This place is a massive German / Bavarian beer hall in midtown that serves up massive brews in massive mugs (and boots).
I came here soon after it opened with a lot of excitement in my heart, because I absolutely LOVE German beer halls. There’s just something about the fun group atmosphere that makes it unique.
Anyway, it was here that I discovered a really amazing grapefruit beer (Schoffenhofer). After drinking it, I was on the hunt, and even found some at a local distributor on Long Island. Needless to say, the fridge remained stocked with them until we moved back to the city.
Aside from the great beer selection, they have a nice fun menu too. We tried the pate, the HUGE pretzels, the wieners, and some sausage.
I sincerely hope this place becomes a bigger draw with bar folks. It has the potential for being one of the city’s best places for drinks.
After having a few good bowls at Menkui-Tei, I figured I would try this other hyphenated place in midtown closer to my wife’s office. She had been here before and said it was good, but this day we both had sub-par bowls. The broth was a little bland and watery. I also saw one of the servers pull something out of a bowl with his fingers (carefully, mind you) before putting the bowl in front of a patron. Yuck. I hope those hands were clean!
Anyway, the neat thing about this place is you can get a lunch meal with a side bowl of rice and pork. A bit too much food though, as the ramen portions are large.
I had the regular pork ramen:
My wife had the Kurobuta pork, a better quality meat for an up charge, yet my slices tasted better than hers. Go figure.
I don’t often review any restaurants besides steak joints, so this is something special. I like this joint even though it doesn’t score high marks. I ate here twice, with my second time being yesterday. The noodle bowls are great, tasty and filling. My wife and I tried the miso ramen, the Ajisen Deluxe + spicy (with sliced pork and tender rib), and the seafood ramen (the least tasty one of the three). The tender rib was the best part of the meal – very juicy. We also had some bubble tea, squid balls (yummy!) for an app, and the crispy tofu app (not very crispy at all). The sliced soft boiled egg served with each bowl is delicious. The bills came in under $30 each time.
Ise Menkui-Tei is one of my top ramen spots at the moment, and the reason is pretty simple: you can order very specifically: meaning you can designate the firmness or softness of your noodles, and the strength or thickness of your broth. I have been getting the Hakata ramen (pork bone broth) with firm noodles and strong broth. This seems to produce the best tasting of the pork tonkotsu varietals.
My wife tried a seafood ramen here (Chan Pon) that sounded awesome on paper, but the cabbage ultimately made the broth too watery and bland.
Best bet: stick to my ordering instructions above and you’ll be happy. At under $9 per bowl, this place is a keeper. Also, the add-ons are pretty cheap too, like extra noodles or egg. By the way – stick to the regular egg. The seasoned egg has a sweet pickle flavor that doesn’t match well with the ramen broth.
Here’s a shot of the pan fried dumplings. Pretty good!
But remember: you are here for the ramen. STAY FOCUSED!
And FYI, you may want to try the unique black sesame ramen:
I snatched up a few burger-based Groupon deals this week when I noticed that they were offering an additional 15% off with a promo code. The first was for this joint, 5 Boro Burger: $25 gets you two special burger deluxe plates (with fries), and two pints of beer.
The fries were nice, dusted with some herbs and fried to a robust crisp.
I tried the Brooklyn burger, which involved cheddar, grilled onions and bacon.
It was slightly over cooked beyond medium, but I didn’t mind too much because it was really tasty.
My wife went with the Bronx burger, which had guacamole, bacon and mozzarella cheese. Her’s was cooked perfectly, and I think was the winner between the two we tried.
I’d definitely come back here to try some more goodies. Give it a shot yourself while the Groupon deal is still active. Only down side about this place was the pickle (too sour), and the over abundance of gnats and fruit flies near the curbside seating on the first floor.
I was recently invited to a press dinner at Da Marcella Mediterranean Taverna in midtown. This place has an Italian- and Spanish-inspired menu that showcases high quality ingredients and expert preparation. Owner Manuel Moreno has two Da Marcella restaurants. The original taverna is in Greenwich Village, is small, and has a very comforting, mom & pop neighborhood feel with very affordable prices ($10 pastas). It’s been open for two years. The goal since the midtown opening in November is to recreate that atmosphere, despite the challenges of the area being less of a neighborhood.
