Tag Archives: food

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

Pecking House Chicken

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First, check out my Ride & Review HERE:

This spot recently opened down by Two Bridges, and I’ve been psyched to try it out.

We got five items; three mains and two sides.

1. The Blackened Chicken Sandwich

This was probably my favorite of all the items. It has a distinctly earthy Mexican flavor to it from the Oaxaca cheese and pickled jalapeños. Absolute banger.

2. Chili Quarter Chicken

I expected this to be wetter, spicier and saltier based on what I’ve seen on Instagram to date, but it was still goo. A bit expensive at $9 without a side, but I’d definitely get it again (perhaps the extra hot version though).

3. Salted Egg Wings

These were delicious. No dipping sauce needed! The batter from the salted yolk comes in nice and crisp, and with the wings being slightly smaller than your typical bar room Buffalo wings, you get a perfect ratio or meat to crisp with every bite.

4. Chicken Salt Fries

These could have used a bit more crisp on them, but they were tasty. Also – not too salty! Nicely seasoned, as a matter of fact.

5. Charred Cukes w/Ginger

These were unique! Charring the cucumber softens them a bit and adds a different flavor profile to them that I’ve never experienced before. The ginger sauce isn’t too pungent, so you still get all that fresh cucumber flavor to cool off from the spicy food between bites.

PECKING HOUSE CHICKEN
83 Henry Street
Shop 1
New York, NY 10002

Japanese, Lower East Side/Chinatown, Restaurant Reviews

Shhh

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First, check out my Ride & Review video HERE:

This secretive omakase joint in the back of an ice cream shop serves up 14 or 18 course omakase meals with unlimited sake for just $96 or $126, respectively.

My favorite pieces were the snappers, scallop and tuna. But the real stars of the show were the appetizers: cod sperm sack and chawanmushi with uni and crab meat!

Snappers:

Scallop:

Tuna:

I can’t believe I ate cum. And I’ll definitely be back for more, especially the soft serve ice cream (not made from cum).

Here are some of the other items:

The cum was torched:

SHHH
113 Division St.
New York, NY 10002

Chinese, Lower East Side/Chinatown, Restaurant Reviews, Vietnamese

Bo Ky

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Bo Ky is a mixed Vietnamese pho and Chinese restaurant in Chinatown that’s been around for a long ass time.

I went in last weekend with my wife, who hadn’t been there since college, and we tried some stuff.

I ordered the beef belly soup, which was really good with a hit of spice.

My wife ordered a Cambodian style hu teiu soup that had mixed seafood and pork in it. This was more like a consomme and had some sweetness to it.

We also shared a fried shrimp roll on the side. This reminded me of shrimp toast.

Nice spot! I would go back.

BO KY
80 Bayard St.
New York, NY 10013

Japanese, Lower East Side/Chinatown, Restaurant Reviews

Toriya

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My wife and I just realized that a yakitori joint opened up by us late last year. we went this past weekend to try it out.

Check out the Ride & Review HERE first, then read below.

First, great beer selection! Hitachino Nest beer is one of my favorites.

On Sundays, edamame is just a buck.

We tried a bunch of skewers, obviously. I think the yuzu thighs and chicken skins were my favorite, but we also had some gizzards, cartilage, tenderloin, mushrooms, and shrimp.

This raw octopus dish with wasabi was really nice too.

The fried squid legs were our least favorite, but they were still great. I really liked that they came with a pair of scissors!

Not only will we be back here soon, but we will be regulars. I’m so happy this is in our neighborhood!

TORIYA
178 Stanton St.
New York, NY 10002

Lower East Side/Chinatown, Restaurant Reviews, Spanish

Da Li

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My wife and I have walked by this tapas bar that turns clubby at night a hundred times, and we have always wanted to go in. This time, we couldn’t pass up the opportunity.

Their $10 martini during happy hour was perfect.

We also tried some of their tapas menu, which was also discounted (basically two-for-one).

We will definitely be back to try more!

DA LI
37 Market St.
New York, NY 10002

East Village, Japanese, Lower East Side/Chinatown, Restaurant Reviews

Yokox

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First, check out my Ride & Review video HERE:

This joint serves up a 15-course omakase for just $89! It’s really close by, so we had to give it a try.

My favorite items were the crab handroll, the stripekack, and the scallop with uni.

Great spot! No liquor license yet, and they don’t let you BYOB, but they said the license is in the works and they should have beer and wine soon.

I can’t wait to go back to try it again. The chef said the fish can change on a daily basis, and he likes to use a lot of unique and different fish than you normally see.

YOKOX
41 Avenue B
New York, NY

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

The Commodore II

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First, check out my Ride & Review HERE:

A second location of the popular Williamsburg bar “The Commodore” just opened in the lower east side at Avenue C and Houston Street. My wife and I have been eagerly awaiting the open since we saw renovations going on there last year. The interior is really cool, almost like you’re aboard a yacht. They even have life fish in a tank along the right side wall, with circular portals for viewing.

We started with two frozen drinks and both were great. The winner between the Orange Julio and the frozen mojito was the mojito, however. They also serve $4 cans of Schaefer, which is a steal. During happy hour, you can get a beer and a shot for $7, which is a price that’s on par with the cheapest dives in town.

