Category: restauranting

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mexican restauranting

Amaranto – The Best New Restaurant That No One is Eating At

There’s this new Mexican Restaurant that opened up recently in Bushwick, Brooklyn. Every time I walk by, it’s empty. Maybe it’s on a weird corner. Maybe it’s because it doesn’t look hipster friendly. Maybe it’s trying to be an upscale Mexican restaurant in a very Latino neighborhood that has a lot of affordable Mexican mainstays. But this is some of the best tasting and beautifully plated food I’ve ever eaten.

First off, the pricing isn’t really expensive, considering that I paid $14 for a Bloody Mary around the corner. The entrees are between $10-17. Actually very reasonable compared to the other brunch options in Bushwick. But maybe a little more expensive if you were just looking for a taco. However, this Mexican restaurant isn’t like what I think when I think of Mexican food. They do have tacos and burritos on the menu, but their entrees are like five-star fancy restaurant entrees.

The first time I got the Red Snapper. So beautiful and tasty. Only $15.

05 Red Snapper - Amaranto Mexican Restaurant

Came back the next week and got the Short Ribs with Green Mole. It doesn’t look as awesome, but so good and tender.

06 Short Ribs with Green Mole - Amaranto Mexican Restaurant

Then came back the next day with Todd and I got the Pork Chop. Look how thick this is. Only $15.

07 Pork Chop - Amaranto Mexican Restaurant

Todd got the Tumbada (Fish, with Green Rice, Mussels and Shrimp $15). That was great.

08 Tumbada Fish - Amaranto Mexican Restaurant

Their food isn’t necessarily spicy like what I think of Mexican food to be. It’s flavorful, but not overpowering. It’s very “clean.” Never thought I’d use that word.

That third time, I was very happy to see other people eating there. I was getting a little worried like Jerry Seinfeld and Babu. But in this case, the food is amazing. I seriously hope you guys come eat here. I don’t want them to go out of business. It’s just too good right now. Amazing and beautiful food, easy to get a table and BYOB for now. But at the same time, I’m selfishly hoping it doesn’t get too crazy popular. I want to be able to eat here more often.

Amaranto – 887 Hart St (@ Irving Ave) Brooklyn, NY 11237

Categories
restauranting

The Bounty (Greenpoint)

I was wandering around hungry last night and poked my head in at the Bounty in Greenpoint. I’m glad I did.

I had the Lamb Ribs (slow roasted with black garlic. cauliflower, radicchio, arugula, pickled raisins, polenta $26). So good. I was warned that it was heavy/fatty. But very moist and flavorful.

Good choice. “Job well done,” I said to myself.

The Bounty – 131 Greenpoint Ave (b/t Franklin St & Manhattan Ave) Brooklyn, NY 11222

The Bounty Greenpoint - Lamb Ribs

Categories
restauranting

Peaches HotHouse

I ended up in Bed-Stuy this past weekend. Good time to try Peaches HotHouse. I want spicy Hot Chicken!

There was a wait for this popular place. And because it was Easter, I guess there was a less of a wait. Overhearing other people, it seems there’s always a much longer line.

Then when the host called out for a girl for one seating, there was a dick that said, “Oh, that’s sad. For one?” I guess he didn’t realize I was also there by myself. His female friends said, “What’s wrong with that?” To which he replied, “Nothing, unless your whole family died in a plane crash.” I wonder if he always needs someone to go out with him when he eats or hold his hand when he goes pee pee.

The Hot Chicken was good.

Peaches HotHouse – 415 Tompkins Ave. Brooklyn, NY 11221

Hot Fried Chicken - Peaches HotHouse

Categories
restauranting

Bobwhite Lunch & Supper Counter

I’ve been hearing a lot of great things about the Fried Chicken at Bobwhite Lunch & Supper Counter in Alphabet City. All my foodie friends love it. It’s all over the blogs. So I really wanted to try it.

I got the Fried Chicken Supper (with coleslaw and a biscuit $11.50). They gave me a thigh and two full wings. Also brought over hot sauce and honey.

Man, I don’t know if I expected too much or that I’m supposed to drown my food in hot sauce and honey. But everything was pretty bland in my opinion. Chicken didn’t have much flavor. Coleslaw was meh. The biscuit was dense like a scone, but no flavor, except flour.

I really wanted to like this place. It’s a cool spot. Good service. But pretty disappointed in the food. I will say it was pretty decent when I did pour hot sauce and honey over everything, but was I supposed to?

Hate writing negative reviews, but since I’m comparing Fried Chicken this week.

