Category Archives: Press Reviews

Italian, Non-Steakhouse Steaks, Press Reviews, Restaurant Reviews, Rib Eye, Upper West Side

Machiavelli

October 13, 2016 Johnny Prime 2 Comments

NOTE: THIS PLACE IS CLOSED

What a fitting time, the peak of the political season in America, to dine at a place named after the author of The Prince, Niccolo Machiavelli. But unlike the politics of the book or the politicians of today, the dishes at Machiavelli are not deceitful, dishonest or evil. No; they’re real, honest and borderline divine. Actually… I take that back, as a few things about this place were indeed somewhat deceptive, but in a good way. I’ll get to that in a minute though…

I was invited here for a press meal through the restaurant’s PR group, Benvenuti. I went in with my food writer friend Jay, from The Dishelin Guide, to give this place a spin (but not a political spin). Here’s how it went down:

First, the place is really nicely set up. The large black and white checkerboard tile flooring and high ceilings give the illusion that this place is massive and palatial, like Italian architecture of old. But while Machiavelli boasts great elbow room and is set in a large corner property, it still has a cozy neighborhood vibe, especially with the enveloping, throne-like bar seating (great cocktail menu, by the way), antique light fixtures and live piano music. I suppose that counts as Machiavellian deception numero uno.

The meal begins with a basket of focaccia bread that’s served with a white bean paste, lightly drizzled with olive oil. Very nice.

We started with a shared app, the carpaccio. The meat quality was top notch; really soft and flavorful. I detected a hint of truffle, and the peppery arugula was deftly dressed with a bit of lemon vinaigrette that made the meat pop with each bite.

Next we tried two of their pasta dishes, all of which are made fresh, in-house, by the way. First was the tri-color gnocchi. These were light, airy and beautiful.

Before cheese:

After cheese:

The second pasta dish counts as Machiavellian deception numero due; cacio e mele ravioli (cheese and apple) with a sage butter and lamb tomato ragu. Say whaaaaat?!?! While there was no deception about the ingredients on the menu, the marriage of cheese, apple, lamb and tomato was incredibly surprising. I highly recommend this exciting dish. And to think I was somewhat apprehensive about the apple prior to ordering…

Now onward to the entrees. First, a grilled rib eye with rosemary. This comes to the table pre-sliced and boneless, topped with a lightly dressed arugula salad (similar to the carpaccio greens).

The beef was cooked to a nice medium rare, through and through. It was trimmed of most fat, and what remained was soft, mild and edible, like beef jelly.

It was tender and juicy, but just needed a quick hit of finishing salt to knock it out of the park. The best way to eat this was to take a bite of the beef simultaneously with the arugula salad, after brushing off some of the excess herbs that would otherwise leave a bit of bitterness on the palate. I love the smell and flavor of rosemary when used in cooking; I just try to avoid eating the actual greenery. It did provide a great aroma though.

Our second entree was Machiavellian deception numero tre: monkfish that’s cooked osso buco style, right on the bone. You certainly get that characteristically hearty flavor from the process. Totally unique and wild. The flesh is actually injected with fresh herbs too, so a variety of flavors permeate the meat.

For dessert we tried a mille foglie; layers of philo dough with pastry cream between…

…And a chocolate pyramid, which was essentially a ganache with cookie crumble and a rich chocolate sauce at the base.

Machiavelli also offers a large selection of teas as well. I tried a pomegranate oolong with my dessert.

Service here is fantastic. If you happen to meet Tara, she will take excellent care of you, and she really knows the menu forwards and backwards.

MACHIAVELLI
519 Columbus Ave
New York, NY 10024

Other, Press Reviews, Restaurant Reviews, Union Square/Flatiron

Laut

October 11, 2016 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

A friend of mine invited me to this Malaysian and Singaporean joint for an Instagram influencer event. The crew of us obnoxious food shooters sampled a bunch of tasty stuff and shot the living shit out of it for our websites and Instagram feeds. While many of the dishes may not look especially gorgeous, they certainly all tasted excellent.

Fried squid:

Fried okra:

Summer roll:

Fried soft shell crab: delicious.

Breads/Roti: really good.

Chicken and tofu satay skewers, chicken bites, egg rolls, fried noodle wrapper items and wontons: the red ones were the best.

Veggies:

Chopped chicken:

Drunken noodles: great texture, heat and flavors.

Amazing spicy fried soft shell crab soup: a lot of depth.

