Tag Archives: hungry

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

Chinese, Food Halls, Fusion, Japanese, Korean, Lower East Side/Chinatown, Other, Restaurant Reviews, Thai, Vietnamese

Essex Pearl

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This place is incredible!

My wife and I have been dying to come here ever since we saw them setting up shop at Market Line soon after we moved in. It’s a beautiful seafood bar, done up really fancy as a place you’d love to just sit and have a cocktail, but also with open view to the kitchen and prep stations for all the delicious food.

We tried a lot of shit, so let me get right into it.

Raw littleneck clams topped with crispy shallots and a fish sauce mignonette. Perfect way to open up the meal. Pair this with their pickled ginger, shochu and gin martini.

Dry aged rib eye tartare, coarse cut. So tender and flavorful! The shrimp chips make for a perfect vehicle for mouth entry, and they add a great textural crunch.

Cumin lamb belly skewers. I really loved these. If you love cumin lamb noodles at places like Xian Famous, you need to try this. It’s LAMB BACON!

Tiger prawns. You’ll want to drink the sauce! This item was the whole reason my wife wanted to go, and it really delivered. It was her favorite dish (along with the hamachi collar).

Crispy baby octopus with Thai lemongrass curry and fried Thai basil. Ask for a small bowl of rice so none of that curry goes to waste!

The grilled pork jowls were next. This was probably my favorite of the meal. It comes with a lime pepper sauce that acts like a Carolina style vinegar BBQ sauce, almost, but Asian style as lime and pepper are common in places like Vietnam and Cambodia. It cuts the fat of the jowls so perfectly I can’t even describe it properly!

Turmeric dill hamachi collar. This is so delicious and large, it’s enough to share among two people. Light, flavorful, and amazingly aromatic.

Laotian ginger pork sausage over garlic noodles. WOW! The sausage is made in house and it’s so fucking good!

We washed it all down with this watermelon and lychee slushee. So refreshing and just the right amount of natural sweetness.

I can’t wait to go back and try the rest of the menu, especially their surf and turf!

ESSEX PEARL
88 Essex Street
Cellar Level
New York, NY 10002

Burgers, Diner, Restaurant Reviews, Union Square/Flatiron

Joe Junior

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This joint came highly recommended by a food reviewer and meat expert friend of mine, Nick Solares. He has waxed eloquent about the burger here many times!

It’s deceptively simple. Nick ordered it for me: Rare, simply seasoned with just salt, and seared on the plancha, with cheese melted on both sides of the bun.

I have to say, for under $8 (sans fries), this thing rivals many of our city’s great steakhouse burgers. They’re using real quality ground beef, and they certainly know how to cook it. Rare was warm to the touch in the center, but not much bleed out or drips on the plate. Impressive.

And total steal at that price point. Go give it a shot!

JOE JUNIOR
167 3rd Ave
New York, NY 10003

Press Reviews, Product Reviews

Strassburger Steaks

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Strassburger Steaks‘ “Steakhouse Collection” of home delivery chops is wonderful. Thick, aged cuts of highly marbled beef are vac sealed and shipped right to your door in tight styrofoam coolers, surrounded by ice packs.

The first thing I made was a rib eye. I overcooked it a little, but here’s my video:

It was really flavorful, and the aged profile really came through nicely.

Next up, I did a Philadelphia Italian-inspired twist on taco night: ground beef, blue cheese and broccoli rabe.

These were incredible! The beef was 80/20, really brightly colored pink and delicious.

Then I tried a “dry-brine” on a highly marbled porterhouse. Here’s a pic before brining.

And after:

Check out the video:

As you can probably see, with the exception of the area right near the bone on the strip side, this technique made for a really great Maillard brown crust.

I undercooked it a bit, but thoroughly enjoyed.

I still have a lot more to try, but this is a great start. I definitely recommend these steaks for home delivery. And don’t forget, I wrote an article about Suzy Strassburger and this company way back. Check it out HERE if you haven’t read it yet.

Commentary

May 16th Farm to Tray & The Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen

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My wife and I recently got involved with the Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen – located at the Church of the Holy Apostles on 9th avenue and 28th Street. This is the largest soup kitchen in New York City. It provides over 1,000 meals each weekday at a time when over a million New Yorkers struggle to put food on their tables. To date, the soup kitchen has served over nine million meals.

Founded in 1982, the soup kitchen also offers its guests clothing and hygiene distributions, shelter and medical referrals, and a computer lab, all of which help them navigate toward improved health, housing and jobs.

My wife and I got involved with this awesome charity because our friends help set up the Farm to Tray fundraiser at the church every year. Farm to Tray is an event that features well-known culinary figures from across the city and culminates in what I can only describe as the ultimate foodie party. There are lots of drinks, tons of amazing food, and a bunch of silent auctions to help raise money for the soup kitchen.

You can get tickets to the event HERE. It’ll be held on May 16th at the Church of the Holy Apostles.

Since its inception in 2013, the Farm to Tray event has raised nearly $2,000,000 in cash and in-kind support. The goal of this year’s event is to raise $300,000 – which is $50,000 more than last year – to help ensure that the soup kitchen’s shelves are stocked for months to come.

My wife and I will be donating some packages to the event’s silent auctions this year; credit in my butcher shop, and my wife’s baking services. I’ll be donating some good old fashioned green and promoting ticket sales, but I’ll also be trying to add some steak dinners to the silent auction docket as well as the “butcher and baker” items.

So what do you say? Want to donate to the cause or come hang out with me and The Cake Dealer at the event? If so, CLICK HERE! And thank you for reading.