I love The Breslin. So much.

But I also think it’s a restaurant best reserved for dinner.

It’s gorgeous, dark and cozy. When your here, it feels like nighttime anyway. Plus, the dinner menu is a bit more inspired.

There was nothing wrong with our meals. They were good and both on the healthy side. One featured kale and one had a healthy dose of lentils. Vitamins for days! Perfectly adequate if you don’t want to get stuffed before a day of sightseeing, homicide or whatever your plans are.

But also not a place to wow an out of town guest with over the top good brunch fare. If they want to see what an antique hunter’s lodge looks like in the morning, than you’re in the right place.

Of if you’re severely hungover. It’s the restaurant equivalent to a pair of Ray Bans.

Will I be back? Most certainly. But only at night. This place rocks at night.

Ace Hotel
20 W 29th St
New York, NY 10001
Flatiron, Midtown West
Phone number (212) 679-1939
thebreslin.com

PUMPKIN OLD F ASHIONED
OLD OVERHOLT RYE, PUMPKIN, FALL SPICES
DEMERARA, BITTERS – $14

29TH S TREET T ODDY
MAKER’S MARK, NUTMEG, DEMERARA, CINNAMON,
ALLSPICE, PRESSED LEMON – $14

Fig Scone – $5

Kolache – Egg, Sausage & English Cheddar – $6

HARISSA BRAISED KALE –
APPLEWOOD SMOKED LAMB BACON & FRIED EGGS – $16

POACHED EGGS –
CURRIED LENTILS, YOGURT & CILANTRO – $15

One does not come to Quality Eats for light fare.

You come to eat meat.

And I’m not talking grilled chicken boob. I’m talking red meat. Steak and eggs.

Or a gratuitous side of Nueske’s bacon with peanut butter and jalapeno jelly (order this or you’re a jerk face).

Or, if you’re really feeling like you want the artery clogging to take immediate effect, the over the top and DELICIOUS, double decker patty melt.

Technically, it’s called a Patty Club Melt. It’s $17 bucks but 2 (or 4) people can certainly share this behemoth.

It would actually be well-advised to share this. Your doctor would agree.

The cocktails are substantial, tasty and quite pretty. A good balance with the manly meat you’ll be inhaling.

You’ll definitely spend a handsome sum to dine at this West Village eatery, but you’ll won’t be sorry. You also won’t be hungry for quite some time. And if you are, you should probably see that doctor we were just talking about. He’s worried about you.

19 Greenwich Ave
New York, NY 10014
b/t Charles St & 10th St
West Village
(212) 337-9988
qualityeats.com

Hemingway Spritz
Prosecco, Rum, Luxardo Maraschino, Fresh Grapefruit

Dry Aged Bloody Mary

Punchline
Rye, Elderflower, Raspberry, Lemon, Egg White

Breakfast Negroni

Grilled Nueske’s Bacon 13
Peanut Butter, Jalapeno Jelly

The Patty Club Melt 17

Fried Eggs with Bavette Steak – $19

Peasant is a rustic but sexy Italian eatery that serves some pretty outstanding food. When it comes to date night, it’s got the whole package.

In fact, you probably would look quite out of place if you came here without a date! What I’m saying is: don’t bring mom.

The lamb and polenta dish was by far the shining (sexy) star of the show. My goodness (pardon my language) it was phenomenal!

The complimentary bread and ricotta at the start, wasn’t half bad either (slightly less sexy, however).

The pasta with broccoli rabe and sausage was rich but satisfying and the little mozzarella balls wrapped in speck went very nicely with that complimentary table bread I just mentioned.

The mozzarella helped bump up the sexy quotient a bit.

The panna cotta was the perfect finish. Light and pretty. Oh, and sexy. (ok, I think I’ve exhausted that theme now).

194 Elizabeth St
New York, NY 10012
b/t Spring St & Prince St
Nolita
(212) 965-9511
peasantnyc.com

Manhattan

bocconcini
mozzarella, speck 12

Pasta with Broccoli Rabe and Sausage – 1/2 Order

agnello con polenta
leg of lamb, grilled trevisano, polenta 29

Panna Cotta with Figs and Berries

Paulie Gee’s is a hip, dark, populous pizza joint located in a building that you enter through barn doors. The interiors are complete with antique ceilings covered in peeling paint, craggly wood floors and ghostly white brick walls. It’s as Brooklyn Hipster as you can get. It’s the restaurant equivalent to a bearded mixologist wearing vintage suspenders giving you the side eye for ordering a Lemon Drop.

If you get there at the wrong time, there will be a mighty wait for a table. Which is the same exact scenario as every single pizza joint in Brooklyn. Does anyone here eat anything else?? Apparently not.