And one of my favorite things from this cuisine, Laksa. This was coconut curry laksa with squid and fish balls. Warm, comforting and really satisfying with the wide noodles.

Dessert in a take-out box!

There aren’t enough restaurants dedicated to this cuisine. Everything I tried was good, so I definitely recommend giving this place a visit or two.

LAUT
15 E 17th St
New York, NY 10003

Filet Mignon, NY Strip, Other Cuts, Porterhouse, Press Reviews, Queens, Rib Eye, Steakhouse Reviews

Christo’s Steak House

October 11, 2016 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

Christo’s Steak House overall score: 83

A food buddy of mine, Jared from Food & City, set up a nice small press dinner at this joint since we recently got to know the person who runs social media and PR for this joint and a few others in the area. Check out the run-down:

Flavor: 8
While some parts were over-seasoned, some were also under-seasoned on this porterhouse for two. However, the cook temperature was a perfect medium rare, there was an awesome crust on the outside, and the meat was well rested and juicy. 8/10.

We shared among five people because there were other entrees to eat as well, like this sous vide and smoked beef rib.

This baby sits in a temperature controlled bath for 48hrs and is also smoked like BBQ brisket. The result is a really top notch entree that rivals the best smoke houses in town. I think it just needed more sauce. 8/10 (and also mentioned in the “other meats” section).

The rib eye, which I had on a second visit: 7/10

A special strip, topped with onions, sauce and bacon wrapped shrimp: 8/10 – would have been higher if not for the sauce and onions.

Regular strip high 8/10.

Filet also 8/10. Solid and perfectly cooked.

Choice of Cuts & Quality Available: 9
Master Purveyors supplies all the meat for Christo’s, so we are dealing with excellent quality. You can see in the images above that the porterhouse has excellent marbling throughout the cut. Really good quality fat. Everything is aged in house for 21-days, and all the major cuts are covered with some large format options and alternative cuts as well (hanger, skirt, beef rib).

Portion Size & Plating: 8
Portions here are big. We were actually able to get a peek into the kitchen to see the steak cooking and plating process in action.

But these two videos really bring it to life, and in the second one you can see just how huge the portions are.

Keep watching…

Another thing to mention in the plating section is the lobster mashed potatoes. They serve the potatoes directly in the lobster shell. Pretty awesome.

Price: 10
You get a lot of bang for your buck here, with steaks that still pack a ton of flavor but run a lot cheaper than the midtown boys. The quality is the same; it really is. I see the Master Purveyors trucks making deliveries all the time at the places in midtown. Yet, while we weren’t charged for the meal, I think everything only came to about $500. This is insane considering the amount of food, and the same bill in midtown would be $750. I’d definitely come back here.

Bar: 7
This joint has a nice cozy bar and lounge area off to the side when you walk in. I think it makes for a great neighborhood spot to meet up for a drink even if you’re not dining. And bartender Jeff mixes a good martini.

Specials and Other Meats: 8
Since we were guests of the restaurant, the management and staff brought out everything they wanted us to try. That said, there were no specials read to us. In terms of other meats, aside from that awesome smoked beef rib, Christo’s offers lamb, pork chops and chicken, as well as hanger steak and skirt steak.

Apps, Sides & Desserts: 8
We tried a shitload of stuff in this category. I’m just going to drop the photos in and talk briefly.

Classic trio of Greek spreads. Keep in mind, we are in Astoria here, so this is a steakhouse with clear Greek influence.

Lamb gyro tacos:

Crab cakes:

Lightly breaded and fried firm Greek cheese:

Bacon. Delightful.

Why, yes, more bacon please…

Veal meatballs:

Hanger steak egg rolls:

Lobster mashed potatoes – awesome but pricey at $48:

Parmesan and chive fries:

Grilled asparagus:

Steak tartare:

Tri-color cauliflower and blue cheese & bacon mashed:

Trio of apps – bacon, grilled oyster, balsamic figs:

The Calamari and Pepperoncinato Baked Clams were great.

Cheese cake and chocolate lava cake:

The banana crumble martini was killer!

My favorites were the bacon, all the Greek items and the crab cakes. Stick to those and you’re in great hands.

Seafood Selection: 8
Scallops, shrimp, salmon and whole branzino are on the menu here for entrees, and I assume lobster as well due to the presence of a tank in the entry area. We tried the branzino. It was very simply prepared: roasted and de-boned.

