Category Archives: Midtown East

Italian, Midtown East, Press Reviews, Restaurant Reviews

Fresco by Scotto

April 12, 2026 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

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

Japanese, Midtown East, Restaurant Reviews

Shinpi Omakase

February 23, 2026 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

I took my wife here for a belated Valentine’s dinner, mainly because they offer an all-you-can-eat uni add-on at the end of their omakase. This place was a bit pricey, especially with the sake pairing, but I feel like we got our money’s worth. The pieces were all high quality. In fact, the uni was probably lower in our rankings of favorite pieces here. Anyway, here’s a photo dump of everything they served us:

The sake:

SHINPI OMAKASE
121 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10016

American, Midtown East, Non-Steakhouse Steaks, Restaurant Reviews, Rib Eye

Seafire Grill

October 26, 2025 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

I hit Seafire Grill with some buddies from high school. While this can technically fit into the steakhouse review format, I decided to keep it quick and easy, since the thrust of the menu here is seafood.

Speaking of seafood, we had a nice selection of raw east and west coast oysters to start, along with grilled calamari and Spanish octopus.

Of course I had steak for my main course. This was a nice 8/10. Rib eye, dry-aged on sight.

Nice seared tuna entree.

The sides were all good. We did creamed spinach, truffle mashed potatoes, and caulilini. For dessert, pecan pie and apple strudel.

They also mix a good martini at the bar.

SEAFIRE GRILL
158 E 48th St.
New York, NY 10017

Japanese, Midtown East

Sushi Hayashi

August 23, 2025 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

Sushi Hayashi is one of the “all you can eat” sushi/omakase spots that are trending now in the city. This spot is a pretty good deal. The pieces are all decent, and you get a solid amount of sushi for $98 in the omakase (14 courses). The salmon, shima aji and shrimp were our favorite pieces from the omakase. The wagyu fell short, and there was no uni, but over all this was a worth-while omakase.

Once you’re finished with the 14-course omakase, you get two rounds of “all you can eat” sushi ordering, which is limited to a selection of eel, scallop, lean tuna or fatty tuna. The toppings and garnishes are done away with during this time (just a brush of sauce, and some torching for the fatty tuna), and you’ll be charged $6 per piece for any nigiri that you order but don’t finish. The record is 72 pieces eaten. Insane.

I went with nine extra pieces total during this “all you can eat” portion of the meal; three each of the lean tuna, fatty tuna and scallop.

They really have the system down pat, and they operate like a well-oiled machine.

They’ve created the first fast food style omakase! Highly American! What follows below is a photo dump of all the courses.

Two appetizers:

Ten nigiri pieces:

The roll portion of the omakase:

Round 1 AYCE:

Round 2 AYCE:

Dessert: matcha ice cream.

SUSHI HAYASHI
355 E 50th Street
New York, NY 10022

Midtown East, Porterhouse, Rib Eye, Steakhouse Reviews

Rocco Steakhouse (57th Street)

February 8, 2025 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

Rocco Steakhouse (57th St.) overall score: 86

First, check out my Ride & Review HERE:

Rocco’s recently opened up a new location on 57th just east of Park Avenue. My friend Dom Pepe is the head chef there, so I went in with some other friends to visit.

Flavor: 9

We tried the porterhouse and the rib eye. Both were mildly aged, but perfectly cooked.

Choice of Cuts & Quality Available: 8

Everything here is prime except for the filet, which is common at most steakhouses. I only know of two that serve prime filets (Keens and Lugers). There’s a great selection of cuts here.

Portion Size & Plating: 8

This place is on par with most midtown steak joints when it comes to portion sizes and plating. Nothing is too small, and if anything the portions tend to lean toward the large side.

Price: 8

Again, this place, like their first location, has pricing that’s on par with all the big major steakhouses in the area. I feel like, with Dom at the helm, you’re getting much better bang for the buck, since he is an amazing chef.

Bar: 8

The bar here is actually nice. Big. I would definitely have a drink there again, and the cocktails, spirits and wine selections were excellent.

Specials and Other Meats: 9

The lobster ravioli special was incredible!

I would definitely go back to try more from their specials. Especially if they’re in the meat department.

Apps, Sides & Desserts: 9

We tried the creamed spinach, sauteed broccoli rabe with cherry peppers, beef fat german potatoes, and the mac & cheese for sides. All were incredible, particularly the mac and cheese being my favorite. It was crack!

For starters, we did shrimp cocktail, baked clams, thick cut bacon and the crab cake. All were great, but I think my favorite were the baked clams!

For dessert, we had a tray of assorted cakes, pies, ice cream, and fruit. Classic.

Seafood Selection: 9

Every piece of seafood we tried was delicious, from the cold starters, to the cooked apps, to the pasta.

Service: 10

Service was excellent. These guys are the real deal. They also serve a nice basket of fresh/hot potato chips at the bar, which I love. And the bread basket is a good mix of Italian bread and onions rolls.

