Mega Ramen at Totto II in Hell’s Kitchen (51st & 10th) – no need for ordering extras on this. It’s a chicken-based broth (REALLY good, by the way – not your average bullshit chicken stock). So hearty and fatty, and topped with tons of different kinds of pork meat. I refer to this one as the pork pool party. $15.
Here’s a shot of the Paitan ramen that my wife had:
Ambiance:
On a recent visit we tried some other stuff. First was a bowl of seared uni with rice, seaweed, and scallions. This was nice and earthy, and I liked the taste of a cooked sea urchin better than raw.
I had the paitan chicken ramen. Not even close to as good as the mega ramen with pork, but i probably worked wonders on the budding cold that I had brewing in my system.
My wife had the veggie ramen, which was surprisingly really good. The broth was peppery and had a kick to it. In fact, I liked the veggie ramen better than my chicken paitan ramen.
TOTTO – HELL’S KITCHEN
464 W 51st St
New York, NY 10019
TOTTO – MIDTOWN WEST
248 E 52nd St
New York, NY 10022
After gaining fame upon hearing that the president likes to sneak away and break his diet here, this joint came on my radar as a must try. There’s a little spot just a couple of streets away from me, so I got to sink my teeth into some grub here one night on a “bang bang” steakhouse, burger joint night.
I went with the large double cheeseburger. It was nice. Juicy, lots of gooey cheese, seasoned nicely.
The fries were tremendous in size. I ordered the smallest size and they put them in a paper lunch bag that was almost 3/4 full with the fucks. Pretty good too. A little greasy, but all were crispy even after carrying them home in the bag.
This is a pretty solid place, and I’ll definitely be going back.
A second visit was excellent. Cheeseburger (2 patties) with fresh jalapeños, onion, lettuce, tomato, pickles and mayo.
I came here to the Union Square location for the first time with a few buddies before watching one of the US World Cup games.
I had a breakfast burger of some sort, which came with ham and egg on top of that bitch. It was really good, perfectly cooked too, as you can tell from the cut shot.
This was exactly what we needed before stuffing our bellies full of beer before the game, and hours of screaming and yelling for our team.
On a second visit I had the classic cheeseburger. The breakfast burger was better, in my opinion, and the bun is still in need of improvements. Switch to potato!
My wife had an asiago turkey burger, which was good but a little rubbery. I guess that shit happens when you eat turkey.
We did try some wings and an app that was essentially a fried pickle and pastrami fritter. Pretty good showing.
The down side is that they wouldn’t honor the wings or happy hour specials at the tables, despite the bar being filled.
Last item was the smokes shake, which was very nice. The roasted marshmallow on top really brought those flavors home.
Here’s the place that has pretty much been voted the undisputed heavyweight champion of the burger shops. Lines galore, out the door, at nearly every location at any hour of any day – even the sabbath, where you will most certainly find bad, rule breaking NYC Jews cramming both meat AND cheese into their non-Kosher bellies. Throw some bacon on that motherfucker and it’s a one way express ticket to hell, my friends. This burger is amazing. What’d I have? The smoke shack burger, along with some fries, a vanilla shake and a Chicago dog for good measure. Because why the fuck not?
I love that I live about half a dozen streets away from this little spot. The food is so cheap and so good at this midwest import joint. Lots of people give this place the old “ehh, it’s okay” treatment, but people… come on… The burger patty is thin. So what? There are two of them, and they have such a delicious crispy coating of grill mess that the flavor is out of this fucking world.
Shakes are really good, and fries are thin but natural style, with the skin on some. Very nicely seasoned and crisp. Go online and buy a $20 gift card and they throw in an extra $5 on the house. Can’t beat that shit in my eyes.
The Frisco Melt and Steakburger are solid secondary menu choices as well:
All American is an absolute MUST if you are ever out on Long Island. The place is basically a landmark at this point. My parents used to go back when they were in high school, which is just down the street from the restaurant.
The burgers are solid. Basic thin style burger patty, but the taste and atmosphere is nostalgic. A throwback to a simpler time. Everything is delicious, so you really can’t go wrong.