Service: 10
The service here is top notch. Everyone is attentive, courteous and pleasant, from the bar to the back of the restaurant. And here comes the usual shot of table bread to boot. I always do it. Don’t know why.

Ambiance: 7
They really do a great job with the space here. It’s cozy, warm, comfortable and has a classic steakhouse vibe. Since this place is situated in the residential neighborhood of Astoria on the first floor of an apartment building, they are somewhat limited in what they can do. While this place is no Keen’s in terms of grandeur and decor, they certainly deliver everything you want from the traditional steakhouse experience.

CHRISTO’S STEAK HOUSE
4108 23rd Ave
Astoria, NY 11105

Italian, Press Reviews, Restaurant Reviews, West Village

Romagna Ready 2 Go

October 10, 2016 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

I was recently invited to an Instagram influencer and PR event at this little Italian joint in the village which was re-focusing its menu for the fall. I tried a few items and snapped pics for good measure.

Mushroom crostini: flavorful, but the topping was a bit too watery.

Sausage: absolutely delicious. I could eat a whole trey.

Pumpkin piadina: I wasn’t really a fan of this, which is a shame because it was the star of the show for the fall menu. It lacked flavor and the pumpkin was a bit too sweet for my savory tooth. It did have a nice texture, however, and the mushrooms were a nice addition.

We also tried some truffle french fries and truffle risotto as well, but I didn’t photograph those items. Both were very good and nice and robust with the truffle flavors.

ROMAGNA READY 2 GO
182 Bleecker St
New York, NY 10012

Brooklyn, Chinese, Press Reviews, Restaurant Reviews

Yaso Tangbao

October 9, 2016 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

Soup dumplings are some of the most amazing things to eat. That burst of thick, viscous deliciousness is like nothing else in the food world. So when two friends of mine hosted an Instagram event at Yaso Tangbao, a dumpling and noodle joint in Brooklyn, I was psyched. First, I captured this footage of the guys making the dumplings. Check it out:

Then, of course, I gorged my face off on this shit. There were three varieties of soup dumpling, the best of which was the spicy (with red powder on top).

These are some of the best I’ve tried. The pouches never ripped or stuck to the paper beneath – and the flavors inside were always robust and packing great depth.

We also tried some other fun stuff:

Along with a shitload of noodle dishes. The one with the meatballs was amazing. Those meatballs are really soft and tender, made with pork.

As far as straight up meat goes, this place also slings some killer ribs.

And while this whole fish dish isn’t on the menu (staff caught it the day before and served it to us special), one awesome thing at this place is a water cooler filled with soy sauce. Yup.

YASO TANGBAO
148 Lawrence St
Brooklyn, NY 11201

Carcass Club/Beast Feast, Chinese, East Village, Non-Steakhouse Steaks, Other Cuts, Press Reviews, Restaurant Reviews

The Tang

October 8, 2016 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

The Tang is a great little noodle bar on 1st Avenue at 7th Street. I was invited here for a PR event showcasing some of their current and forthcoming dishes. Everything I tasted was really fucking good, and, in fact, the noodle quality is probably the best I’ve had in town so far. They’re strong, thick, have a really nice texture and snap to them, and they’re really nicely flavored in all the dishes I tried.

The meats in all of these noodle dishes are outstanding, by the way. One had braised pork belly, one had sliced beef, and the other had ground meats.

Some of the soup noodle bowls are excellent too.

But this place is more than just noodles. One standout item was the sliced beef short rib. These babies are packed with a ton of flavor, and cooked so perfectly. You don’t see short rib presented like this too often, like a real cut of steak on a plate, so I am featuring it here for my steak reviews as well. Short rib can be fatty, and that’s why it is usually either grilled hard with tons of sauce, or braised. But here, it was leaner and notably excellent at medium rare temps, because it was cooked sous vide style for 20 hours. 8/10.

This place is really my speed, especially given this large format pork knuckle/shank dish that will be rolling out on the menu soon. It’s super soft and tender.

I also tried a sesame tofu dish, a salad with soft boiled egg, and some sliced, rolled chicken with chili oil.

THE TANG
120 1st Avenue
New York, NY 10009

Italian, Midtown West, Pizza, Press Reviews, Restaurant Reviews

Angelo’s Pizza

September 30, 2016 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

Through all the years that I’ve lived and worked in midtown, I never once thought to venture into Angelo’s. It’s dumb/arrogant of me, but I always just assumed it was a tourist trap for the people going to see Letterman or Colbert next door. And being just a few streets up from Times Square and right on Broadway, I just assumed it was a shit show, like almost everything in Times Square. Boy, was I wrong.