I would suggest just to forget this place…if the pizza weren’t so damn good. And while I thoroughly enjoyed my Ricotta Be Kiddin’ Me (ricotta, Canadian bacon, sasuage, basil, mozzarella) I actually liked the Kale pizza better!

Kale pizza. Ricotta be kidding me, right? I mean…why? Stupid to put kale on a pizza, correct?

Incorrect!

I don’t know how to describe this. Like creamed spinach from a steakhouse but on a pizza. Ok, I know that doesn’t sell it very well. I’m sorry. I just don’t know how else to put it. Actually, I’m not sorry. This is my blog and you will read what I write and laugh heartily at each and every joke.

Even when I don’t make a joke, you’ll think to yourself “What an fascinating factoid!” or “My, that Bun Boy is handsome!”

60 Greenpoint Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11222
b/t West St & Franklin St
Greenpoint
(347) 987-3747
pauliegee.com

A Whiter Shade of Kale
Fresh Mozzarella and Nut-Free Kale Pesto From the Kitchen of Chop’t Creative Salad Company
15

Ricotta Be Kiddin’ Me
Fresh Mozzarella, Canadian Bacon, Sweet Italian Fennel Sausage, Fresh Basil and Post-oven Fresh Ricotta Dollops
16

Spiced Donut · 1.75 ea / 9 (6)

High Street on Hudson is a fairly new West Village bakery and eatery with an obvious emphasis on high quality bread and seasonal veggies. A great spot for a vegetarian (but not a celebrity vegetarian, because they don’t eat bread. Not only that, they will fall down dead if they even see someone else, at a different table, eating bread. Celebrities: America’s frailest resource.)

Gwyneth Paltrow, during her one cigarette a month cheat day, might come here and partake in one of the lovely assortment of pastries. I especially enjoyed the red eye Danish (a flakey croissant-like pastry topped with Benton’s smoked ham, coffee gravy and shredded gruyere) but she may have felt like going over the top and ordered the Bodega breakfast sandwich.

Be warned, this behemoth is a force to be reckoned with. It’s overflowing with maple sausage, eggs and cheddar inside an enormous sage-black pepper biscuit. It’s a touch on the greasy side. But wonderful.

I ended up coming here another time for lunch with two gals from San Francisco and we pretty much ate everything else on the menu.

My favorite two lunch items were the Eggplant Cutlet sandwich which featured scrumptious breaded and fried slices of eggplant and the Best Grilled Cheese Ever, which was simple and perfect. Grilled buttery potato bread and ooey gooey cheese. Nothing else needed. You don’t see that often. So many restaurants put a bunch of unnecessary shit in their GC’s and I’m rarely impressed by those additions.

The Winter Panzanella salad was gorgeous, a good shared salad. The pastrami was nice but I found the rye bread to be just a touch too thick. Maybe if we hadn’t ordered a thousand things, we could have still finished it.

I won’t apologize for being a pig. I just won’t. Trust me, my body will one day “thank” me for the abuse I’ve subjected it to over the years…and it will not be pretty.

637 Hudson St
New York, NY 10014
b/t Gansevoort St & Horatio St
West Village
(917) 388-3944
highstreetonhudson.com

HSOH Opens at 7 am, to get a head start on the sugar/fat rush.

Chocolate Brioche·4
Coffee Almond Date Cake·4
Hazelnut-fig Escargot·5
Kabocha Cake·3

Red-Eye Danish · 4.5 (Ham/Cheese)

The Bodega · 13
Malted Breakfast Sausage, Egg, Aged Cheddar, Sage-Black Pepper Biscuit

Roasted Beets & Feta·6

Sicilian Cauliflower· 6 & Marinated Mushrooms 6

Eggplant Cutlet·12
Charred Eggplant Tahini, Cloumage, Pickled Cabbage

Duck Meatball Sub·16
Spicy Marinara, Liver & Onions, Lancaster Amish Swiss

Pastrami on Rye·18
Cabbage Slaw, Russian Dressing, Gulden’s Mustard

Best Grilled Cheese Ever·13
Cheddar, Cultured Butter, Roasted Potato Bread

Winter Panzanella·13
Squash, Kale, Orchard Fruit, Toasted Bread Vinaigrette

Wonton Egg Drop Soup

Wo Hop, open since 1938, is a total throw back to old school, East Coast Chinese food.

Also reminds me of the small town Chinese food we had growing up.

Words like Foo’s and Chow’s are strewn about the menu. Familiar and comforting dishes many of us grew up with. Fried meats. Greasy noodles. MSG galore.

Dishes to be found in local cafes in Shanghai? Doubtful.

But who cares!

Sometimes we want more of a Panda Express experience. Sometimes we don’t want to wonder what odd fish parts are floating about in our soup. If our wonton soup contains anything other than slices of bbq pork or ultra thick-skinned pork-filled wontons, I don’t want any part of it!

