Category Archives: CUISINE

Burgers, Nolita/Soho, Pub Food, Restaurant Reviews

Ear Inn

October 5, 2014 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

My buddy, whose opinion I value when it comes to food, swears by the burger at Ear Inn, and also the atmosphere here. Here he is, giving you all the finger in front of my beer:

It’s an old timey bar, been around for quite some time. It’s housed in a historic building on the far west end of Spring Street in Soho, and it used to sit on the Hudson, before the landfill was added upon the building of the twin towers.

The burger here is solid, and hats off to my friend who pointed my appetite toward this joint. The star of the show is a nice 8oz fucker served with a salad and roasted potatoes. Nice – I commented that it tasted like a good steak as I was eating it. All it needs is a potato bun and it’s a winner. Take a look at the food porn below:

EAR INN
326 Spring St.
New York, NY 10013

American, Flash Deals, Midtown East, Restaurant Reviews

The Stand

October 5, 2014 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

My wife scored a sweet bottomless drinks brunch deal at this little place that had a nice menu. I was torn between the duck eggs benedict and the crab cake eggs benedict. I went with the crab cake one, and my wife went with the portobello burger. Both were delicious. The side salads were a little bit overdressed (more nudity needed), and there seemed to be a disgusting and annoying abundance of flies near our seats in the back (near kitchen door), but otherwise this place was nice. Nice spicy bloody marys, good pineapple mimosas, tasty greyhounds and friendly staff, like our waiter/bartender Graham.

THE STAND
239 3rd Ave.
New York, NY 10003

Burgers, Food Halls, Midtown West, Restaurant Reviews

Genuine Roadside

October 1, 2014 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

NOTE: THIS PLACE IS FUCKING CLOSED! Such bullshit…

After hearing good things about this place, and the fact that it was listed in a top 10 or 15 places to get a burger under $10 list, I had to try it. And why not? I love Gotham West Market. If by some wacky turn of shame this place was bad, I could always hit The Cannibal or El Colmado.

Check out the retro condiment area:

Here’s the full menu:

I grabbed myself a smokehouse burger, which has jalapeño mayo, smoked gouda, bacon, and BBQ sauce on it. This was excellent, especially washed down with a nice shake. I ordered vanilla cardamom, but I was not really able to taste the cardamom.

Shit was good, and the fries were nice and crisp. I’d put this above Burger Joint easily, and I paid the exact same price for both meals:

But I wasn’t done there. For dessert I had a fucking classic burger: lettuce, tomato, special sauce, and cheddar. This was great too.

It was even better with American, as was my photo, on another visit.

Now all that’s left to try is the double cheeseburger, and the buttermilk batter fried chicken sandwich. Fuck yeah.

UPDATE – So I went back and put down a double cheeseburger, the buttermilk fried chicken sandwich, an order of fried pickles and a spicy Mexican chocolate shake. Fucking delicious, everything. This time I was definitely able to taste the spice in the shake. The apple slaw on the juicy, crunchy chicken sandwich was the perfect topping to go with it. Add some Texas Pete hot sauce on that bitch and it is heaven. The double cheeseburger was incredible. Nice flame broiled flavor, nicely cooked, juicy, cheesy and delicious without being sloppy. I even enjoyed the fried pickles. Nice and crisp.

And here’s the William:

Breakfast here is pretty fucking fantastic too. I had a fried green tomato BLT with an egg on top. It was hands-down the best breakfast sandwich I’ve ever eaten:

My wife had the chicken & waffles, which were perfectly executed, and came with a really kick-ass maple butter to slather on top.

UPDATE 9/3/17

Went back in to try the fried green tomato, chicken sandwich and double burger again. Still excellent as usual. And I grabbed a nice show of the burger again.

GENUINE ROADSIDE
Gotham West Market
600 11th Ave.
New York, NY 10036

Burgers, Deli, Long Island, Restaurant Reviews

TJ’s Hero Shop

September 26, 2014 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

This little place makes some really great sang-witches. One day my wife and I went over there and picked up five different selections and brought them over to my parents so we could all try.

We tried the Louisiana Lightning (grilled cajun chicken with lettuce, tomato, onion and spicy stealth sauce), the Reuben (my favorite of them all), the Stealth (roast pork with lettuce tomato onion and stealth sauce), the Philly Cheesesteak, and the Big Steer (essentially a cheeseburger sandwich). All were excellent, but the Reuben really stole the show, with the Big Steer and Louisiana Lightning coming in close behind. Perhaps the Super Steak would have been the better choice than the regular Philly, as it comes on toasted garlic bread!

Louisiana Lightning:

Philly Cheesesteak:

Reuben:

Big Steer:

Stealth:

TJ’S HERO SHOP
524 Mastic Rd.
Mastic Beach, NY 11951

Lower East Side/Chinatown, Pho, Restaurant Reviews, Vietnamese

Thai Son

September 25, 2014 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

This was our old standby for Vietnamese food in the old neighborhood. It’s not the best around, but on average it was better for the things we ordered every time. Certain other places had items that we loved that were not on the menu here (like the avocado shake), but this place was cheap and consistent, so we frequented it pretty regularly. Some of the highlights: summer rolls, spring rolls, pho, banh cuon, and that wacky shredded ice drink with all the sweet beans, carrots and jelly thingies in it.

