Awesome spot with great wings. The lemon pepper and buffalo were perfect. Crisp, great ratio of meat to skin, and not too drenched in sauce. Can’t wait to go back and try more. Everyone I was with said they liked the burgers and chicken sandwiches.
BEAR BURGERs BACKYARD
740 5th Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11232
First, check out my Ride & Review HERE:
My wife and I stopped in here for a quick meal and drinks at the bar. Here’s what we had:
Montauk Royal Red Prawns
These beauties are served raw over ice and dusted with umeboshi (dried pickled plum). I really liked these.
American Wagyu Tartare
This was probably one of the best tartare dishes I’ve ever had. It came with crispy fried artichoke, fried shallot and ramp oil.
Smoked Pacific Oyster “Tartare”
This was essentially a dressed up tin of high quality smoked oysters, minced up with red onion and aioli, which you then spread on toast points.
Stuffed Chicken Wings
These were stuffed with stilton, pork sausage and scallion. I think there may have been some hatch chili involved too. The flavor was excellent on these.
Potato Ice Cream Sundae
Totally unique. I could taste the potato knowing that it was made from that. but otherwise I might not have. It was not too sweet, which I really appreciated. This was also served with blueberries.
I can’t wait to go back for more drinks and food. Everything was so good!
BAR CONTRA
138 Orchard St.
New York, NY 10002
First, check out my Ride & Review HERE:
This spot recently opened down by Two Bridges, and I’ve been psyched to try it out.
We got five items; three mains and two sides.
1. The Blackened Chicken Sandwich
This was probably my favorite of all the items. It has a distinctly earthy Mexican flavor to it from the Oaxaca cheese and pickled jalapeños. Absolute banger.
2. Chili Quarter Chicken
I expected this to be wetter, spicier and saltier based on what I’ve seen on Instagram to date, but it was still goo. A bit expensive at $9 without a side, but I’d definitely get it again (perhaps the extra hot version though).
3. Salted Egg Wings
These were delicious. No dipping sauce needed! The batter from the salted yolk comes in nice and crisp, and with the wings being slightly smaller than your typical bar room Buffalo wings, you get a perfect ratio or meat to crisp with every bite.
4. Chicken Salt Fries
These could have used a bit more crisp on them, but they were tasty. Also – not too salty! Nicely seasoned, as a matter of fact.
5. Charred Cukes w/Ginger
These were unique! Charring the cucumber softens them a bit and adds a different flavor profile to them that I’ve never experienced before. The ginger sauce isn’t too pungent, so you still get all that fresh cucumber flavor to cool off from the spicy food between bites.
PECKING HOUSE CHICKEN
83 Henry Street
Shop 1
New York, NY 10002
Red Lion is a Bleecker Street bar that’s been around forever. They started offering 50-cent wings on Wednesdays, so me and some buddies took our Zooz bikes out for a ride to check them out.
The wings were pretty good! The best flavor was hot – way better than mild, garlic parm or bbq.
The tacos joint was great. Nice budget friendly tacos at under $5 each, and on Tuesdays they are even cheaper for “Taco Tuesday.”
Here’s a video of the food:
At the end, you can see us grabbing some boilermakers at 169 Bar. $6 beer and a shot!
RED LION
151 Bleecker St.
New York, NY 10012
EL CABRON TAQUERIA
26 Essex St.
New York, NY 10002
First, check out my Ride & Review video HERE:
This was easily one of the best Szechaun means I’ve ever had. I think my favorites were the thrice cooked bacon, lamb ribs, beef cheek, wings and the dry pot pastrami, but the mapo tofu was one for the ages. Wait… was that everything? I can’t wait to go back!
MISSION CHINESE
43 Mott St
New York, NY 10013
Our third BBQ stop in Charleston was Home Team BBQ, just around the corner from Lewis BBQ
Everyone I spoke to about BBQ in Charleston mentioned this place for their dry rub wings, so we saved some room after Lewis and gave them a shot.
The wings were indeed excellent, and far superior to Rodney Scott’s wings. The dry rub had a bit of spice and a bit of sweet. Very nice. We also tried the smoked meatloaf that was on special. It was okay, but not worth getting again in my opinion.
The best sauce was probably the mustard or the HT hot on the far left (not including the Alabama white, which was great on the wings).
HOME TEAM BBQ
126 Williman St
Charleston, SC 29403
First, check out my awesome Ride & Review video for this joint HERE:
Ama Raw Bar has two locations. I met my wife here for happy hour at the alphabet city location to try some of their cocktails and discounted bites. Everything was good. We started with oysters ($1.25ea).
Then we moved on to this nice batter-fried shrimp.
This rice paper chicken quesadilla was unique, but I think it would be excellent if they fried the rice paper wrapper.
The cod cake was nice, a different sort of take on a crab cake using salt cod.
The Szechuan dry rub wings needed a hit of salt and some of that mala numbing spice to really make them perfect. Otherwise, good cook and crunch on them.
“Luscious Mussels” come with a broiled lobster tail and nori fries. These were probably our favorite dish of the night.
Definitely would go back to try the lobster ramen, and also perhaps to try their other west village location.
AMA RAW BAR
190 Avenue B
New York, NY 10009
First, check out my Ride & Review video HERE:
My wife and I went on a little food and bar crawl this past weekend, and The Hairy Lemon was our first stop for a bite. We tried two flavors of wings: spicy orange and ginger sauce, and mango habanero. We liked the mango habanero better, but neither were particularly as spicy as we had hoped.
We also tried their tots. These were nice, but just needed a hint of salt. A nice dipping sauce came with them.
I’d definitely go back to try the burger, and to hang for some UFC fights. It’s a big sports bar with tons of TVs, a pool table, a giant Connect Four game, etc.
THE HAIRY LEMON
28 Avenue B
New York, NY 10009
The Elgin is a great midtown bar with international flare to the menu. My friend Sean, the chef who developed the menu here, recently invited me in to try some of the food, and, of course, to shoot some photos for Instagram. Here’s what we had:
Curry Hill Wings
These dry-rub wings are intensely flavorful and deliciously crisp, and they come with a nice tangy yogurt-based dipping sauce.
Detroit Style Pizza
Although these are more flatbread than Detroit, they are absolutely delicious. We tried the spicy sausage pizza.
Tuna Poke Nachos
These are incredible. This was by far my favorite dish of the night. Make sure you order this when you come here!
Burrata
Very nice. Super soft and flavorful, especially with the balance of sweet and savory coming from the tomatoes, blackberries and strawberries.
Lamb Burger
This thick patty beauty was so flavorful, and with the tzatziki style sauce, it really brought home those Greek comfort food flavors.
Southern Chicken Sandwich
Bacon and pimento cheese sauce with fried chicken? YES! So good. We actually liked this better than the burger.
I definitely cant wait to come back here to try more of the menu, especially the cocktails. We were stuffed! Likely because of the beer.
THE ELGIN
64 W 48th St
New York, NY 10036
I came here with my wife and another couple to try out some of the menu items, as this place just recently opened about a month ago.
We tried two flavors of wings: maple waffle, and everything bagel. My favorite was the everything bagel. They even came with little blobs of creamed cheese.
The popcorn shrimp was addictive. I could easily eat 3 bowls
Massive chicken sandwich, topped with excellent quality thick cut bacon.
Both regular and truffle fries are great as well. And the burger was executed perfectly.
The pork belly was a bit too sweet from the candied orange on top, but otherwise it was very nicely cooked and tender.
They also have some really creative coctails.
Definitely give this place a shot. For bar food, this place has an elegant setting and some really high quality menu items.
LITTLE REBEL
219 2nd Ave
New York, NY 10003
