Category Archives: Lower East Side/Chinatown

Commentary, Lower East Side/Chinatown, Other, Press Reviews, Restaurant Reviews

Roni Sue’s Fall Into Chocolate Event

October 27, 2016 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

After kicking the shit out of a 20 mile training run, I stopped into this great little spot on the lower east side called Roni Sue’s for a chocolate event, featuring both regular chocolate and matcha white chocolate fountains by Divalicious Chocolate.

The matcha was really interesting. I used to love white chocolate as a kid. Now I like it much less, but when mixed with matcha, it really tones down those flavors and adds a bitter element that makes it a lot more pleasing to my taste buds. I liked it!

The best way to eat it? With one of these sesame cookie wafers that The Diva That Ate New York made for the event.

RONI SUE’S
148 Forsyth St
New York, NY 10002

Lower East Side/Chinatown, Ramen

Mr. Taka

October 27, 2016 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

Mr. Taka is easily one of the best bowls of tonkotsu I’ve had in NYC. The thick, rich pork broth manages to be full of porky flavor without going overboard with the salt content or overpowering you with too much garlic. It’s velvety smooth – no off-putting textures, which can sometimes happen with thickened broths.

The meat quality is awesome. Super soft with a good char on the outside of each slab. It falls apart between your chopsticks. So good. I recommend getting an additional slab, since your bowl will only come with one if you don’t.

The noodles are the straight kind, not wavy, and if you order the spicy version you get a soft boiled egg and a normal sized blob of spicy paste that won’t overrun the entire eating experience with heat.

I highly recommend this joint for all your slurping needs. It really is as close to perfect as you’re going to get.

MR. TAKA
170 Allen St
New York, NY 10002

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

DBGB Whole Beast Feast: Pig

August 29, 2016 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

NOTE: THIS PLACE IS NOW CLOSED

Many of you know that I’ve talked about Tabelog in the past, a Japanese food review website that recently launched here in the US. They approached me about helping them to attract new users to the website, so I co-planned and co-hosted a whole beast feast with them at DBGB, where we and a crew of hungry food writers and photographers tore into a delicious suckling pig like a bunch of ravenous carnivores!

This pig, which is sort of like a giant pinwheel or sausage full of various pork cuts, feeds up to 12 guests and comes with salad, grilled flatbread, veggies, pork rinds and Baked Alaska for dessert.

At $575, this is a pretty good value, and you can throw in unlimited select beers and wine for just $30 more per person.

The pig is plated really beautifully when it comes out to the table.

From those shots you can really see the “pinwheel” or sausage thing that I was talking about. It isn’t just a roast pig like you might see at a Flip joint. The meat was really tasty, and consists of all parts of the animal, just packaged and presented in a different way from a standard pig roast. The only downside, for me, was that the skin was not crispy. That’s the best part about roasting pigs!

In any case, I got a bunch of incredible shots of this handsome bastard’s face.

I even managed to convince some of the dinner guests to pose with the pig’s head. Here’s Doug:

Jesse (@scrumphsus):

Jeremy (@NYCFoodFOMO):

Jay (@TheDishelinGuide):

And Yuka (@TabelogUS):

My boy Ben (@StuffBenEats) was a bit shy and didn’t pose with the pig. Oh well. Next time. I certainly posed with it! This shot was taken by Jay from The Dishelin Guide:

And here’s a shot of me getting ready to dig into the nasty bits like the brain, the face meat and the nose, taken by Jesse of Scrumphsus:

If you’ve got a big group and you’re into this kind of “Carcass Club” dining like I am, then I think you should add this to your list of potentials. It isn’t the best roast pig that I’ve had, but it certainly was pretty tasty and made for a fun night.

DBGB
299 Bowery
New York, NY 10003

Chinese, Lower East Side/Chinatown, Press Reviews, Restaurant Reviews

Flaming Kitchen

July 12, 2016 Johnny Prime 2 Comments

This joint offers a legitimately awesome Chinese food experience in the heart of Chinatown. The owner contacted me for a press meal, and I was quick to jump at it.

The interior is very bright, pretty, spacious and clean. The dining room was a cool and comfortable, with plenty of elbow room.

My wife and I turned over all control of our meal to our waiter, Griffin, after we poured ourselves some oolong tea.

Griffin asked a few questions, like “do you like spicy foods,” and “do you have any food allergies.” Yes, and no. “We are willing to try anything.” He was happy about that, as he was planning to feature some of their more signature dishes for us. And then we were off…

The first thing that came out was this plate of thinly sliced conch with spicy chili sauce.

