First, check out my Ride & Review HERE:
This spot is pretty good. I might go back for the fried chicken bites and perhaps to try the burger, which looked good when it came out to another person’s table.
BETTY
193 Henry St.
New York, NY 10002
Tag Archives: lower east side
Pecking House Chicken
First, check out my Ride & Review HERE:
This spot recently opened down by Two Bridges, and I’ve been psyched to try it out.
We got five items; three mains and two sides.
1. The Blackened Chicken Sandwich
This was probably my favorite of all the items. It has a distinctly earthy Mexican flavor to it from the Oaxaca cheese and pickled jalapeños. Absolute banger.
2. Chili Quarter Chicken
I expected this to be wetter, spicier and saltier based on what I’ve seen on Instagram to date, but it was still goo. A bit expensive at $9 without a side, but I’d definitely get it again (perhaps the extra hot version though).
3. Salted Egg Wings
These were delicious. No dipping sauce needed! The batter from the salted yolk comes in nice and crisp, and with the wings being slightly smaller than your typical bar room Buffalo wings, you get a perfect ratio or meat to crisp with every bite.
4. Chicken Salt Fries
These could have used a bit more crisp on them, but they were tasty. Also – not too salty! Nicely seasoned, as a matter of fact.
5. Charred Cukes w/Ginger
These were unique! Charring the cucumber softens them a bit and adds a different flavor profile to them that I’ve never experienced before. The ginger sauce isn’t too pungent, so you still get all that fresh cucumber flavor to cool off from the spicy food between bites.
PECKING HOUSE CHICKEN
83 Henry Street
Shop 1
New York, NY 10002
Shhh
First, check out my Ride & Review video HERE:
This secretive omakase joint in the back of an ice cream shop serves up 14 or 18 course omakase meals with unlimited sake for just $96 or $126, respectively.
My favorite pieces were the snappers, scallop and tuna. But the real stars of the show were the appetizers: cod sperm sack and chawanmushi with uni and crab meat!
Snappers:
Scallop:
Tuna:
I can’t believe I ate cum. And I’ll definitely be back for more, especially the soft serve ice cream (not made from cum).
Here are some of the other items:
The cum was torched:
SHHH
113 Division St.
New York, NY 10002
Son Del North
First, check out my Ride & Review video HERE:
This small burrito joint just opened up on Orchard Street in the lower east side. I had heard great things about it before learning that Golden Packing supplies their beef and chicken! Once I heard that, I was all in! I tried three different burritos: shrimp, chicken and beef.
Check out the grill marks!
The shimp burrito is the owner’s favorite, so I had to give it a try. It’s chock full of perfectly cooked, big, juicy shrimp. There’s a nice sauce in there too, along with the guacamole, beans and onions.
That’s right – NO RICE in these burritos. All substance. No filler.
The carne asada beef/steak burrito is made with high end middle meats and strip steak from Golden Packing, most of it being prime grade. The caramelized onions give you a steak sandwich vibe. Delicious.
My favorite, though, was the chicken burrito. They use thigh meat, which is the ultimate for retaining juiciness and flavor.
This place is absolutely incredible. Don’t be intimidated by the crowds in front. Most of them are just waiting for their order as opposed to lining up.
SON DEL NORTH
177 Orchard St.
New York, NY 10002
Taco Recipes
First, check out my Ride & Review video HERE:
That pretty much says it all. This is a classic NYC Chinese-owned Mexican joint, but with better quality food than the old ones we know and love. The tacos are gringo style, with shredded lettuce, shredded cheese and diced tomato. They taste familiar and they’re filling, for cheap.
TACO RECIPES
23 Essex St.
New York, NY 10002
Bang Bang Mexican Puerto Rican
First, watch my Ride & Review HERE:
I’ve been meaning to try the tacos at Tacos Ramirez for a while, but when I heard they just opened up a carnitas joint here in the LES, I jumped at the opportunity. At the same time, I knew there was a Dominican/Puerto Rican/Cuban spot around the corner, so I let myself get super hungry so I could hit them both one after the other, bang-bang style!
The tacos were incredible. I had cabeza (head), ear, and mixed. All were excellent, but I think mixed had to be my favorite. WHen I go back, I want to try tongue and snout. They were a little small, but at $5ea they are worth every penny.
El Rinconcito is a hispanic food joint on Avenue C and 5th Street that I’ve passed by a bunch of times and never stopped in. It’s a small joint, very nicely appointed and with super friendly staff. I tried the chicharrones and the cubano, and both were the best renditions of the dishes that I’ve had in the area. The cuban sandwich was packed with juicy meat, it had great cheese melt, layers of tasty pickles and ham, and it was topped with crunchy, crackling pork skin. Perfect… and huge for just $10.
The chicharrones were juicy and also had lots of crispy skin bits all over. Also a steal at $15.
I can’t wait to go back and try more shit!
CARNITAS RAMIREZ
210 E 3rd Street
New York, NY 10009
EL RINCONCITO
75 Avenue C
New York, NY 10009
Omakase Sushi by No Name
First, check out my Ride & Review show HERE:
My wife and I made a last minute reservation to Omakase Sushi by No Name yesterday, and I am so glad we did. This is easily one of my favorites in the city. We did their “tare” omakase, which consists of 17 courses for $129, prepared with upgraded higher end ingredients than what they offer in the 13 course omakase (that one is just $89).
The chef and waiter were both awesome, very knowledgeable and friendly. It’s really hard to choose favorite pieces among so many really nicely prepared courses, but I’ll try.
Everything with uni was great. There were three pieces: The raw oyster was beautifully dressed and topped with Hokkaido uni and ikura.
The uni by itself on top of a fried shiso leaf was absolutely awesome. I love shiso, and the combination was wild!
Lastly, the uni atop raw scallop with caviaar was delicious.
Some other favorites: hamachi, three layer chutoro (medium fatty), and smoked sea trout (first time trying a sea trout, as opposed to fresh water).
Probably my favorite of the night was the torched wagyu topped with the chef’s secret ingredient, powdered wagyu fat! It tasted dry-aged too. It was amazing!
As you can tell, there were lots of unique items that I have never seen before. Some others were the sea ell (as opposed to fresh water). It had a really sticky fat texture and tons of favor – way better than traditional barbecued style fresh eel. There was also a fried oyster topped with squid ink foam!
There was even a tasty coconut matcha flan/custard for dessert.
The best part, after 17 courses I was stuffed! I wanted to add a Dungeness crab and uni piece, but the crab wasn’t in season, and so it wasn’t available. But usually after omakase, I am still hungry! Not this time! I will definitely be back for sure.
I will definitely be back here again – I am 100% certain of that!
OMAKASE SUSHI BY NO NAME
114 Eldridge St.
New York, NY 10002
Zensushi Omakase
First, check out my Ride & Review video HERE:
My wife found this place, Zensushi Omakase, which offers a 14-course omakase for just $89. Excellent deal, and excellent quality pieces!
Jeff, our chef, was an incredible host, and he was funny, informative and super nice. Ask for him!
My favorite pieces were probably the chutoro with caviar, which we added on extra at the end, and the wagyu strip with uni and caviar. I was shocked that one was included!
I highly recommend this pplace. We will definitely be back for more!
ZENSUSHI OMAKASE
235 Eldridge St.
New York, NY 10002
Toriya
My wife and I just realized that a yakitori joint opened up by us late last year. we went this past weekend to try it out.
Check out the Ride & Review HERE first, then read below.
First, great beer selection! Hitachino Nest beer is one of my favorites.
On Sundays, edamame is just a buck.
We tried a bunch of skewers, obviously. I think the yuzu thighs and chicken skins were my favorite, but we also had some gizzards, cartilage, tenderloin, mushrooms, and shrimp.
This raw octopus dish with wasabi was really nice too.
The fried squid legs were our least favorite, but they were still great. I really liked that they came with a pair of scissors!
Not only will we be back here soon, but we will be regulars. I’m so happy this is in our neighborhood!
TORIYA
178 Stanton St.
New York, NY 10002
Kin Gin
First, check out my Ride & Review HERE:
This joint, while definitely not a traditional Izakaya in appearance, still serves up some outstanding food and cocktails. Their martini is pretty much absolute perfection.
Our favorite items were the crispy pigs ears and the clams.
But really everything was awesome. The egg trio was pricey at $185.
Very nice tartare made with bluefin tuna.
The miso butterscotch Brussels were extremely unique!
The pork jowl could have used a bit more texture on the outside, but otherwise super tender and very flavorful.
And more unique goodies for dessert: soy sauce tiramisu and basil shiso sorbet.
This place is definitely a keeper.
KIN GIN
107 Rivington St
New York, NY 10002