when they start taking reservations. I emailed on Tuesday afternoon for my rez and they were already booked solid. They asked if I wanted to be on a waiting list in case someone cancels: I said yes. I found out on Friday at about 4:00pm that they had an opening for me and my wife at midnight. SWEET!

NOSE-TO-TAIL BEEF

I finally got to try the nose-to-tail cow feast here, thanks to the good people at Tabelog. We started with some really amazing apps though:

Kobe beef tartare:
This was delicious. Clean, earthy, cool, and lots of texture. Our awesome waiter Reese mixed in the quail egg for us after patiently waiting as we snapped photos of all the apps.

Soft boiled egg with beef prosciutto and caviar:
This was difficult to eat. The glass egg made it tough to allow for proper mixing of the components within, but the flavor was really nice. Egg was cooked perfectly.

Raw beef liver sashimi:
Much better than you might expect. Raw liver tastes WAY better than cooked liver. There is no iron taste and no mealy texture. It’s soft, creamy, and clean.

Crispy tripe salad:
Chewy, but for those who dig tripe, this is a win. Dip into some of the spicy sauce they serve it with, or the more traditional sesame oil + salt combo, and enjoy.

We also had the kobe beef prosciutto with blue cheese and micro greens that we had last time, along with the uni dish that we had last time as well. They were too good to pass up, and I wanted to make sure the Tabelog folks tasted them (you can see pics of those above).

I should also mention that we had a really great waitress as well, named Yuki. As the restaurant got more and more busy, she had to multi-task a bit, and Reese sort of relieved her at our table. But at one point we caught a glimpse of her serving up this monster set of ribs to the table next to us. Looked amazing! My wife’s Instagram feed (@thecakedealer) has a nice pic of it on the grill.

Now on to the main course – 16 cuts of cow.
Top row (from right to left):
tongue, cheek, shoulder, rib eye, between the ribs, tail.
Middle row (from right to left):
sweet breads, heart, liver, first stomach, second stomach.
Bottom row (from right to left):
short rib, skirt, belly, fourth stomach, large intestine.

If you’re an astute reader, you may be wondering what the fuck happened to third stomach. It’s only served as an app, so that will have to be a “next time” item. Anyway, Reese gave us a run down on each cut, instructing us on how long each piece should be cooked, and what to expect for each (soft, chewy, creamy, etc). Rather than labor on with the monotony of each and every cut’s flavor, texture, and rating, I’ll just give you a quick list of our favorites. Cheek, shoulder, rib eye, between the ribs, short rib, and belly. The rest were all good, but if I go back, I’ll probably focus more on the faves.

Here’s some additional meatporn for you:

TAKASHI
456 Hudson St.
New York, NY 10014

Flash Deals, Japanese, Non-Steakhouse Steaks, Other Cuts, Restaurant Reviews, Tribeca

Megu

July 12, 2014 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

NOTE: This review is for the old location in Tribeca.

My bargain hunter wife got a crazy deal through Gilt City for the Omakase tasting menu at Megu, and on top of the amazing deal, she had some coupons to use on Gilt City, which made this meal a real steal (How does that feel? Feels like a deal.)

ONE
So this seven (and a half) course meal began with a really beautiful, delicate, and palette-opening salmon tartare, topped with caviar. Holy shit the rhyming is bizarre. Have I gone too far?

TWO
Next up was grilled asparagus on a stick, covered in a crispy semi-fried coating that was a little too thick. Nice, but a dipping sauce would have been pretty sick.

THREE
After that bowlshit came some shit in a bowl: sebring to be exact, atop an oriental salad of shredded veggies, assorted nuts, and herbs. The waiter drizzled some hot grape seed oil over the fish to give it a quick sear, and then deftly placed two goji berries on top, there and here. Mine looked like a ghost, or a KKK member; either way it was something to fear.

FOUR
Then we have a nice little trio of appetizers. Softshell crab with a house made tartar sauce. I usually hate soft shell crab, because usually the shell is not truly soft, because crabs are constantly molting at different rates across different parts of their body, because they are inconsiderate assholes (the crabby fucks that they are). This one, however, was nice. No choking on flakes of chitinous shell.

Along with this was some grilled veg, consisting of tomato, shishito pepper, and shitake mushroom.

Last was a chunk of miso black cod. Fucking delicious.

FIVE
After that came the mutherfucking sushi. A full spicy tuna roll (too much, in my opinion: three pieces would have been fine instead of six), along with three pieces of sushi: tuna, live octopus, and yellowtail. Everything was good except the octopus. it was too chewy; difficult to get down.

FIVE AND A HALF
Here comes that 0.5 course: liquid. First beer, and then miso soup. The soup was very fragrant and aromatic, but just average in terms of flavor. The good thing is that it was not thin or light, yet not overly salty or too robust.