Manuel also endeavored to bring his Spanish heritage to light as well in the midtown location, as he is half Italian (mom’s side) and half Spanish (dad’s side).
The downtown menu is fully Italian, but the midtown menu shows off some tapas, paella and other Spanish staples. All recipes were handed down from his grandmother to his mother (the restaurants’ namesake), so you know you are getting something authentic when you eat at his restaurants.
Our host for the evening was Ernesto, who is manager but also the wine expert. The downtown wine menu is Italian, but the midtown wine list is thoroughly Mediterranean, with choices from Spain and Greece a well as Italy. There are 18 wines by the glass, nine of which change frequently.
As you can see from the tasting menu, he picked some really great wines to pair with each dish, all of which seemed to get increasingly better as the meal went on.
So we started with the marinated octopus with caperberries, and Scottish salmon tartare with avocado. Both were absolutely amazing. The octopus was hands down the most tender I have ever eaten. The only thing that would have made it better is if it were grilled to give it a little char. The tartare was perfectly balanced between acidic, savory and even sweet. The wine paired here was a nice dry but floral white from Riax Baixas in the north part of Spain. I enjoyed it, and I typically don’t really like whites all that much.
Next were the veal and pork mini-meatballs and a plate of burrata with prosciutto and truffle sauce. The truffle sauce was just the right amount of earthiness to bring out the other flavors and make them all pop. And the meatballs, well, they were soft and flavorful. It’s always tough to impress me with meatballs because I am spoiled by having good Italian mom and grandma meatballs, but these were excellent. The wine here was a really nice light Chainti. Well paired.
The tagliatelle pasta was perfect. Fresh made, al dente, properly sauced, and really delicious. The bolognese sauce is highly complex without being heavy, which in itself is a feat. It contains 18 ingredients, a few of which are meats. They really make grandma proud here, as this is clearly a signature item at the restaurant. With the pasta we had a Cabernet-Montepulciano wine, which was my favorite of the night. Robust and flavorful, but not heavy or too acidic.
Next we had the seafood and chicken paella, which contained chicken (of course), clams, mussels, calamari, string beans and peas. I haven’t had many paellas in my day, as I tend to like Asian rice dishes better for the crisp texture, but this was pretty damned good. I was amazed at how they got each separate ingredient to be perfectly cooked. For example, I imagine they have to throw in the calamari at a different time than the clams, and at a different time than the chicken, string beans, etc. Each component was just right, so that must be a real challenge. The wine for this and the beef course (next) was a rich Temperanillo. Full bodied, well aged; a no bullshit kind of wine. Probably quite costly too had we been paying customers.
Our last savory course was the wine-braised beef short rib with creamy polenta. This was awesome. The meat was a bit salty, but when you took a bite with the polenta (which was amazing on its own too) it really balanced it out nicely. I was a happy meat man when eating this. So tender, soft and flavorful.
For dessert we had a sampling of three items: pannacotta, tiramisu, and ricotta cheese cake. Owner Manuel is a baker by trade, so all desserts are made in house if not brought in from his personal Long Island City bakery called the Bakery of New York. The pannacotta was my favorite here. It was perfectly textured – creamy yet firm. It had herb notes of sage or tarragon as well. Very inventive. The tiramisu was very nice as well, but the consensus of others at the table was that the cheese cake was the big winner. Not too heavy, really nice flavors.
To sum it up; I really enjoyed the meal here, and I plan to go back soon, especially since it’s so close to my office. I’d also love to get down to the original location in the village to try out some of their very affordable and highly rated pastas (if I can get a table – the place is now generating big lines from what I understand, because there is a lot of demand).
We went for lunch on a Friday. It wasn’t packed or anything like that: we sat right away. Yet it took us an hour to have three appetizers. The wait time between the first appetizer and the second two appetizers was horrendous. Probably a half hour.
We started with the wok fried monk fish, called ca bam. Though very salty, small, and overpriced ($15) it WAS very tasty. The rice chips were the perfect crunchy vessel to eat the peanutty and lightly spiced fish.
Fast forward 30 minutes and our soups FINALLY came to the table. We each ordered the signature pho dish. At $19 a pop I was expecting something at least as filling as a bowl of pho from Chinatown. No such luck. There was about 10-12oz of liquid broth, a few thin slices of the meat, a small handful of noodles, and a small piece of fois gras. The bowl, in all, is a bit smaller than what you’d make with instant ramen or instant pho. While I realize that it is an appetizer portion, I feel that for $19 you should get more substance. At least it was delicious. It was hearty, tasty, and it contained quality ingredients. The foie gras was deliciously fatty and perfectly executed.
The decor was definitely beautiful. I should have thought to snap a pic of that. It was very reminiscent of real French-Vietnamese structures in Vietnam. Hence the name Le Colonial.
But paying $68, tax included for three appetizers to come out over the course of over an hour was fucking absurd. I’ll never eat here again, though I’m glad I got to try the soup. In the future I’ll just stick with the Chinatown pho joints. Only in midtown NYC can you pay $68 for lunch and still be hungry. Fuck that. I guess the good thing is that I got to spend some quality time with my wife in the middle of a work day.
UPDATE 4/16/14: This place just skyrocketed into the top of my list. On a whim a small gang of us misfits decided to grab a steak.
The place was so crowded that we ended up having to sit at the charcuterie and cheese bar (formerly the ice cream and cake serving area), but it was an incredible meal. We started with some steak and tuna tartares, and an order of bone marrow. This place has, hands down, the best steak tartare I’ve ever eaten.
I seriously could have eaten JUST THAT for my entire meal, like 6 orders of it. The marrow is pretty incredible too, and the tuna tartare was nice, cool, fresh, and peppery.
The meal kept getting progressively better. The steaks came out. three of us got rib eyes, and one of us got a filet. Let me start with the filet: I retract all comments previously made about filets being for pussies and broads. When my buddy was ordering his filet, I heard him throwing around words like “bloody” and phrases like “black and blue” and “cold inside.” I think he even suggested they just torch the outside to get a crust, and bring the thing over still pulsing in the final clutches of life. So when it came over I was interested to see how it looked.
Looks marvelous! I had a bite. Best filet to date, and I am not exaggerating just because I had three martinis. From now on I am ordering my filets this way. Awesome. Juicy, flavorful, soft, well seasoned.
So now for the rib eye. Check out the slab of dinosaur meat on this puppy:
As I predicted (below, in earlier review), the single cut rib steak at 24oz is MUCH better than the large format 64oz cut. It cooks more evenly, and it has a better ratio of crust to soft inside. The super thick steaks often get over-cooked on the outside and under-cooked on the inside. This one was perfect in every way. Do you see anything left? Yes – I even picked up the bone and chewed off the gristle.
On the side we had some cheese gnocchi (below), creamed spinach, and baby potatoes (on plate above). All were delicious. The creamed spinach was just right; not overwhelmed with salt and just the right amount of creaminess.
I guess that pretty much wraps it up. OH WAIT! The guy working the cheese and cuts counter was named Danny. Really awesome guy and he gave us a plate of four assorted cheeses. All were really fantastic but the blue cheese was my favorite.
This place is one of my new top steak joints. Please do yourself a favor and get the fuck over there ASAP.
My wife and I dined at Quality Meats once before I started reviewing steakhouses. I remember thinking it was a pretty good spot, and liking the massive bone that came attached to my ribeye. At the time I remember liking Smith & Wollensky better. By the way this place is owned by the same people as Smith & Wollensky, as well as Maloney & Porcelli; so right off the bat you know you are stepping into a place that knows what’s up. This time around we went with a friend of ours to give it the full Johnny Prime rundown.
Flavor: 10
On my first go at QM, I had the bone-in ribeye. I remember being impressed with the size of it, and the huge frenched bone – it was like an axe. My wife had a trio of filets that time. I wasn’t blown away by that, but I do remember liking the ribeye. This time me and the other ass-kicking manimal at the table split a 64oz ribeye for two, and my wife had a seafood tower. The meat was delicious. While it is difficult to ensure even cooking throughout such a huge hunk of meat, Quality Meats did a pretty damn good job. There was only one spot where the meat was a little too under, and not seasoned enough (in the center), and portions of the fat cap were a bit too salty and overcooked. However, if you combined a bite of each, it was a perfect medium. In hindsight it might have been better to go with two 24oz ribeyes (one each), but I was certainly impressed with the flavor. There was a distinct char on the meat, crispy edges, and an abundance of rosemary flavor, which after a while I thought was too much. In fact rosemary seemed to be pretty much the theme of the meal. It was also baked into the table breads. See below – there is a massive sprig of rosemary sticking out of the meat. You will also notice it is chopped up on the bread as well. This isn’t necessarily BAD; I like the aroma and flavor of rosemary, but I DO NOT like the actual needles themselves. They bother me. They also served the steak with a really vinegary mushroom and onion mix. They were black and just way too overpowering; we avoided that shit like the plague.
Strip & Porterhouse were both great. 9/10.
Choice of Cuts & Quality Available: 10
There is a lot to choose from here, and I like that. A porterhouse for two was on special, as was a bone-in filet, so that makes up for what isn’t on the standard menu. Otherwise there’s a great selection: a regular filet, a trio of filets, a “sirloin” (Why am I starting to get used to steakhouses cheaping out and putting aged sirloin on the menu instead of a real strip?), a hanger, a ribeye, and a ribeye for two. I was going to take a point off for having sirloin instead of strip, but given the fact that they have a double ribeye AND a hanger, I am graciously awarding the full score here. They also have several nice alternative meats if beef isn’t your thing (you know, if you’re an asshole).
Portion Size & Plating: 10
The sizes are as follows: 12oz filet; 18oz bone-in sirloin; 24oz bone-in ribeye; 64oz double ribeye. These are on the upper end of the spectrum. Well played.
Price: 9
Our total bill came to just over $300; not bad at all. To top it off we had a $100 gift card from spending so much money with our AMEX card. POINTS = MEAT! Otherwise the steaks are average priced, with the double ribeye being a bit more per person than a normal cut of meat. We ended up paying about $255 for everything, with the tip included and the $100 deducted. Check out the breakdown of the original bill below:
Bar: 8
The bar was a lot more “hopping” than I thought it would be. A solid crowd despite it not being a big bar. The bar itself has a white marble top, and it feels like you are at a butcher’s counter. They made a good martini with three pit-in Castelvetrano olives skewered as garnish; my favorite. They also had a great selection of whiskeys and bourbons. The bartender was very friendly, and he even tried his best to make a Pimm’s Cup for my wife despite not having all the required liquors to make it. Quality Meats also has a bunch of great beers. They offer some good old fashioned cans of PBR, as well as some higher end beers; a good mix. I tried a “Quality Beer,” which was a nice, round, non-bitter, amber colored beer specially brewed by the Magic Hat company. They also keep a truncated drinks and desserts menu by the bar for ordering booze, desserts or charcuterie (a nice selection of four different cured meats and four different cheeses), which is the same menu they give you for dessert. Despite all of this awesomeness, I just can’t see myself hanging out too often at the bar here.
Specials and Other Meats: 10
On special for beef they had a porterhouse for two, and a bone-in “filet.” They also had a soft shell crab appetizer, which was delicious. Light, golden, and crispy. They also had a Brazilian lobster tail (a lobster tail with no vagina hair) and an “Olympia” west coast oyster. As far as other meats go, they have a veal chop, roasted chicken, baby back ribs, and roasted veal shank for two. Perhaps a pork chop or a lamb dish would round this out better. Maybe make it a lamb shank or lamb chops instead of a second veal dish? In any case – a great showing on the beef specials here helped to bump the score up for choice of cuts available.
Apps, Sides & Desserts: 10
We ordered the special soft shell crab, a dozen oysters (two of each kind they had, including the one on special), bone marrow, and steak tartare to start. As I said above the crab was delicious. I was absolutely blown away by the steak tartare, though. The meat was served in a little bowl with an egg yolk sitting on top, just waiting to be busted open and mushed around the meat. The plate came with a wooden spatula of salt, herbs, and a nice mustard that get dumped in and also slathered around the meat. It was unbelievable. The oysters were all very unique in flavor. I tend to like the less fishy tasting ones (usually I prefer east coast in general or Bluepoint specifically). My friend and I each had three east and three west a piece (total of 12 at the table). The marrow was delicious too; nice to spread on some of the toasted bread. On the side we had creamed spinach, which was served in what looked like a bread bowl popover. It was average in comparison to other places, but still good enough to keep shoveling down my throat. For dessert I had a jalapeno and cucumber sparkling lemonade. It was awesome. We also shared a “cookie monster” ice cream (oreo, cookie cough, and chocolate chip cookies mixed into a light, soft chocolate ice cream), and tropical fruit sorbet (a mix of a bunch of flavors sitting on top of fresh fruit and topped with a dried, crispy pineapple chip). The sorbet was the winner there. As a matter of fact they have a little bar set up, which at first I thought was a sushi bar, right near the front entrance, where you can score “Quality Cakes” and all their special ice creams for take-out. Pretty sweet.
Seafood Selection: 8
For fish they have tuna, Scottish salmon and black sea bass; a little basic in terms of entrees, but there was a lobster tail on special to fill it out a little. If you don’t like the preparations they have on the menu for the entree fish items, you can also opt for simply roasted. They have a nice selection of oysters on the app menu ($3 a piece), two sizes of shellfish bouquets, and cocktails (crab, lobster, U7 shrimp). The soft shell crab was also a special, which I mentioned above was great. The shellfish bouquet was really great. The small one was two-tiered, and it came with lobster, lump crab meat, ceviche, four massive shrimp, four oysters, four clams and tuna tartare. it rivaled the platter at Strip House, which is a feat. Worth mentioning here is that the oysters come with a great array of sauces; a traditional cocktail sauce, a cilantro cream (awesome), a mustard horseradish type, and a bowl of crispy herbs for mixing in with vinegar or sprinkling on top of the oysters. I only took points here because there was no whole lobster item and only a few basic cuts of fish for entrees. Not like it matters – you don’t come to a place called Quality Meats for a fucking slab of salmon.
Service: 10
Our waiter was awesome. In fact we sort of had two waiters throughout the night, which I thought was really attentive. The table bread was a delicious pan of bread lumps that were buttery and hot, sprinkled with fresh salt and chopped rosemary. It was baked fresh while we waited. They even sent us home with some. The most interesting part of the meal was when the waiter came over and made us the steak sauce from scratch at the table. We watched him mix everything into a mortar and pestle and start mashing away (of course he cut some rosemary right into the bowl too hahaha!). It was a great sauce – really awesome with the gigantic shrimp from the shellfish plateau. I’d put it right up there with the sauce at Frankie & Johnnie’s and Strip House, but with extra points for the display and interactive dining experience. Also of note was the little freebie of traditional and white watermelon cubes, served with a really interesting flavored salt for dipping.
sauce making and bread/fruit freebies
Ambiance: 9
The decor in here is modern slaughterhouse chic: something that Patrick Bateman would like. Upscale horror. They have dim filament bulbs hanging overhead, butcher’s knives and meat hooks hanging on the wall, and an overall cool look to the place. Where we sat, there was horizontal wood slatted walls. The wood almost looks like flooring. Other spots have meat hook lights dangling overhead (custom fixtures) and exposed brick walls with grooves or nooks in them for candles or decorations. It has more of a lounge feel than most places, more trendy. The bathroom, for example, has dim lighting and flickering candles. It’s got to be one of the most romantic places for someone to take a shit. The walls in there are lined with cloth towels – really awesome. The front doors are great, heavy, old wooden gates. When you walk in, you almost feel like you are walking into a butcher’s shop with the tiled walls and glass. It’s even like heading down into a really clean, yummy smelling subway station. Cool place. Not traditional, but well played.
