Wondee Siam

July 29, 2016 Johnny Prime 1 Comment

Once of the mainstays in Thai Town is Wondee Siam. This place has multiple locations, actually.

My coworker and I came here, to the 9th Avenue and 52nd Street location, for a quick $8 lunch during a slow day at work. Each lunch special comes with a pair of vegetable spring rolls to start.

Not bad. Good crisp, not too oily, but just a bit too temperature hot. Careful you don’t burn your mouth.

I got the pad see ew, which I believe is commonly referred to as “drunken noodle.” It is a wide, flat noodle, stir fried with Chinese broccoli and tossed with a choice of protein. I went with chicken.

This was pretty good! For $8 you really can’t go wrong. The sauce clung to the noodles and chicken, the dish was not greasy, and the broccolini was cooked properly. I’d hit this joint again most definitely.

My coworker, however, might not be as keen on returning. He ate the pad thai, and said he shit his brains out promptly upon returning to the office. Oh well. I was fine.

WONDEE SIAM
792 9th Ave
New York, NY 10019

Midtown West, Other, Restaurant Reviews

Holey Cream

July 29, 2016 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

Doughnut ice cream sandwiches? Why, yes… I’ll take one!

Well, they’re not quite what I expected. Yes, it is ice cream between a doughnut that has been sliced in half like a bagel, but it is just three scoops plopped on top of a plain doughnut, then frosted and topped with sprinkles (you can choose the ice cream flavors, frosting flavor – chocolate, vanilla or strawberry – and the topping).

I was hoping for something like a Chipwich, where it actually looks and eats like a sandwich. This was essentially just a doughnut with ice cream. Oh well. Good idea, not so good execution.

They also serve a variety of cookies, cakes, brownies and doughnuts here as well, if ice cream isn’t your thing.

UPDATE 8/24/17

Check out this beauty of a sandwich that my wife and I grabbed for a dessert one Sunday after brunch. So tasty.

HOLEY CREAM
796 9th Ave
New York, NY 10019

Burgers, Pub Food, Restaurant Reviews, Upper West Side

Gebhard’s Beer Culture

July 28, 2016 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

Gebhard’s is a beer connoisseur’s dream bar. Their bottle menu is five or six pages long, printed in tiny 8-point font (perhaps even smaller), and organized by style. Their tap selection is pretty stellar as well. When I was there, I tried a flight of four different brews from Brooklyn. A pilsner, a saison, a sour fruit beer and a stout (pictured below from front to back, or right to left).

All were pretty great, but the stars of this joint, for me, were these White Castle style sliders.

They’re made with Schweid & Sons ground beef, topped with cheese, steamed minced onions, and a dijon-based sauce that will knock your socks off. These little things were awesome, so it’s no surprise that renowned and respected burger expert Rev Ciancio (formerly of Burger Conquest) is promoting these things. It’s safe to say that these are my favorite sliders.

I highly recommend getting up there to try them out for yourselves. The tots were perfectly crisp as well, and, if sliders aren’t your thing, then you can go with the full sized burger.

A photo posted by Rebecca Chu 🔹#chewsnyc (@rebecca_chews_nyc) on Jul 12, 2016 at 8:30pm PDT

GEBHARD’S BEER CULTURE
228 W 72nd St
New York, NY 10023

Brooklyn, Japanese, Restaurant Reviews

Yakitori by Neal

July 28, 2016 Johnny Prime 2 Comments

Yakitori By Neal is a Japanese style grilled chicken operation out of Brooklyn that pops up at various locations and events around the city, like Project Parlor and Sumo Stew (at The Brooklyn Kitchen).

I had the pleasure of tasting some of Neal’s delicious grillings at a private backyard yakitori and shochu party. Guests sampled four different bottles of shochu while nibbling on tasty yakitori skewers.

We had chicken gizzard, heart, and thigh, and shishito peppers, bacon wrapped tomatoes, bacon wrapped mushrooms, pork belly and hamachi (both belly and filet).

Everything from the grill was really delicious; the meats were masterfully seasoned and had a great, smoky charcoal flavor.

The shochu bottles varied in intensity and character. Two had the distinct flavor of mezcal, but with a more mellow, rounded and mild finish. These were great for drinking on the rocks or with soda.

The other two, which were aged three and five years, were remarkably smooth, clean and sip-able. One was so light in flavor that it was almost like water, yet it had 25% alcohol.

YAKITORI BY NEAL
Various Pop-Up Locations
Brooklyn, NY

Commentary

Coney Island Brewery

July 25, 2016 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

My wife and I came in here for a pair of beer flights to cool down and buzz up during our trip to Coney Island one hot Saturday afternoon.

There were eight drafts to choose from, and each flight contained four, so we were able to sample everything on tap.

Our favorites were the Kettle Corn Cream Ale and the Brunch Beer, with the Black Nitro Lager close behind.