SIX
The good shit. I had the Kobe steak, which was a sirloin cut. It was cooked perfectly to medium rare, and presented on a hot stone for the extra earthy sear. The waiter poured a little cognac across it for showmanship. Check that shit out below:

Here’s a pair of close up shots of the meat. It came with some crispy garlic chips. I was hoping for a nice thick core of onion too, but whatever. Who can complain with meat of this quality?

My wife had the grilled salmon, which came with some various mushrooms, squash, and veggie items. This was nicely cooked. Juicy but a good crust, flavorful but delicate, topped with chives.

SEVEN
Last was the dessert plate, which had green tea cake, vanilla ice cream with mango sorbet, chocolate truffles, mixed fruit compote with yuzu, and yuzu creme brulee. All were pretty good here, but I slurped at the leftover yuzu compote liquids like a baby goat at the teet. So, so sweet. Tingles from my head down to my feet. And now my rhymes are complete, because it’s getting late, and I’m fucking beat.

BUT WAIT!!! There’s more. I almost forgot the fucking decor. Take a look, you little foodie whores:

MEGU
355 W 16th St
New York, NY 10011

Midtown West, Press Reviews, Restaurant Reviews, Thai

Larb Ubol

July 12, 2014 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

NOTE: THIS PLACE IS NOW CLOSED!

I was recently invited to a press dinner at Larb Ubol. What grabbed my attention about the written invite was that it spoke about authentic Isan Thai food. Different from the more well known Thai food scattered throughout the city, their Thai food focuses on northern flavors like coconut milk, and southern cooking techniques like fusion cooking. Their mission is to introduce people to traditional Northeastern Thai food, which is really spicy and fresh, and known for saltiness. This is not the sweet, Americanized crap you might find in the burbs.

The place was crowded by 7pm. This is a good sign, because it means people are interested in REAL Thai food. It’s wisely located in a very vibrant food area on 9th avenue between 36th and 37th. Pretty decor, casual fun atmosphere.

We started with some Thai iced tea. It was delicious and refreshing, topped with little flower made from the straw wrapper.

My wife and I shared the larb duck (ped larb). It was crispy, spicy, fresh, and savory. Really great crispy duck skin was sprinkled in with the ground duck meat. It was served with fresh herbs, like mint and cilantro, chili, onion, fish sauce, cabbage and celery.

That was pretty spicy and salty, so I cooled down with a Lao lager.

We also shared grilled squid (pla muk yang). This had a good char and was perfectly cooked, clean, and simple. Add some fresh cracked pepper on it, and it’s a star dish.

My wife ordered the red snapper for her entrée (larb pla kra pong). Unbelievable presentation. It was a gorgeous full fish, fried crispy with scallions, chili, onion and herbs. The skin was so crispy that it reminded us of baked chicken wing skin. So tasty.

I had the crispy pork with Thai eggplant (pad ped moo krob). The pork was belly meat, and was like thick chunks of spicy bacon candy. So fucking good. And this was a steer in the right direction, by the way. Our waitress pointed us to the jewels of this place when she realized what we were after as we ordered: crispy duck, crispy pork. Initially I was going to order duck stew with Chinese broccoli (broccolini) for my entrée and pork larb to start, but she pointed me to the larb duck and this pork dish instead. Well done. This was great, especially with the sticky rice that we ordered on the side.

For dessert we tried coconut ice cream and Thai shaved ice. Both were garnished with corn kernels and sweet gelatins. The shaved ice reminded us of the dessert drinks in Vietnamese cuisine, only more solid. However the strawberry bubblegum-esque sort of flavoring was a bit off to us, but it was still refreshing and contrasted nicely after all the salty and spicy food we just ate. The coconut ice cream was smooth and creamy, and had coconut shavings in it.

Also worth noting: the food portions are big here. I even noticed the noodle dishes at neighboring tables were big enough for two to share. And, most importantly, the food was so good that I found myself looking forward to eating the leftovers for lunch.

LARB UBOL
480 9th Ave.
New York, NY 10018

Carcass Club/Beast Feast, East Village, Fusion, Non-Steakhouse Steaks, Other, Restaurant Reviews

Momofuku Ssam Bar Large Format Rib Eye

June 29, 2014 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

After reading this Eater article, and adding to the comments, I decided I needed to go do this gigantic rib eye at Momofuku Ssam Bar. I went with my wife and two friends from Tabelog. We rocked it. Check out the pics and details below.

We started out with what we thought was a complimentary plate of sardines on toast with fermented chic peas and pickled hearts of palm. Why did we think it was complimentary, you ask? Because (1) we didn’t fucking order it, and (2) the fucking waiter told us that he brought it out to us because he wanted us to try his favorite item. I’m not gonna complain any more than dropping two F-bombs, but needless to say I was a little confused and pissed when I saw the bill and realized we were charged for it (after leaving and already paying, mind you). The app was great. Salty, juicy, earthy, “umami,” and all that good shit. But there was plenty of meat, potatoes and greens to go around with the rib eye special that we didn’t need an app. Now, the waiter was great and all, but a surprise charge like this, couched in “freebie” behavior, is kinda fucked up. Okay that’s three F-bombs now. Readers: make sure you check out the coolness of what Momofuku did in response to this review, which I updated at the very bottom. All is right and well.