While it may indeed get crowded at times due to the location, the pizza is definitely on point. They use a nice big coal-fired brick oven that heats up to 900 degrees.

The guys slinging the pizzas work with robot precision, and nearly every pie that comes out looks identical.

They’re not all square, obviously, and in fact these square pies are rolling out on the menu soon. The current pizza menu is quite diverse and full of really nice variations. The one that the guy was making above (at least in most of the pics) was a simple style pie with sauce, mozz, chunks of parm and basil. It was pretty good.

My friends at NYCFoodFOMO and BeFatBeHappy invited me here for an Instagram influencer event to sample and take pics of the food for promotional purposes.

The joint itself is category 1 in my pizza review taxonomy, which means that it’s a pie only place, with no sales by the slice. But it’s also a legit Italian restaurant as well with a fully stacked menu. With all that said, here’s what I tried:

There were two pizzas conceptualized by NYCFoodFOMO and BeFatBeHappy. One had sausage, roasted peppers and pepperoni, and the other had ricotta, garlic, bacon and red onions.

Here’s the first:

And the second:

Both were excellent, and the circular pies were more of a success than the square pies. I think if I had to choose one, the sausage, pepperoni and roasted peppers was the winner.

We also tried some pasta dishes. Three to be exact. The first was a nice and simple bowl of spaghetti and meatballs.

The meatballs were pretty good. Nothing can compare to mom’s, but these did get the job done.

Next up was a carbonara pasta dish with fettuccine and mushrooms.

Not bad! But it just needed a touch of salt. I guess the pancetta in the dish wasn’t as salty as expected.

Finally was a shrimp and pasta dish with added baked mozz on top.

Very nice. And then we moved on to dessert. Tiramisu, cheesecake and vanilla/chocolate mousse pie.

If you’re wondering who these folks are, they’re some of the crazy Instagram food people from the event. Check out the madness:

UPDATES 7/5/17 & 7/23/17

I finally made it back to try a classic style pie. Awesome.

It is now my go-to delivery pizzeria as well.

ANGELO’S PIZZA
1697 Broadway
New York, NY 10019

Filet Mignon, Fusion, Italian, Japanese, Midtown East, Non-Steakhouse Steaks, Press Reviews, Restaurant Reviews, Union Square/Flatiron

Natsumi Tapas

September 28, 2016 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

When I see something that’s marketed as Japanese-Italian fusion, the first thing that comes to my mind is Super Mario Brothers, one of the best video games ever released by Nintendo.

From http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net

But now, since having this meal, the next thing that comes to mind is Natsumi Tapas. Natsumi is the latest venture by Barbara Matsumara, and it focuses on small plates for grazing and larger plates for sharing. She consulted with Italian chef Andrea Tiberi and sushi chef Hiroyuki Nagao to create a dynamic menu that gets increasingly interesting the more you look at it. I was invited in for a press meal with Jay from The Dishelin Guide, so we got to taste a lot of stuff. Here’s what we had:

First, a nice pour of sake from this very cool bottle that houses the ice inside the center without touching the sake and thereby watering it down.

This place also mixes up some really nice cocktails too, by the way, like the EMW, which is made with shiso leaf, sake and gin.

We started with this filet mignon, which was served sliced, tataki style, with a ponzu, garlic and truffle sauce. The truffle and garlic really brought an awesome fusion flavor to an otherwise Japanese flavored dish. While this wasn’t a traditional “steak” in the sense of a steakhouse cut or portion size, I’m still going to score it since it was worth discussing. 8/10. I definitely recommend this dish.

Next up was the tuna tartare martini with avocado and caviar. The orange layer at the bottom definitely had some tobiko mixed in for a nice change-up in texture. Very smart. The mango and basil pesto sauce really made this pop with unorthodox and surprisingly good flavor combinations. Also recommended.

While the flatbread wasn’t exactly the pizza dough crust that I imagined (it was more like a puffy cracker), it did pack a lot of flavor. We tried the spicy tuna caviar flatbread. It wasn’t as much of a fusion as some of the others seemed to be, like the seared salmon flatbread, but it was really delicious nonetheless. If you’ve ever had “sushi pizza” before at some other restaurants, it is somewhat similar to that, and always a crowd-pleaser.

