Tag Archives: steak

Midtown East, Other Cuts, Porterhouse, Press Reviews, Steakhouse Reviews

Benny John’s Bar & Grill

March 19, 2023 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

Benny John’s Bar & Grill overall score: 83

My wife and I came here as guests of the restaurant. They just opened last week, and they’re the same ownership team behind Atto Prime and Tudor City Steakhouse. Check out my Ride & Review video first, then read on.

Flavor: 9

We had the porterhouse for two. It was pretty great. Excellent crust, perfectly overcooked, and it was very tender. It was a bit mild on the dry aged flavor, and that’s why I took a point.

Choice of Cuts & Quality Available: 9

There’s a good selection of prime cuts here all day long, and everything is aged in-house.

Portion Size & Plating: 8

The plating here is 100% standard steakhouse style, and the portions are all big enough to share when it comes to sides, and most apps and desserts.

Price: 8

Prices have gone up significantly lately in the city, especially for beef. But this place is keeping it pretty friendly compared to others I’ve seen in the area that have really jacked up their prices. A steak for two is still under $120, and most single cuts are under $60.

Bar: 7

The bar here is beautiful, but they only serve wine and wine style cocktails, as they are still waiting for their liquor license.

Specials and Other Meats: 9

There were no real specials read to us, but they did have lamb, chicken, and this absolutely delicious, tender and mild “Serious NY Veal Chop” on the menu. We loved it – 9/10.

Apps, Sides & Desserts: 8

Excellent oysters Rockefeller, creamed spinach and truffle creamed corn. I highly recommend all of these.

For the desserts, I say stick with the creme brulee. The others were good, but not up to par with that one. The cheesecake was a close second, but it ate a slight bit salty. Great creamy texture though.

Seafood Selection: 8

Based on what I had (the oysters) this place is legit for seafood. I’d have to go back and try more to really level this section up though.

Service: 10

Service is impeccable here. Nobody does it quite like these lifelong steakhouse and restaurant industry professionals. Great focaccia and toasty table bread too.

Ambiance: 7

They definitely made the best of this narrow space, which, I think, used to be a sort of mini-market, perhaps Japanese. It looked familiar to my wife and I when we were there. Great job on the renovation, and I think the outdoor seating area is going to be awesome.

I can’t wait to go back and try more steaks!

BENNY JOHN’S BAR & GRILL
8 E 48th St
New York, NY 10017

American, Midtown East, Non-Steakhouse Steaks, Other Cuts, Pub Food, Restaurant Reviews

Albert’s Bar

March 11, 2023 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

Albert’s is a fancy bar that just opened up near Grand Central that features some really nice cocktails and a killer menu. I highly recommend the Salt & Pepper Martini, which is made with celery salt and sun dried tomato -infused vodka.

This joint is brought to you by the folks behind the great upper east side spot The Penrose, so I didn’t expect any slack!

I stopped by one Friday after work to meet my wife for a drink, but we ended up ordering their jojo fries, and their t-bone for two, which is a dry-aged 35oz beast that also comes with two sides for $150. What a deal!

We went with the lemon and walnut crispy Brussels and the spatzl “mac” and cheese. Both were incredible!

The steak itself was an easy 8/10. It had mild aged flavor, but it ws cooked to a perfect medium rare with a great, deep golden brown crust all over.

I’ll definitely be back to try the tartare, the strip steak frites, and the burger.

ALBERT’S BAR
140 E 41st St
New York, NY 10017

Burgers, Filet Mignon, Midtown West, NY Strip, Other Cuts, Press Reviews, Rib Eye, Steakhouse Reviews

Steak Frites Bistro

January 26, 2023 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

Steak Frites Bistro overall score: 86

The PR company that helps promote this restaurant invited me in for a free meal in exchange for some social media posts. I brought a couple of other friends from the Instagram food world and we gave it a shot.

Flavor: 9

We had three steaks here. First was the tremendous cote de boeuf, which was roughly 28oz on the bone, meant to be shared among two diners.

