Category Archives: Carcass Club/Beast Feast

Carcass Club/Beast Feast, Chinese, Flash Deals, Fusion, Japanese, Nolita/Soho, Restaurant Reviews

The General

July 28, 2014 Johnny Prime 0 Comments

My wife purchased a steak for two deal at this Latino steakhouse down on 14th street, but soon after the joint closed down. WTF! Anyway, the restaurant group honored the deal at one of their other joints called The General. We had heard some good things about it, so we were happy to take the deal to that location. Instead of steak, though, we went with their Peking duck. It was fucking amazing.

So the deal went like this: any two apps, then the Peking duck, a side, and any dessert to share.

Drinks were not included but we had some good ones. I had a blueberry compote and vodka drink called “The General’s Elixir.” Garnished with a sprig of rosemary for aroma. it was nice. My wife had a traditional sake box.

We started with the seared toro – normally a $30 menu item. It was really nice, delicate, and packed with flavor and just a little bit of heat from the jalapenos.

Then there was the Kate roll, which involved Alaskan king crab, salmon, and a cucumber wrap. Really fresh and delicious. We were sort of wishing that we tried the artichoke and hamachi app instead, but this roll was really good. If the Peking duck wasn’t to filling, we would have tried that as a third app.

Then the shit hit the fucking fan, and this bitch came out to the party:

Here’s the actual presentation after slicing, with the steamed buns and everything. This was one of the best Peking ducks we’ve ever had. The skin was crispy, yet juicy. The meat was tender and moist, packed with deliciousness. It came with sliced scallions, cucumbers, and pineapple. And that’s a little sauce pan of watery hoisin sauce to drizzle on your buns. Fuck yeah!

The only down side: those beautiful red chili peppers were NOT sliced and presented with the duck. Sad.

The rice we ordered as a side was a bit greasy for our liking, but it was really tasty, with shrimp, Chinese sausage, a whole bunch of other yummy tid-bits, and topped with a fried egg. My wife makes a much better fried rice, but this was fine for me as a side.

For dessert we shared an assortment of frozen treats and pops called “The General’s Freezer.” It was like they took inspiration from a little bit of everything you’d find on an ice cream truck (toasted almond, strawberry shortcake, ice cream sandwich, etc), elevated them to gourmet, miniaturized them, and served them in pairs so we could each try one. This was fun!

Some decor:

THE GENERAL IS CLOSED

Carcass Club/Beast Feast, Japanese, Ramen, Restaurant Reviews, West Village

Takashi

July 18, 2014 Johnny Prime 2 Comments

To celebrate some good news, we decided to grab some meat at Takashi, a place which so craftily served us some delicious beef ramen just a week or two prior. For the run down on that, scroll down to the bottom of this review, or check out The Great Noodle Chase post.

This time around we wanted grilled beef the whole way. No broth. No noodles. Just the protein. And that’s kinda what Takashi is all the fuck about! They ONLY serve beef. No pork. No fucking chicken. BEEF. And not only that, but it’s all top notch kobe quality, and they ain’t afraid to serve up the nasty bits – the offal. Fuck… This place even has testicles on the menu, and they have no shame in putting the words BEEF BALLS on the fucking menu! Needless to say, this fucking place is made for guys like me.

First came some small dishes of Kim chi, bean sprouts and cabbage with soy ginger dressing. Yeah, I ate it…

Next was the raw sea urchin on top of a nice slice of kobe chuck flap with wasabi, shiso leaf and seaweed paper. This dish is called niku-uni. It was really clean and delicious. I could easily eat a dozen of these shits, no problem.

Then came the soft beef shank steamed buns with spicy mayo and scallions. These were tender and juicy, and fucking packed with bold flavor.

Then there was this awesomeness. Aged kobe prosciutto (whaaaaaat!?!!) with thinly sliced blue cheese and micro scallions, topped with a soy hazelnut honey mustard seed jam. It was earthy and robust. The characteristic aged flavors were highlighted with a nutty, funky-ass barnyard kick from the cheese. Yet it didn’t destroy the pallette. Props to the chef.