The flavor here is pretty much ALMOST perfect. I think what drops it one point from perfect is due to the quality (which I address below). Seasoned nicely, nice full flavor, and cooked close to perfect (a slight bit of bleed-out, but nothing serious). The bone-in rib eye is delicious. I ate every bite. Even the fat was, for the most part, really yummy. One or two spots were a little tight, and the fat cap was a bit on the small side, but still – a very tasty meal. The steaks even come with two complimentary sauces. I chose the blue butter and the horseradish sauce. The horseradish sauce was the big winner, and it was similar to the cream served with our oysters. When it comes down to it, though, I barely used either sauce. Not necessary with just good tasting meat.
Choice of Cuts & Quality Available: 7
The selection here is great. On the regular menu they have two types of rib eye: bone in, and cowboy (differing mainly in size). They have a porterhouse for one, and two sizes of filet. I didn’t notice a solo strip on the menu, otherwise that covers the basics. In addition they also have some braised beef, which is nice. The only draw back is that the steak I had was a bit tight in the main part of the cut. A little tough, or grainy. I think that has to do with low intra-muscular fat, or marbling. With more of that, the meat becomes more tender and flavorful. Perhaps some more aging is necessary.
Portion Size & Plating: 8
At 20oz for the rib eye, 24oz for the porterhouse, 34oz for the cowboy, and 10-14oz for the filets (boneless or bone-in conundrum filet), the portion sizes are nice! The sides were a bit on the small side, but our waitress Kathryn alerted us to that and recommended we order two sides instead of just one.
Price: 9
Prices are fair. Our steaks were $49 a piece. Not cheap, but not pricey either. use your own judgment regarding flavor and quality ratio for the price. I, personally, probably won’t come back, given the other places I’ve been to, but it certainly isn’t a bad meal at all. The martini was $15, also average. Sides were a bit hefty at $12 for a relatively small portion size. They were tasty though.
Bar: 8
The bar here is pretty cool. There are two bars, actually; one toward the front of the restaurant, and one in the back. I had a drink up front: the bar is a nice white marble counter. They serve a nice martini, and there is a good specialty cocktail menu too. I don’t think I’d hang here often after work, but it is a decent joint for a drink.
Specials and Other Meats: 10
On special there was escargot for an appetizer, a boar chop and porterhouse for two for entrees, and lobster mac & cheese for a side. As far as other meats go, there was plenty of duck on the menu, some pork, chicken, lamb, and braised beef. Not too bad. They offer a $65 price fix deal too; four courses. but it is probably best to pick the fish entree, because the steak entree they offer is a measly 4oz filet. TINY! Smaller even than Shula’s!
Apps, Sides & Desserts: 10
To start, we had a dozen oysters, which consisted of half east coasters and half west coasters. Both were mild, creamy, crisp, cold and delicious. They came with a really amazing light, airy horseradish cream. For sides we had sauteed broccolini and creamed spinach, of course. The spinach was low on cream, which I like. Very tasty, though a bit salty. The broccolini was perfect; firm but juicy, with a slight char, and accompanied by some crisp fried onions. For dessert we had the bag-o-donuts (Ayyyyyyyyyy… Fuhgettaboutit!!! You fuckin’ FUCK!). They were MINT! They were filled with a nice cream sauce, and came with jelly dip. COME ON! Perfectly fried.
sides (with steak), and donuts
Seafood Selection: 8
For seafood there was only tuna and a market fish (which I didn’t catch – BUDDUM TSSSSSSSSS). Plenty of shellfish and raw bar selections, with three sizes of seafood platters available.
Service: 10
The service was great! Our waitress Kathryn has been in the business a while, and it showed. She was helpful, attentive, and gave us the perfect amount of space and privacy to enjoy our meal. She was helpful with the selection of food, and answered all our questions about specials and menu items. The table bread was really nice: warm, fresh baked in a small cast iron pan, covered with melty butter. But the down-side — served with a very bitter parsley pesto oil type of deal. It needed sugar or salt to cut the bitter.