This comes out sliced with a hotel herb butter on top. Great presentation.

While this wasn’t dry aged and left a little bit to be desired in terms of texture, it was quite tasty, juicy and nicely cooked. 8/10.

Next up was the dry-aged strip steak.

What this lacked in crust and thickness, it made up for in flavor. The age definitely came through. 8/10.

A delicious crust on this chateaubriand filet mignon for two at 20oz for under $100. 9/10.

Finally, we tried the hanger steak.

This was the winner of the three, especially when eaten with the peppercorn cream sauce. It had a great hard crusty sear on the outside, it was cooked to a perfect medium rare on the inside, and it was properly sliced against the bias. 9/10.

I should also discuss the “Burger Francaise” here, which was a stellar dry aged patty cooked to a nice juicy rare, topped with gruyere, stone ground mustard, crispy fried shallots and gherkins, on a freshly made brioche bun. GO GET THIS!!! It’s a 10, and it was probably the best item of the night.

Their French Dip sandwich, offered at lunch, is killer. While a bit pricey at $34, you will definitely leave there very satisfied.

Choice of Cuts & Quality Available: 8

There’s a lot to choose from here, including some large format items meant for sharing like the chateaubriand. All the meats come from the great folks over at Pino’s Prime Meat Market.

Portion Size & Plating: 8

This place came through with good sized portions. The hanger, for a lighter appetite, is 9oz. The strip is 16oz on the bone, but it felt more like 12 or 14. The larger format steaks for two are just under the 30oz mark. Slightly light, but maybe fine for many diners. The presentation is nice, French and simple.

Price: 9

The pricing here is very fair. $35 for the hanger, $65 for the strip and $88 for the rib eye that’s meant for two people. I like that.

Bar: 8

The bar here is nice, and it was crowded while we were there, even on a nasty weather night. It can get a little cramped since there are high tops close to the back of the bar seats, as well as a row of tables behind the high tops, making for some narrow passing. Otherwise, nice cocktails and great beer and wine selections.

Specials and Other Meats: 9

There were no real specials read to us, but they do offer a rotisserie chicken that I’d like to try next time I go. At the bar, they’re offering 12 duck confit sandwiches per night (until it graces the lunch menu permanently. This was an easy 10/10. Absolutely insane! It’s cooked in duck fat at 165F for 24hrs.

Apps, Sides & Desserts: 8

We started with steak tartare, escargots, foie gras terrine and duck pate. All of these were great, but to me what stood out the most was the escargots. They were different than what’s typically presented at other French bistros. I liked that they came in a bowl/tray and had chunks of French bread already soaked in the delicious puddle of herb butter/sauce in there. The fries are also outstanding here, and they pretty much come with every meat item.

The green beans were good (not pictured), but we mainly ordered them just to have some green shit on the table.

On a second trip I tried the frisee lardon salad, which was stellar!

The Paris Brest is nice as well, with hazelnut.

The brest was swapped out recently for the eclair. Similar flavors.

The chocolate mousse was very nice too.

Also really loved this almondy, grapey, blueberryey baked thing called a claufutis.

Seafood Selection: 8

I didn’t try any seafood here, so can’t really rate it. But I think they would do a great job on the mussels given how well they prepared the escargots. I always felt they were similar, in many ways

UPDATE – I tried these large, plump and juicy mussels. They were really nice! Ask for extra baguette to dip.

Oysters also delicious.

Service: 10

Impeccable service here, and the bread game is on point! Just ask for extra butter.

Ambiance: 9

The location of this place may seem odd to some, but I always thought the area had a unique flare to it. Inside, they did a great job with the decidedly “French bistro” space they have, minus one point for the narrow passing areas that I noted in the bar section. I’ll definitely be back!

Side note: Brunch is pretty great here on weekends. Quiche Lorraine, Moroccan Baked Eggs, and Croque Madame – all top notch.

