Tag Archives: grilled cheese

American, Flash Deals, Midtown East, Parms, Restaurant Reviews

David Burke at Bloomingdale’s

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NOTE: THIS PLACE IS CLOSED

My wife picked up a Gilt City deal for David Burke’s joint at Bloomingdale’s. I noticed some nice looking sandwiches, a decent looking burger, and a hanger steak on the menu, so I was psyched to try it out.

Unfortunately, the special menu for the flash deal eliminated all of the things I was interested in trying: pastrami sandwich, French dip, burger, and hanger steak frites. But not to worry! This deal actually supplied us with a LOT of food, and, contrary to out last experience with a Burke joint (Fabrick), the food here was really good.

They start you with warm cheddar popovers. I can eat a basket full of them. Very tasty.

I ordered the grilled tofu Thai peanut salad to start (please don’t kill me). It was actually really good! It had an acidic pop to it from the various citrus and fish sauce additives, and good texture from the jicama and cabbage slaw.

My wife had the tomato soup, which was velvety smooth, topped with a Peter North -like splash of basil oil, and accompanied by a miniature grilled cheese sandwich.

For my entree, I had the grilled salmon.

It was cooked to a nice medium temperature, and it sat on a bed of slaw that was similar to my starter salad, only heavier on the slaw component as opposed to the lettuce. It also had a pop of cumin in it that altered the flavor profile a bit. The salmon skin had a great crisp to it as well.

My wife had chicken Milanese; breaded and fried tender chicken cutlet, topped with arugula and shaved Parmesan cheese, and garnished with grape tomatoes and lemon wedges.

There was a nice tomato-based sauce underneath too, but just the right amount so that nothing got soggy or smothered.

For dessert, I had this chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream. I usually don’t go for chocolate cakes, but this was delicious.

My wife had the sorbet with fresh fruit. Really nice, actually, when you mixed both desserts together for a bite.

If you can still find this deal online, I recommend it. While they severely limit the menu on you, what you do get is good quality and a lot of it. You’l leave full, and with a feeling that you got a good deal.

DAVID BURKE AT BLOOMINGDALES
1000 3rd Ave
New York, NY 10022

American, Italian, Midtown West, Press Reviews, Restaurant Reviews

Meatball Shop

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The Meatball Shop just opened up a new location on 9th Avenue at 53rd Street. The space is pretty cool, and it even has a bar attached called “Sidepiece,” where they feature all of their great cocktails and more food items.

My favorite cocktail there is a tequila and mezcal based drink called “the girl with the nice pear.”

My buddy brought me with him to shoot some photos for Instagram influencing purposes, so we were able to try a bunch of stuff. We started with the buffalo chicken meatballs, which were really great.

Next, this truly one of a kind tomato soup that is served with grilled cheese balls. This is only available for a limited time and only at the Hell’s Kitchen location, so get on it while you can.

This dish was awesome: pork meatballs in pesto on a bed of spaghetti. I really liked the texture and flavors here.

Meatball Shop also does something called “smash” sandwiches. Basically they flatten a pair of meatballs, cover them with melted cheese and dress with sauce before putting it all on a nice sandwich bun. This one here is made with chicken meatballs and topped with their classic tomato sauce and melted mozzarella. We added an egg on top because we rule.

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We didn’t stop there. Dessert consisted of a chocolate chip cookie and vanilla ice cream sandwich. Simple and delicious.

But my favorite was the brown sugar ice cream banana brulee split.

Amazing meal. I’m sold on this place for sure.

MEATBALL SHOP
798 9th Ave
New York, NY 10019

American, Food Halls, Midtown West, Press Reviews, Restaurant Reviews

MeltKraft

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The Somerset is a really nice grilled cheese sandwich that’s available at MeltKraft, down in the Turn-Style food hall at Columbus Circle. I got to try this when I was invited to a PR event to promote Turn-Style and all the shops within.

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What’s so special about it? Melted gruyere, cured ham, cornichon, pickles and grain mustard. The version pictured here has some added prosciutto, because why the fuck not?

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It also pairs up nicely with the tomato soup, which has a nice herbaceous kick to it from the fennel.

MELTKRAFT
TurnStyle Food Hall
1000S 8th Ave
New York, NY 10019

American, Florida, Restaurant Reviews

The Lobster Shack

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This little hole-in-the-wall in Key West serves up one of the best grilled cheese sandwiches I’ve ever had. A lobster grilled cheese!

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Essentially it is the meat they use for their lobster rolls, but slapped between two buttery toasted sliced of bread and covered with melted cheese. Fucking insanely buttery and delicious. I could eat this every day!

The lobster rolls are pretty good too. We went with the diablo roll, which has a spicy sri racha and jalapeno kick to it.

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Definitely get to this place if you’re ever in Key West. Look for the lobster cut out:

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American, Burgers, Midtown West, Restaurant Reviews

Melt Shop

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I saw posters for a new joint opening up in my hood. A GRILLED CHEESE JOINT!!! Not knowing when the doors would open, and being anxious to try out the grub, my wife and I took a slightly longer walk over to a location already in operation on 50th & 7th.

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Since I have been on a massive burger kick lately, naturally, I ordered the Melt Shop Burger. It comes with pepper jack cheese, cheese sauce, burger sauce, caramelized onions, and sweet pickles (wish it was half sour), all on sour dough toast that’s grilled to perfection. It was full of cheesy, oozy meltiness.

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My wife had the original grilled cheese (American on white) with some added fried chicken and bacon inside. This was great too – absolutely perfect mix of ingredients.

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On the side, we had an order of loaded tots: bacon, cheese sauce, grated parmesan cheese, and sliced jalapeños. These could have been a bit more crispy, but they were good even though they turned to much under the “load.”

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Best item of the day, however, goes to the fucking nutella fluff milkshake. Holy shit… If you don’t know what fluff is, it is spreadable marshmallow. When I was a kid, my mom used to make me peanut butter and fluff sandwiches. The elevation of fluff with nutella and a bit of chocolate in a shake format was fucking brilliant.

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It was also nice to see that they had several bottles of sri racha sauce there like any other normal condiment. YES!

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You guys should definitely check this place out some day. I see big things happening for this little franchise. The deals they offer make it even more worth your while, like $3 Abita beers and 50% off your first delivery order (Go to www.meltshop.com and use promo code SAYCHEESE).

MELT SHOP
135 W. 50th St.
New York, NY 10019