Ambiance: 8

They did a really nice job with the build out here. It definitely feels like a mix between midtown and mom and pop steak joints. They have private rooms available upstairs, and a really cozy dining room in back.

ROCCO STEAKHOUSE
106 East 57th St.
New York, NY 10022

African/Middle Eastern, Mediterranean, Midtown East, Non-Steakhouse Steaks, NY Strip, Restaurant Reviews

Leonetta

January 18, 2025 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

First, check out my Ride & Review video HERE:

Leonetta is Chef Ed Cotton’s new restaurant, located in Murray Hill, where the old Brother Jimmy’s used to be located.

Ed Cotton was on Top Chef season 7, and he also heads up the kitchen at Jack & Charlie’s as well, which os one of my favorite places to eat.

My wife and I came here after the new year to run through the menu. Here’s what we tried:

Grilled Octopus Salad

This was a warm salad that ate almost like a salsa. The octopus was cooked perfectly.

Lamb Tartare

This was one of our favorites of the night. The lamb was super tender, and the added items really made it pop, especially the pomegranate seeds.

Tuna Puttanesca

This was my favorite of the three “raw bar” items that we started with. The Kalamata olive and raw tuna combination was divine.

Next we moved on to a pasta dish made with tiny rigatoni and lamb ragout.

The stewed/braised lamb was really delicious. My only critique here would be to make the chic peas fried crispy for some added texture.

We did some charred broccolini on the side here, which was the best broccolini I’ve ever had. Great char, cooked perfectly, wonderful bright flavors.

For our mains, we started with the 14oz strip steak with zataar-seasoned steak fries and harissa ketchup.

This was cooked perfectly. Although there was no dry-aging involved, the flavor still popped due to the seasonings. This is an easy 8/10.

We also tried the fried pork shank shawarma with pickles and zataar-spiced pita bread.

This dish was a home run. The exterior was fried to an amazing crisp. The skin crackled as you cut it.

The meat was cooked perfectly, and paired well with the street-style red and white sauces, like you might see at a halal falafel, lamb, chicken and rice cart.

On the side, we did some roasted mushrooms, which were absolutely delicious. Ed always nails the mushroom offerings.

For dessert, we tried the special panna cotta.

This was topped with orange caramelized pistachios. I absolutely loved it, but it did have a thicker than expected texture. Almost thicker than Labneh or Greek yogurt.

The cocktails here are amazing, so don’t miss the opportunity to go downstairs to Leo’s Famous, their beautiful lounge with a fireplace, for a night cap.

I can’t wait to go back and try the rest of the menu.

LEONETTA
181 Lexington Ave.
New York, NY 10016

American, Burgers, Midtown East, Non-Steakhouse Steaks, NY Strip, Restaurant Reviews

Centurion

July 2, 2023 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

First, check out my kickass Ride & Review video HERE:

If you haven’t heard about this place, it’s a very exclusive Amex Black card-holders joint. You CAN get access to it you have an Amex Platinum card, which my wife has. We were able to snag a reservation for 6:30PM on a Friday, and the experience was incredible. Seriously – watch the video above for the full effect.

We started with some cocktails that we really enjoyed. The stand out for me was the incredibly beautiful and delicious Carbon Martini, made with squid ink!

Our apps were a pair of tartare dishes. Table side wagyu beef tartare, and tuna tartare. Both incredible!

Next, we shared a wagyu burger. This was perfect. Thin slices of tomato, onion, pickles and just a single leaf of Bibb lettuce. Crispy bacon. Melty cheese and a special sauce. Perfect cook temp.

For entrees, we had lamb loin and aged strip steak (Snake River Farms). Both beautifully plated. The strip was 45-days aged, and 10oz.

I think we both liked the lamb slightly better. It came with a killer lamb sausage meatball wrapped in spinach (watch the video). Steak 9/10. Lamb 10/10.

For dessert we had a Lebanese pistachio milk flan called mouhalabieh, and a vanilla eclair. Both great.

Excellent table bread and butter here.

Some of the incredible views:

If you ever have the opportunity to dine or have drinks here, I highly recommend it. It’s definitely worth throwing on your bucket list.

CENTURION LOUNGE
1 Vanderbilt Ave
55th Floor
New York, NY 10017

American, Burgers, Eastern European, Fusion, Midtown East, Non-Steakhouse Steaks, Other Cuts, Restaurant Reviews

Mischa

April 27, 2023 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

First off, check out my YouTube Ride & Review video HERE.

This joint popped onto my radar via Instagram, and I saw a couple of dishes that I really wanted to try when I browsed their menu online, Namely, the mortadella and foie gras terrine, and the dry aged prime rib. There were some pasta items on the menu that looked good too, so I rounded up another couple to give this place a thorough try across the entire menu.

This joint serves eastern European flavors and derives inspiration for dishes from India, the Baltic region, Russia, Scandinavia and more.

The cocktails I tried were split down the middle: One was great, the other was too sweet. If you like margaritas, get this horseradish and cucumber version with smoked salt. Amazing.

Skip on the old fashioned – it’s way too sweet.

We decided to start with the foie gras and mortadella terrine. All of us were excited. It was good, but I think we all agreed that we like both items separate rather than together. Good flavor, thoughtful presentation, etc. It’s just that 2+2=4 in this case, not 5. Math.

Next up was the mushroom patty melt. The bartender recommended this, and it turned out to be our top two or three item of the night. I never would have ordered it otherwise. It was both beautiful and tasty.

It comes with two “long tots” which eat like a cross between tots, fish sticks and knish. Enjoyable.

For the middle course, we tried two items under the pasta menu: spaetzle and kasha varnishkes. The kasha varnishkes were bowtie pasta shaped noodles, cooked al dente, and served with a mix of caramelized onion, couscous and herbs. It was good but a bit heavy on the onion. My buddy said there wasn’t enough butter. The spaetzle was the better of the two. In fact, that was my favorite item of the night.

For the mains, we ordered the braised pork belly, the dry aged prime rib, and a side of saag (Indian style stewed spinach).

The pork belly was good. It had a nice flavor despite some of the leaner portions being slightly dry. Nice touch with the charred lemon.

The prime rib was dry and mealy/grainy in texture. I’m not sure what happened here, because even though it was overcooked there should have been a lot of juiciness left. The dry aged flavor was nice though, at least, but the jus should have been left in a gravy boat on the side rather than poured over the entire plate without asking. The jus was over-reduced and a bit bitter, sadly. Also, at $120 for 20oz it’s way steep, even with the boiled potatoes as a “composed dish” rather than “a la carte” like a steakhouse. 6/10.

Here’s a shot of the saag. I always love this stuff. It’s my go to order at Indian restaurants.

Dessert was a beautiful and warm sticky bun with apple and a touch of flake salt and spices like cardamom. This was a hit.

Over all this place served up a good meal, but not great. I was disappointed by the prime rib and probably wouldn’t go back.

MISCHA
157 E 53rd St
New York, NY 10022

Midtown East, Other Cuts, Porterhouse, Press Reviews, Steakhouse Reviews

Benny John’s Bar & Grill

March 19, 2023 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

Benny John’s Bar & Grill overall score: 83

My wife and I came here as guests of the restaurant. They just opened last week, and they’re the same ownership team behind Atto Prime and Tudor City Steakhouse. Check out my Ride & Review video first, then read on.

Flavor: 9

We had the porterhouse for two. It was pretty great. Excellent crust, perfectly overcooked, and it was very tender. It was a bit mild on the dry aged flavor, and that’s why I took a point.

Choice of Cuts & Quality Available: 9

There’s a good selection of prime cuts here all day long, and everything is aged in-house.

Portion Size & Plating: 8

The plating here is 100% standard steakhouse style, and the portions are all big enough to share when it comes to sides, and most apps and desserts.

Price: 8

Prices have gone up significantly lately in the city, especially for beef. But this place is keeping it pretty friendly compared to others I’ve seen in the area that have really jacked up their prices. A steak for two is still under $120, and most single cuts are under $60.

Bar: 7

The bar here is beautiful, but they only serve wine and wine style cocktails, as they are still waiting for their liquor license.

Specials and Other Meats: 9

There were no real specials read to us, but they did have lamb, chicken, and this absolutely delicious, tender and mild “Serious NY Veal Chop” on the menu. We loved it – 9/10.

Apps, Sides & Desserts: 8

Excellent oysters Rockefeller, creamed spinach and truffle creamed corn. I highly recommend all of these.

For the desserts, I say stick with the creme brulee. The others were good, but not up to par with that one. The cheesecake was a close second, but it ate a slight bit salty. Great creamy texture though.

Seafood Selection: 8

Based on what I had (the oysters) this place is legit for seafood. I’d have to go back and try more to really level this section up though.

Service: 10

Service is impeccable here. Nobody does it quite like these lifelong steakhouse and restaurant industry professionals. Great focaccia and toasty table bread too.

Ambiance: 7

They definitely made the best of this narrow space, which, I think, used to be a sort of mini-market, perhaps Japanese. It looked familiar to my wife and I when we were there. Great job on the renovation, and I think the outdoor seating area is going to be awesome.

I can’t wait to go back and try more steaks!

BENNY JOHN’S BAR & GRILL
8 E 48th St
New York, NY 10017

American, Midtown East, Non-Steakhouse Steaks, Other Cuts, Pub Food, Restaurant Reviews

Albert’s Bar

March 11, 2023 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

Albert’s is a fancy bar that just opened up near Grand Central that features some really nice cocktails and a killer menu. I highly recommend the Salt & Pepper Martini, which is made with celery salt and sun dried tomato -infused vodka.

This joint is brought to you by the folks behind the great upper east side spot The Penrose, so I didn’t expect any slack!

I stopped by one Friday after work to meet my wife for a drink, but we ended up ordering their jojo fries, and their t-bone for two, which is a dry-aged 35oz beast that also comes with two sides for $150. What a deal!