This bowl of green tea gnocchi with asparagus and capers in a light butter sauce was absolutely perfect. Definitely my favorite item of the night, by far. While it leaned a bit more on the Italian side, it was probably one of the better gnocchi dishes I’ve had in town. The green tea flavor was very mild, but the sauce was drinkable. I highly recommend this dish when you go here. Not only was it tasty, but it was also beautiful.

We finished our savory courses with the Squarano roll; seared tuna, seared salmon, kani, avocado, scallion, pepperoncini and green tea aioli. This was pretty tasty, and nicely nestled into the fusion realm with the addition of an aioli and pepperoncini from Italian cuisine. Really, you can’t go wrong with any of their special roll selections. They all looked great.

For dessert we tried the cheese cake tempura, which was nice and crispy outside, and soft like mashed potatoes inside. It had just the right amount of sweetness, and the berry compote on the plate was the perfect way to incorporate a sauce element.

Definitely give this place a shot. It just opened in March and the place was packed to the gills when we went on a Tuesday night at 7pm. The ambiance is comfortable, not too dim, not too bright, not too loud and very spacious, which is a welcome addition to the NYC Japanese restaurant world.

NATSUMI TAPAS
323 3rd Ave
New York, NY 10010

Indian, Midtown East, Press Reviews, Restaurant Reviews, Union Square/Flatiron

Kokum

September 28, 2016 Johnny Prime 2 Comments

NOTE: THIS PLACE IS CLOSED

I’m generally a pretty simple person when it comes to Indian food. I love a few of the popular and Americanized curries, and almost anything in the saagwala family (stewed spinach). In addition, Indian rice like Basmati is far and away the most superior rice that I’ve ever eaten. And who could pass up the amazing tandoori oven breads like naan, or delicious fried samosas? They’re amazing. But that’s such a limited, pinhole view of an incredibly vast and diverse cuisine.

Kokum opened my eyes and my stomach to items I would never think to order. Most of my experience with Indian food in NYC is centered around ordering delivery. What tends to happen is that I end up ordering the same things from the same places because I know that I will be satisfied. That’s lazy, and it precludes a lot of great stuff from ever hitting my palate. For example, I almost never order fish for delivery, from ANY kind of restaurant for that matter, not just Indian joints. I don’t know what it is, but I just never do it.

So when my wife and I came to Kokum for a press meal, we were pretty amazed at the inundation of flavors we were getting from a pair of Indian fish dishes that we probably never would have thought to order. I’ll get to those dishes in a moment, don’t worry. I just want to keep prattling on about Indian food a bit first, because I’m seeing the greatness of the cuisine with a fresh pair of eyes now; I’m re-motivated about the food, and really eager to dive deeper.

Kokum is a great place to do make that dive. It’s been open for three years, it’s captained by a Michelin starred chef, and it’s been reviewed favorably by top notch, respectable food critics from major publications.

Chef Hemant Mathur distinguishes Kokum from the plethora of other Indian joints in Curry Hill by representing four regions in southern India: Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Andhra. With his newly re-envisioned menu, he offers some items that most casual diners like me don’t often see or wouldn’t necessarily think about when eating at Indian restaurants or ordering delivery.

So here’s a run down of our meal. I’m always eager to try beers from all over the world. These two imports, Kingfisher and Taj, were mild lagers with good flavor. I preferred the Taj for the slightly more malty and round flavor at the back end.

These little fried calamari-shaped doo-dads are multi-colored rice crackers. They come to the table at the start of the meal and are fun to snack on.

We were then presented with two shot glasses of warm tomato, tamarind and lentil soup, called rasam. This was delicious, and similar to a hearty minestrone, only with more complex spice flavors. The lentil flavor was strong here, but the soup was strained of any chunks or actual lentils, so it was velvety smooth.

We started with a pair of potato, cauliflower and pea samosas, These had a great crunchy pastry outer shell, and the inside was perfectly cooked and well seasoned.

Next up was lasoni gobi: fried cauliflower bites in a tangy sauce. Imagine a cross between General Tso’s chicken and buffalo chicken wings flavors. I was impressed! They had a crispy outside and the cauliflower was soft and tender inside. The sauce had bits of peppers and onions.

Fish poriyal came out next. This is flaky shredded fish with lime, shallots and mustard seeds, served on a banana leaf. My wife and I really loved this dish. It reminded me of some of the Vietnamese fried rice concoctions that my wife makes at home, only without the rice. Super healthy and very flavorful.

