This 13-course omakase joint is a pretty great deal for just $75. It starts off with a few really awesome pieces like the medium fatty tuna, the shima aji and the tuna with truffle.
Then in the middle you have some really unique stuff like the salmon with tomato, and a real banger with the ebi (shrimp).
And toward the end, you get the otoro fatty tuna with caviar, hand rolls, and the delicious Hokkaido uni on toast. Those were definitely some really great pieces.
I would go back here again, for sure. I just wish they allowed you to bring your own bottle of wine. A corkage fee is totally fine – we just have a lot of wine to get through here! That said, they have a great selection of sake and Japanese imported beer.
Holy Cow has been on my radar to try for a while. Last night, I finally made it in there to try both a burger and a chopped cheese.
Both were mediocre, but the burger was slightly better due to the crisp on the patty, and the overall flavors/special sauce. The buns were strangely dense and hard. The seasoned fries were great though.
Probably won’t be back, but definitely glad I finally tried it.
My wife discovered this newly opened joint in our hood called Kaki. They have a 15-piece omakase that includes sake for just $75. WHAT A STEAL! The pieces are clean, beautiful and delicious. A bit more on the traditional side in terms of presentation.
Here’s a photo dump of all the pieces.
I will definitely be back. We really like this spot!
Cloud is a new Vietnamese place in the lower east side. After some drinks and snacks nearby, my wife and I decided to pop in to give a few items a try, particularly their coffee selections and their avocado shake.
We started with their non-traditional take on banh xeo, which was more like a pita bread cone with all the flavors of banh xeo inside. It wasn’t bad!
Then, we tried a soup called banh canh, which was almost like a cross between pho flavors and some Chinese noodle soups we used to get up in Hell’s Kitchen. I enjoyed it.
On the flip side, we didn’t like the egg coffee because it was laden with cooked egg particles. It wasn’t mixed in properly to make for smooth texture. I actually asked them for something to strain it with. After that, it was better.
Their peanut butter coffee was delicious, however.
The avocado shake needed some more sweetened condensed milk, but otherwise was nice.
I’m sure eventually I’ll try the banh mi and pho to fill out this review a bit more.
Carlota is a small tapas and vermouth bar on Orchard just above Canal. It’s a great spot for sips and snacks, and it’s a sister restaurant to Bar Belly, just next door.
We tried a lot of stuff, so there’s a photo dump below. Everything we had was excellent.
Here’s the menu:
Jamon and Tomato Bread to begin:
These squid ink croquettes were killer.
Cockles with chorizo – get extra bread for that amazing broth.
Check out my Ride & Review of this joint HERE first.
Long story short: you can kip this place! The pepperoni slice is fine, but at $5-$6 a slice, this place is a rip off.
I feel like you can do better at a good dollar slice joint. The toppings on this pesto and fresh mozz “Genovese” slice were nice, but the dough was a little gummy – maybe underbaked – and dense.
Finally, the official name of the restaurant is “Luzzo’s La Pizza Napoletana,” but there is nothing Neapolitan about this pizza. It’s a standard slice joint that’s oddly reminiscent of some national chain pizzerias, like Sbarro’s or Little Caesar’s.
First, check out this kickass Ride & Review video HERE:
– link –
My wife sent me an Instagram post from this place about a special burrata and mortadella app they were running. When I realized how close it was to our place, I called up and grabbed a reservation for dinner later that day. The food on their account looked awesome, and I’m always looking to try neighborhood joints like this.
The meal was incredible. First, let me say that the table bread was so good! They had an onion focaccia and some Italian bread, served with olive oil (watch the video to see it).
We started with that special burrata app, which had spicy salami, prosciutto and mortadella along with the burrata.
Next up, fritto misto, with calamari, shrimp and zucchini. LOTS of the seafood. Great portion!
We also had the grilled calamari, which is marinated in olive oil for a day before being grilled. This was lovely.
For the second half of the meal, we did two pastas and their smoked mozzarella chicken parm.
Although the cheese wasn’t bubbly or melted out, the dish was still really great. The chicken was pounded out enough to be tender, but not so thin that it lost juiciness.
The first pasta was a Sorrento style long, thick ribbon called scialatiella.
I love a thick pasta, and this was easily one of my favorite pasta dishes of the year.
Cavatelli with sausage, peas, and mushrooms in a white truffle cream sauce was next. This was so damn tasty. Cavatelli is typically my favorite pasta shape. All the pasta here is hand made in house, and really well made at that.
For dessert we tried the panna cotta. This was so smooth, creamy and delicious. The berry compote on the bottom was just the right amount of sweet acidity to cut that rich creaminess.
What a meal! We plan to be regulars here, and we can’t wait to go back. Check out the bottom line of the receipt. That shit had me cracking up!
This joint is on Houston Street in the Lower East Side (they have a Bronx location too). I had been meaning to ride over and check it out, but one night just recently, Uber Eats showed me a push notification that they had a “buy one get one” offer for their cheeseburger. I gave it a shot.
I liked it! It eats similar to a Shake Shack burger. Sides/fries and chicken items were good as well. I’ll definitely be hitting this spot again when I need a fast food burger fix.
I finally made it over to Ernesto’s! I’m happy this place is really close to home. Check out my Ride & Review video HERE first, and then read on below.
Firstly, the cocktails here are excellent! A bit pricey at $18, but worth it for the skill and flavors.
We tried a bunch of starters. Everything was excellent, but the stand-outs were the croquettes, the squid, the anchovies and the tripe.
Potato Tortilla:
Croquette:
Asparagus Carbonara:
Fried Squid:
Anchovies:
Tripe:
They didn’t have the txuleta (vaca vieja) special on this trip, so we went with the rabbit rice and the blood sausage. Both were great, but we preferred the blood sausage out of the two. It was light and refreshing, which was a complete surprise to us. Blood sausage is usually so heavy!
For dessert we had flan and Basque style cheesecake. Between the two, the cheesecake was the winner.
I will definitely be back here to try the steak when they have it on special again.
First and foremost, check out my Ride & Review video HERE on YouTube:
This small sushi counter offers an $88 omakase, which consists of two appetizers, ten pieces of nigiri sushi, two hand rolls and a bite of dessert. Here are the two apps:
The nigiri:
This tuna with truffle oil was so good:
Scallop with uni – delicious:
Since my wife can’t have scallop, they gave her this uni piece instead:
This salmon with shaved manchego cheese was wildly unique:
Below is the chef, and the final piece (which was our favorite): Fatty tuna belly with caviar and truffle oil.
The hand rolls (eel + foie gras, and tuna) and dessert (melon):
This is probably one of the best deals I’ve come across when you line it up with quality and portion sizes. I left full/satisfied, and every bite was better than the last. The staff was super nice and offered us a free shot of yuzu sake in return for us offering the chef a glass of our wine.
I highly recommend this place, and I will definitely be going again, as their BYOB policy is a very attractive lure!