My wife and I have seen this place in passing for many months now, and we were always curious about it. Tonight I gave it a try. I knew right away it probably wasn’t a real-deal Japanese ramen place (Kung Fu is Chinese, not Japanese), so I was sort of expecting the worst. It turned out to be pretty freaking tasty though. It’s definitely NOT ramen. The flavor of the broth/soup I had was more like a mix between Vietnamese pho and standard Chinese noodle soup.
I ordered the house special “ramen,” which was a clear-ish broth with sliced beef, shrimp, a hard boiled egg, baby bok choy, cilantro and hazelnuts. I ordered it spicy, which meant it came with a blob of the house spicy sauce (the red stuff in the middle of the pic below), which was really tasty. A little bit of that shit goes a long way. I pulled more than half out just because I didn’t want my nose running and my upper lip sweating into my bowl. It’s also more like a hybrid between standard Chinese hot pepper (like the dry chili pepper flakes you get with oil when you order noodles) and Japanese spicy paste for ramen.
I am definitely going back here to try the other items. This soup was really fantastic. The beef was packed with flavor and very tender; even those ripples of fatty tendon stuff were like butter. I’m actually curious as to what cut of beef it is. The shrimp were not boiled to shit either, like I expected. They were cooked relatively nicely. And the egg was the best tasting hard boiled egg I’ve ever eaten. Not even kidding. The seasonings penetrated deep into the center. Maybe they boil them in broth or soak them in broth after they’re cooked? Whatever they’re doing, it’s fucking working!
One thing to beware of: the not-so-sneaky service charge. They added 15% to my bill without asking.
I thought that was shitty, and, in fact, I was prepared to leave them a bigger tip! I had it in my head that I was going to just leave $15. Oh well. Their loss. I handed the waiter a $20, and when he retuned my change to me I just left the $0.92 remainder. Still a pretty good tip!
UPDATE!!! I tried the fried ramen, which is essentially just like a lo mien dish with all the same components from the soup. It was tasty and not too greasy, but I like the soup version better.
The soup dumplings were excellent – I could eat these all fuckin’ day. Give them a few minutes to cool down so you don’t burn the fuck out of your mouth. I like to plop one into a soy sauce bath before eating. It helps cool them down, and gives it some earthy flavor.
On another visit I tried the roast duck “ramen.” It was the same tasty broth but floated with some hacked up pieces of roast duck. For the most part, the duck was not really edible. Too much bone and rubbery fat, and not enough edible meat.
Stick with the beef “ramen” at this joint and you will be as happy as a pig in shit. This other item we tried was the cold ramen. Essentially this is lo mein style noodles that are cooked really nice to al dente (and probably hand made), then dressed with a peanut-flavored sauce and topped with cucumbers, tomato and shrimp. I’ve had better, but this was pretty tasty.
KUNG FU LITTLE STEAMED BUNS
811 8th Ave
New York, NY 10019
I saw posters for a new joint opening up in my hood. A GRILLED CHEESE JOINT!!! Not knowing when the doors would open, and being anxious to try out the grub, my wife and I took a slightly longer walk over to a location already in operation on 50th & 7th.
Since I have been on a massive burger kick lately, naturally, I ordered the Melt Shop Burger. It comes with pepper jack cheese, cheese sauce, burger sauce, caramelized onions, and sweet pickles (wish it was half sour), all on sour dough toast that’s grilled to perfection. It was full of cheesy, oozy meltiness.
My wife had the original grilled cheese (American on white) with some added fried chicken and bacon inside. This was great too – absolutely perfect mix of ingredients.
On the side, we had an order of loaded tots: bacon, cheese sauce, grated parmesan cheese, and sliced jalapeños. These could have been a bit more crispy, but they were good even though they turned to much under the “load.”
Best item of the day, however, goes to the fucking nutella fluff milkshake. Holy shit… If you don’t know what fluff is, it is spreadable marshmallow. When I was a kid, my mom used to make me peanut butter and fluff sandwiches. The elevation of fluff with nutella and a bit of chocolate in a shake format was fucking brilliant.
It was also nice to see that they had several bottles of sri racha sauce there like any other normal condiment. YES!
You guys should definitely check this place out some day. I see big things happening for this little franchise. The deals they offer make it even more worth your while, like $3 Abita beers and 50% off your first delivery order (Go to www.meltshop.com and use promo code SAYCHEESE).