I’ll leave the meat for last… aside from dessert, of course. The art of anticipation…

Next was the bowl of perfectly fried french fries. Delicious. They came with a nice, smokey bacon ketchup too. Crispy outside, mashed potatoes inside. Mmmmm.

Then a massive Caesar salad with brown butter croutons. Crisp and refreshing.

Okay now for the blowout. This is a 107oz hunk of GODmeat. Dry aged for 50 days, originally hailing from the Niman farm in California, this cut of rib contains the outer fat slabs as well as what you normally get with a traditional cut of rib eye + fat cap.

Here are some before shots of a slightly smaller cut (not ours):

It was cooked to a perfect medium rare, allowed to cool, and then sliced and plated on a thick cutting board. Some of the fat was the gristled kind, but much of it was the edible, meat bubblegum kind. Savory beef jelly. Awesome.

It was served with four sauces: the bacon ketchup mentioned earlier, a bernaise sauce, a red wine + shallot marmalade, and rendered steak fat + brown butter and herbs.

Also, four bundles of roasted garlic cloves, so soft that you could smear the garlic on your steak like creamy mashed potatoes or some shit.

Was all this enough? Nope. Of course not. I’m a former fat guy. So we followed up with some dessert.

First was a popcorn cake. Instead of sifting flower in the pre-baking process, they sifted popcorn. It was really unique, and served with a little side bowl of strawberry jam to spread across each forkfull. All I can say is that you should get it if you go here.

And finally we had the Thai tea pie. This cold dessert had the unique characteristic flavor of Thai tea with an added tangy tamarind sauce and some sort of chocolatey, tea-infused puffed rice kinda thing on top. Nice.

So that’s all. Great fucking meal, aside from the fact that I was charged for something that we didn’t order. On the slightly brighter side of things, however, it looks as though they forgot to charge us for our third beer. So we were still overcharged, but only by $9 instead of $15.

UPDATE!!! The management over at Ssam Bar saw this review and made good on their mishap. Good people as well as good food! An honest mistake that stemmed from a desire to provide top notch customer service. And 100% classy that they reached out to me. See below:

MOMOFUKU SSAM BAR
207 2nd Ave.
New York, NY 10003

Chinese, Fusion, Japanese, Long Island, Restaurant Reviews

Fancy Lee

June 13, 2014 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

Fancy Lee is currently my top choice for local, nearby sushi to my home on Long Island. It’s in Babylon village in what looks like it used to be an old 50’s diner.

This place uses high quality ingredients and they are masters when it comes to plating and presentation. Favorite dishes? Zombie wrap, sushi pizza, white geisha roll, chirashi bowl, St. Patrick’s roll.

Skip the overpriced and overcrowded Kotobuki, and skip the faux-trendy Monsoon in town. Go here for a good meal.

FANCY LEE
101 W. Main St.
Babylon, NY 11702

Burgers, Long Island, Pub Food, Restaurant Reviews

TJ Finleys

June 13, 2014 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

TJ Finley’s is a bar in Bayshore, Long Island. It is actually my favorite bar on Long Island, by far. I’ve been coming here for quite some time now; I’m somewhat of a regular. They have a really amazing beer selection – both on tap and in bottles/cans – I’m talking hundreds to choose from, and many obscure and interesting. But not only that… This place has some of the best pub food I’ve ever had. My all-time favorite sandwich is here: a brisket sandwich with thick bacon, cheddar and BB! sauce. It’s fucking mint. The burgers are pretty amazing too, with my favorite being the breakfast burger.

A little over a year ago I joined their beer club, which essentially means you have to drink 100 different beers from various regions of the world: 50 US, 10 German, 15 Belgian, and 25 other. I currently have something like 11 left. Toward the end it gets harder to find stuff that you want to try to plug in the holes, but the great part is that I get to keep going back and eating the delicious food.

Do yourself a fucking solid and go here. Get a burger, or the beer & cheese fondue, or the smoked BBQ and ribs on Saturdays. You won’t be disappointed. They also throw some great parties for Oktoberfest and St. Pats, and they even have a pour your own beer thing going on at certain booth tables. Yup – you just pour yourself and they keep track of the ounces for you. pretty sweet.

the brisket sandwich - fucking amazing — the brisket sandwich – fucking amazing

UPDATE!!! On 11/28/14 I finally finished my beer club. I went out with a brisket sandwich, nachos, and a truffled french fry poutine as well. FUCK YEAH!!!