Tag Archives: japanese

Burger King’s Halloween Whopper

October 12, 2015 Johnny Prime 2 Comments

My wife and I pulled into a roadside rest stop on our way to a wedding out of town. I figured I would take the opportunity there to try the new Halloween Whopper, with the black bun and A1 sauce.

You hardcore burger fans might remember that Japan had a similar burger in their Burger King chains recently as well. Anyway, here’s a quick video of my first impressions:

The Halloween Whopper is actually pretty tasty. Just like a regular whopper but with a pungent kick from the A1. And yes – the rumors are true: it actually does make your shit turn green! So I guess that makes it a trick as well as a treat.

Japanese, Midtown West, Ramen, Restaurant Reviews

Donburiya

September 9, 2015 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

This joint used to be on the east side, but that spot closed. It recently reopened with a revamped menu on west 55th near 8th.

We started with some pork items. First was the not-so-awesome “grilled” bacon with blue cheese. An odd item to grace the menu of a Japanese joint, granted, but we were hoping for more crisp and less stringy/rubbery texture.

The better pork item was the yongen-ton kakani, which was silky simmered pork belly. This was fucking delicious, and reminded my wife and I of the clay pot casserole style Vietnamese dish from Cha Pas. This is a definite must-order for any of you bacon heads.

For my ramen, I ordered the nagahama fu tonkotsu. It is pork-based, with good firm alkaline noodles (LOTS of noodles – like an extra kae-dama amount), some pickled ginger, sesame seeds, scallions and one very tasty piece of pork.

I liked it very much. It was moderately robust without overwhelming the taste buds. And for $11 it is fair, though I wish there was at least another piece of pork in there.

My wife ordered the onsen tamago sukiyaki udon, which was gingery and nicely cooked udon noodles in a sweet broth that had beef and a poached egg within. Nice, but the ramen was better.

DONBURIYA
253 W. 55th St.
New York, NY 10019

Japanese, Midtown West, Restaurant Reviews

Torishin West

July 5, 2015 Johnny Prime 3 Comments

For quite some time I’ve been fascinated by the idea of small, yakitori bar type joints in Japan. For those that don’t know what this concept is, it is essentially a long bar with open flame coals where the well drinks would be. All manner of chicken parts are grilled on skewers, charred over the coals before you and served up hot and fresh to your plate. I’ve never been to Japan, and therefore have never been to an authentic yakitori joint. Now, you may be thinking that NYC would surely have an authentic place like this, being a cultural melting pot and all. The problem is that NYC’s zoning laws don’t allow for open-flame charcoal style cooking indoors at restaurants. So any place that claims to be BBQ, or grilling style (like Korean BBQ, for example) is actually a cheap knock off version that is done with electric heater cooking coils and infrared grills. NOT real charcoal.

So anyway, with that caveat placed firmly up top, we can get down to the goods. Torishin is a NYC yakitori restaurant located in the 50s on the west side. We tried a shitload of chicken, with a bit of pork and veggies mixed in as well. Unfortunately there is no open-facing bar where you can watch the chefs cook this stuff in front of you, like you can in Japan, but the end products were all really nice. I enjoyed every course of this yakitori omakase.

First was a bowl of pickled cukes and daikon. Unimpressive, for me.

This next bowl is meant to ba a palate cleanser. Shredded daikon. I’m really not too much of a fan of daikon to begin with, so I barely dipped into this:

Next, more daikon. This time a thick “burger patty” of it, topped with shrimp, veggies, and a dreaded piece of eggplant (which is a disgusting, vile vegetable).

Now on to some good shit. Chicken hearts. These were very tasty, and probably one of my favorites of the evening. They tasted, to me, like mild beef skirt steak.

Chicken breast wrapped in shiso leaf:

Chicken thigh (mmmmmmm):

Mushroom caps:

Pork belly:

Crab and shrimp with black mushrooms and yuzu jelly:

Asparagus. To me, this is a colossal waste of money. Essentially each skewer comes out to like $8 a pop. This plate was for four people. So we each got one asparagus shoot, which cost us $8 each. Rip off.

