Category Archives: CUISINE

Carcass Club/Beast Feast, Restaurant Reviews, Spanish, West Village

Bartolo

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First, check this little video out:

This meal was incredible. We started off with the anchovies with butter, the terrine, the crab and uni pintxos, and the pork belly chicharrones.

These were all top notch and incredible. Tough to choose a favorite, but maybe the chicharrones.

For mains, we had the tripe, the foie gras lentils, and the cochinillo asado (roast suckling pig).

The tripe and the pig were shop stoppers, and the pig came with a really nice salad and fries.

We ate everything but the hoof.

We finished off the meal with this nice flan dish.

I can’t wait to go back and try the steak and roast suckling lamb specials.

BARTOLO
310 W 4th Street
New York, NY 10014

Brooklyn, Pho, Restaurant Reviews, Vietnamese

High Lua

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My wife and I stopped in this small Vietnamese joint for a quick lunch. I had the turmeric noodles with pork and shrimp, and she had the special pho.

Both were decent, but not at the level of our favorites. It did hit the spot though.

HIGH LUA
182 S 2nd Street
Brooklyn New York, NY 11211

Burgers, Nolita/Soho, Pub Food, Restaurant Reviews

O’Nieal’s

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This joint has a great burger menu, and I’m glad I finally made it in for a taste. They offer a burger and beer special for $20 (no fries though), or you can get the burger with fries for $20 (no beer). I went with the Grand Street burger, with American cheese.

Nice medium temp on the inside.

I will definitely be back to try more.

O’NIEAL’S
174 Grand Street
New York, NY 10013

Japanese, Queens, Restaurant Reviews

Gyu Kaku

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Gyu Kaku is a Japenese BBQ chain that serves up some great grub at a good price. We ate like fat kings and drank like poor sailors, all in, for just $120. Can’t beat that with a bat!

GYU KAKU
44-45 21st Street
Long Island City, NY 11101

German, Lower East Side/Chinatown, Restaurant Reviews

Loreley Beer Garden

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After all these years in NYC, I finally made it over to Loreley Beer Garden for a bite and a drink.

The 7-sausage platter was amazing. I enjoyed both the tots and the fries as well.

There’s a great selection of beer (obviously), wine and cocktails, and the place gets pretty decked out for the holidays.

LORELEY BEER GARDEN
7 Rivington Street
New York, NY 10002

East Village, Pho, Restaurant Reviews, Vietnamese

Moc Mac

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This new Vietnamese joint specializes in hot pot, but their regular menu items are pretty great too.

We tried the pork jowls, the baby clams, and the beef pho. All were awesome, and I think the pho here is my favorite of all time. Also huge props to the wagyu betel leaf wraps. I really loved those as well.

The hot pot we ordered was a mix of seafood and beef. I felt the broth was a bit too sweet, but over all it was very good.

MOC MAC
79 2nd Avenue
New York, NY 10003

Lower East Side/Chinatown, Other, Restaurant Reviews

Binondo

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My wife and I had been meaning to try this spot for a while. The day after Thanksgiving, we gave it a shot.

First, the complimentary egg drop soup was fantastic. I could eat a gallo.

The chicken sisig bites were more like cold chicken salad than the sisig I expected. But they were still good.

The butter shrimp were perfectly cooked and came in a delicious sauce that went well with everything, especially rice.

What better way to come down from Thanksgiving than with a 3lb cripsy pork shank?

This was an insane deal at $50.

We finished off with banana and jack fruit egg rolls and guanabana ice cream.

Delicious meal. I will definitely be back for some of the stew dishes, a proper sisig entree dish, and the lechon. Also worth noting – this place serves up some really unique and delicious cocktails.

BINONDO
50 East Broadway
New York, NY 10002

Chinese, Lower East Side/Chinatown, Restaurant Reviews

Yong Chuan

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My foodie friends and I hit this place before the holidays for our annual “Friendsgiving.” My wife and I had ordered delivery from here before, and we liked everything we got. It was time to go in for a proper sit-down meal.

Here’s what we had:

The duck was by far the favorite of the night, with the dumplings coming in second. From prior delivery orders, I can also recommend the kung pao chicken.

YONG CHUAN
90 Clinton Street
New York, NY 10002

American, Lower East Side/Chinatown, Non-Steakhouse Steaks, Other Cuts, Restaurant Reviews

Bufon

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Bufon is a new meat and seafood focused joint in the lower east side. My wife and I tried five items from a menu that we really wanted to ravage. We definitely plan to go back to try more items.

Sunchoke

This was fantastic. Really nice, fresh and mildly starchy.

Halibut

The sauce on this was crack. It was some sort of buerre blanc with bottarga.

Pork Chop

Delicious. Served with butter beans and chopped up Chinese sausage. Super unique.

Picanha

Roasted to perfection. The fat was delicious as well. Scored and rendered to become a beef gelatin of sorts. Skip the vinegar based Creole salsa and get the au poivre for a more classic Sunday roast feel. 9/10.

Crispy Confit Potato

I didn’t expect a fancy hash brown, but it was really good.

No dessert was offered yet. They literally just opened. Interior decor still a work in progress, and the windows still needed to be cleaned!

BUFON
78 Rivington Street
New York NY 10002

Italian, Lower East Side/Chinatown, Parms, Restaurant Reviews

Tre

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My wife and I stopped in Tre for their weekend happy hour menu, which is a great deal and runs from 2-7pm.

We started with some cocktails, which were excellent. The espresso martini and aperol spritz were both well made.

We tried five items.

The fried calamari was dry and rubbery. Skip these.

The sautéed broccoli rabe was tasty, but at $13 it was too small of a portion size (this was from the regular menu, not the happy hour menu).

The fried artichokes were great. Nice crisp, good seasoning, tender.

I also liked the linguine al limone. For a discounted happy hour deal, this was a great buy. Lots of garlic though.

We also ordered the chicken milanese from the main menu. This was perfectly crisp, tender inside, pounded thin, and topped with a nice arugula and tomato salad.

Keep an eye out for the operating fee, which is a 4% charge added to your bill. Not sure why they don’t just raise prices instead. On the flip side, they also offer a cash discount.

Would definitely come back to try more stuff. Give this place a shot.

TRE
173 Ludlow Stree
New York, NY 10002