My wife and I stopped in here to try some stuff at the bar just before they transitioned from the lunch shift to the dinner shift. Here’s what we had:
Vietnamese Beef Carpaccio:
This was awesome. Great herbs on top, nice tender American wagyu beef, raw, thinly sliced, and dressed nicely with fish sauce, shallots, and crispy garlic.
Crab Cakes:
Also awesome. These were basically patties made from egg, pork, and lump crab. The dipping sauce served with this was incredible, and if you take a bite each time with some of the Thai basil, you’ll be in heaven.
Pho Hanoi:
The northern style pho had a nice cinnamon aroma, but it was more mild on flavor than it smelled. There was a generous amount of quality beef in the bowl, along with nicely cooked noodles.
Banh Mi:
We ordered the traditional Banh Mi, but one glaring thing that stood out as not traditional was the presence of lettuce on the sandwich, and the absence of daikon. We still liked it, and the bread was very good, but we took the lettuce off.
Duck:
We ordered the crispy roasted duck as well. The sauce was a bit sweet, so it was important for me to eat each bite with one of the dried chili peppers that came with the dish. The little supremes of grapefruit helped cool it down afterwards.
We also tried four cocktails, all of which were really interesting. They definitely sit outside the box of traditional cocktails.
Overall I liked this place and would probably go back. I think there may be a bit of Thai influence in the dishes, but I enjoyed.
Phe is a small Vietnamese coffee and banh mi shop on Forsyth Street in Chinatown. I picked up two banh mi sandwiches and drank a fish sauce caramel iced coffee while waiting for the food. The coffee was delicious. Don’t let the presence of fish deceive you. As for the sandwiches, they rank in my top three, along with Banh Mi Co Ut and Banh Anh Em.
The bread is so good here, made in house. I got both the ham (traditional) and crispy skin roasted pork belly. The other option they offer is tofu (skip). The Cake Dealer approved.
Between these, the crispy pork belly was my winner, but I know friends who feel otherwise. The Cake Dealer agreed with me though, so that speaks volumes. There was a hint of something spicy in it, and there was also a cured egg yolk spread of some kind, I think, that really made it pop.
This spot has swiftly become known for their stiff drinks and small bites. My wife and I tried a pair of their martinis: the pickle, and the clean dirty. Both were great.
We moved on to small bites, which included mini burgers, mini glizzies, and shoestring fries. These were all delicious. I was surprised to see the burgers cooked to a nice medium and still having decent thickness for the patties.
Although a bit expensive, I would definitely go back and try more stuff. Go give this place a shot!
I finally got over to Royale to try the burger that I’ve heard so much about. It was good! We ordered the Royale with cheese (not the smash burger).
This was probably about a 6oz patty, perfectly cooked to medium with nice cheese melt and cheese coverage.
Bun could use a little work, but it had a nice toast on it, and I appreciated the thinly sliced tomato, onion, lettuce and pickle on the side. Fries were good. Natural cut style, not too salty but good and crisp.
Tallow Steakhouse just opened in midtown, and is connected to the Shaver Hall food hall, boasting it’s own private dining room with a streamlined, simple menu. Check out the Ride & Review below:
Flavor: 8
We tried all three steaks here; the picanha, the hanger and the filet/tenderloin. We liked them in that order, with the picanha and hanger each scoring a solid 8/10, and the filet coming in the back at 7/10. I felt like the filet was a bit over-salted, but still super tender and enjoyable. The other cuts were just more interesting. We tried each of the three sauces available (salsa verde/chimi; “Tallow” steak sauce, and au poivre). We liked the Tallow sauce the best. Both the filet and the picanha initially came out to our table overcooked. We didn’t even have to say anything though. As soon as the waiter saw what the server brought out, he sent them back. Good man!
Picanha (8/10):
Hanger (8/10):
Tenderloin (7/10):
Choice of Cuts & Quality Available: 7
The selection here is limited to just three boneless cuts; tenderloin/filet mignon, picanha (aka coulotte or top sirloin cap), and hanger. While that means fewer points for this category, it also means that the kitchen has a much better focus on preparing them correctly. Don’t skip this place due to an artificially low score. The nature of my review categories harms this place rather than helps it. I respect this place’s dedication to attempting to execute just three cuts to perfection. All the cuts are prime grade, from what I understand, so the quality is there. Nothing is aged, but their butcher shop next door in shaver hall seems to offer some aged cuts. I’m keeping a 7/10 score here as a placeholder so that the total score doesn’t drop artificially low as a result of my flawed rating system.
Portion Size & Plating: 9
This place offers 7oz, 8oz or 9oz portions (with each steak having it’s own size). Plating is nicely done with each steak being in its own cast iron skillet, which then sits on a plate that is filled with fries. Nice and simple.
Price: 10
This place is a steal. The price is fixed at $49 for each cut, and your meal comes with a delicious salad and lots of really nicely cooked fries. You’d be hard-pressed to find a better deal for a 7-9oz cut of prime beef with all of that.
