Category Archives: BBQ

African/Middle Eastern, BBQ, Midtown West, Restaurant Reviews

Braai

September 11, 2015 Johnny Prime 2 Comments

NOTE: This place is now closed

Braai means BBQ in Afrikaans. And South African food is something I’ve never had before. So naturally I had to try this joint. I walked by this a few times and the menu looked really good. So tonight my wife and I gave it a try.

First some cocktails: a bourbon julep and some South African wine. It’s important to note here that they also offer Tusker beer, from Kenya, which I like very much.

Braai has a bunch of tapas for $9 each, or you can man the fuck up and get five for $42 and save a few bucks. That’s what we did.

Top left is sausage, polenta (pap) and tomato. It had a nice pork and beef flavor to it, with a little spicy kick.

Center was deviled chicken liver. I was expecting something whipped and spreadable for some reason, and spicy. These were some more traditional styled liver items… cut up and sautéed in a hearty sauce. Very iron flavored but not grainy or snappy at all.

Top right: meatballs with tomato sauce. The sauce was tangy, and the meatballs were spicy and tender.

Bottom right was fried chicken wings with peri-peri sauce. The wings were crispy and nicely battered, and the sauce was spicy and herbaceous – almost like a salsa. Very nice. I was putting it on everything!

Bottom left was grilled octopus. This had less of a char flavor than I expected, but it was very tender.

At this point we were pretty full, but we kept pushing on. We ordered the ribs (ribbetjies); baby back ribs with a rooibos chocolate glaze (a legume, often used in teas), sautéed spinach and creamy polenta.

This was really good. The meat was tender and flavorful, and the sauce was sweet with a little spice to it at the end, and some depth.

We had to try dessert, seeing as though this is one of the only places that doesn’t just offer creme brûlée, tira misu and cheesecake (though they do have cheesecake). Love those when they are good, but come on! Anyway this place gets it. We ordered something called “koeksisters,” which is pretty much thin, braided fried doughnuts or funnel cake with ice cream and honey on top. Awesome.

BRAAI
329 W. 51st St.
Hell’s Kitchen, NY 10018

BBQ, Harlem

Dinosaur BBQ

March 29, 2015 Johnny Prime 1 Comment

Dinosaur BBQ is a cool meat lover’s spot up in Harlem near the Hudson River. It’s been killing it up there for years now, but I finally got the chance to try it out.

Inside the warehouse/parking garage-esque space there’s a huge bar with a nice selection of brews.

Me and two buddies went with the bucket of cheap shit: six hipster beers for $16.

Then we split the “Family Stylin’ Meal,” which comes with chicken (far left), brisket (top right), pulled pork (bottom right), and ribs (center) with corn bread (bottom) and three sides.

As you can see they even sprinkled some pickles and jalapeños on the sauced items (brisket and pork):

We went with fries, baked beans and mac & cheese for the sides:

The dark meat chicken was excellent, but I felt the breast meat was a little dry. Both the brisket and pulled pork were great. Smoky, sweet, spicy and delicious, especially with the jalapeños and pickles in each bite. The big star(s) for me though were the ribs. They were perfect. As for the sides: the fries needed seasoning, the beans were good – not too soupy and with a good kick, and the mac and cheese was both creamy and crunchy with perfectly cooked pasta. It’s just too bad I didn’t have my good camera with me, because these photos all suck.

Photos from another trip:

Appetizer sampler – boiled shrimp (spicy and tasty), fried green tomatoes (crunchy and tangy), wings (awesome BBQ wings), deviled eggs (creamy and delicious):

Choose Three with BBQ chicken, St Louis ribs, and sausage, with mac & cheese and salt potatoes:

Full rack of ribs with BBQ fried rice and fries:

DINOSAUR BAR-B-QUE
700 W 125th St
New York, NY 10027

BBQ, East Village, Press Reviews

Mighty Quinn’s

September 25, 2014 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

This recent addition to the BBQ scene sits on Second Avenue and draws a pretty big line at mea time. The set up is basically like any old fast food joint, where you stand in line, place your order, and tun wait to carry it away on a tray. The food is fucking delicious; everything from the sides to the mains. My buddy and I tried some sausage, some brisket, some ribs and a pair of delicious sides. Check the food porn – the cool part is you can eat street side: