Category Archives: Midtown West

American, Burgers, Fusion, Midtown West, Press Reviews, Pub Food, Restaurant Reviews

The Elgin

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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

Korean, Midtown West, Restaurant Reviews

Yoon Haeundae Galbi

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This KBBQ joint in K-Town is great. Their beef heavy menu has an impressive list of selections, including wagyu, beef belly and dry aged prime beef. This little video pretty much sums up the experience.

I’m still full almost a day later. Highlights were the wagyu (pictured below), and the fried chicken.

YOON HAEUNDAE GALBI
8 W 36th Street
New York, NY 10018

Burgers, Midtown West, Press Reviews, Pub Food, Restaurant Reviews

Haswell Green’s

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having gone to Haswell Green’s several times for cocktails over the years, I finally made it over there to try the food. I have to say: the burger matches the quality of the cocktails: AWESOME!

It’s a double smash patty burger on a potato bun with pickles, cheese and special sauce. Very simple, but really well executed. Go give it a shot. I actually think this might be my favorite burger in that part of town. Better than Black Tap, all the steakhouses nearby, and any other bar or fast food joint slinging burgers for theater patrons.

The boneless wings pork+veal meatballs are decent as well.

But make sure you try some of their cocktails. Really nicely crafted.

HASWELL’S GREEN
240 W 52nd St
New York, NY 10019

Italian, Midtown West, Parms, Restaurant Reviews

Il Corso

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My wife and I came here with another couple to try out the amazing food that Il Corso is known for. This place definitely lived up to its reputation!

We started with some stuffed, fried olives, fried zucchini, and beef carpaccio. All of these were excellent, but I think if I had to choose a favorite, I’d go with the zucchini. Crazy! Next time I will try the Fritto Misto, which also has squid and shrimp.

My wife had the paccheri with pistachio cream sauce and crumbled sausage. Amazing! Easily a top five pasta dish for me.

I had the veal cutlet Milanese.

Added some nice fresh shaved parm on top:

It was perfect. Super crisp outside, tender and juicy inside. Ate every last bit of it!

And for dessert, Nutella pie, lemon bomb cake, and flan. All delicious, but I think the flan “took the cake.”

I can’t wait to go back here and the the lamb ragu pappardelle, and so many other dishes.

IL CORSO
54 W 55th S
New York, NY 10019

Filet Mignon, Midtown West, Press Reviews, Rib Eye, Steakhouse Reviews

Brooklyn Chop House (Times Square)

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The new Times Square location of Brooklyn Chop House delivers everything you know and love about the downtown location. As such, this review is really just a piggyback on that with the same scoring, showing the new stuff I tried below.

Nice crisp martini from the smallish (for the location) but well appointed bar.

Great seafood “pac man” dumplings.

Dough was a little too thick on these philly cheese dumplings:

Perfet “crispy” filet.

Whatever this new crispy preparation is on the menu – I like it. 9/10.

Bacon a little underwhelming for the price point, but tasty.

Nice aged rib eye on the bone. 8/10. Definitely some steak improvement over the one downtown.

The sizzling plates will literally splatter all over the table, so watch your clothing!

Lobster fried rice was low on both lobster and fry. More like a steamed rice. A bit mushy.

Ultra rich “double height” chocolate cake, served on it’s side.

This was a comped meal in exchange for some posting on social media, but this is what the bill would have been. Pricey steaks!

TOTAL SCORE 81/100

BROOKLYN CHOP HOUSE
253 W 47th St
New York, NY 10036

Japanese, Korean, Midtown West, Press Reviews, Restaurant Reviews

Kumi

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Kumi is a new Japanese joint at Le Meridien hotel in midtown. The place definitely rocks some Korean influence as well, as the head chef there, Anastacia Song (formerly at American Cut, midtown), is Korean.

They have a great cocktail list. I loved this riff on an old fashioned called Kumi Forever:

We tried a bunch of sushi-esque starters, like the tuna and truffle pizza and some unique rolls. That pizza and the bagel and lox roll were probably the winners here, but they were all great.

