Tag Archives: brooklyn

Brooklyn, Latin/Mexican & Caribbean, Restaurant Reviews

Sunset Park Taco Crawl

September 4, 2023 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

Some foodie friends from Instagram gathered for a taco crawl of Sunset Park’s best and most price friendly selections.

First was Tacos el Bronco. There’s a sit down spot on 4th Ave and 44th Street, but we hit the food truck nearby. We did a beef tongue taco and veal head taco. The veal head was slightly better since it was sort of stewed, and had more flavor. The tongue needed a hint of salt.

Next up was Don Pepe Tortas & Jugos. Here we tried a watermelon juice, the special “arab” beef taco, which was spicy and delicious, and a cemita (grilled sandwich). The arab taco was the winner here.

For the last spot, we went to a hidden speakeasy restaurant in the back of La Union Deli Grocery (Mi Pequno Chinantia). Here we tried a goat taco and mixed meat pork taco. The mixed meat was the king here. The goat was a little too gamey for us. We also has some tamales here too. The verde was really delicious.

TACOS EL BRONCO
Food Truck
5th Avenue at 37th Street
Brooklyn, NY 11232

DON PEPE TORTAS & JUGOS
3908 5th Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11232

LA UNION DELI GROCERY CORP
(MI PEQUNO CHINANTIA)
4011 5th Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11232

Brooklyn, Burgers, Pub Food, Restaurant Reviews

Salty Dog

May 26, 2023 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

This joint serves up great pub food for a great price. I came here with a gang of miscreants late night after a whiskey event in Industry City, and I must say: Salty Dog did not disappoint.

I shared the fried chicken sandwich and burger with my wife. Both great. Excellent onion rings and fries too.

SALTY DOG
7509 3rd Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11209

Brooklyn, Japanese, Restaurant Reviews

Ume

January 15, 2023 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

I took my wife to Ume for her birthday. This place serves an Omakase set of 12 pieces for $73.

Everything is really delicious, but my favorite three bites were the red snapper (center, with broccoli florette), the fatty tuna belly, (bottom center, with truffle) and the quail egg with crispy fish skin (center right).

We also grabbed this “literally everything don” bowl, which was better than the actual omakase (and more killing) for just $60.

Really enjoyed that.

A few negative things to note here: the enclosed outdoor garden area is too cold for winter dining. They leave the door open between the inside area and the garden, so even if you’re sitting inside, you’re going to be cold. To make matters worse, they double down on that chill factor with their “no shoes” concept (my toes were icy). Sitting on the floor isn’t too comfortable either but I’m not really gonna complain about that. I didn’t mind it so much.

UME
237 Kent Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11249

Brooklyn, Ramen

Tsuta

November 21, 2022 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

Tsuta is the world’s first Michelin starred ramen joint.

It just opened this past Friday, so there was a line when my friend and I showed up to try it. We waited about 1.5hrs in the bitter cold, but once that ramen hit our lips, it was worth it.

I tried the spicy mala tonkotsu ramen, which had a nice tingly broth from the Szechuan peppercorns that are infused in it. All of their noodles are soba, which I was initially worried about because I generally prefer egg noodles with thick broth ramen. But these noodles were perfect, and they went well with the rich, spicy broth.

This was $20 for the regular sized bowl. It comes with one slice of chashu pork. I added the seasoned soft boiled egg for an additonal $4.

Our apps came out after the ramen, which wasn’t so bad considering the place was brand new and absolutely slammed. Some of my friends who also went complained of even worse problems. Of these, the chicken was probably the best, but I’d rather share a second bowl of ramen than get these again.

Next visit, I’ll have to try their signature bowls (shio and shoyu), which feature truffle oils.

TSUTA
22 Old Fulton St
Brooklyn, NY 11201

Brooklyn, Pizza

Leo

November 16, 2022 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

This joint slings some tasty sourdough pizza. I’ve always wanted to try a sourdough slice, and I was finally able to do so here at Leo.

I highly recommend this place; the slices have a distinct “freshly made at grandma’s house” kind of flavor to them.

I need to go back to try their potato slice, as well as their soft serve – apparently they’re famous for both, and I’m a huge sucker for soft serve.

My first visit was during a @NYCZoozClub food crawl. Check out the video below if you’re interested. And use code JOHNNYPRIME for $150 off your Zooz bike at www.zoozbikes.com.

My last visit was just this past weekend on January 2nd, 2023. I tried the pepperoni slice and it was incredible!

Check out the ride and review video:

LEO
123 Havemeyer Street
Brooklyn, NY 11211

Brooklyn, Pizza

Fini Pizza

September 30, 2022 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

If you’d rather WATCH this review, check out my ride and review video. If you’d rather read it, then continue below.

That bike makes the city so small. I can get everywhere so fast now. If you’re interested in one for yourself, use my coupon code JOHNNYPRIME for $150 off at www.zoozbikes.com.

I tried two slices here, pepperoni and Sicilian.

The regular pepperoni slice was good. Great crust. The sauce was a little sweet so I was happy to have the pepperoni on there to balance it out with some spice.

The Sicilian was incredible. I highly recommend this. It has a homemade flavor to it, but with pro-quality amazing dough. Light. Airy. Crisp. PERFECT.

I’m usually not a fan of Sicilian because it can get heavy. But I can easily eat a bunch of slices of Fini’s Sicilian. Look at this:

I’ll definitely be back to try some more pies.

FINI PIZZA
305 Bedford Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11211

Brooklyn, Burgers

Blue Collar Hamburgers

August 22, 2022 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

Check out the Ride & Review HERE:

I have to say, the simplicity and perfection of this burger blew me away. My photos suck, because I had to use a flash and didn’t have my light, but I really loved this (photos have since been updated). Nice regular patty – I’m so tired of smash burgers being everywhere now, although it WAS a bit smushed. Not quite smashed. Crisp texture on that patty! Great cheese coverage. Perfect soft bun. My only gripe was that the tomato was cut a bit thick.

I also got a hot dog – they’re split-griddled. PERFECT!

I will definitely be back here again.

BLUE COLLAR HAMBURGERS
160 Havemeyer St
Brooklyn, NY 11211

Brooklyn, Japanese, Restaurant Reviews

Chef Katsu Brooklyn

August 16, 2022 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

This place is great. Some of the guys from the NYC Zooz Club and I hit this spot after riding around for a bit. Their curry sauce covered fried chicken thigh sandwiches are amazing.

I got mine with cheese. It was perfect, and the fries were bangin’ too.

Get over here and try this place. I’ll definitely be back for sure. Also, if you want to see some video of our bike gang ride from the day, check out the below:

CHEF KATSU BROOKLYN
143 Greene Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11238

Brooklyn, Japanese, Ramen, Restaurant Reviews, Spanish

Koko Ramen and Manchego

February 7, 2022 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

This joint has two names and serves two types of cuisine: Manchego serves tapas, and Koko serves ramen. My wife and I tried a couple of items from each menu.

TAPAS

The octopus was awesome. Perfectly cooked, nicely seasoned.

The calamari was meh. A little dried out.

RAMEN

The ramen was pretty good. Not among the top tier, but good enough that if I was ever in the area again, I’d go back to try the tonkotsu. The main reason I tried their spicy chicken miso ramen was because the menu said their tonkotsu was also chicken based broth, but with char siu pork in it. I was confused, and didn’t feel like asking questions since the service was crazy slow (they were slammed).

The salmon ramen was light. It was a shio style chicken based broth.

MANCHEGO / KOKO RAMEN
375 Marlborough Rd
Brooklyn, NY 11226

Brooklyn, Deli

Defonte’s

January 22, 2022 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

I finally got over to Defonte’s to try some sandwiches. My buddy Nick and I rode over on our Zooz bikes. It took us 10 or 15 minutes from downtown Manhattan – a trip that would otherwise take a half hour and cost an arm and a leg in cab or Uber fees.

These things really are the best way to get around the boros, especially for food crawls! If you want one, get one with my coupon code JOHNNYPRIME for $100 off at THIS WEBSITE.

Anyway, we started with the hot roast beef dip sandwich that’s topped with fried eggplant and fresh house made mozz. Awesome!

Next up was the Italian special, which is a cold sandwich that features a variety of Italian meats, along with some spicy bomba sauce, lettuce, tomato and dressing. This was the big winner for me.