The conch was cooked perfectly. It was tender enough to make you think you were eating chow fun noodles, but it still had snap to it, like you might associate with nicely cooked squid. My wife referred to this dish as “protein noodles.” I thought that was pretty clever, so we did a “lift” photo for all of you Instagram whores out there.

And the spicy chili oil with lemongrass was the perfect sauce to deliver all of this deliciousness. I can’t wait to go back and order more of this. $12.95.

Next up were these pan fried mini pork buns. Say what? Steamed pork buns that are also fried? Yup. Take a look:

They’re steamed first, and then one side is pan fried to give it a nice flat and golden brown crisp. I’ve never seen this before.

Inside was tender and lemongrass-spiced pork meat with scallions.

They were great. The bun was soft but not sticky and gummy, and the pan fried side gave them a nice texture mix that kept my taste buds interested from the first bite to the last. $5.95.

We tried four entrees! The first, and our most favorite, was the braised whole tilapia in spicy chili broth with peppercorns.

It may LOOK like a nightmare of spices for you heat pussies out there, but I assure you, this broth is drinkable. I love spicy foods, and I can handle a lot of heat, but my opinion is that this dish is accessible to all in terms of spice levels, so long as you don’t actually eat the dried red chilies. The peppercorns within are very herbal and only slightly numbing, like a milder version of the kind you might encounter in spicy hot pot. This was so addicting that we brought home whatever was left of this dish so that we could have at that broth again and again. It almost had a Thai tom yum flavor, but without the lemongrass.

But back to the actual fish: the meat was extremely tender and flavorful. Braised means it is fall-apart tender, and with some fresh cilantro on top, you feel like you are eating so fresh and healthy. Tilapia is a light fish to begin with, so this was a very good entree to start with. $24.95.

We even got some of the cheek meat out of the head. Mmm.

Next up was sauteed frog with spicy peppers.

The frog itself was mainly leg meat, with some occasional other parts mixed in, but chopped up coarsely so you had to be deft with not swallowing any bones. I found that eating in the front of my mouth, with my front teeth, was the trick to maneuvering the bones with ease. The meat was awesome. If you haven’t had frog, to me it tastes like a cross between tender chicken and a scallop, both in texture and flavor.

This was the spiciest dish of the day, too, as the chopped dried red chilies added a nice kick in the balls for heat. The green peppers aren’t that spicy but they have a great aroma and flavor. I even tasted traditional black pepper in there as well. $22.95.

The next dish was salt and pepper jumbo shrimp. These were presented butterflied, but with the shells and heads still on, on a bed of lettuce, peppers, sliced garlic and scallions.

While a few were slightly overcooked, the salt and pepper batter was delicious and crunchy. We dipped these into the sauce that came with the frog dish as well, for a little more spice. $21.95.

We treated the fourth entree as a side, since it came out alongside our fish dish. This was sauteed pumpkin with celery and artichoke.

The pumpkin was tender and slightly sweet, which went well with the fresh braised celery flavor. The artichoke added a bit of starchiness to the dish, so if you are not a meat eater, this will be nice and filling for you, and unique to boot. Not bad for vegetarian! $14.95.

We will definitely be back here, again and again. For a long time my wife and I were hunting for a good Chinese and spicy Szechuan joint in the area. This place will give us our fix, every time. When you come here, I highly recommend the pan fried mini pork buns, the braised whole fish and the sliced conch dishes. All three were amazing. I realize that frog is not everyone’s cup of tea, but we really enjoyed it. If you are up for trying something different, then go for it because I recommend that as well. They also serve dim sum, so if that’s your thing, I suggest doing that as well. Oh, and upstairs is a karaoke joint. So you can go up and sing your ass off after dinner.

FLAMING KITCHEN
97 Bowery
New York, NY 10002

Chinese, Lower East Side/Chinatown, Press Reviews, Restaurant Reviews

Bite of Hong Kong

July 6, 2016 Johnny Prime 2 Comments

My wife and I have been on the prowl for a good Chinese place for quite some time. We were always in search of something more – something simultaneously unique and seemingly authentic, serving up good quality food without breaking the bank. Our criteria were numerous: (1) It had to be in Chinatown, but (2) not overrun by tourists (Wo Hop). (3) It couldn’t be some cheap, dirty and shitty joint (China Red), or (4) some gigantic dim sum warehouse dining room or buffet (Golden Unicorn). (5) We also had no room in our hearts for more than one visit to an overpriced and super trendy joint (Red Farm). (6) Finally, the menu couldn’t solely consist of Americanized Chinese dishes as the signature items (every other takeout/delivery Chinese joint in the city).