STEAK FRITES BISTRO
496 9th Avenue
New York, NY 10018

American, French, Midtown East, Non-Steakhouse Steaks, NY Strip, Press Reviews, Restaurant Reviews

Cornelius

January 22, 2023 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

Cornelius is a new French and American style joint in Grand Central. My wife and I came in to give it a try, as the menu looked pretty incredible.

We started with some cocktails, all of which were killer. My favorites were the Sazerac (not pictured) and the caviar martini. If you have some time before you start to eat, grab the espresso old fashioned. That also works well with dessert too though.

We started with this foie gras terrine, which wasn’t on the menu. This is basically delicious meat butter, and it would also pair well with their cheese plate. We had that for dessert.

Next up was the beef tartare. This is made from hand cut prime tenderloin, but the bump of caviar is extra/not standard. I really loved this, and it’s definitely large enough to eat as a main course.

We shared this beautiful 28oz, 30-day dry aged NY strip/shell steak on the bone.

The sauce is a velvety and mild Hollandaise, and draped over the bone is a nice portion of sautéed broccoli rabe. On top, shaved Perigord black truffle. 9/10 – very tender, well rested, and great aged flavor coming through on that evenly browned crust.

Of course we didn’t stop there. These two dishes were both beautiful and well executed, but the winner of the night goes to the duck leg confit. The lamb collops of tenderloin were perfect, it’s just that the duck was masterfully prepared, The meat was so tender and well seasoned/balanced. And with a huge bed of lentils underneath, it was filling as well. Make sure you order that!

For dessert, along with the cheese plate up above, we had these incredible dolce de leche donuts. WOW! I was actually shoving some of the currant jelly into the hole to make them even more decadent.

This place is crazy good, and I really can’t wait to go back to try the chateaubriand for two and a few other items that look great.

CORNELIUS
89 East 42nd Street
New York, NY 10017

American, Midtown East, Non-Steakhouse Steaks, Other Cuts, Restaurant Reviews

Monterey

December 17, 2022 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

Taking over the old Maloney & Porcelli space is Monterey, a gorgeous mid-century modern decor and cuisine inspired restaurant.

The cocktails are fun here, especially the martini cart, where you choose between three gins or three vodkas, then you choose your vermouth as well as bitters and garnish. While a bit small and not so strong for the high price point ($26), it was a great presentation and idea.

They have a nice big gin and tonic.

For starters we tried the special pork trotter with sweetbreads and coddled egg.

This was richly delicious.

To balance that, we cut it with some crisp fried artichoke that came with a bright citrus aioli.

For my main, I ordered the prime rib, which comes to you on a classic table side cart.

While mine was a bit diagonally mis-cut, it was a perfect chuck side beauty. Check out the pronounced spinalis and complexus.

Very nice medium rare temp and with a great crispy seasoned coating on the edges. 9/10.

The prime rib comes with a generous sized cup of buttery, whipped mashed potatoes. We added the red pepper broccolini to go with it.

My wife had the crab and uni spaghetti with lime butter sauce. Really nice! The sauce tasted almost like a roux.

For dessert, we had the dark chocolate tart and the ricotta beignets. Both good, but we preferred the donuts!

We were both very happy with this meal, and I definitely want to come back to try more of their offerings – especially the pork chop! Here’s the damage – not sure why the header says “Book and Fox.”

MONTEREY
37 E 50th St
New York, NY 10022

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

15 East at Toqueville

December 16, 2022 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

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

Italian, Midtown East, Non-Steakhouse Steaks, Porterhouse, Restaurant Reviews

Il Monello

December 8, 2022 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

Il Monello is a newly opened Italian joint by some of the same folks behind Tuscany Steakhouse and Il Tinello. My wife and I came here with two other couples, so we got to try a lot of the menu! Take a look:

Beautiful little bar in the entryway. I enjoyed their negroni.

Starters: fried calamari, carpaccio, “cozze” mussels, bianco salad, and Il Monello salad.