Then the grill heated up and the meats came out. Essentially the grill is just a heater coil element like what you have inside an electric oven. I think NYC has some shitty law that bans open flames in dining areas. So this is not technically the traditional open flame yakatori style you find in Japan, but it did fill the craving for grilled meat.

All of the meats were marinated in the house special Takashi sauce, and served with a small dish of sesame oil for dipping. They could have maybe brought out some lettuce leaves to wrap the meat, or a crunch element like fried crispy onion or shallot to sprinkle on top. The meat by itself was good, but I can see how maybe some people would want to mix up the textures a little bit.

Beef belly was the first plate of yum to come. Delicious. Not too chewy, not too fatty. It was cut about a quarter inch thick.

We ordered the chef’s selection of meats as well.

Here’s what came in that plate:

The front left is 1st stomach (cows have 4 stomachs, morons). It was chewy, and we were warned that this would be a lot of mouth work to get through. Why even serve it this way, I wonder? Better to braise it slow and low I would think.

On the front right we have beef heart. It cooked up like a very lean meat: good for a nice quick even sear.

The back right is 4th stomach. This was way more tender, thicker, juicier and flavorful than 1st stomach.

That’s liver on the back left. This was my least favorite. It was gamey, mealy, and very irony. I guess for my taste, liver is best served in pate form.

In the center are the sweetbreads. These glands were creamy and smooth. Very nice, with a great crisp.

The last meat we tried were the cheeks. This was the best of them all. It was sliced thin like bacon, and they crisped up nicely on the grill. Perfect.

Then we saw the table next to get the nose to tail beef platter.

Fucking bastards. We asked for it when we sat but they said we needed 4 people to order. Bullshit. We definitely could have finished it all, and I wouldn’t have minded paying 60pp for two instead of 30pp for four. Oh well. Maybe if there’s 4 of us next time…

Dessert was Madagascar vanilla soft serve ice cream, topped with soft chewy mochi balls, soy powder, sweet red beans, gold leaf and salted caramel sauce. Thankfully the sauce was served on the side. It was too bitter for our liking. The ice cream itself was great, and good with the sweet beans.

Pretty solid meal. It was a little pricey, but definitely enjoyable. I’d definitely go back to try out some more shit.

MIDNIGHT RAMEN

Real deal beef ramen DOES exist. I heard about some late night ramen joint in the west village called Takashi that serves up an all-beef broth ramen on Friday and Saturday nights only, from 12:00am to 2:00am. It was tough, but I ended up getting a seat for my wife and I to slurp up some of this delicious shit. We started with some beer and took in the surroundings:

As I mentioned, it’s a beef broth, but it contains crispy beef intestines, FUCKING BRAISED KOBE BEEF BELLY!!!, a soft boiled egg, and alkaline ramen noodles. The little blob of red you see in the middle is the spicy paste that my wife got with her bowl. I prefer no spicy paste, as it masks the beef flavor too much for my liking (though I DO love very spicy foods):

If you’re in town overnight on a weekend and are up for something bold and adventurous, give this bowl a try. The only problem is that you will need to try for a reservation on the Monday prior at 5pm. That’s when they start taking reservations. I emailed on Tuesday afternoon for my rez and they were already booked solid. They asked if I wanted to be on a waiting list in case someone cancels: I said yes. I found out on Friday at about 4:00pm that they had an opening for me and my wife at midnight. SWEET!

NOSE-TO-TAIL BEEF

I finally got to try the nose-to-tail cow feast here, thanks to the good people at Tabelog. We started with some really amazing apps though:

Kobe beef tartare:
This was delicious. Clean, earthy, cool, and lots of texture. Our awesome waiter Reese mixed in the quail egg for us after patiently waiting as we snapped photos of all the apps.

Soft boiled egg with beef prosciutto and caviar:
This was difficult to eat. The glass egg made it tough to allow for proper mixing of the components within, but the flavor was really nice. Egg was cooked perfectly.

Raw beef liver sashimi:
Much better than you might expect. Raw liver tastes WAY better than cooked liver. There is no iron taste and no mealy texture. It’s soft, creamy, and clean.