Chicken meatballs. Very tasty!

Chicken thigh meat wrapped in chicken skin. I liked this skewer a lot.

To finish off, we were given a choice of rice dish. This first one came in a broth, more like a soup:

This one was rice with ground chicken on top and a small cup of chicken broth on the side:

Dessert was either a shiso sorbet (left), sake jelly with kiwi and cherry (center), or strawberry sorbet (right). I went with the shiso sorbet and absolutely loved it. Very refreshing.

TORISHIN WEST
362 W. 53rd St.
New York, NY 10019

Filet Mignon, Flash Deals, Japanese, Midtown West, Press Reviews, Restaurant Week, Rib Eye, Steakhouse Reviews

Tender

May 8, 2015 Johnny Prime 2 Comments

Tender overall score: 77

Tender is a sushi and steak joint in midtown. I recently purchased a Groupon: $49 got me $70 worth of food, though I think I paid less with a coupon code. Anyway, check the review below:

Flavor: 9
I had the rib eye. This thing was damn near perfect. Despite this being a somewhat small sized boneless cut, I only took a single point, and that was because some of the fat was a bit gristled and non-edible. I’m trying to reserve the 10-spot for when I eat every scrap.

The meat was perfectly cooked inside. If I had to guess, I’d say they are using a sous vide machine, because the ONLY part that was not pink was the immediate edges, which had a wet crisp on them. Check out the cut and you’ll see what I mean in the cross-section:

The steak was served with some roasted garlic too, which was really soft and spreadable.

Choice of Cuts & Quality Available: 8
This place has all four of the basic cuts (FRPS – filet, rib eye, porterhouse and strip), however they are only available in one size each. The menu says that the strip is dry-aged and the rib eye is Black Angus, so the quality is good there. There is no other beef available other than a meatloaf entree.

Portion Size & Plating: 7
Portions for the steaks are a bit on the small side. The filet is only 8oz at $38; the strip is 12oz at $54; the Black Angus rib eye is 16oz at $50; and the porterhouse is 40oz at $47/pp, which is $94. Since it is only offered for two, they may as well just say $94 on the menu instead of using the per person cost. I’m uncertain whether you can order it for three and have it be something like a 60oz cut. Plating for the steak was really pretty: a wood tray with a stone inlay plate.

Price: 7
I’m glad we had a Groupon, because I think the sizes of the steaks ran a bit small at this price point. When I saw $54 next to a 12oz strip on the menu, my eyes widened in disbelief. That’s way too high. That said, I think we had a good deal with the Groupon purchase, so I wasn’t cringing when Sir William Price arrived at the table:

Bar: 8
This was a confusing visit. A good portion of the restaurant was shuttered due to a private event, so I think we were seated in the smaller rear area, where they had a secondary bar. I’ll give it the standard score of eight as benefit of the doubt, because I think the bar in the main dining area sits along some nice frontage on 47th Street, and has a full walk-around square of bar seating space.

Specials and Other Meats: 5
The only other meat on the menu was chicken. While this only scores half of the allowed points in this category, I have to give credit to the place for sticking to what the sign says on their establishment, for the most part: steak and sushi. The big let down was that they didn’t offer any specials, especially being nestled in their high-powered midtown location on west 47th Street. When I think of a Japanese steak and sushi joint, high quality specialty items come to mind, like Wagyu/Kobe by the ounce, flash cooked on a hot stone with soy sauce and shiitake mushrooms… or tongue-numbing and deadly blowfish sashimi… or soft, delicate uni… NADA!

Apps, Sides & Desserts: 8
We has some sushi rolls as starters. They were only six pieces each, instead of eight. But they were really tasty. First was the Pink Panther, which was king crab-based with a soy wrapper and some crunch.

Next was Sunset, which had a bunch of different cuts of raw fish inside and on top. Very fresh and delicate.