Ambiance: 8
The ambiance was okay. It was a modern joint; not a traditional steakhouse vibe. High ceilings, elegant decor, lots of big glass floor-to-ceiling windows, etc. My friend and I commented that it felt like being inside of a whale; not a whale’s vagina (San Diego), but a whale – like the mythic/Biblical Jonah. The music was a mix of pop and classic rock at first, but halfway through the meal the music got VERY loud, and the music became a variety of different mega-mixes, where each dong only lasts 15 seconds before being terribly mixed into some other track of the same genre and/or decade. I took two points for that alone. Otherwise it falls in line with places like Primehouse (deceased) and Nick & Stef’s (the old version).
I was really psyched to hear that Strip House just opened up a new location in midtown. Let me tell you… I had one of the best steak dinners in my life at this place. Not only did Strip House Midtown provide me with one of the best rib eyes I’ve ever sunk my teeth into, but the waiter Scott recognized my “name” on the business card I gave him while we were paying the check. He alerted the general manager, Eric Hammer. Then Eric knew who I was, and he alerted the executive chef Michael Vignola! He helped open several Strip House locations all over the place – we got to meet him, and take a quick tour of the kitchen (which was absolutely beautiful, clean, and state-of-the-art, by the way). Check Michael out, in all his expediting glory:
It turns out that Michael knew who I was too, and they all follow this website! I was totally stoked that I was recognized as a meat man! Anyway… After we settled up the bill, me and my buddy Paul were treated to a private tour of the kitchen. Eric and Michael truly represent the future of meat and steak at Strip House, and in NYC in general. They are young, passionate, extremely skilled, and fucking spot on. Expect a long line of excellence to come from their “loins” in the future. The meat biz is looking spectacular to me right now. These guys have taken the concept of “pinnacle” to a whole other level of greatness. But the best part of this kitchen tour was that we also got to meet the REAL man behind the meat. RAPHAEL SANCHEZ. He is the guy who fired up all the steaks to perfection. Check him out – notice all the tickets dangling – it was fucking JAMMED in this place!!! Great for business!!!:
A second trip proved to be just as awesome and then some. I went with a group of 7. Michael and Eric once again did an amazing job, and this time I got to meet a great operations manager named Bill Varcoe. The personnel here are just incredible. I really can’t speak enough praise about them. They even threw in some freebies for us; a gazpacho amuse, a tuna tartare dish, and several desserts! Huge delicious cheese cake, massive layered chocolate cake, profiteroles, and baked Alaska! Check out the updates in italics below.
Flavor: 10
I’ve been to the other Strip House downtown several times, and I’ve pretty much tried everything on the menu at this point. With any new place, though, I always have to go back to the standard order for a review: the dry aged bone-in rib eye. It was fucking insane. Nice and savory, juicy as all fuck, and perfectly cooked from end to end. There was not one speck of gristle or fat left on my plate. I ate every glorious bite. Look – I went at it so fast that I only managed to remember to take a pic of it at the last minute, when I had one slice left. Note the perfection of color and the juicy reflection in the flash. My buddy had the filet, ordered medium rare. It, too, was perfectly cooked, though mine packed a hell of a lot more flavor (we both agreed).
I managed to remember to take a picture of my cote de beouff special (for steakhouse month). It was 34oz of glorious rib eye, and I ate every last scrap. I must say though – the standard rib eye had better flavor.
Choice of Cuts & Quality Available: 9
The selection here is pretty much exactly the same as the other location, with the exception of a “Kosher Rib Eye” that I noticed was added, so no change in scoring here. And every cut is awesome. You can’t go wrong, regardless of what you choose to eat. Here, you can even be a pussy and order a petite filet and still pass muster in the judgmental eyes of Johnny Prime.
