Awesome spot with great wings. The lemon pepper and buffalo were perfect. Crisp, great ratio of meat to skin, and not too drenched in sauce. Can’t wait to go back and try more. Everyone I was with said they liked the burgers and chicken sandwiches.
BEAR BURGERs BACKYARD
740 5th Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11232
My wife and I stopped in here before dinner at Andrew Steak Society to grab a quick drink, since we were early for our reservation.
The drinks and the menu were so good, that we booked a table for the following day.
The Gibson pictured above, made with olive washed vodka, celery flavored gin and dry vermouth was perfect.
The next day we came back for a huge meal. We started with the shaved fennel and olive salad, which was a big portion and also really delicious.
My wife’s favorite were the prawns with Calabrian chili butter.
The vitello tonnato was really great, using thinly sliced veal loin and topped with caperberries.
In the middle, we had a gemelli pasta with pesto and stracciatella. This was super fresh, although it could have used some finishing salt.
The pork milanese was served on the bone, pointed super thin, and topped with a cabbage slaw and apricot mustard jam. Very nice.
We also tried one of their pizzas, which was topped with san marzano tomato, speck and arugula.
We will definitely be going back to try more stuff.
MARETTA
27 Avenue B
New York, NY 10009
My wife and I were invited here by the restaurant’s PR company to help promote them on Instagram. They just opened a week ago, and upon arrival we learned that they were limiting us to what we could order (they chose the entire menu, basically, with the exception of our first cocktail), so proceed with that in mind.
Flavor: 7
We had a small porterhouse. The flavor was decent, and it was tender and properly cooked, but they advertise dry-aged cuts and I did not get any aged flavor. They start the cook over live fire, which gives the meat a nice smoky flavor, but I think they pull the steaks off too soon because there was not a great char on the outside.
Choice of Cuts & Quality Available: 7
There’s a good selection of cuts here. If I had been able to order as I wanted, I would have gone with the large strip and large rib eye. Since I didn’t get any aged flavor on the steak, I had to decrease the score here a bit.
Portion Size & Plating: 7
The portions seem to be on par with other steakhouses, and plating was in the traditional “sizzling butter on a burnt plate” style of Lugers and others (which I don’t love).
Price: 8
The prices are fair here, with $90 being the cost of a small porterhouse. Other prices seem to fall in line with midtown.
Bar: 8
The bar here is beautiful, and I would definitely enjoy having a drink on those nice fancy tiles. My martini was good, but my wife was a bit let down with her Le Souk (I like the nod to the old tenant here though). I took a sip, and, to me, it tasted harsh and watered down at the same time. Strange.
Specials and Other Meats: 6
There were no specials. As far as other meats go, the standard chicken and lamb were there – one as an app, the other as an entree. I respect the commitment to beef though, so the lower score here isn’t a big ding in my eyes.
Apps, Sides & Desserts: 7
I would not have ordered either of the starters we were given, but I did like the cumin-flavored croquettes. The endive salad was slightly over dressed but nice and fresh regardless.
We didn’t get to try any greens, but the fries were nice. No truffle flavor as advertised, but I didn’t mind at all. Lots of times that truffle shit is overkill anyway. I feel like they should have given us some creamed spinach though. That’s a steakhouse standard.
The cheesecake was okay, just a bit too sweet. Interestingly it was served in a ramekin.
Seafood Selection: 7
They offer lobster and salmon as entrees, and crab cakes and shrimp for starters. Since we didn’t try anything, I am leaving this score at my default of 7.
Service: 8
Service was good, but since they just opened, I know they still have some kinks to work out. The waiter asked what we wanted for dessert (the creme brulee), but then proceeded to bring out cheesecake anyway. That was strange. I don’t think he was fully aware of the influencer menu situation, so no knock to him – just bad communication between PR people, back of the house, and front of the house.
Ambiance: 9
The space is beautiful. There’s an ice skylight and you can watch the live fire cooking as it happens. The space has a red glow and sexy dim lighting. It reminds me of Strip House in that respect.
ANDREW STEAK SOCIETY
51 Avenue B
New York, NY 10009
My wife took me here for my birthday. I’ve been wanting to try this spot for a while. It was a great meal, so let me get right into it.
Flavor: 10
We started with the strip steak (as a shared appetizer course) and finished with the beef Wellington (as a shared entree). The strip was dry-aged at least 30 days, served with roasted garlic, herb butter and charred lemon, and was cooked to a perfect medium rare. Absolute perfection.
10/10. I haven’t awarded full points for flavor in years.
The Wellington was also perfectly cooked. Easily the best one I’ve had since TAK Room (RIP).
Another 10/10.
Choice of Cuts & Quality Available: 10
There are great selections here for two people, three people, and even solo steaks – both baller style and for those on a budget. They even have off-cuts like bavette. I was impressed.
Portion Size & Plating: 8
Portions are a bit on the smaller side here, in terms of solo steaks (strip was like 11oz), but the quality makes up for it. Each plate was done up nicely – not the standard slice of beef sitting on a white plate with nothing else.
Price: 8
Beef prices are super high right now, but we didn’t feel like we got hosed. They also offer happy hour deals at the table if you eat early like we did.
Bar: 10
The bar here is beautiful and big. Warm and inviting. Elegant. Happy hour “tiny martinis” are still a good size – larger than many full sized martinis at other places. They offer a large variety of martinis, and they’re good.
Specials and Other Meats: 9
I don’t recall there being any other specials read to us, aside from some highlighted new items that the waiter spoke about. They offer chicken, pork and lamb in terms of alternative meats. Good showing.
Apps, Sides & Desserts: 9
We ordered the fried hen of the woods mushrooms, an appetizer, as a side to go with out Wellington. We also had the asparagus salad (more like a composed side) as a side with the strip steak (which was also an appetizer for us). Both excellent. The mushrooms came with a house made sri racha sauce that was incredible. We asked for more and put it on everything.
The pistachio rhubarb cheesecake was pretty good to boot.
Seafood Selection: 9
We ordered the happy hour special clams and oysters to start ($1.50-$2.00 range each), and both were great. Based on this, I would feel confident ordered a seafood entree if I spontaneously grew a vagina and wanted to avoid meat.
Service: 10
Service was outstanding. They rememebered that my wife had booked the reservation to celebrate a birthday, and they went the extra mile with a candle and some chocolate words on the plate. They also were great with letting us know about menu offerings, they knew the meats in and out, and they were great with getting us extra sri racha and roasted garlic.
Ambiance: 10
The space is old and beautiful. I think it has been around since the mid-1800s – recently revamped in like 2021, but looks the same for the most part, from what I’ve seen in old photos. Wonderful meal, elegant/fancy space, yet casual and fun. I would go back in a heartbeat.
GAGE & TOLLNER
372 Fulton Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201
My wife scored a heavily discounted Groupon for Le Jardin Bistro so we gave it a shot. The deal came with two cocktails, two apps, and two entrees, with just one or two block outs that were understandable (a $26 foie gras app was one). Here’s what we got:
Apps: Escargots and steak tartare. Both great, and easily can hang with some of the big boy French spots that are super popular and expensive in other neighborhoods.
Entrees: Steak frites and rack of lamb. The lamb was the winner here, and nicely composed with tomatoes, cheese mashed/baked potato, and carrots. The steak was about a 6/10. A little tough, a little thin, and technically not a shell steak (a shell should have bone on two sides – this was boneless).
We added on some desserts: apple pie and strawberry tart. Both were good.
I would definitely come back to try their burger and mussels.
LE JARDIN BISTRO
95 Delancey Street
New York, NY 10002
This joint recently opened in the old Kissaki space on Bowery and serves up a nice omakase. Here’s what we had:
Favorite bites were the uni and the daily specials: shrimp with uni, and crab with ikura. We will definitely go back, especially if they offer another $89 special (15 courses). They also offer some nice cocktails. I had a nice martini at the sun-drenched bar before dinner.
SOZO SIP BAR + OMAKASE
319 Bowery
New York, NY 10003
My wife and I took a trip to Amsterdam, and, while there, we are a ton of really delicious shit. Here’s a quick rundown of the food.
Cafes and bars offer a great way to sit down, relax and hydrate. They also have some great snacks.
Arendsnest had this huge slab of cured pork belly:
Cafe Belgique had some insane olives. HUGE!
The Louis Bar ham and cheese tosti was super low budget.
Such an awesome bar, by the way. The building has been there since the early 1600s..
Wester Cafe won the bar snacks competition. Bitterballen, fried sausages, and fried cheese wrapped in egg roll wrappers.
But we also liked the fried seafood and cocktails at Pompa.
The bars in general were really awesome and old. This one (In t’ Aepjen) was ape themed for some reason:
One of the most impressive bars we went to was actually at our hotel, the De L’Europe hotel. There was a speakeasy in the back called Chapter 1896, and it had, basically, a museum of Macallan selections.
The hotel had great breakfast included, and with a nice view too.
The Heineken Experience gave me a new appreciation for the brand.
Other bars we enjoyed:
Dutch Courage and Wynand Fockink for genever.
Cafe t’ Smalle
The Old Sailor
Kikkie
Kaap Tein
Cafe Staalmeesters
Of course we got steak along the way. Sagardi was one of the best European steakhouses I’ve ever been to. This is a Basque/Spanish style steakhouse, serving vaca vieja (old dairy cow). I generally don’t love this stuff, but here, it was amazing. A 9/10 for the steak (rib eye), and I think the total score would be somewhere around 90 as well.
Amsterdam is known for its pancakes. We went to Upstairs Pancakes, a small 4-table spot that’s up a very steep set of stairs. We loved the bacon, brie and honey pancake. Maybe the best bite of the trip!
I think the best sweet items we had were the stroopwafel at Hans Egstorf (overpriced tourist trap, and I prefer the plain instead of the ones with toppings), and the apple pie at Winkel (absolutely insane – so fucking good).
We enjoyed some find dining experiences while we were there, too. First, the very long but very delicious meal at Kaagman & Kortekaas.
Next, the wonderful meal at De Silveren Spiegel:
Hard to choose a favorite between the two.
We also had some Indonesian food, as the Indonesian people have a long and interconnected history with the Dutch through the spice trade and colonialism/immigration. We had a great lunch at Sampurna.
Our worst meal in terms of both service and food was at t’ Westerhuys. It sucks when you get a double whammy like that.
Too much of a tourist trap, perhaps, but at least we got to try some more Dutch food (meatball stamppot, ossenwurst – like a beef carpaccio or tartare). The dessert was the best part of the meal (tompouce – tart crust with strawberry icing on top and custard in between – kind of like a pop tart or toaster strudel).
It’s housed in a beautiful old church building annex though.
We sampled a shitload of cheeses, both in the countryside at a cheesemaking facility, and in the town at shops.
We had some great french fries at the Keukenhof tulip gardens.
Here are some flower pics:
On our last night, we had a seafood feast at The Seafood Bar.
An amazing trip, and I feel like we barely scratched the surface. There were still a lot of places that we didn’t get to try on our itinerary (food halls, bars, etc). I think we need a return trip!
My wife and I stopped in here for a quick meal during happy hour before a show nearby at the Beacon. Here’s what we had:
Fried calamari and french fries: near perfect old bay seasoned french fries.
A dozen little necks and oysters.
Lobster knuckles served escargot style. This was really unique. A little too much parsley though.
Whole grilled and deboned sea bass. This was delicious – served in a brown butter and caper sauce.
Great deal. With two cocktails this all came to just under $200 with tax and tip. I would go back.
MERMAID INN
335 Columbus Avenue
New York, NY 10023
Fresco by Scotto is a family style Italian restaurant that is owned/operated by Rosanna Scotto, host of Good Day NY and long time news anchor for Fox 5! We were so grateful to be able to meet her there too. She was a great host and super sweet.
My wife and I tried a ton of stuff when we came here. Check it out:
Slideshow here:
We started with the potato and zucchini chips with gorgonzola, and the giant “Mama Scotto’s Meatball,” which weighed about a pound! Both were amazing.
Next up was this smoked hamachi crudo, which was one of our favorite items:
We tried two pasta dishes, both gigantic and enough food for two. The rigatoni Bolognese is partially made with chicken to help keep it lighter than most other Bolognese sauces. It still packed a ton of flavor, while allowing you to really go hard and eat a lot of it.