Pasta Dishes: Orecchiette with broccoli rabe and sausage, bucatini cacio e pepe, and lobster ravioli.

Entrees: porterhouse for two (9/10), potato crusted sea bass, and Il Monello Chicken (the crowd favorite).

Mixed dessert platter:

Everything we had was delicious. For their third day being open, there was not one hang-up with the food or the service. These guys are professionals! They know a thing or two about opening and running a restaurant. This one was a few years in the making too, since COVID and then licensing and inspection processes caused them some delays. I can’t wait to go back and try more, especially the eggplant parm, the veal milanese, and any of their daily/weekly specials.

IL MONELLO
337 E 49th St
New York, NY 10017

Burgers, Full Points for Flavor, Other, Other Cuts, Porterhouse, Rib Eye, Steakhouse Reviews

Hall’s Chophouse

October 10, 2022 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

Hall’s Chophouse overall score: 90

I finally got down to Charleston, SC, and, of course, a top priority was to check out Hall’s Chophouse. I went down to visit a law school friend with some other guys from law school, so we went big here!

Also: quick caveat – I think the score for this place would climb with multiple visits. I’d need to get back and try more meats and some seafood, but I can see this place getting in the 95-point range.

Flavor: 9

We tried three cuts: the porterhouse, the tomahawk, and the prime rib. All were excellent, but I think the prime rib took the victory.

The prime rib was a 10/10. It’s wet aged, but rubbed with a Montreal seasoning that really added a ton of flavor.

Both the tomahawk and porterhouse are dry-aged a minimum of 45 days after two weeks of wet aging. These packed a lot of funk, both 9/10.

Choice of Cuts & Quality Available: 10

There’s a great selection of dry-aged beef from Allen Brothers in Chicago. Everything is aged off site, first wet-aged and then dry-aged for 45-days (except for the prime rib – that’s just wet-aged). All prime, and all delicious.

Portion Size & Plating: 9

The meat board plating was really nice for our massive order of three steaks. Portion size is definitely on the large side, especially for sides, apps and desserts.

Price: 8

Don’t expect a cheaper bill just because you’re outside of the NYC insanity! Beef prices have gone up lately, and top notch quality like Allen Brothers being shipped from Chicago to Charleston means you’ll be paying a premium. That said, I thought the prices were all kinda fair, with the exception of the martinis at $26ea.

Bar: 9

The bar here a great spot to hang out. My buddy is there all the time, and I would be too.

My martini was great (blue cheese olives) despite being pricey.

Specials and Other Meats: 8

There were some specials off the menu that all sounded delightful. They have quail and duck for non-beef meat items. One stand out was the bison filet, which you can see here in this short video at the beginning (the very dark colored lean cut, top right). We didn’t try it, but I’m sure it was good.

Apps, Sides & Desserts: 9

We started with the bacon; really nice. The tomato on top was a nice twist on this.

The tartare was slightly over worked but it was still really delicious. The table was impressed!

We split a burger for our appetizer, which was really delicious. It reminded me of Peter Luger and Red Hook Tavern – a distinct dry aged flavor that eats more like a steak than a burger. It’s definitely a top five steakhouse style burger for me.

The sautéed spinach was a nice light side.

Loaded mashed potatoes – of course.

These fried okra were a fun change up for side dishes as well.

For dessert we tried the skillet cookie, the lemon cheesecake, and the whisky bread pudding. All were awesome, but the bread pudding was my favorite.

Seafood Selection: 8

I gotta be honest – I didn’t even bother looking at the selections. But the she crab soup that we tried in between courses was fantastic. If you have room, get it!

Service: 10

Service was amazing here. You really can’t beat it. The staff knew everything there was to know about the meat when I pried them, too. Our waiter even asked if we’d prefer a chuck side or loin side cut of prime rib, which I don’t think I have ever experienced before. I was impressed (and of course I went with chuck side).

Table bread was warm and toasty, with a great whipped butter. You know I always have to mention it!

Ambiance: 10

Great spot. There is live music in the main bar room, which is more lively and loud, while the side rooms and upstairs are a bit more private and cozy.

While walking around, I saw Walter Goggins and Danny McBride having a meal, so I sent them a bottle of wine and had the pleasure of chatting with them for a bit. If you don’t know the names, they are the headliners for great shows like Eastbound and Down, Justified and The Righteous Gemstones.

Oh yeah – nice little Michters bottle in the bathroom filled with mouth wash.

This place is the real deal, and if you plucked it out of SC and dropped it into NYC, it would still be a wild success and I’d rank it among the heavy hitting stars here, easily. I can’t wait to go back.

HALL’S CHOPHOUSE
434 King St
Charleston, SC 29403

Italian, Midtown East, Non-Steakhouse Steaks, Porterhouse, Press Reviews, Restaurant Reviews

Ramerino Italian Prime

September 8, 2022 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

I was recently invited into this place for a media dinner, complimentary in exchange for posting content on Instagram. Here’s what we had:

The Good

Perfect espresso martini. And I mean perfect!

Awesome pappardelle with porcini mushrooms. Pictured here is a half portion size. They split the dish even though I asked them not to.

Octopus with chic pea puree. This was on the upper side of okay, just about at the good level.

The Bad & The Ugly

Complimentary plate of cheese and meats. Meh.

Steak Tartare. This needed salt/seasoning. I also didn’t like the burrata cream on the bottom, but the sun dried tomato was a nice, unique topper. It was ugly though, and I had to add some crumbled parm from the plate above to give it a pop of flavor.

The porterhouse was overcooked, under seasoned, dry, and tasted as if it was a plate of leftovers that was re-heated in a toaster oven. If you’ve ever done that, you know exactly what I mean. It was noted as being dry-aged, but I didn’t taste it. There was little to no char on it either. 4/10.

We skipped dessert since it was starting to get late. The service was slow toward the end of the meal (busy overcooking the steak, perhaps). I kid. The restaurant did get pretty full and busy later on. The restaurant is in the back of a Hyatt hotel lobby, which is weird. I wonder if that’s where they serve the complimentary breakfast in the morning.

I probably won’t go back, but if I did, I would definitely stick to the pasta selections and the wine/cocktails.

RAMERINO ITALIAN PRIME
16 E 39th St
New York, NY 10016

American, French, Lower East Side/Chinatown, Non-Steakhouse Steaks, Restaurant Reviews, Rib Eye

Corner Bar

August 22, 2022 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

This joint opened recently and is connected to the 9 Orchard hotel. There’s a lot I want to try here, but on this first trip my wife and I just stopped in for a couple of cocktails and some snacks.

The cocktails are great. I had a Gibson that used basil syrup in the mix. Very herbal and unique.

I also tried their amari-based old fashioned, which was really strong at first. But as the ice mellowed it out, it was perfect.

We had the Oysters Rockefeller, which were quite expensive at $24 for four. They were delicious, however, and reminded us of the flavor profile of escargots.

We also had an order of their perfectly cooked fries, which come with ketchup, mayo, and dijon. I love that they give you dijon automatically. It’s my favorite condiment.

Based on this trip, we will definitely be back to try more of the menu. Stay tuned for updates!

UPDATE 10-15-2022

On a second trip, after a LOT of hype in the food media world, I noticed a decline here.

First off, the nice ice cube in the old fashioned is gone now, and they replaced it with a bunch of small regular ice cubes. Bad move!

We started with the steak tartare, which was fairly good although it was very heavy on the onion and vinegar. The parm crisp on top was nice though.

The burger is no longer on the menu. I was excited to try it but they had a steak on special, so I went with that.

$185! Get the fuck outta here for 32oz!

It was just okay. Cooked perfectly, nice crust. But the meat itself was pretty dense and tough in places, and a good amount of connective tissue that was inedible. The best parts were along the bone, and edges, where some aged flavor managed to creep in. 6/10.