Don’t get me wrong; I love a good General Tso’s chicken from time to time. But like I said above, we wanted something more. I know that list above may seem like a diva’s demands, or the asinine pre-performance requests of a big Broadway star, but in NYC, where Chinese food is insanely abundant, one can start to become very picky and particular about what they want to eat.

So where to go? Enter Bite of Hong Kong.

This joint contacted me to come in for a press meal. When I read the detail sheet, I was instantly excited. This place seemed to meet all of our criteria in one fell swoop, perhaps because the menu contains more than just standard Chinese/Cantonese fare. There are lots of Hong Kong style dishes in there, of which I am, admittedly, not fully familiar. But my and my wife’s eyes and appetites naturally wandered to those things, because they were different from what we typically see at Americanized joints. They were more authentic, and, in turn, more unique for us.

Take this trio of appetizers that we munched on, for example. Jellyfish, duck tongue, and crispy pig intestines. I’ve had jellyfish before, and the best way to describe it is this: a cold salad made of slightly crunchier/snappier noodles.

The shit is delicious, so don’t let the “ickiness” of the actual protein fool you. If I gave it to you without telling you what it was, you’d think it was a kind of noodle or unique vegetable.

I found myself jumping back and forth between that and the crispy pork intestines pretty regularly.

These were crunchy on the outside and softer on the inside, kind of like pork skin with some meat attached, only halved in the crisp and succulence factors. These make for a great snack. As far as intestines go, and offal in general, these are pretty top notch!

The duck tongues were a bit more tricky. I popped one into my mouth and started to chew, thereby pulverizing the small bone that is attached. This was my first time having them, so I had no idea. Our host, Mike, then explained that you eat the meat off and around the small bone, kind of like how you would take down a chicken wing.

These had more juicy fat content to them than I expected from a muscle like the tongue. When I say fat content, I mean the edible, flavorful kind – like in the marbling of a steak. Up front is the meaty part, and in the back, around the bone, is the fatty part. Cooked with soy sauce and spices, this is a fairly simple dish, and the portion size is large for an appetizer.

I’m a huge fan of chow fun, the long, wide, broad noodle dish. Here, we went with the dry preparation, which is simply hit with heat in a wok and tossed with veggies and protein. We chose beef.

The beef was incredibly tender and flavorful, and the noodles were cooked perfectly. This dry version, when executed properly, leaves pretty much no oil in the dish, and leaves behind no greasy texture whatsoever.

That was certainly the case here, because Chef Fei is a master on the wok. This chow fun ranks among the best I’ve had.

Speaking of bests, our next dish was hands-down the best crab dish I’ve had in NYC. That shot of Fei above was taken as he was plating.

This is fried Dungeness crab. The legs are separated from the body and each part is coated with a light and puffy batter before hitting the wok.

That batter is amazing, by the way. It reminded me of the batter you sometimes get around Chinese fried shrimp, or shrimp toast. Perhaps a beer batter?

In any case, you can put the shell in your mouth and pull the crunchy batter off with your teeth for a nice hit of savory with each bite of juicy crab meat.

I seriously couldn’t believe it when it came to the table. Not only was it stunning to look at, but the method of cooking preserved so much of that rich crab flavor in each bite of meat. As you can see, the final product gets topped with crispy fried shallots, scallions, egg, and shredded carrot.

Even the super flavorful gutsy bits were left in the shell and fried. I passed those off to my wife, because she loves that stuff.

A crab of this caliber will run you about $50 here, as the market price is in the $20’s per pound.

I should note here that all of their seafood is pulled right from these tanks, which are situated between the front dining room and the rear dining room.

Rear dining room:

The seafood selection here is truly incredible, by the way.

Dungeness crabs:

Coral shrimp:

In addition to those critters, they also have fresh lobster and a variety of live fish, which they serve whole in various cooking preparations. We saw one coming out to another table and were blown away by the presentation.

And instead of the standard orange at dessert time, Bite of Hong Kong brings over some slices of fresh watermelon. Nice touch.

So long story short: it seems that my wife and I found our ideal place for good Chinese food that meets our demanding list of criteria. I highly recommend this place. I wish I had discovered it sooner, as it opened in March 2015. I’ve missed out on over a year of this delicious shit! And if you happen to live in the area, you should pop in to try one of their lunch special meals for under $6. That is an insane bargain!

BITE OF HONG KONG
81 Chrystie St
New York, NY 10002

Chinese, Lower East Side/Chinatown, Restaurant Reviews

Joy Luck Palace

March 7, 2016 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

Joy Luck Palace is a new dim sum mega-hall in Chinatown that took over the space from older dim sum mega-halls Grand Harmony and 98 Crystal Palace.

In classic dim sum style, carts are pushed around the restaurant offering delicious bites of dumplings. Confusing wafts of hot sterno and crystal shrimp shumai overwhelm you when you enter the large space. But soon, your nose settles in and your stomach takes over.

There really isn’t a bad item here. There are just some that are way more successful than others. Some seem like they are purely for affectation or Instagram fodder, while others are truly inspired culinary genius. In addition to those fun items, there are plenty of tried and true dim sum classics. And everything is cheap!

Since we came here with a big group of food bloggers and high-traction Instagrammers, we were able to sample almost every item on the dim sum menu. As such, I’m going to hit you with a photo-dump style review, where I highlight my favorites here and there with extra words other than the identity of the dish. I will say that this is one of the better dim sum joints I have been to, so I definitely recommend giving it a try.

Shrimp and pork:

Stewed pork meat:

Sticky sweet rice inside these leaves:

Veggie dumplings:

Beef rolled up in wide, flat noodles:

Same thing with shrimp here – both were good:

Another shot of the shrimp and pork:

One of my favorites is next: a fried pastry cruller wrapped in a wide rice noodle and then topped with soy dumpling sauce, green onion and cilantro. The play of different textures here was awesome.

These doughy pig buns are deceiving. They look like they might be porky and savory, but they were very sweet with an egg filling; more like a dessert. Very nice for Instagram posting.

That was a kiss of death:

Savory yet sweet pork bun:

There’s BBQ pork inside this flaky dough:

Assorted shrimp dim sum:

I’m a huge fan of tofu skin. Below is tofu skin wrapped around chicken. Very nice as well.

Assorted shrimp dim sum:

Beef meatballs:

Dim sum for days:

The tripe was a bit rubbery for my liking:

Savory filling inside this noodle nest:

These had a savory filling inside as well, not the expected sweet red bean paste that you often see in Asian pastry shops and bakeries. The outside “shell” is more like that gummy rice flour dough:

This noodle dish just needed a bit more salt, otherwise the texture and flavors were great:

Another favorite here. This is called “Buddhist’s Paradise.” Inside the noodle wrapper is a fried vegetable spring roll. Another awesome texture combination with winning flavors.

Veggie dumplings:

Another home run was this shrimp roll. Chopped shrimp, shrimp paste “sausage” and veggies are wrapped up in tofu skin and then fried. At first I thought the tofu skin might have been an egg pancake or crepe, but I was mistaken. Absolutely awesome.

More Instagram fodder here. This carrot-shaped cake/bun is filled with a sweet mashed taro or lotus root type of filling. The outside “shell” is more that same gummy rice flour dough I mentioned in another dish above. But perhaps a savory rabbit meat filling would be a nicer play instead?

Here’s that carrot with The Hungry Rabbit in the background:

These short ribs were a bit too chewy/fatty and lacked a grilled or charred flavor, but the sauce and meaty bits were actually pretty tasty. A slight tweak here and there would make them great:

Shrimp ball ala Trump toupee noodle nest:

Curried cuttlefish:

Deep fried bacon wrapped around a shrimp ball with mayo? SURE! These were excellent with chili oil too, instead of the mayo:

Chicken feet:

Egg custard tarts:

Durian fruit pastries:

So I think that’s a good guide to this joint. If you stick with the basics, and try a few flourishes that I highlighted here and there, with any LUCK you will come away overJOYed… KNEESLAP!

JOY LUCK PALACE
98 Mott St
New York, NY 10013

Lower East Side/Chinatown, Nolita/Soho, Other, Restaurant Reviews

Frozen Sweet

March 7, 2016 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

This little ice cream joint serves up some interesting flavors like taro, Thai tea and green tea.

They do this cool thing where they spread out the cream and ingredients on a cold table and then scrape up the ice cream in these cool log curls. Check it out:

We stopped in here with a gaggle of food bloggers and ordered up a few cups to sample among the crew. Here’s a shot of what the Thai tea looks like:

As you can see, they offer panda and monkey cookies as toppings. They also have face emojis, like this one with the taro flavor:

And last but not least, this flavor is vanilla with banana mixed in, and then a nice money-shot of sweetened condensed milk dripping down the panda’s face. Hashtag cummybear. This is the one that was being made in the video above.