We also had some truffle fries. These were perfectly cooked McDonald’s style, with a dusting of parsley and a drizzle of truffle oil. Not too overpowering, but well seasoned. We cleaned out the entire bowl.

Seafood Selection: 9
There’s a fair deal of seafood on the menu, even outside the sushi realm. Salmon, branzino, mussels and black cod, in particular, with a shrimp risotto to boot. I was surprised by some of the Italian-style preparations that were on this menu.

Service: 9
The staff was very attentive, and our water was always filled promptly. The service was quick too. We were in and out within an hour, pretty much. Very nice, considering that we weren’t in the mood for a huge, long dinner.

Ambiance: 7
While I can’t really give a full blown review of the ambiance here, since we were limited to a smaller portion of the restaurant, I can confidently assess the place based on what I saw. The lighting is very dim. Big props to Sony for creating a camera like the Alpha 7S, which is a fucking BEAST in low light situations. The music was somewhat ridiculous: very bad, corny 90’s music. I think Hootie & the Blowfish played at some point, which is funny because I mentioned above that I wanted the blowie special without any mention of the hooters. Okay so too dim, bad music, an awkward video screen displaying a generic, stock image of sushi with the word “sushi” next to it… BUT a very cool hallway that connected to the bathrooms and the adjacent Sanctuary Hotel (lots of Buddha and far eastern/Indian statues – those were cool).

UPDATE 8/7/17

I came back in with the PR company that represents the Sanctuary Hotel in order to promote the restaurant week menu at Tender.

Here are the avocado fries and the spicy tuna roll starters. The avocado fries needed a hit of salt, as well as a better dipping sauce. The spicy tuna roll was fine.

Of the three entrees, the filet mignon is probably the best selection, but that comes at a $6 surcharge. When I was here, they gave me the fill sized filet, but I was under the impression that this is usually smaller for regular restaurant week guests. 8/10.

If paying the additional fee isn’t your speed, then go with the rigatoni bolognese:

The pasta is cooked perfectly, and the sauce is meaty but not too heavy. I liked it.

Last, the branzino.

This was nice, and had a great crisp from the skin and fried lotus root. But after having the same dish at Le Cirque, I was disappointed here. This was half the size at best.

Dessert was decent. TI tried a nice piece of tiaramisu and a sliver of cheesecake, but they also offer creme brûlée.

TENDER
130 W. 47th St.
New York, NY 10036

Japanese, Midtown West, Ramen, Restaurant Reviews

Katsu-Hama

May 4, 2015 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

I strolled by this joint yesterday on my way to meet a friend for a drink. I took note of it, so I came back today for dinner with my wife.

It’s a small but nicely set up joint on the second floor, with nice big windows overlooking the street (55th). We sat down right away at the bar even though it was crowded with people waiting for larger table settings.

I had the ma-yu tonkotsu ramen. It was pretty good, not too bitter from the black garlic, which often happens with ma-yu.

The bamboo shoots were excellent, the pork was tender and flavorful, and the noodles were alkali straight and nicely cooked.

The only down side to this bowl was the egg – it was hard boiled instead of soft boiled, so the yolk was a little powdery.

My wife had a nice fried chicken dish set (nan ban), which came with miso soup, rice, and a small salad. The meat was great. I would slap it on a roll with some mayo and use the shredded cabbage it came with as a crunch element. Delicious!

KATSU-HAMA
11 E. 47th St.
New York, NY 10017

Ramen, West Village

Ramen Takumi

May 3, 2015 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

This little joint just popped up at Washington Square Park, and my wife and I stopped in for a quick bite as we were walking to an art gallery.

With the absence of a tonkotsu broth on the menu, my next go-to is typically miso. I generally find shoyu and ship to be too thin, and rely too heavily on salt/soy sauce for flavoring as opposed to the actual meat. While that may be the case with miso as well (relying on the paste), at least I get a somewhat thicker and milkier broth.

