Tag Archives: fish

American, CUISINE, Press Reviews, Restaurant Reviews, Union Square/Flatiron

Amphora

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Amphora recently opened in the flatiron district. After The Lamb’s Club closed, Chef Jack Logue and basically his entire team shifted gears and got to work opening this new spot. It’s a shame that The Lamb’s Club closed, as the space was really beautiful, but I’m happy that we can still get Jack’s food elsewhere.

Amphora is set up around three tasting menus: three, four and seven courses – all available with wine pairings. They do offer some great cocktails as well. We tried the “As Per My Latest Email” and “O.O.O.”

We opted for the four course menu, with an added main, but before the first course comes you you are treated to a few tasty bites and slurps. First is this truffle and rosemary broth. Delicious.

Next is a trio of amuses: a sturgeon cigar, a tomato, and steak tartare. All excellent, but I obviously liked the tartare best.

Then there is some nice warm rosemary brioche with yogurt butter. Super interesting! I loved that butter!

For the first course, we chose the tri-colored beets with goat cheese and the bluefin tuna crudo with watermelon tomato ponzu. Both were excellent. My wife liked the beets better, but I preferred the tuna.

For our next course, we tried two pastas: sweet corn agnolotti and raviolo vitello tonnato. Again, both excellent. Two very different stuffed pastas. One leaning a bit sweet from the corn, and the other more savory. The white wine pairings with these really brought out their unique flavors.

We tried all three of the mains: Atlantic black bass, Rohan duck and citrus Wagyu rib eye. Believe it or not, I liked the fish the best here. It was just so light and flavorful, perfectly cooked, and paired with a nice selection of squash and zucchini.

My wife preferred the duck, which was perfectly cooked with crispy skin on top and nicely rendered fat. Paired with a little tartlet of cherry and also some liver mousse.

Finally, the beef was perfectly cooked and served with potato and mushroom. Absolutely stunning.

For dessert, we tried the milk chocolate mousse with hazelnut and praline, along with the “peaches and cream” (olive oil sponge cake, peach sorbet, and sabayon). Both were great, but we preferred the chocolate mousse.

After dessert, we were treated to a selection of small cookies and sweets. Oreo style, coconut, raspberry jelly,  and cheese cake.

What a meal! I can’t wait to go back and do a full wine pairing with the seven course tasting menu. I highly recommend this place!

AMPHORA
43 East 20th St.
New York, NY 10003

Japanese, Midtown East

Sushi Hayashi

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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

Japanese, Restaurant Reviews

Sushi Fan

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First, check out my Ride & Review HERE:

This joint has a really nice 15-piece omakase for just $85. You get a lot of what would normally be “upgrade” toppings on the pieces, too. Things like uni, foie, etc. Here are some pics of everything we had (minus the hand roll).

My favorite was the wagyu beef with uni on top (obvious?). It was A5 rib eye!

I would definitely go back here again, and the joint is BYOB so that’s perfect! They also offer a super-upgraded 18-piece omakase for $140. But honestly, the 15-course is such a great value that I don’t think I’d get the 18-course.

SUSHI FAN
102 St Marks Pl.
New York, NY 10009

East Village, Japanese, Lower East Side/Chinatown, Restaurant Reviews

Domakase

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First check out this quick Ride & Review video HERE:

This joint offers 13 pieces with unlimited sake for $120. We had about 4 or 5 carafes of the stuff, so we definitely got our money’s worth. Our favotire pieces were the lean and fatty tuna, the foie gras on crispy mochi, and the bowl of uni, ikura and caviar. Awesome! Would go back for sure! Only criticism was the sterile, medical office type lighting being a bit “fluorescent blue,” if that makes sense, and the loudness of the music.

DOMAKASE
23 Avenue B
New York, NY 10009

East Village, Parms, Press Reviews, Restaurant Reviews, Spanish

Kobo by Nai

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The best way to get a feel for this restaurant is to watch my Ride & Review video on YouTube:

But for the traditionalists out there, here’s a breakdown of everything we had:

STARTERS

1. Oysters

These were beautifully presented.

2. Croquettes

Seriously delicious and addictive. The outer shell is thin and crispy, and inside is a delicious explosion of high end Spanish ham and cheese.

3. Mortadella

Yes. With some creamy ricotta on the bottom, this really took the starters over the top.

4. Iberico Ham

This was some seriously high quality stuff. Melts in your mouth!

PASTA

1. Cavatelli

I really dig this spicy beef version of my favorite pasta style, cavatelli.

2. Pappardelle

Probably one of the top three dishes of the night. The Iberico pork ragu was nuts!

3. Curry Lamb Bechamel Lasagna

This is a game changer! Make sure you get this. If you like cumin lamb szechuan noodles, you will love this Italian take on it.

4. Fideua

This squid ink “pasta paella” was my favorite dish of the night. The squid was perfectly cooked, and the pasta was so tasty.

MEAT MAINS

1. Iberico Pork Meatballs

This works as a shared starter too, but I could eat this every day. This is also top three of the meal.

2. Short Rib

So tender and flavorful. Ruben does a similar dish at his other restaurants and all of them are great.

3. Chicken Milanese

This could benefit from a slightly flatter pounding, but there was a sweetness to this from either apricot or honey that was incredible.

SEAFOOD MAINS

1. Whole Fish

Perfectly deboned and beautifully presented.

2. Mussels

Save some sourdough bread to drag through the deeply flavorful sauce that comes with the perfectly cooked mussels.

3. Shrimp

These Spanish style garlic and spicy oil shrimp were absolutely perfect.

VEG

We had the broccolini with Romesco sauce. Even the veg here is off the charts good.

The radicchio salad was also really nice, with poached pears and walnuts.

I’ve said it before with Nai, Emilia and Amigo: Ruben deserves a Michelin star at his restaurants. Everything he puts out is delicious and innovative. He’s one of the city’s most under the radar chefs. So much talent! I highly recommend all four of his restaurants.

KOBO BY NAI
202 Avenue A
New York, NY 10009

East Village, Japanese, Restaurant Reviews

Kissaki

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NOTE: THIS PLACE IS NOW CLOSED!

I took my wife to Kissaki for her birthday since she likes omakase restaurants. This place did a great job. We went with their 13-course tasting menu, swapping out sashimi for nigiri on the sushi pieces, and we also shared a sake pairing (four generous pours that progressed through the meal).

My favorite items were the Santa Barbara uni, the thin sliced squid, the Japanese barracuda, and the Spanish mackerel.

I’m no omakase expert, but this place seemed to deliver very good quality at a great starting price point of $120 (for the nigiri – add $60 for the sashimi).

My only gripe: they should offer a combo of both nigiri and sashimi, since some of the nigiri sushi looked really interesting with wild toppings and flavors, while the sashimi pieces were more traditional and plain. A mixed piece menu would be a great way to get a taste of both modern and traditional.

KISSAKI BOWERY
319 Bowery
New York, NY 10003

Lower East Side/Chinatown, Restaurant Reviews, Spanish

Cervos

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My wife and I finally tried this spot. It’s been getting very popular lately in the food scene, mainly because of the crispy shrimp heads seen here:

They paired nicely with the house hot sauce.

They’re delicious! But so are the other items they offer, like the mussels escabeche:

The fried skate wing:

And the piri piri chicken with french fries:

Fries were perfect, chicken was juicy! Great cocktails as well.

We’ll definitely be back to try the Manila clams and a few other items that looked tasty.

UPDATE! Clams were pretty good, but I probably wouldn’t order them again in terms of portion size.

These Louisiana white prawns were excellent. I would definitely order them again. There were five on the plate.

CERVOS
43 Canal St
New York, NY 10002

Other, Restaurant Reviews, West Village

Dame

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My buddy Nick took me on a little British food tour in the West Village that started off at Dame, a relatively new pop-up style joint that only offers their incredible fish & chips on Fridays and Saturdays. Take a look at this perfection:

They also sell wines and other nice provisions.

But I have to say, these were the best fish & chips I’ve ever had. Really light and crisp outside with nooks and crannies galore in the fried batter. Tender and juicy inside, hot and steamy. Really great quality fresh fish, filleted and cleaned on site – no bagged or frozen bullshit. And absolutely perfect thick, crispy fries… I mean CHIPS.

Make your way over here for this special treat. You won’t be disappointed.

DAME
85 MacDougal St
New York, NY 10012

American, Burgers, Diner, Non-Steakhouse Steaks, Other Cuts, Press Reviews, Restaurant Reviews, Union Square/Flatiron

Chat n Chew

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This local diner is in the vein of the American classic in feel, but with a bit less traditional menu items.

They have a great selection of cocktails, which are part of their happy hour menu as well.

I was impressed with the food. I tried a lot of stuff so here it goes:

Mac & Cheese

Great flavor on this and a nice blend of cheeses.

Asian Grilled Chicken Salad

Loved the sesame balsamic flavors on this.

Korean Wings

These are not batter fried in the traditional Korean style, but they are still sticky, sweet, spicy and crisp.

Fish & Chips

These are perfect. The best I’ve had, actually. The cod is juicy and flakey, and the batter is perfectly golden brown and crisp. They get hit with a dusting of curry too so the flavors are great.

Burger

This 10oz monster is great. Classic style, cheddar, LTO. Comes with fries for $15.

Crab Cake

This was nice and meaty. Also comes with fries and coleslaw.

Flatiron Steak

Lean and flavorful, this baby can be eaten with just a good sear on the outside. 6/10.

Coca-Cola Cake

Wow. They re-reduce the Coke back into a syrup and that gets mixed into a chocolate sponge and topped with crispy chocolate cookie bits, and served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Really nice.

Give this place a shot! I know I will be back.

CHAT N CHEW
10 E 16th St
New York, NY 10003

East Village, Nolita/Soho, Press Reviews, Restaurant Reviews, Thai

Fish Cheeks

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My wife and I came here for a friend’s birthday lunch. Here’s all the stuff we tried:

DRINKS

Watermelon Spritz: Aylesbury vodka with Aperol, fresh squeezed watermelon juice and Prosecco.

Thai Old Fashioned: Mekhong Thai spirit with Angostura, orange, kaffir lime and spiced chocolate bitters.

APPS

Calamari: fried calamari, cilantro, dried red chili, tamarind and fish sauce glaze.

Zabb Wings: fried chicken wings with chili, lime and mint.

Shrimp in 3 Crabs Sauce: lightly cured raw shrimp with lime juice, garlic, bird’s eye chili and mint.

Yum Som-O: pomelo, cilantro, fried shallot, apple blossom, toasted coconut flakes, peanut and tamarind dressing.

Grilled Pork Cheeks: Compart Duroc pork cheeks served with Jeaw sauce.

Market Oysters: served with fried shallots and nam jim seafood.

ENTREES

Coconut Crab Curry: southern style curry with crab meat and sea beans.

Short Rib Massamun Curry: grass fed short rib braised for 12 hours, potatoes and peanuts.

Crab Fried Rice: crab, rice, egg, scallion, cilantro and cucumber served with nam jim seafood and prik nam pla.

Steamed Fish with Thai Herbs: whole striped bass, chili, lime, mint, cilantro, cilantro and lemongrass broth.

Seafood Pad Cha: stir fried shrimp, scallop, squid, wild ginger, green peppercorn, basil, string beans and Thai eggplant.

SIDES

String Bean & Pork Cracklings: sautéed with dried chili and garlic.

Sautéed Cabbage: with garlic and fish sauce.

Spicy Corn: with grape tomatoes and string beans.

DESSERTS

Sticky Rice & Mango:

Coconut Ice Cream:

Okay, so that would be a shitload of dishes to review individually. I can tell you honestly that every single dish I had here was incredible, and that’s even including the vegan and vegetarian dishes. My favorites were the calamari, wings, shrimp in 3 crabs sauce, pork cheeks, crab fried rice, steamed fish, seafood pad cha and beef curry.

FISHCHEEKS
55 Bond St
New York, NY 10012