It’s always nice to see a good quality brewery here in the NYC area. And with reasonable prices and gracious pours like these, I’m sure to be back again soon. Flights are $8, tours are free, and tasting tours are just $5. There’s a lot of fun merch too.

CONEY ISLAND BREWING COMPANY
1904 Surf Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11224

American, Brooklyn, Restaurant Reviews

Paul’s Daughter

July 25, 2016 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

Paul’s Daughter is a great place to stop for a funnel cake or some fresh clams on the half shell, as you stroll the boardwalk of Coney Island.

Formerly Gregory & Paul’s, this joint has everything you can imagine, from hotdogs and hamburgers, to fried shellfish and ice cream. Shit there’s even pizza, cotton candy and beer.

My wife and I went with some little necks and a funnel cake, keeping it classic and old school.

Both items were a success for me. The clams were fresh and clean, and still nice and cold despite the 90 degree weather that day. The funnel cake was sweet, crisp on the outside and soft on the inside. It was exactly the Coney food fix we were looking for.

PAUL’S DAUGHTER
1001 Boardwalk W
Brooklyn, NY 11224

Brooklyn, Burgers

Wahlburgers

July 25, 2016 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

EDIT: THIS PLACE IS NOW CLOSED

After seeing an episode or two of the show about this burger chain, starring all the famous Wahlbergs and their entourage, I wanted to give their burgers a shot. Lucky for my wife and I, they opened a joint in Coney Island, just diagonally across the side street from Nathan’s.

We went with an “Our Burger,” which is a single patty with cheese, “Wahl Sauce,” lettuce, tomato and onion. We also added some fresh jalapenos.

I liked that the jalapenos were fresh, and the topping quality, including the cheese, was good. The burger, however, was a let down. Despite a good sear and crust, the patty itself was a bit hard and uniform in texture. It reminded me of a direct-from-the-freezer-to-the-grill backyard cookout burger. I wasn’t a fan. The bun wasn’t as soft as I’d like either. The burger price was $7.50.

The tots, however, were golden, crisp and delicious. At just $3, this is a nice add-on.

We also tried their “Fluffanuttah” shake, but since they ran out of vanilla ice cream, we had ours made with chocolate. This is an alcoholic shake, with marshmallow flavored vodka and banana liqueur. This cost $12, and there was about half as much overflow in a second cup, so I feel this was a pretty good price.

Overall I’d say skip this joint, though they do have a nice view from up on the rooftop, where there is also a bar that plays horrible mid-90’s music – and I’m not talking about NKOTB or Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch, unfortunately. Those would have been fun.

WAHLBURGERS
3015 Stillwell Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11224

Brooklyn, Other, Restaurant Reviews

Coney’s Cones

July 25, 2016 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

This post is more about ice cream and slushy awareness than an actual review. Coney’s Cones is a nice little gelato shop on the boardwalk in Coney Island.

We picked up a nice red, white and blue slushy to cool off on a hot-ass American ball-sweat Saturday.

As you can see, my wife and I took some assholey photos of the drink with the Wonder Wheel in the background, because Instagram responds to retarded shit like this.

The drink itself was okay. It was refreshing and not over-the-top sweet, so that’s a plus. I’d go with the gelato next time, or maybe some soft serve. This next photo was from 2007 in the off-season:

CONEY’S CONES
1001 Boardwalk W
Brooklyn, NY 11224

Brooklyn, Pizza

Totonno’s

July 25, 2016 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

This place slings one of the best traditional pizza pie’s in the world.

The dough and crust bake up to be simultaneously puffy yet thin and crisp, the sauce is slightly sweet but still deeply savory, and the cheese is top quality, perfectly melted and gorgeously bubbled.

Simplicity is the key when you have such high quality ingredients. Sure, you can get other toppings if you want. But don’t fucking bring that bullshit to my table.

I just want the regular shit, completely un-fucked-with, please…

God damn that’s good pizza. It is well worth the trip out to Coney for this. In fact, I recommend eating a pie there and then ordering one to go if you don’t live nearby, because this stuff holds up great as leftovers, even cold from the fridge.

TOTONNO’S
1524 Neptune Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11224

American, Brooklyn, Restaurant Reviews

Nathan’s Famous

July 25, 2016 Johnny Prime 2 Comments

Happy 100 Years to Nathan’s Famous on Coney Island!

This joint has withstood the test of time, has weathered hurricanes and rampant crime, and still stands strong as a historic, symbolic, iconic and national fucking treasure.

It doesn’t matter what you eat here; whether it’s good or bad, or whether some skinny dude is shoving 70 hot dogs into his throat while you stand and watch, when you eat here you are becoming a part of history and a part of NYC. I love it here.

My wife and I celebrated Nathan’s 100 years in style, and actually did some frog legs, along with a standard dog.