I noticed a sweet little Groupon deal for this place the last time I was browsing the site. For $10, you get $20 worth of food. I jumped on it, not fully realizing that this place was way the fuck up on 87th and 1st Avenue. Inconvenience aside, my wife and I walked up after spending the day on Roosevelt Island to do some photo exploring.
Here’s what we had:
Fried artichoke hearts. These were tasty, juicy, crisp, well seasoned, and came with a really nice horseradish cream dipping sauce. A bit pricey at almost $9, but pretty good.
The burger was pretty good. Nicely cooked, nicely seasoned, a good amount of cheese, and the potato bun was just right. I went with American, lettuce, tomato and onion.
We ordered some “seasoned fries” to go with it. They looked beautiful but completely lacked any salt. The seasoning used on them reminded me of one of those Mrs. Dash type “salt substitute” disasters. Also, they weren’t very crisp. Disappointment, although I must admit they LOOK awesome:
Moral of the story here: The Groupon deal is definitely worth it for the burgers. Maybe try the regular fries though.
Flavor: 9 (downgraded to 8 after subsequent visits)
True to the Del Frisco’s brand, the steaks here really pack a donkey-punch of flavor. I went with the standard rib eye, which is boneless and comes in at around 16oz. of crisped goodness. It was cooked perfectly, had tons of soft, flavorful, edible fat, and it was juicy. The only down side was that it was a bit on the thin side for my liking. About one inch thick… I mean thin… What am I at fucking Applebees? But hey – it WAS delicious. And I was actually surprised they were able to get a good sear and crust on it without overcooking. Impressive skills from the chef. My wife had a trio of filets (on special). Each was wrapped in applewood smoked bacon and then topped; one was Oscar style (crab meat + Hollandaise), one was mushroom & red wine reduction, and the last was fois gras (best one because it added some much needed fat into the filet). And now I will take this time to rant about something that happened with the trio… Only one bite of one steak succesfully merged the bacon with the meat in proper cooking temps. The problem is with the method… wrapping shit in bacon…. People … I love bacon just like any other trendy asshole with a bacon themed t-shirt who posts bacon-related crap on Facebook … but there is a time and place to use it. The idea behind wrapping shit in bacon is to impart fat into something, and/or give things a smoky flavor. This is great – a wonderful concept… but it needs to be executed properly – EXACTLY – for it to be a success. Inevitably the bacon wrapping problem boils down to one of two things: EITHER (1) your meat is overcooked because you need to make sure the bacon is fully cooked before you serve it… so prolonged cooking time overcooks the star of the plate, which is the filet… OR (2) you undercook the bacon, leaving it rubbery, so that the steak is not overcooked. But then you end up serving disgusting half-cooked bacon, which is a health hazard if not just an incredibly shitty thing to do to bacon. Please… Unless you are among the ranks of fucking Thomas or Hubert Keller, then you need to go fuck yourself if you are wrapping good meat with bacon. And if you are either of them, I would hope you are wrapping meat with caul fat rather than bacon, since it essentially melts into the meat. If it MUST be done, then please half-cook the bacon first BEFORE wrapping the meat, and while the meat is cooking you can spoon some bacon grease over the top to make sure the flavor is imparted into the meat. /endrant
Choice of Cuts & Quality Available: 8
The MEAT selection here is pretty much the same as the Double Eagle location around the block (seafood and other meats selection varies). They offer an upgraded version of each type of meat as a special; a boneless strip and a bone-in strip (16oz vs 22oz), and a boneless rib eye and a bone-in rib eye (same ounces as the strips). They had a great selection of filets: small (8oz), medium (12oz), and bone-in large (special) at 16oz. They also had a trio of filets on special (4oz each). All around this is pretty good. No porterhouse, so I had to take an extra point.
Portion Size & Plating: 8
My steak was 16oz, boneless. That’s a good-sized slab of meat – a little on the small side if you have a good pair of balls swinging between your thighs – but it’s still a pound of flesh, and not as small as the one at Dylan Prime. They had a broad range of sizes. Filets came in 8, 12, and 16oz portions, and even 4oz in the trio plate. Strips were either 16 or 22oz, and same with the rib eyes. Plating was basic: beef + plate.
Price: 7
Prices here range from $37 for the pussy filet to $60 for the manlier upgraded cuts of steak. My regular menu rib eye was $42. That’s a pretty good price for a pound of perfectly cooked meat, however, the other items were a bit too pricey ($16 for 5 shrimp, $5 a piece for lamb sliders, etc). At the Double Eagle, it seems more worth it for the higher prices – maybe because of the atmosphere. See below and make your own judgments.
The price is wrong, bitch.
Bar: 10
The bar here is pretty cool, and definitely a good place to hang out after work if you work in midtown. It butts up close to the windows that look out into the Rockefeller Center area. I imagine it gets a good crowd in nice weather when the patio seating is available. They also have a nice fiery oven for cooking the flatbreads and pizzas right next to the bar, so you can sit there and watch the flames. The martini was made just right to boot – and $3 cheaper than at their other establishment around the block.
Specials and Other Meats: 8
As I said earlier, on special there were lots of meats. A strip, a rib eye, a filet, and a trio of filets (pictured below – they came with asparagus as well). This isn’t really the kind of place for “other meats,” and I guess to that end it isn’t really a proper “steakhouse” either. They have sandwiches on the menu, and some plated dishes that take on the alternative meats like chicken, veal, beef short rib, and lamb (app).
Apps, Sides & Desserts: 7 (updated to 8 after subsequent visits)
No shellfish here (oysters/clams). We started with an order of cocktail shrimp and the lamb sliders. The shrimp were good, almost peppery, but there were only 5 for the whopping $16 price tag … and they weren’t that big: their small size didn’t match their large price. They did come with a nice dipping sauce that was some sort of horseradish, cream-based thingy. The lamb sliders were tasty and potent. They came topped with arugula, roasted red pepper, tzatziki sauce and goat cheese. I enjoyed them so the hefty $15 price tag for three wasn’t as bad as the shrimp. For sides we had Parmesan & sea salt fries and truffled mac & cheese. Both sides were too salty. The mac & cheese was unbearably salty, but the truffle taste was really good. I just wish they held back with the salt. The fries were more doable – they had some nice chopped up herbs on them too. For dessert we had nutella bread pudding. This was hands down the best dish of the night. Crispy coating, juicy middle, incredible flavor, topped with coffee ice cream… man… I will go back just for that.
apps, sides, and dessert
Seafood Selection: 7
They offer salmon, tuna & sole by way of “the sea” here. No lobster, no oysters or clams. A shame, but at least they have the famous and delicious Del Frisco’s crab cake. Stick with that and you are set. But, again, you probably aren’t coming here for a full-on steakhouse experience. It’s not that kind of place.
Service: 10
The service was good. No real complaints. There was very little interaction as it was a busy time. Unlike traditional steakhouses, here you won’t get a basket of bread with your water or drinks (unless they forgot about that). Hmm… maybe they did forget… because they also forgot to bring sugar out for my Cappuccino.
Ambiance: 8
As I said above, it isn’t a typical steakhouse setting. It’s more of a concept restaurant. It’s a lot like a gangbang – you go in and out, it’s loud, busy, social, lots of people coming, there is use of a back door entrance, etc… That’s fine, but I have judging standards to which I need to stay true. This isn’t some subjective bullshit like sexual harassment in the workplace or The Beatles vs The Stones. This is truth. Okay then – onward…The wait staff are all dressed nicely but not traditionally in suits or jackets. They have both men and women taking orders and serving. The decor was modern, and the vibe is loud, happy hour, after work crowd chaos. It’s definitely not the same class of restaurant as other places I’ve rated, mainly because the Del Frisco’s “Grille” brand is marketed toward a more casual and social dining atmosphere. If you want a more sit-down and take-your-time kind of place, then go to the Double Eagle around the block. The bathrooms are nice though – four single user rooms with a dim, clean and modern look. I was almost tempted to have King Richard the Turd usurp the coveted Porcelain Throne and squat over The Tepid Pool to unleash a reign of brown terror the likes of which Manhattan has never seen… but I refrained from that conquest.
cross section of a rib eye: left side is the fat cap, right side is the “roast” side, as I like to call it.
UPDATE: 09/19/14
Check this out… My buddy got this email from Del Frisco’s Grille about a crazy burger & beer deal. The details were as follows: double cheeseburger, fries, and any pint of beer for only $17.50! Needless to say, we jumped at the opportunity.