This beautiful web like thing is called appum. It’s a huge bowl-shaped rice crepe that you basically rip up and eat with curries.

Another vehicle for delivering delicious curry to your mouth is Kerala parotta, which is a multi layered bread that comes out steaming in a bamboo dumpling-style basket. Looks like onion rings with bits of potato mixed in. It’s cool bread.

This first curry is kori gassi. It’s a spicy and savory Mangalorean (an ethnic group from the south western coast of India) coconut chicken curry. This was by far my favorite item of the night. It had a great, rich and salty flavor with nicely balanced heat. The chicken was perfectly cooked, super tender, and varied by cut (both dark and white meat portions).

This next bowl is keerai masiyal: spinach, lentils and red chilies in a savory broth. Since this dish had a more soup-like consistency, it seemed to pair better with the rice. This is definitely a solid choice for you health-conscious eaters out there. It packs flavor and its satisfying, but its low on calories and fat content.

Our final entree was meen polichattu, which is roasted cod that’s wrapped in banana leaf with green masala. It comes with a side of diced, fried banana that serve as a starch element similar to a potato side. It had a nice high level of spice, was really tender and was completely devoid of any bones. Lovely!

We tried two items for dessert. The first was rasmalai. This is a cold dish of cheese balls in sweet reduced milk (like a vanilla custard soup) with pistachios. I liked this because it wasn’t too sweet.

In fact, the above cold dessert went really well when you combined it with the warm dessert, gulab jamun. These are warm cardamom dough balls in a honey-flavored and sugary sweet syrup. This was very sweet, so I loved going back and forth with the cheese balls to balance the flavors.

That about does it. I highly recommend trying this place out. I was really impressed and will definitely be back for more.

KOKUM
106 Lexington Ave
New York, NY 10016

Deli, Press Reviews, Queens, Restaurant Reviews

Ben’s Best Kosher Deli

September 26, 2016 Johnny Prime 2 Comments

You can probably count on your hands the number of real-deal, old school, authentic Kosher delis that are still standing in the same place where they started decades if not centuries ago. Ben’s Best is one of those places.

Located out in Rego Park, Queens, it lacks just one thing that places like Katz and Carnegie have in spades: a massive line of tourists that trails out the door and down the block. This place is a small, quaint neighborhood spot that has withstood the test of time and NYC real estate economics for over 70 years, since 1945.

But more importantly, Ben’s Best is serving some really high quality deli fare. This was, hands down, some of the best pastrami I have ever tasted.

Better than Katz, better than Carnegie, better than 2nd Ave. They use a proprietary secret blend of spices to make it their own and differentiate their product from other delis, but the execution is really where it shines. It was juicy, thinly sliced, not fatty and super fucking tender.

I usually prefer corned beef over pastrami, any day of the week, but this place flipped my preference on its head. In fact I even put together a sandwich with both on it, because I was so torn:

Pastrami on top, corned beef on bottom:

Absolutely magnificent, and it wouldn’t be a meal without some pickles and cole slaw:

And if that’s not what gets you going at a deli, then check out this platter of beef cold cuts:

On the far left (above) is rolled beef, something you really can’t find anywhere else that I know of. It’s a deli meat made from shoulder and rib meats that are rolled into a log and then sliced for sandwiches. It’s amazing. Going from left to right (below) we also have thin sliced brisket, roast beef and beef tongue.

That tongue was outstanding, by the way. It almost tasted like really good ham. So for all you Jews out there who keep Kosher but often wonder what ham tastes like, it tastes like Ben’s Best beef tongue.

This joint also does BBQ brisket sliders, which rival any smoke house I’ve been to in the city. Crazy good.

Ben’s is clearly a meat lover’s wet dream, but let me drop some other shit on you guys too. This is a plate of cabbage stuffed with chopped meat. It has an almost sweet flavor from the tomato and carrot sauce in which the meat is stewed.

Beef goulash on egg noodles. Simple and delicious. The meat was so incredibly tender.

Chopped liver:

A mix of sweet potato and regular french fries:

And of course Jewish Penicillin, aka matzoh ball soup:

I was invited here for an Instagram influencer event, so I ate for free, but I wholeheartedly recommend this place. It was a quick 30 minute subway ride on the R from midtown Manhattan, and the subway stop is directly below the restaurant. Not too bad. I’ll definitely be back for that amazing pastrami.