The pasta is all made in house, and this tagliolini was one of the best I’ve had. Porcini cream sauce with truffles. Perfect.
For mains, we had the veal chop with potato gratin, and the branzino.
We actually both liked the branzino more. It was so perfectly crisp and really nicely seasoned. It was plated with zucchini, spinach and a parsnip puree.
For dessert, we tried the banana pudding, the Italian ice cream sandwiches, and the chocolate mousse cake. I think the banana pudding was my favorite here.
Service was incredible, fast, and fun. My martini came to the table in about 1 minute and 48 seconds!
The table is set with a bunch of really nice marinated olives and peppery bread sticks.
We loved our meal here. It felt like we were at home for a big Italian family holiday meal. I can’t wait to go back and try their cavatelli and porterhouse for two.
FRESCO BY SCOTTO
34 E 52nd Street
New York, NY 10022
Carversteak just opened up here in NYC. The restaurant originally hails from Vegas. We gave it a good wallop. Watch this first, and then read on:
Flavor: 8
We had the Kansas City Strip. This was a 14oz piece of bone in meat that was dry-aged for 28 days. It was very slightly overcooked (medium instead of medium rare), but the flavor packed a good aged punch. I think we got a slightly sinewy end steak, and it could have used a little bit of salt.
Choice of Cuts & Quality Available: 9
There’s a good selection of cuts here, showcasing everything from USDA prime, aged, domestic and Aussie wagyu cross breeds, and Japanese wagyu. The only down side here is that they had just two aged selections.
Portion Size & Plating: 8
The portions here match up nicely with most NYC steakhouses, with individual cuts being between 10-20oz, and shared steaks being around 40oz. Plating was basic and clean for the steak itself, but ither items were gussied up a bit.
Price: 7
I took some points here, because I thought that $89 for a 14oz steak was a bit over the top. Especially if it wasn’t a 10/10 for flavor. Other items that were expensive: the martinis and old fashioneds. See below.
Bar: 8
The bar here is a bit small and facing the back, where it splits the restaurant essentially in half, which isn’t ideal for entering, popping a squat, and enjoying a drink while people-watching. That said, the bartenders are excellent and so are the martinis and old fashioneds. The sheer number of selections is overwhelming. The price of $25ea is also a bit high.
Specials and Other Meats: 8
There were no real specials read to us, but we did get the French onion short rib and the wagyu burger. Both needed a touch of salt, just like the steak. The burger also suffers from two downfalls: the bottom of the bun was too hard, and the combo os shredded lettuce, mayo and tomato on top turns into a sort of coleslaw that you just want to scrape off (keeping just the cheese and the grilled onion). Otherwise very nice. Great crispy and well-seasoned fries came with the $32 burger.
Apps, Sides & Desserts: 8
We started with the uni shrimp toast and the steak tartare. Once again, the beef item (tartare) needed salt. Not sure what’s going on here. We both loved the uni toast though, we just wished there was more uni on each one.
The broccolini was nicely prepared, but several pieces were woody at the stem area and needed to be spit out, but the mac and cheese was absolutely perfect in every way (see the video linked above for an images of the broccolini and mac).
For dessert, we tried the lemon tart and a trio of sorbets and ice cream (yuzu, strawberry and vanilla bean). All great.
Seafood Selection: 8
There’s standard steakhouse seafood fare here. We didn’t try any outside of the uni and shrimp toast, but that was one of our favorite items of the meal so it bodes well.
Service: 10
Service was excellent, from the bar (William) to the table (Sean), and the old fashioned cart in between. Management checked on us a few times throughout the meal, and everyone seemed to know their stuff inside and out. Table bread was a pair of very nice pretzel bread sticks with a delicious and soft flavored butter (see the video linked above for an image of the bread).
Ambiance: 9
This place is really nice inside. Behind the bar is an elevator bank and a beautiful, broad spiral staircase that takes you up to a rooftop bar. There is a more intimately lit dining room back behind the bar, and beautiful bathrooms downstairs. I would definitely go back to try more.
CARVERSTEAK
305 W 48th Street
New York, NY 10036