I am a big fan of the Del Frisco’s brand, and despite not giving this location as much accolades as the Double Eagle site, one of the best in the world, I am still a loyal patron. I’ve heard great things about their burgers in particular.
Here’s the burgerporn:
Verdict: the meat was cooked properly, well seasoned, and had a nice ratio of cheese to meat. The tomato was nice and cold, contrasting with the hot burger and cheese. Downside: it was a bit bread, as the bun was big, but on the positive side there was no dog or flopping of the bottom due to burger grease. I liked it a lot.
I chose the parmesan sea salt fries. They were really flavorful, but a bit limp. Perhaps another session in the deep frier would take them to the next level.
Okay so all’s well, right? Wrong. The bill came and, to our surprise, we were being charged way more than $17.50 each! As it turns out, the NYC location is apparently an exception to the $17.50 deal. The price is supposed to be $24.50. Now, this all makes perfect sense in hindsight, as the regular price for a burger is something like $18.50 WITHOUT the beer. Also NYC rents are astronomical. It only makes sense that they would have to charge more for the food here. We asked Chad, the manager, if they’d still honor it, being my friend had actually received TWO emails with the $17.50 price. There was no way around it. Chad explained that the price could not be altered. He told us that he didn’t have a button on the register to change the price of the burger. We were a bit upset, but I reassured him that I DID like the burger. When I pulled out my card to present it to him, as I do at the end of every meal, he suddenly remembered the “oh shit, it’s Johnny Prime” button on the register. “We can adjust the price of the beer,” he said. Well, hey, that works for us! “You were in here before,” he remembered. “Yes, for steaks,” I answered. Chad even remembered where my wife and I sat! Wow! Anyway, he had a new, adjusted bill printed up, in which we were not charged for the beer.
My buddy pays close attention to these sorts of things, still pointing out that we were over-charged by $2 from what the ad said as we were walking home. I don’t really blame him, because that $17.50 price was really the whole reason we even went. There was no limitation on the email, and no exclusion of NYC in the fine print of the ad. But I also really didn’t care and wouldn’t have minded; I’ve paid some hefty bills in my day, and as long as the food is good, I am generally fine with it. But in keeping with the stellar service of the Del Frisco’s brand, Chad earned the Grille another point for service to make it a full 10. This location really can’t compare with the Double Eagle, but at least now I know I will definitely be coming back at some point to try some more items off the dinner menu. Chad: we humbly thank you for making it right on the $17.50 issue. You’re a stand-up gentleman.
UPDATE: 7/18/17
I went back for an influencer event and got to try (and re-try) lots of stuff.
The Porterhouse: 9/10
This was awesome. It had a good pepper crust, nicely cooked, and both the strip side and filet side were both tender and juicy. My only issue is that it seemed kinda small.
The NY Strip: 9/10
This and the porterhouse were both on point. Really great job cooking this bad boy.
The Rib Eye: 8/10
This suffered slightly because it was over-salted (you can actually see a track of it along the left side of the cut in the photos below). Despite what looks like a lot of inedible fat on this baby, it was all really soft beef jelly.
The Tenderloin: 7/10
This bone-in “filet” was just a bit blah in comparison to the other three cuts we tried. It was cooked nicely and it was tender, however it just fell flat and lacked the character that the others had.
All of the other sides, apps and desserts we tried were good.
Pizza
Tuna Tacos
Shrimp Cocktail
Philly Cheese Egg Rolls
Lemon Cake; Creme Brulee Cheesecake; Coconut Cream Pie
Also not pictured: creamed spinach with bacon, mac and cheese, and the burger again. The creamed spinach went nicely with the mac and cheese, together in one bite. The salt from the creamed spinach added what was lacking in the mac. Given how much I enjoyed all these sides, apps and desserts on this visit, I added a point to the score. However with an average new steak rating of 8.25, I had to round down and lower the flavor score from 9 to 8. In the end, the total score is still the same at 82.
By the way – this filet mignon burger is fucking incredible. ew addition to the menu.
Prime rib was 8/10
DEL FRISCO’S GRILLE
50 Rockefeller Plaza
New York, NY 10020