Bobwhite Lunch & Supper Counter – 94 Ave C (between E 7th & 6th St) New York, NY 10009

Fried Chicken Supper - Bobwhite Lunch & Supper Counter

Categories
restauranting

Oda House Georgian Restaurant

I went to see my rock-son, Cormacs, perform at the Japanese Sunrise Fest. He did good. Then I tagged along with him and his parents for lunch, which turned out to be the very place I’ve been wanting to eat since I heard about this Adjaruli Khachapuri Georgian Bread (not from Georgia down South, but Georgia in Eurasia). It has a raw egg, cheese and a stick of butter in a hot buttery bread bowl that you mix up. Look at this video!

It was so good! So buttery! I’m glad I didn’t go by myself and try to eat this thing like I was planning. I could only eat a few bites, because it was so rich and decadent.

Everything was good. The Kebab rolled inside a tortilla was good. The Penovani cheese pastry was awesome. The big dumpling was good. Really good food!

Go with some friends so you can share different things!

Afterwards, I went back to the Sunrise Fest to see if I won the raffle. I wanted to win the magic clown, whatever that meant. But there were a bunch of young girls dancing on stage and I pretty much looked like a perv being by myself. There were no winners.

Oda House – 76 Ave B (@ East 5th St) New York, NY 10009

Categories
restauranting

City Kitchen – Times Square’s New Foodie Food Court

I stopped by City Kitchen’s opening party last week. It’s Times Square’s new foodie food court. They’ve got Dough Doughnuts, Sigmund’s Pretzels, Luke’s Lobster, ilili Box, Gabriela’s Tacos, Azuki Sushi, Wooly’s Shaved Ice and Ippudo’s Kuro Obi. Pretty cozy place to try a taste of some well-known NYC foodie spots.

The party was a lot of fun. The food was good. I really liked ilili Box’s Duck Schwarma.

I ate so much food that I wanted to barf. I had a date the next night and told her that. She thought it was TMI. I don’t think it was too TMI. Maybe if I said I was about to explode out the other end. That might be TMI.

City Kitchen – 700 8th Avenue @ 44th Street, and from within the Row NYC lobby. New York, NY 10036

Categories
restauranting

Rare’s Cowboy Ribeye Steak

This is probably the best deal on a bone-in Ribeye Steak in NYC –$28 at Rare. Comes with Truffle Spinach Risotto and Red Wine Mushroom Sauce.

I was trying to low carb and didn’t have any intention of eating the risotto or the red wine sauce. Why does a steak need red wine sauce? Welp, it kind of did. Or at least the steak needed salt. And I did eat the risotto. The red wine sauce was good on the risotto. Anyway, the steak could have been better seasoned, but it’s still a good deal.

Rare Bar & Grill – 152 W 26th St (between 7th & 6th Ave) New York, NY 10001

Funny how I once thought this place was called Rape because of the scaffolding.

Categories
restauranting

Claw Daddy’s

There seems to be a crawfish invasion in NYC recently. Lot’s of new places that have opened in the past year or so serving up live boiled crawfish. It’s also funny that they all mostly seem Asian-run. At least a lot of their customers are Asian. Asians sure love shellfish.

So I’ve been hankering for some crawfish and looked up a couple in the Lower East Side. The Boil is really popular, but all signs point that I should go to the less well-received Claw Daddy’s. The latter is much bigger, no wait because it’s usually pretty empty, bunch of TVs to watch football and Happy Hour deals on beer. So I went and it was awesome. I’ve been twice. Awesome!

The crawfish are great here. Good flavor when sucking the guts and brains in the head. The crawfish come in a plastic bag with the sauce. I’ve tried it with ClawDaddy’s sauce, which I think is all the sauces (Cajun, lemon pepper, garlic butter, butter cheese). Also tried it with just the Cajun sauce. Both ways are good ways to go.

The Shrimp is good too. If you want more food, shrimp might be the way to go, because there’s not much meat in crawfish. Although, I prefer crawfish over shrimp. It’s just much more fun and flavorful.

Also tried the $1 Happy Hour Wings. Pretty good wings, but I’m pretty sure $1 per wing is not really a deal. There’s 20cent wings at Croxley’s and that’s mostly all the time.

All in all, a great place to get your crawfish on. I just wished they opened earlier on weekends. Oh yeah, there were a lot of Asians eating here when I went.

Claw Daddy’s – 185 Orchard St (b/t Houston St & Stanton St) New York, NY 10002

…I was looking at my old crawfish posts and it seems like the first time I’ve ate it was at a house party in Greenpoint. And the guy who’s Mardi Gras themed party it was, was John Milhiser …who has been doing pretty well. He was a cast member on SNL last year.