Tag Archives: midtown west

1 2 3 Burger Shot Beer

April 22, 2015 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

I’ve walked by this joint on many occasions. Today I finally had the time to go in and see what it’s all about.

The name comes from the daily specials offered: $1 burgers (sliders), $2 shots and $3 beers – ANY beer on tap, other than the ciders. Not fuckin’ bad!

The joint is set up like a college style sports bar. Lots of TVs throughout, with seating at the bar and along the opposite wall.

They even have some drinking games like the wheel of death pictured below, along with beer pong, and there is an outside drinking area in the back as well.

So I came with a coworker and we noticed outside that if you bring a friend you can get their daily lunch special in a two-for-one deal. The daily lunch special is three sliders, fries, and a beer for $7. Normally that will cost you $10 if you order the items separately, on their own. With the “bring a friend” special we got six sliders, two beers and two fries for $7. AWESOME!

The beers are probably only 10oz, but they don’t restrict you on the draft options, which is nice. I got a Hoegaarden and my buddy got a Rebel IPA.

The sliders are nice and tasty. They come topped with American cheese and grilled onions, nicely jammed between a mini potato bun. Deeeeelicious. I can easily put away a dozen without even blinking.

The fries needed salt. They were decent, but seasoned with a salt substitute sort of thing. Perhaps paprika and some other herbs. The portion size is a bit small if you were ordering separately at the full $4 price tag.

Since I’m a fat fuck, I also needed to try some other items. First was this Philly cheese steak. It comes with finely sliced steak, ooey-gooey cheese and onions on a hot dog style bun for $5. I ate the fuck out of this thing. It was way tastier than the sliders, for sure. But maybe you can get a better one at a larger size for just a few bucks more down at Shorty’s, nearby on 9th Avenue in the 40s.

Wednesday is double wing day. When you order wings, they double it for free. I recommend that Wednesday is the ONLY day to try the wings here, as they are small (which I actually like, but most people do not) and don’t come with many per order (four or five), at a price tag of $7. Since we came on a Wednesday, our order was $7 for nine or ten wings. They’re breaded and fried crisp before they are tossed in the Hell’s Kitchen wing sauce, which is a standard mild to medium spice level. If you get these on a non-Wednesday, you’ll probably feel like you got ripped off.

Overall this is a great place to grab some grub and suds, especially on a nice day, since the place has an open and airy feel. Go with a friend during lunch to get the most bang for your buck. That two-for-one special on the $7 lunch deal is amazing. Just add some more sliders to the order to get a real filling meal out of it.

1 2 3 BURGER SHOT BEER
738 10th Ave
New York, NY 10019

Midtown West, Ramen

Tabata

April 5, 2015 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

Tabata is a small, no bullshit ramen joint on the corner of 40th Street and 8th Avenue.

The place is legit. Nothing fancy inside either – it gets right down to fucking business.

We started with some crispy baby octopus. These were tasty. Not the most tender I’ve had, but the crisp was nice and the lemon really made them pop.

I had “lava men,” which is their tonkotsu broth (I chose pork rather than chicken) with a spicy kick. It was pretty good. Noodle quality was good to above average, flavor was good, and I had two very nice slices of pork that were soft and flavorful with no rubbery chew. Great part about this little joint is that you get a whole egg in your ramen, not just a half. A third slice of pork would have been awesome, but at only $11 it really was a great bargain.

The real winner here though was my wife’s bowl of “tabata” ramen, which is the owner’s Burmese, non-traditional version of ramen, with a soy and coconut curry broth that was both sweet and savory, with a little kick of spice and some fresh herbage from the onion and cilantro. This was so creamy and flavorful. Man. Amazing. One thing I would love to see is a little pile of sliced red chili peppers for a little extra boom in the spice department.

TABATA
540 9th Ave
New York, NY 10018

Chinese, Midtown West, Ramen, Restaurant Reviews, Thai

Puff Cha Ramen

December 31, 2014 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

In the annals of not-quite-ramen joints that use the word “ramen” in their name to draw in Ippudo and Totto overflow business in the midtown west area, Puff Cha has to be one of the best.

The place is small inside, with seating for a maximum of 18 guests, but it is very nicely and basically decorated. Colorful.

Like Kung Fu Little Steamed Buns “Ramen,” Puff Cha serves up a bunch of dry and soup noodle dishes, among other things like Thai curry puffs and bubble teas. These are essentially empanada-like puff pastry dough turnovers filled with all sorts of goodies. We tried the Korean BBQ varietal, which was okay but I imagine their signature Thai offerings are much better.

We also dabbled into their chicken wings, which, despite not being as crispy as I like, were definitely nice and flavorful, with a soy-based sticky sauce coating them.

We tried some lunch specials since we were both off from work and wandered in for the deal. I tried the roast pork noodle soup, which was really awesome.

The broth was packed with flavor, yet thin and clear. It was served with thinly sliced roast pork, fresh baby bok choy, scallions, cilantro, and a fried egg roll wrapper of some sort. The noodles were ramen style, and cooked just right.

My soup came with a spring roll too, which was decent. Not greasy, and very light.

My wife tried a “mock duck” in Thai peanut curry sauce, which was surprisingly delicious and very reminiscent of actual fatty duck skin. Nicely done! It was served with rice, baby bok choy, and a bowl of clear fish broth.

My wife’s dish came with a steamed dumpling, which was definitely more Thai or Vietnamese flavored as opposed to Chinese.

The greatest part of this meal was discovering that they have fresh, lightly pickled spicy jalapeño peppers and red onions in a dish for adding to your soups or rice/noodle dishes. Awesome!

In the back, they have a counter-top display case with some homemade desserts that looked simple and nice as well.

Very affordable – especially during the lunch deal times (until 4pm).

PUFF CHA
457 W 50th St
New York, NY 10019

Burgers, Flash Deals, Midtown West

Smokey Burger

December 14, 2014 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

Smokey Burger is a little organic burger shop on 44th Street between 8th and 9th Avenues. I found out about it through a Living Social deal.

I went with the signature “Smokey Burger” which involved cheddar, grilled onions, mushrooms, and chipotle sauce. This was an above average burger. The bun (I chose white) was supple yet durable. No ripping or tearing. The meat was properly cooked to medium and pretty nicely seasoned. Looks gorgeous, right?

But my wife’s “Cabana Burger” was the winner. It was topped with a sunny side up egg, and had a little bit more of a robust kick to it from the pickles and turkey bacon. Why not real bacon, you ask? This place happens to be halal, for you practicing Muslims out there.

On the side we had an order of onion rings and an order of fries. Both were a little bit limp or soggy, but nevertheless tasted good because they were well seasoned.