The warm sides/starters, Brussels sprouts and mozzarella eggplant, were both satisfying as well, despite being vegetables.

I actually, oddly, loved this Szechuan silken tofu starter. Probably because I love that flavor profile, as well as mushrooms. The tofu is really just a delivery vehicle for the sauce.

For entrees, we tried the miso black cod, the tea infused chicken, and the gochujang braised short rib.

The short rib was by far the winning dish here. Such deep, warm, fulfilling flavors. And lots of saffron!

For dessert, we tried the pear tart and the milk tea cake. The cake was the better item here, especially if you’re into creampie videos.

I look forward to going back here again to try some lobster and steak.

They also have a secret menu for late night eats. Burger, chicken sandwich and tofu sandwich.

KUMI
120 W 57th St
New York, NY 10019

Burgers, Midtown West, Press Reviews

Handcraft Burgers & Brew

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A buddy of mine helped open this joint over by Bryant Park, so I had to go check it out. The food here is excellent! Check out how perfect this burger looks:

That’s a handsome fella. And it was as delicious as it looks. Certified Angus Beef smash patties, shredded lettuce, sharp American cheese, and tomato on a brioche bun. The crust on those patties was perfect!

The chicken sandwich was great as well. Great spice to it.

As a tribute to Rutt’s Hut over in NJ, they also offer this ripper hot dog. It really hit the spot with a crispy snap.

And to top it off, the fries and tots were both golden and crunchy.

I highly recommend this place. The food is better than most other joints out there slinging smash patties now.

HANDCRAFT BURGERS & BREW
110 West 40th Street
New York, NY 10018

Japanese, Midtown West, Restaurant Reviews

Kaiseki Room by Yamada

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This new Kaiseki tasting is available on 53rd Street at 6 1/2 Avenue, just across from La Grande Boucherie. It’s a small stretch of bar with two seatings each night, at 5pm and 8pm, for $300 each (more for sake the pairing). I took my wife here for a Christmas present/date night and we both loved it. Here’s everything we had:

Olive fed wagyu tartare with caviar:

Uni truffle and foie dashi:

Assorted sashimi:

Hand roll sushi (our favorite bite):

Here are some of the mushrooms coming up in the next courses:

Lobster and crab miso bisque:

This plate had five cold glasses that featured octopus, abalone, and other raw fish preparations:

Eel and tilefish:

Duck and winter mushrooms:

Rice with crab, roe and squid:

Bean ice cream and granita:

Freshly whipped matcha:

This is definitely worth splurging on for a special occasion. I’m interested to see how the hyper-seasonal menu will change throughout the year.

KAISEKI ROOM BY YAMADA
145 W 53rd St
New York, NY 10019

American, Midtown West, Press Reviews, Restaurant Reviews

Life Rooftop

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Life Rooftop took over the space formerly known as the Viceroy at the top of Le Meridien hotel, near Central Park. The views are spectacular.

The cocktails are excellent.

And the food, which is more along the bites and small portions angle, is really delicious. The seafood tower is impressive. It comes with lobster, king crab, langoustines, shrimp, clams, oysters, caviar, tuna tartare and hamachi crudo.

The lobster roll is pretty packed full of meat too.

The stars of the meal for me, though, were the deviled eggs with caviar, and the wagyu tartare.

Their dessert sundae and churros were really great too. I’d definitely eat here again.

LIFE ROOFTOP
24 W 57th St
29th Floor
New York, NY 10019

Midtown West, NY Strip, Press Reviews, Rib Eye, Steakhouse Reviews

Primal Cut Grille

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The menu here at Primal Cut Grille (Inside the Sapphire 39th Street strip club) is largely the same as the menu at Primal Cut (inside the Sapphire 60th Street strip club). This review is just a photo dump of the items we had there, with reference back to the original review of the 60th Street location (which is now undergoing renovations). Also check out this cool video of their baller’s steak, the Golden Tomahawk: