Tag Archives: prix fix

French, Non-Steakhouse Steaks, NY Strip, Restaurant Reviews, Union Square/Flatiron

15 East at Toqueville

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This newly re-opened French joint offers three and five course prix fix tasting menus as well as a la carte dining. I went with some of the gang from Golden Packing to try out their wares and see what they are doing with the products Golden supplies to them.

The interior was beautiful and fancy.

First, the “Guillotine” cocktail. A bitter chocolate version of an old fashioned. Very nice.

Their table bread was this delicious basket of pao de queijo, a Brazilian cheese bread which is more addictive than crack. The owner is Brazilian so this was a nod to home.

We started with a tasting of yellowtail. This piece here was my favorite.

They will soon have an omakase sushi menu and a nice bar seating area for this part of the menu. They’re just waiting on some final refrigeration pieces behind the bar.

Next, Angel hair sea urchin carbonara. This was absolutely amazing. I just wanted MORE of it.

I ordered the chicken, since the chef spoke very highly of it when we visited him in the kitchen. Tender, juicy and extremely flavorful.

I tried a bike of my buddy’s duck as well. A nice light smoked flavor really made this pop.

The steak that Toqueville gets from Golden Packing is dry aged for three weeks. The cook is immaculate on this. Perfection. 9/10 because I wanted more than 6oz. ha!

This white truffle risotto was intensely earthy.

And this pineapple and lime sorbet dessert invention was otherworldly in its presentation. Wow!

I will definitely be back here again soon. Everything was delicious and the service and quality is worthy of a Michelin star for sure.

15 EAST AT TOQUEVILLE
1 E 15th St
New York, NY 10003

Filet Mignon, Other, Press Reviews, Steakhouse Reviews

Sonora Grill Prime

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For our New Year’s Eve dinner in Playa del Carmen, we went to Sonora Grill Prime. They offered a set menu price fix meal. Here’s what we had:

The first items to arrive at the table was a baked bean and cheese dip with tortilla chips, and an array of dipping sauces.

And our drinks. Here is my wife’s lychee martini.

First, a pumpkin and squash soup (which was velvety smooth and really delicious) as well as a dried fruits salad with blue cheese (which was also great – I want dried fruits in all of my salads now).

For the entrees, there was a choice of roasted chicken, fish (I forget which kind) and beef. Obviously I got the beef, which was a filet mignon.

Mine was grilled and cooked nicely to medium rare, despite the waiter informing us that all of them would be cooked to medium. I guess they really wanted to streamline the process in the kitchen.

I was glad mine came out medium rare, as all of the beef here is good quality shit from the US.

My buddy’s filet, on the other hand, was taller and skinnier than mine – a completely different shape. And it was rare. He wasn’t pleased with it, but I liked mine at 8/10.

My wife tried the fish. It was “fishy” as they say, but not quite as aggressively flavored as something like a Long Island bluefish. I thought it was fine.

The dessert was bread pudding, and we all liked it.

If I am down here again, I would like to try some of their steaks from the regular menu. When I made the reservation here, I did not know they were offering a special, limited menu. I guess I should have known better, since that’s pretty much what every restaurant does in NYC.

I’ve decided to save a full 100-point review for this spot until I return. For now, I just scored the steak on its own.

SONORA GRILL PRIME
Calle 12 Nte 251
Gonzalo Guerrero, 77720
Playa del Carmen; Q.R., Mexico

American, Filet Mignon, Fusion, Midtown West, Non-Steakhouse Steaks, Restaurant Reviews

Betony

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My wife and I learned that Betony was closing at the end of 2016, so we rushed in to finally give it a shot. It’s been on our list for a while but we never got around to trying it, despite living just a few blocks away.

We did the two course prix fix for $42, but my wife started with this interesting parsnip foam and scotch cocktail. So interesting.

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The tables are adorned with this olive oil crisp stuff that is addictive.

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Then comes the tasty and warm dill bread with a honey yogurt butter, and right around that time the waiter will bring out the amuse, which was a black truffle tea. So aromatic and delicious.

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My wife started with the fluke carpaccio. This was killer. The flavors really popped here due to the Indian lime and cilantro pickling that they worked on it.

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I went with the toasted grains and sprouts with labneh (Lebanese cream cheese / strained yogurt).

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A bit girly for my style, but I really enjoyed it and it was a substantial portion size. Plus I didn’t want to double up on lettuce greens or potato (the other app choices) since I know those were coming in my entree.

My entree was tenderloin, which was sous vide to a perfect medium rare prior to being charcoal crisped on the outside.

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It came with roasted fingerlings, grilled romaine, and a lettuce and tomato puree.

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I honestly wasn’t convinced that this was in fact a tenderloin, but I’ll go with what the menu said. I would have guessed a sirloin, due to the texture and shape, but it was really great nonetheless. Only down side: could have used a little more char on the outside. 8/10.

My wife went with the poached egg cavatelli. This was tossed with crisp crosne, aka “Chinese Artichokes” (and sometimes even “Japanese Artichokes”).

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The dish was more like a soup in terms of consistency once you popped the egg. Not really my speed, but the pasta was perfect, the sauce/broth was really tasty, and the portion size was good.

We skipped dessert because we were stuffed, but I’m sad to see this place close. Too bad we hadn’t come sooner. Pricey, but good.

BETONY
41 W 57th St
New York, NY 10019