Crispy tripe salad:
Chewy, but for those who dig tripe, this is a win. Dip into some of the spicy sauce they serve it with, or the more traditional sesame oil + salt combo, and enjoy.

We also had the kobe beef prosciutto with blue cheese and micro greens that we had last time, along with the uni dish that we had last time as well. They were too good to pass up, and I wanted to make sure the Tabelog folks tasted them (you can see pics of those above).

I should also mention that we had a really great waitress as well, named Yuki. As the restaurant got more and more busy, she had to multi-task a bit, and Reese sort of relieved her at our table. But at one point we caught a glimpse of her serving up this monster set of ribs to the table next to us. Looked amazing! My wife’s Instagram feed (@thecakedealer) has a nice pic of it on the grill.

Now on to the main course – 16 cuts of cow.
Top row (from right to left):
tongue, cheek, shoulder, rib eye, between the ribs, tail.
Middle row (from right to left):
sweet breads, heart, liver, first stomach, second stomach.
Bottom row (from right to left):
short rib, skirt, belly, fourth stomach, large intestine.

If you’re an astute reader, you may be wondering what the fuck happened to third stomach. It’s only served as an app, so that will have to be a “next time” item. Anyway, Reese gave us a run down on each cut, instructing us on how long each piece should be cooked, and what to expect for each (soft, chewy, creamy, etc). Rather than labor on with the monotony of each and every cut’s flavor, texture, and rating, I’ll just give you a quick list of our favorites. Cheek, shoulder, rib eye, between the ribs, short rib, and belly. The rest were all good, but if I go back, I’ll probably focus more on the faves.

Here’s some additional meatporn for you:

TAKASHI
456 Hudson St.
New York, NY 10014

Carcass Club/Beast Feast, East Village, Fusion, Non-Steakhouse Steaks, Other, Restaurant Reviews

Momofuku Ssam Bar Large Format Rib Eye

June 29, 2014 Johnny Prime 0 Comments

After reading this Eater article, and adding to the comments, I decided I needed to go do this gigantic rib eye at Momofuku Ssam Bar. I went with my wife and two friends from Tabelog. We rocked it. Check out the pics and details below.

We started out with what we thought was a complimentary plate of sardines on toast with fermented chic peas and pickled hearts of palm. Why did we think it was complimentary, you ask? Because (1) we didn’t fucking order it, and (2) the fucking waiter told us that he brought it out to us because he wanted us to try his favorite item. I’m not gonna complain any more than dropping two F-bombs, but needless to say I was a little confused and pissed when I saw the bill and realized we were charged for it (after leaving and already paying, mind you). The app was great. Salty, juicy, earthy, “umami,” and all that good shit. But there was plenty of meat, potatoes and greens to go around with the rib eye special that we didn’t need an app. Now, the waiter was great and all, but a surprise charge like this, couched in “freebie” behavior, is kinda fucked up. Okay that’s three F-bombs now. Readers: make sure you check out the coolness of what Momofuku did in response to this review, which I updated at the very bottom. All is right and well.

I’ll leave the meat for last… aside from dessert, of course. The art of anticipation…

Next was the bowl of perfectly fried french fries. Delicious. They came with a nice, smokey bacon ketchup too. Crispy outside, mashed potatoes inside. Mmmmm.

Then a massive Caesar salad with brown butter croutons. Crisp and refreshing.

Okay now for the blowout. This is a 107oz hunk of GODmeat. Dry aged for 50 days, originally hailing from the Niman farm in California, this cut of rib contains the outer fat slabs as well as what you normally get with a traditional cut of rib eye + fat cap.

Here are some before shots of a slightly smaller cut (not ours):

It was cooked to a perfect medium rare, allowed to cool, and then sliced and plated on a thick cutting board. Some of the fat was the gristled kind, but much of it was the edible, meat bubblegum kind. Savory beef jelly. Awesome.

It was served with four sauces: the bacon ketchup mentioned earlier, a bernaise sauce, a red wine + shallot marmalade, and rendered steak fat + brown butter and herbs.

Also, four bundles of roasted garlic cloves, so soft that you could smear the garlic on your steak like creamy mashed potatoes or some shit.

Was all this enough? Nope. Of course not. I’m a former fat guy. So we followed up with some dessert.

First was a popcorn cake. Instead of sifting flower in the pre-baking process, they sifted popcorn. It was really unique, and served with a little side bowl of strawberry jam to spread across each forkfull. All I can say is that you should get it if you go here.

And finally we had the Thai tea pie. This cold dessert had the unique characteristic flavor of Thai tea with an added tangy tamarind sauce and some sort of chocolatey, tea-infused puffed rice kinda thing on top. Nice.

So that’s all. Great fucking meal, aside from the fact that I was charged for something that we didn’t order. On the slightly brighter side of things, however, it looks as though they forgot to charge us for our third beer. So we were still overcharged, but only by $9 instead of $15.

UPDATE!!! The management over at Ssam Bar saw this review and made good on their mishap. Good people as well as good food! An honest mistake that stemmed from a desire to provide top notch customer service. And 100% classy that they reached out to me. See below:

MOMOFUKU SSAM BAR
207 2nd Ave.
New York, NY 10003

Carcass Club/Beast Feast, East Village, Fusion, Other, Restaurant Reviews

Whole Rotisserie Duck At Momofuku Ssam Bar

January 25, 2014 Johnny Prime 0 Comments

Check this shit out, you salivating scumbags:

Keeping in line with my recent non-steak-related commentary dealing with other delicious foods around NYC, I present to you the whole rotisserie duck at Momofuku:

This particular dish is available at Momofuku Ssam Bar on 2nd Avenue at 13th Street. For $140 you get the duck (breast stuffed with duck sausage just under the skin and roasted) served atop a bed of jasmine rice; some chive pancakes and Bibb lettuce for wrapping; two seasonal sides (we chose the pickled veggies and kimchi, and the baby bok choy seasonal greens); and crispy shallots, cilantro, mint, Thai basil, watercress, hoisin sauce, Korean BBQ sauce and duck scallion sauce for toppings. They even bring out some duck broth made fresh at the end of the meal.

The duck is locally sourced too, for all your eco-assholes out there that actually give a shit. It’s from Crescent Duck in Aquebogue, Long Island.

Now on with the pics. Duck off, or go duck yourself:

First, my wife ordered a Bloody Mary. Here. it’s made with rye, sake, tomato, apple, ham, and togarashi. We thought it was a little on the small side for $11, and a little sweet, but it was meaty, spicy and otherwise good. Nice ice cube in there too.

Next we ordered an app of liver mousse. Delicious, light and creamy. Topped with pickled radish and some greens.

Here is one of the side items that came with the duck meal – the pickled veggie jars:

And the “seasonal greens” – aka baby bok choy:

Then they brought out the pre-sliced duck to show it to us:

Here it is all sliced up and presented nice-nice:

Here’s the lettuce and sauce collection:

And finally they bring out a little bowl of duck broth to finish off the meal. Very rich.

Here are some more pics of the duck. If you look closely you can see the layer where the duck sausage splits from the duck breast. Each little slice was like a two-in-one punch of roasty, crispy, juicy flavor. Fucking awesome.

constructing a duck ssam on a scallion pancake

And here’s one last shot – the kitchen in full swing:

MOMOFUKU SSAM BAR
207 2nd Ave.
New York, NY 10003

Carcass Club/Beast Feast, Lower East Side/Chinatown, Other, Restaurant Reviews

Whole Roast Suckling Pig

December 28, 2013 Johnny Prime 4 Comments

Occasionally I whip up a quick blurb about something awesome that I ate aside from steaks. Last night I had an amazing meal at Pig & Khao, which is run by Leah Cohen of Top Chef fame. Seven of us feasted upon a whole roasted suckling pig. It was done perfectly. The meat was tender, juicy, and it packed a lot of flavor. The skin, though, is always the best part of a dead pig. DELICIOUS. Check out the pics below, and when you get a group together you should definitely try this place.