I first was introduced to Wo Hop in 2004, when I came to run the NYC Marathon. My dear friend Stella Mars took me and my other friend Nancy (of Sid and Nancy fame, from my Bun Boy LA blog) down this dark and desolate staircase to what I assumed would be my immediate doom.

I was, thankfully, quite wrong. Wo Hop is a national treasure.

Another throwback component to Wo Hop are the obvious lack of chopsticks. Every place setting is a fork and spoon. We asked two different waiters for chopsticks and never saw either of them again.

Besides the deep fried dumplings (fried beyond reason), which are a sight to behold (definitely have never seen those on a Chinese menu before) we also ordered the Shanghai Chow Mai Fon (Thin curried noodles with shrimp, chicken and pork) and the boneless bbq ribs.

Just like Chinese food you grew up with, nothing was even remotely spicy or really all that flavorful. Salt is the key component to every vintage Asian dish, everyone knows that. That and sugary sweet sauces, like plum/orange and whatever that red sweet and sour sauce is. I’m not sure it contains any real food and I’m fine with that.

The only foodstuff with substantial flavor was the hot mustard, which you would dip the $1 deep fried wonton crisps into. The wonton’s are really very bland, so they need that mustard.

Would I come back? Absolutely. Would I bring my own Sriracha? Absolutely.

FYI, this place always has a line to get in. It doesn’t always move that fast, but stick with it. The divey joint is a NYC institution and is worth checking out at least once.

17 Mott St
Basement
New York, NY 10013
b/t Mosco St & Park Row
Chinatown, Civic Center
(212) 962-8617
wohopnyc.com

If you’re seated in the corner booth, look for my business card.

Wonton Egg Drop Soup – $2.75 and $1 extra for the crispy wontons

Deep Fried Dumplings – $6.75

Dissection of the Deep Fried Dumplings

Boneless BBQ Ribs – $9.75

Singapore Chow Mai Fun – $9.25

The Llama Inn is apparently much cooler than I had anticipated.

Upon my arrival at this new upscale Peruvian hot spot, I was informed by the hostess that every seat in the restaurant was already reserved. For brunch! I was shocked.

“How rude of them!” – Stephanie Tanner

Thankfully, there were plenty of open stools by the window (hey, better lighting for photos) that we could help ourselves to.

Those with bad backs, need not apply. Or just make a reservation. But then you’ll have to know what time you’ll roll out of your hangover on a Saturday morning, and who can be expected to know that? We’re not fortune tellers. What I’m trying to say is, if you have a bad back, you’re probably a heavy drinker….

Ok, the place is in a random spot of Williamsburg. Right near a freeway overpass, not really near anything that seems open. Or inviting.

The interior is bright, airy and swanky. You will be served by someone bearded, obvi. The tunes will be just hip enough not to be played in a Starbucks. But not so hip that you haven’t already heard it. Fear not.

The food is on the pricey side but gorgeously displayed and quite tasty.

We spent about $60 each (including tip) for two cocktails, two entrees and one shared appetizer.

The ceviche is their thing. Just don’t expect it to fill you up. Or anyone you know up. It might fill a toddler up. As long as they also first had access to a few pieces of cereal and possibly a chicken nugget or two.

Their version of a Lomo Saltado (that beef and French fry concoction you may have heard about or eaten before) is tasty and substantial.

The fried rice omelette is just fantastic! Order that! It’s an omelette filled with…..fried rice! And sausage! And thai chilis. SO good.

Their coffee comes French press style and served in a quirky Peruvian (I gather) made mug. The sugar cubes come in a handmade little bowl and are impossible to retrieve using the little spoon you’re provided with.

Also, order the Llama del Rey. Their version of a sangria. Also quite nice and a good, mild on the booze beverage for the morning.

Unless you have a bad back. Then order something else. And maybe start taking better care of yourself.

50 Withers St.
Williamsburg, NY 11211
b/t Union Ave & I-278
Williamsburg – North Side
(718) 387-3434
llamainnnyc.com

French Press Coffee – $4

PISCO SOUR 12
BLENDED WITH EGG WHITE,
MACCHU PISCO, LIME, BITTERS

LLAMA DEL REY 12 / 39 PITCHER
BARSOL MOSTO ITALIA PISCO, RED WINE,
CHICHA MORADA, ZACAPA, LIME,
GRILLED PINEAPPLE, PINK PEPPERCORN

HAPPY TOGETHER 12 / 39 PITCHER
PERUVIAN CUCUMBER, FINO SHERRY,
BARSOL PERFECTO AMARO, FALERNUM,
LIME, GINGER, BITTERS, TONIC

CORVINA CEVICHE, LIME, RED ONION, HABANERO,
CILANTRO, SWEET POTATO 18

OMELETTE, FRIED RICE, CHINESE SAUSAGE, SESAME, PICKLED CHILIS,
SPICY MAYO 14

BEEF TENDERLOIN STIR-FRY, FRIED EGG, BANANA, FRENCH FRIES,
ROCOTO CREMA 18

Salvation Burger makes me think I could actually enjoy fancy, gourmet burgers.