The ice cream here is light and not too sweet, which is nice because you can eat a bunch without feeling like you’re fucking yourself over.

FROZEN SWEET
184-186 Mulberry St
New York, NY 10013

East Village, Latin/Mexican & Caribbean, Lower East Side/Chinatown, Non-Steakhouse Steaks, Other Cuts, Restaurant Reviews

Yerba Buena

February 29, 2016 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

NOTE: THIS PLACE IS CLOSED!

My sister told me about this place a while back, and she later got me and my wife a gift certificate so that we’d give it a shot. Specifically, she told me to try the “poquito picante” cocktail, made with gin, cucumber, jalapeno and lime. It was really delicious. It had that heat from the jalapeno, but it was rounded out nicely with the sweetness from the lime syrup and then cooled off with the cucumber. My wife tried the “concoction,” a fresh fruit riff on a classic egg white whiskey sour. We ordered both cocktails at the bar while we waited for our table, and we were happy to learn that all drinks were half price for an all-day happy hour at the bar on Sundays.

We started with a hamachi ceviche. This was fresh and flavorful, and garnished with sesame seeds and dried, puffed corn. It had a mild flavor and wasn’t too overpowering on the citrus.

We also shared this trio of fries: hearts of palm, avocado and watermelon.

These were really interesting. The avocado was super creamy, as expected. The hearts of palm had some starchiness to it, about which we were both a bit surprised. They tasted great though. The watermelon was an even bigger surprise, however. It was sweet, yet savory, and crunchy, yet juicy. It went perfectly with the smokey ketchup that was served with these fries.

For her entree, my wife ordered the Lechon Confitado, which is suckling pig with sunchoke-black truffle puree and kale-red chiles.

This was the winning dish. The pork was cooked perfectly – like a juicy pulled or shredded pork without the over-saucing that typically occurs at BBQ joints. The confit coking method surely helps in that regard. It was topped with some greens and pickled red onion. The earthy and delicious sunchoke puree was drizzled around the plate.

I intended to order the rib eye that was listen on the menu, but they were out. Instead, they offered me a skirt steak, so I gave that a try.

It was cooked nicely to medium rare, but just wasn’t up to standard with some of the other places I’ve had skirt recently.

I’d say this came in at about a six out of ten for a combination of flavor and quality. It was juicy, but did have a bit of bleed-out, and lacked a good sear on the outside.

It was served with an avocado, tomato and onion salad, and some yucca fritters.

For dessert, we shared the “panqueques,” crepes filled with dolce de leche and served with a scoop of ice cream. The menu said it would be pistachio ice cream, which we were excited about, but they gave us chocolate instead.

In any case, dessert was delicious. The crepes were made fresh, and the dolce de leche was smooth and creamy.

This is definitely a place worth visiting if you’re in the Alphabet City area and looking for a bite or cocktail.

YERBA BUENA
23 Avenue A
New York, NY 10009

Banh Mi, Lower East Side/Chinatown, Restaurant Reviews, Vietnamese

Paris Sandwich

February 28, 2016 Johnny Prime 2 Comments

My wife and I stopped in this little joint to sample some sandwiches. Over the last week I’ve put away six or seven different banh mi sandwiches, and this place served up the best of the lot.

We went with the classic bologna and pate banh mi, as well as the grilled pork. The bread was softer and less flakey than most baguettes, but it was still crisp and delicious.

The meats were delicious, and packed well with abundance. The grilled pork had hints of lemongrass, and the pork roll and pate sandwich had great texture. At $5 each, this place is a steal.

PARIS SANDWICH
213 Grand St
New York, NY 10013

Banh Mi, Lower East Side/Chinatown, Restaurant Reviews, Vietnamese

Banh Mi Saigon

February 27, 2016 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

This no-frills Vietnamese sandwich joint is pretty legit.

They even have the jewelry case in the front of the restaurant as you walk in, which seems to be a somewhat common occurrence in NYC Vietnamese sub shops.

The banh mi were packed with meat. We tried both the classic bologna pate and the chicken. Of the two, my favorite was the chicken. It was nicely marinated in herbs and spices like lemongrass, and the meat was soft and flavorful. The pickled veggies were shredded and remained crunchy, though the cucumbers should have been cut down a bit thinner, with the skin removed.