Speaking of happy hour, they offer their burger with fries for $14 (normally just the burger costs $14, but at happy hour the fries come with). The burger is a nice crumbly patty that’s well seasoned and dressed with all the fixings.

We also tried their fried chicken, which, despite saying three thighs on the menu, actually came with four. Also great biscuits, two hot sauces and a sweet honey butter. At $22 this is a great deal, especially considering how crispy outside and juicy inside the chicken was. Delicious.

We also tried their fried green tomato sandwich with slaw. I enjoyed this, and the baguette was a really nice surprice here on this sandwich. I expected it to be too hard and rough, but it was warm, soft and really nicely butter-toasted.

Definitely can’t wait to go back and try their fish items, grilled cheese and nachos.

THE COMMODORE II
14 Avenue C
New York, NY 10009

Flash Deals, Japanese, Nolita/Soho, Restaurant Reviews

Mishik

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First, check out my Ride & Review HERE:

This review is for the Mishik Pulsd deal and not the premium omakase offered on their regular menu. So make sure to read below, too.

This Pulsd deal was pretty good, and I would say that Mishik is especially good if you are going for their premium omakase sets with better pieces. We still enjoyed the Pulsd deal, don’t get me wrong, but my wife and I enjoyed a few other spots more in that price range.

Mishik flies their product in from Japan and dry ages all of the fish used in their omakase. The aging process takes anywhere from one to three weeks depending on the fat quality and flavor of the fish. The chefs inspect everything upon arrival to determine how long it will be aged.

Their Pulsd flash deal is curated for the price point, but they also offer two different omakase dinners: one for $120 and one for $165, consisting of an appetizer, roughly 12-16 pieces of premium nigiri, a handroll, soup and dessert.

While we enjoyed the Pulsd deal, we probably would have enjoyed one of the other omakase meals more here. Premium!

That said, my favorite items were the king salmon, the donburi bowl, the hand roll with fried shiso and eel, the torched golden eye snapper, and, of course, the uni. They were very generous with the uni!

Go give this place a shot! I think you will enjoy it too.

MISHIK
259A Hudson St.
New York, NY 10013

American, Burgers, East Village, Pub Food, Restaurant Reviews

The Lions

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First, check out my Ride & Review video HERE:

This place has been popping up all over Instagram, and once I saw the images of their burger and mortadella sandwich, I knew I had to get in ASAP to try.

We went right when they opened at 5pm on a Saturday, and the place was jammed by 5:30. Apparently everyone had the same idea!

We started with the fried mozzarella and Lions baked potato (with sour cream and an egg yolk).

The baked potato was a game changer. It was so freaking flavorful. We both loved it. As for the mozzarella…

Perfect temperature for stretching! And surprisingly light. Very flavorful.

The burger was 100% perfection. A nice thick aged patty, topped with two slices of American cheese, atop a slice of grilled onion, which helps to protect the beautiful sesame seed bottom bun. Four slices of pickle came on the plate as well. We obviously put them on top.

My pictures sucked, but the interior was a perfect medium rare / medium, which is ideal for this ind of “steakhouse” style burger. This was a killer. On par with Luger or Red Hook Tavern for just $18. For $4 you can get fries with it, and the fries were excellent. Nice and crispy, not too salty. The only down was that they charged us for the side order of fries ($8) rather than the “accompanying” fried ($4). I was wondering why this was such a huge order.

The mortadella sandwich was excellent too. While it ate a bit salty due to the Calabrian chili tapenade, the flavor was out of this world. The pistachio studded mortadella had a ton of porky character, and the blue cheese on this was more like a spread than a crumble or a saucy mess. It worked, though I questioned whether it would when I saw it on the menu.

As you can see, this came with chips. So we had three types of potato with this meal: chips, fries and a baked potato.

Side note: They also make a great martini.

This place is also going to be offering a steak night on Wednesdays for something like $35, and monthly “Beefsteak” meals which will be an all-inclusive price that covers drinks, starters, steak and dessert. I really can’t want to try those!

THE LIONS
132 1st Ave.
New York, NY 10009

Chinese, Lower East Side/Chinatown, Restaurant Reviews

Ye’s Apothecary

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Ye’s Apothecary is a cool downstairs spot in the Lower East Side that serves great cocktails and some tasty Szechuan food. The Szechuan old fashioned was a great way to start the meal. It IS spicy, so beware.

Our favorite dish was “husband and wife,” which was a chilled appetizer of beef tripe and tendon in a spicy chili oil.

The egg noodles with char siu pork was also a nice dish, but I wouldn’t get it on a second trip.

The crispy squid was excellent. Slightly salty, but I didn’t mind.

With everything being so spicy, the chairman’s pork belly was a great way to sneak in a bite of sweet every so often. Only downside here was the thick rubbery external skin that sometimes still seemed to have the texture of stubble/hair on it. Otherwise really tasty and tender.

The mushroom salad was a bit misleading, as it was a hot dish. Tasty though.

YE’S APOTHECARY
119 Orchard St.
New York, NY 10002