So I got the standard miso, but with an added egg. I enjoyed it. All of the components were nicely done. The noodles were cooked well, the broth was flavorful, and the pork slices were tender and delicious. The egg was perfectly cooked, and surprisingly the corn was helpful to add a sweet pop into the otherwise very savory bowl.

My wife got one of the tsukemen dishes. Incredibly huge portion size. Had to be a half pound of noodles in that bowl, which were bursting with delicious egg flavor. Each noodle tasted like you were having soft boiled egg with it somehow. Amazing. And the dipping broth was jam-packed with chunks of delicious pork meat. The broth was otherwise chicken flavored and very hearty and “chickeny.”

RAMEN TAKUMI
1 University Pl
New York, NY 10003

Japanese, Midtown West, Ramen, Restaurant Reviews

Nippori

February 24, 2015 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

This little Japanese joint opened up in April of 2014. My ramen-master buddy found it while perusing a Yelp search for ramen in midtown west. He has tried nearly everything else in the city, so this was a new spot for him.

It was a pretty nice little place. Inside, there’s lots of space – not your typical jammed-up ramen joint with a line out the door and no space to lift your fucking elbow from the table. The bar and table seating is spacious, and there’s a second bar in the back for sushi.

When we walked in, I saw an awesome looking grilled squid dish. I wanted it badly, but I mistakenly ordered the sautéed squid item just above it on the menu. It was okay (slightly chewy for my liking), but it had a good spicy flavor from the jalapeños:

We also tried the fried chicken thighs (karage). These were good. Juicy and crispy. Gotta love the thigh meat.

For ramen, I tried the tonkotsu that came with miso flavored pork belly. it was okay. The broth was a little light and the pork was a little chewy (I like the belly to be fall-apart soft in ramen). Also, I expected the belly to be a thick cut, as opposed to thin bacon style. The noodles were good: thin, straight, firm … like Quagmire’s erect cock (that’s a pure guess – I’ve never seen it).

My buddy has been to nearly every ramen place in the 5 boroughs. He said this bowl of tan tan men was good and recommended; I believe a possible 3.5 out of 5 on his very difficult scale. I though thought the broth was robust and flavorful, just the right amount of spicy. Perhaps I would get it with straight noodles, knowing now that it is served with wavy egg noodles.

All that said, this is a rare spot that serves up a full Japanese food menu in addition to some decent ramen. It’s not just a ramen shop by any means.

On a second trip I tried some other items. First, the grilled squid. This was pretty good, nicely cooked, etc.

My wife ordered the salmon saddle, which was really flavorful and perfectly fried. The fat from within the layers of fish flakes was really delicious.

I tried the signature Nippori ramen, which was coconut milk-based with chicken, cilantro and red onion. I liked it a lot but I think the similar style at Tabata was a little bit more to my liking. The wavy egg noodles were nicely cooked, the egg was soft and delicious, but I think this bowl would benefit from some sliced jalapeños.

My wife ordered a soba dish but we got this skillet fried ramen dish instead. The pork in the dish was similar to the kind in my first bowl of ramen, up top. It was a good dish, but totally not what we expected from an order of soba.

For dessert we tried two items. First was the espresso and chocolate coffee gelato. This was really tasty, and I would definitely recommend it.

The key lime cheesecake was okay. I wasn’t blown away by it. It did the job, but that ice cream / gelato was way better.

NIPPORI
245 W. 51st St.
New York, NY 10019

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

Inakaya

February 14, 2015 Johnny Prime 2 Comments

Inakaya gets some flack for being a big, thematic Japanese joint that’s right near the armpit of NYC, Port Authority. The area is essentially a wretched hive of scum and villainy, the likes of which make the Mos Isley Cantina look like a comforting, safe place.

But the restaurant? Really nice. I was thoroughly impressed with the six course tasting menu for two that my wife scored for less than the price of one.

We essentially tried one of each, with the exception of the roasted rice ball, which looked delicious.

We started with drinks. I guzzled down these two Asahi beers, a dark and the super dry, while my wife sipped on a traditional box o’ sake.

I loved the fact that the guys cooking behind the bar would serve up each drink or food course on a long wooden paddle that they stretched out across the bar table. Pretty fucking mint:

Starters were the tempura (shishito pepper, fish, and shrimp with shredded nori) and the tuna and yellow tail carpaccio with salmon tartare. These were delicious. The tempura was perfectly crispy and light, and the fish dish was garnished with paper-thin salt flakes that really made the flavors pop.

Next were the quad-color mixed seaweed salad and seared tuna spinach salad. Also delicious, deftly dressed, and wildly flavorful.

Next came the grilled veggie assortment: asparagus, eringi mushroom, and eggplant. I liked everything here, but the eggplant could have benefitted from a skinning or peeling. That skin can be a little thick at times. The asparagus and mushrooms were awesome though, especially when sprinkled with some of the Japanese spicy pepper condiment.

After that came the surf and turf: grilled half lobster and a generous portion of kobe beef (the menu says 2oz but it was more like 4oz). The beef was served with a nice dipping sauce that brought out the earthy flavors of the meat. I generally prefer a steamed lobster but the grilled one here wasn’t too bad. Lots of times places will mangle the grilled lobster and overcook it. Not the case here.

Our sides were the yellowtail and scallion roll, which was just okay. Nothing too fancy. And the double steamed rice with mushrooms. THAT was yummy. In hindsight, I wish we had gotten the roasted rice ball instead of the sushi roll, but hey.

Shit there was even good miso soup! It came with a good amount of tofu skin in it (my absolute favorite for soup fodder).

Dessert was really simple. Green tea ice cream and fresh fruit with whipped cream and a sprig of mint. Basic, fresh and good. The fruit plate was a little small, but otherwise no real complaints here. We were full anyway.

This place is totally worth it, in my opinion. $65 is a good deal for one. My wife nailed it with $55 for two through some crazy ass deal she found online. If you can do the same, I highly recommend doing it. Total win.

INAKAYA
231 W. 40th St.
New York, NY 10018

Bronx, Japanese, Ramen, Restaurant Reviews

Kiku (Japanese Pop-Up at Botanical Gardens)

October 19, 2014 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

This place is only open for a limited time, while the Japanese gardens exhibit is going on at the New York Botanical Garden (Bronx, not Brooklyn). My wife and I got to see a cool Japanese Taiko drum performance, walked around and looked at some nice Japanese plants and garden shit, and chowed down on some Japanese food.

Score for having a nice cold beer to cool down with, and a specialty cocktail that my wife nabbed that involved prosecco and some sort of fruit liquor.

We started with a basic eel and avocado roll. It was pretty good:

Next was a plate of tempura veggies. These were really light and crispy. Very flavorful. Mushrooms, lotus, asparagus, and broccoli were among the bites here.

My wife had a chirashi bowl that had a nice variety of really tasty sashimi.

I had the ramen, of course. I was expecting more, so I was a little let down. It was a basic, thin-style chicken broth with very few pieces of chicken (though the chicken WAS good). Noodles were a bit over cooked, but when it comes to egg wavy noodles I don’t mind that so much. The broth was a little too salty.

In all the meal was a bit over-priced, service was slow because they were jam-packed and under-staffed, and the seating at the bar was tight and uncomfortable, with no knee/leg room.

Harlem, Ramen

Jin

October 19, 2014 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

I had heard good things about Jin, a ramen joint way up on Broadway near 125th Street. My wife and I were on our way home from a trip to the botanical garden, so we stopped off for a bowl.

It was pretty good. I had the tonkotsu broth with the spicy shit on the side. Noodles were a little over cooked, but the components and broth were all pretty good. Even with just a little bit of the spicy blob, this thing packed some kick. The spicy paste is also rich with a fermented garlic flavor as well. I’ve had better, softer meat in other places, and some of the mushrooms were a bit chewy, but otherwise I did enjoy it.