Bar: 9
The bar here really nice, with views of 5th Avenue. They mix up some nice steakhouse-themed drinks. My wife got a bresaola old fashioned, and I had a filthy martini.
They also offer half priced Happy Hour drinks at the bar from 5-6pm, along with a special bar-only burger that I need to try.
Specials and Other Meats: 7
There are no specials on the menu and no other meats offered (like chicken or lamb). This place is strictly bread, salad, French fries, steak, bone marrow and dessert. On my next trip I’ll try the focaccia bread, the marrow, and the other dessert (sourdough brownie / chocolate mousse). Again, I’m keeping a 7/10 score here as a placeholder so that the total score doesn’t drop artificially low as a result of my flawed rating system.
Apps, Sides & Desserts: 10
Everything else that came with our steaks was perfect. The salad was nicely dressed and came with some really delicious croutons.
The French fries were well-seasoned and perfectly crisp. I forgot to ask them if they actually use tallow for frying.
We tried two of the three desserts: their chocolate chip cookie and a tart raspberry posset, which was sort of like a pudding. We loved both of these, especially when eaten together.
And, yeah, the cookie looks like the losing end of a fraternity hazing ritual in which the last guy to nut on a cookie has to eat it. But it was super delicious – it tasted like melted vanilla ice cream.
Seafood Selection: 7
There is no seafood on the menu here. Nut up. I’m keeping a 7/10 score here as a placeholder so that the total score doesn’t drop artificially low as a result of my flawed rating system.
Service: 10
Service was excellent here. Re-read my note from the flavor section about out waiter – he was super knowledgeable about all the cuts, by the way. Top notch.
Ambiance: 8
This place is really nice inside. I’m not sure what I was expecting coming here, but this exceeded whatever I had in my mind. Perhaps the idea of it being connected with Shaver food hall next door made me think this was going to be too casual. I would definitely go back again, and very much plan to.
TALLOW STEAKHOUSE
436 5th Avenue
New York, NY 10018
My buddy Dave, who I used to work for as a butcher, is a member at Flyfish Club, so he took me and a friend as guests. Chef Capon really worked us hard, so we were insanely full at the end of this meal.
Starters: green bean hummus (incredible); hamachi crudo; octopus carpaccio (also top notch); crispy rice topped with wagyu, tuna, truffle and caviar (a favorite for me); oysters and shrimp cocktail; and sushi rolls.
Mains: bay scallops in the style of escargots (really inventive and unique); pork chop; trio of pasta (casarecce with pistachio pesto, spicy crab and tomato rigatoni, and lamb agnolotti); fries.
For a view of the pasta, check out the video I linked above.
Star of the show: Caesar on a bed of Milanese style chicken.
Dessert: strawberry short cake; cookies with ice cream.
This was an incredible meal. I want to go back to try the omakase with my wife.
My wife and I came here for a quick meal and really enjoyed everything we tried. She had been here soon after they opened for a quick meal at the bar. Now, Corima was awarded a Michelin star and even has a fancy tasting menu. We opted for an a la carte meal, and I’m glad we did. Let me get into it.
We started with two recommendations from the waiter, Francisco, who was AWESOME, by the way…
The first recommendation: Their sourdough flour tortilla. This is CRACK.
It comes with a sort of mole butter, too. I could eat pounds of this stuff. When you go here, do not skip this. I’m not kidding. It doesn’t seem like much, and it’s hard to describe, but this is fantastic.
The second recommendation: Their Beef Cecina Tlayuda. This was essentially like a beef carpaccio on a crispy tortilla. Raw thinly sliced beef on top, lots of flavor packed underneath with alliums and such. This was my favorite dish of the night.
Next up was an absolutely perfectly cooked hamachi collar. It came with a spicy aioli, but the fish was so beautifully cooked and seasoned that it wasn’t necessary.
After that was another seafood item: The spicy surf clam toast with Chinese sausage and super thin sliced tomato. The toast was sourdough. This reminded me of a panzanella.
The duck enmolada was super unique. Think of this like an enchilada, but with a mole sauce instead of a chili-based sauce. Despite this being our least favorite dish of the night, we still vvery much enjoyed it. Literally nothing was left on any of our savory plates.
For our final savory course, we had the 120-day dry aged NY strip steak. This was about 6oz, pre-sliced, perfectly cooked to medium rare and topped with a veal brain Bearnaise sauce! Served with it were some jus roasted white asparagus spears grilled kolrabi cabbage. This was a 9/10. So good.
We ordered one dessert but they sent out all three! Incredible service here. We ordered the chocoflan, thinking it would be flan. It turns out it was more like a brownie topped with whipped cream and ice cream. It was delicious. Unexpected, but delicious. This was my wife’s favorite.
The rhubarb tres leches cake was served with a hibiscus sorbet. It was so light and flavorful. What a treat.
My favorite dessert was the mango granita sorbet with spicy tamarind chamoy and candied sakura leaf. So unique. Spicy and tart, with a bit of sweetness in there to round it out. And doesn’t the plating look kinda like Plankton from Spongebob?
I will definitely be back here for more. What an incredible meal. Put this place on your short list!
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 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