Until I dined at NYC restaurant maven April Bloomfield’s new midtown burger joint, I had always preferred fast food style burgers to the over-the-top, $30 mile high monstrocities that abound in this city.

If I have to grab a knife and fork, it should be to cut a steak. Not a burger.

Often times, the burger is under seasoned, the cheese is minimal and sauces are often not part of the equation. Just because a restaurant is giving you the finest, free-range cow carcass around, doesn’t mean they don’t have to add a little pizazz to the burger patty! Seriously, I’m not that much of a carnivore.

Salvation makes a high end, pricey burger with plenty of flavor but minimal ingredients. Cheese, sauce and pickles (on the classic only). That’s all you need on a good burger. If you’re adding a ton of shit and trying to make a burger into a work of art, you’re doing it wrong. Put that kind of effort into making a damn salad.

Sure, I ate both of these burgers with a knife and fork. They’re messy! But they’re so tasty, I didn’t care!

I won’t go on and on, you can just look at the pictures and decide for yourself (if you’ve even read this far, you short attention spanned millennials!).

230 E 51st St.
New York, NY 10022
b/t 3rd Ave & 2nd Ave
Midtown East
(646) 277-2900
salvationburger.com

April Bloomfield and Co….

Burger Slaves entranced and beguiled by Mme. Bloomfield…

Moscow Mule / Whiskey and Coke – On Tap –

Raw Vegetable Spirals w Hummus & Pistachio – $13

Classic Burger – House made cheese, special sauce & Pickles – $17

Salvation Burger – Caramelized Onion & Taleggio – $25

Banana Cream Pie – $8

The master at work…

Slice of “Upside Down” pizza

According to The Slice Harvester, a man who ate every single slice of pizza on the island of Manhattan (and blogged about it) his favorite slice of pizza was to be found at NY Pizza Suprema. A fairly nondescript, super casual pizza joint across the street from Madison Square Garden.

While my favorite slice can still be found at Bleecker Street pizza, in the west village, I think this place might serve my second favorite slice.

The crust has all the best qualities. Crispy, a little salty, light and airy and a little chewy. The toppings are plentiful but not overwhelming and the sauce is the perfect combo of tangy and sweet. For me, one slice is plenty for a meal.

The line is a bit hectic, especially when there’s a concert or sporting event going on, so it’s wise to know what you want and have your money ready (credit cards for $10 purchase and up).

They’re also famous for their “Upside Down” pizza, which appears to be a version of a Sicilian. And it’s delicious (see top pic). Below is the description directly from their website:

“A first cousin of the “New York Style” Sicilian this is the true Sicilian pie and another famous signature pie. A sauce lover’s favorite the finest Grande Mozzarella covers a light and airy deep dish square crust. The Mozzarella covered with a cooked onion based sauce, then finished with imported Romano cheese and extra virgin olive oil, sauce on top of the cheese, hence upside down pizza. Slice-$3.00 Pie $25.00″

413 8th Ave
New York, NY 10001
b/t 30th St & 31st St
Chelsea, Midtown West
(212) 594-8939
nypizzasuprema.com

Sausage Sicilian

Sausage Slice

Needed some sustenance before the Madonna / Amy Schumer concert

Café Orlin is one of the most popular brunch spots in the East Village. Judging by the large crowds constantly swarming around, outside the joint.

I know that every time I had walked by this place, not only was it packed, but a sizeable crowd had formed outside, waiting for a table.

They don’t take reservations, which can often create a shit show scenario.

Here’s what’s in store for you at Café Orlin: Pumpkin Pancakes topped with Cinnamon Yogurt.

Forget about anything else.

Sure, they have a decent sized Mediterranean menu. But those pancakes….they’re necessary. And with all the beta carotene naturally found in pumpkin, you’re sure to walk away with zero guilt, feeling lighter than air.

(JK)

There’s a large indoor area for eating, but if it’s nice out, make sure to eat outside. It’s very pretty out there. And the lighting is better for when you Instagram the crap out of those pancakes. You’re sure to get double the amount of your usual likes.

After all, isn’t that what matters most in life? How many likes your life gets….

41 St Marks Pl
New York, NY 10003
b/t 1st Ave & 2nd Ave
East Village
(212) 777-1447
cafeorlin.com

Come early before it gets packed.

French 75 – $10

Iced Cappuccino

Poached Eggs over Potato Cake — $15
with smoked salmon and yogurt dill sauce

Pumpkin Pancakes— $11
topped w/ cinnamon yogurt