THAI SON
89 Baxter St.
New York, NY 10013

Brooklyn, Latin/Mexican & Caribbean, Restaurant Reviews

Habana Outpost

September 25, 2014 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

I was really hoping for a great burrito here, something to rival my pure love for Charly’s, but I was disappointed. I came here for a quick dinner before a concert at the Barclay’s Ccenter. All signs pointed to this being a great meal, but ultimately it was just average. The burrito I had was actually crappy. Dry, no cheese, and light on flavor. I guess it was healthy for all the asshole smelly hippies over in Brooklyn these days. The cuban sandwich, on the other hand, was delightful. I’d eat that again, but I am fairly certain I can find an as-good cuban sammy if I were drunk and blind in Hell’s Kitchen. You can skip this place, but I do admit that the outdoor drinking is pretty fun, especially for a concert pre-game.

HABANA OUTPOST
757 Fulton St.
Brooklyn, NY 11217

Banh Mi, Midtown West, Pho, Restaurant Reviews, Vietnamese

Cha Pas

September 25, 2014 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

Cha Pas is a pretty good little mostly-Vietnamese restaurant in Hell’s Kitchen. They serve up some pretty good food here, but the prices reflect a place that is not like the downtown joints. This is more expensive. For some dishes, it’s worth it, but for others, not so much. That said, everything I’ve had here is very good. I’ve tried the banh mi, the pho, the Vietnamese chicken wings, the clay pot pork belly, and the chicken curry. No real disappointments to speak of, and the Vietnamese coffee is very good. They also have some more difficult to find Southeast Asian beers as well, and a really cool painted, exposed brick wall on the inside.

CHA PAS
314 W. 52nd St.
New York, NY 10019

Indian, Midtown West, Restaurant Reviews

Baluchi’s

September 25, 2014 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

UPDATE: THIS PLACE IS NOW CLOSED

My wife and I have alway sheen big fans of Baluchi’s because of their consistency with the dishes that we like, and their amazing lunch specials and dinner combo meals. At lunch time, nearly everything is half off, and that includes weekends. At dinner, they have combo meals for something like $16 that come with naan, rice, a main dish, and an appetizer. You really can’t beat the price. We were happy to find a new location near our apartment, which is being run by a gentleman who is trying to bring the recipes back to a more authentic Indian cuisine as opposed to the Americanized versions at the other locations. I’m always a big fan of the saagwala chicken here – it always delivers exactly what I want.

BALUCHI’S
493 9th Ave.
New York, NY 10018

American, Burgers, Midtown West, Restaurant Reviews

Thalia’s Dollar Oyster Special

September 25, 2014 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

NOTE: THIS JOINT IS NOW CLOSED!

Thalia over on 8th Avenue has an amazing oyster deal. EVERY DAY from 7:00pm through 1:00am they have dollar oysters, and they are GOOD. The times I have gone, they were all nice quality, clean Bluepoints. What a steal! And with a great drink menu, this place is the perfect spot for grabbing a quick bite and buzz.

On a second trip for oysters, we had a full meal here. I had the burger. It was essentially my LGBT sandwich with a burger patty in the mix. While it was really nicely cooked, it needed just a bit more seasoning, as did the fries.

The fries had a great texture and flavor – just lacked a little salt.

My wife had pasta made from zucchini, which was nice and light, and topped with beans, mushrooms, and cheese.

For dessert we shared a velvet chocolate mousse. It had some cake on the bottom which I didn’t like as much as the mousse portion, but it was nice.

Check out this great drink I had too – really refreshing and tasty:

On another trip I had the spaghetti. Really simple but well executed. I found the sauce to be a bit too sweet, so I slapped some globs of the kalamata olive spread into it (the spread comes with the table breads). That made it perfect.

*DOLLAR OYSTERS NO LONGER AVAILABLE*

THALIA
828 8th Ave.
New York, NY 10019

Burgers, Flash Deals, Midtown West, Pub Food, Restaurant Reviews

Iron Bar’s Pig Wings

September 25, 2014 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

“Pig Wings” are making a big showing now on bar and restaurant menus. WTF are they, you ask? They are small portions of bone-in pork that have been trimmed down to look like little drumsticks of sorts, with a hunk of meat surrounding the bone. I figured I would mention these fuckers since they are pretty good at Iron Bar over on 8th Avenue and 45th Street. They were crisp and juicy, with a really great dipping sauce to boot. I’m hoping to see more of them at other spots in the future.

I came back to this joint when I picked up an Amazon Local deal for $20 that scored me $40 worth of food and drink. Pretty sweet deal. I tried their Iron Burger, which had gorgonzola, grilled onions, and crispy prosciutto. Fucking sweet. Cooked perfectly, lots of funky flavor from the cheese, and good juiciness without going overboard. The fries were excellent too – nice battered style, really crispy, nice and soft inside.

My buddy picked up the Juicy Lucy burger, which is a patty stuffed with cheddar cheese. He gave it the thumbs up and said it was a great burger. Looks beautiful, right?