Portion Size & Plating: 10
The sizes are all the same here as the other location. Steaks are filling, sides are large enough for two or more, and apps are generous. Eat up, assholes. Eat until you pop, or poop.
Price: 9
Prices here are the same as downtown, which surprised me because I expected higher rents and overhead at this location to drive up the cost to diners. Strip House is always always always an absolute great buy for the money. This is the best steakhouse business/chain in Manhattan, so fucking go for it.
The bill from my second outing is below. Really fucked up problem here – my buddy who did the math on the tip messed up and we under-tipped at around 15% when we meant to give more like 25%. I vow to make it up to Chris, our waiter, who did a freaking fantastic job at our table. I think we were about $60 short of what we meant to give. Hilarious part about this: we had an accountant at the table.
Bar: 9
The bar here is nice. It’s large, and good for hanging after work. Definitely a place I could see myself hanging at. The martini was made perfectly to boot. Belle, the bartender, was great, and it turns out she is a friend of a friend whose wedding I shot as a photographer.
Specials and Other Meats: 9
They had some great steak specials here, and for alternative meats they had veal and lamb. A nice rounded selection of meat for all carnivorous tastes. I was set on the rib eye, so I didn’t pay much attention to what else they had. Fuck that shit. I had my order decided before lunch time.
Apps, Sides & Desserts: 10
The midtown locale has basically the same choices as the downtown restaurant. We tried the clams on the half shell (really nice and crisp, briney, creamy, and mild), the lump crab meat (nice and lumpy, generous size bowl of meat), the slab bacon (fucking MINT), and the pancetta creamed corn (always a favorite). You can’t really go wrong with ANY side here, but I think the creamed corn and bacon might be the best of the best at any place I’ve been in the last 5 years when it comes to apps. Our clams were fucking incredible though. When clams are this good, and clean, I actually prefer them over oysters (BLASPHEMY!). I had some dessert on round two. I must say the portion sizes are tremendous. I only tried the cheese cake of the four items they brought out to us, but it was damn delicious!
Seafood Selection: 10
For seafood you have lobster, sea bass, and salmon. They also serve gigantic U6 shrimp, and have an incredible array of shellfish and cold/raw items on the appetizer menu.
Service: 9
The service is unreal. Our waiter, Scott, was absolutely perfect, and referred to me as “Mr. Prime” a few times after I passed him my card at bill-paying time. HA! He even saw me drop a fork and he quickly swooped in to replace it. I would’ve just wiped the fucker off and used it anyway. At first we were seated at a high table near the bar and entrance area, but I asked for a switch and a guy named Derrek helped us out. I made the reservations over a month ago, so I was a little upset that we had a junky seat. When they switched us, we were still in a tight area – tight like a virgin’s puss… crowded, close quarters, a little bloody, shy, scared, etc. But, we really enjoyed out meal, so I can’t complain too much. The bread was warm (the pretzel bread was delicious), and the butter was soft and spreadable (like a whore’s puss). Very nice way to start out the meal. Another cool thing was that they gave us a freebie amuse between the apps and main courses – a shot of smoked potato soup with parsley oil. It was tasty!
Ambiance: 10
Strip House is a brand; so they have a certain style and image that they keep constant among their restaurants: old timey naked pics of chicks, aka broads, aka birds, aka hoo-uhs. The joint has a speakeasy feel; dim lighting, and lots of deep reds in the color scheme. It’s great. The midtown location delivers on that just as well as the downtown location, but with higher ceilings and a second level. Great bathrooms too; single user jammies, really clean and nice. I’d feel totally comfortable dropping a deuce in those fuckers if I had to.
PS – you might have taken a look at the bill and wondered: where the fuck is the booze? Well… Paul and I put back a bunch of booze beforehand at a workplace cocktail party. It saved us some cash. Notice the addition of quality meat consumed by me before we even got to the restaurant. If I see meat, then I must eat… And yes – that was two different kinds of prosciutto, with a glass of fucking scotch (I had three glasses of scotch before dinner, and about six slices of prosciutto).
Just a quickie here: this is Michael Vignola giving a quick recipe demo on how to cook a filet:
