I Sodi is one of those impossibly cute little Italian restaurants in the West Village that you walk by and say “We have to go there sometime”.

You either say it to the person you’re with or say it to a stranger cuz you’re weird, and everyone knows it.

Inside it’s cramped and dark and hot. Romantic, some may call it.

Others may call it a worst nightmare scenario. Especially when you’re a food blogger and all your pictures are royally sucking. And you have a thing with sweating in public. You do it a lot.

Now onto the food.

Was any of it amazing?

No.

Was it all good?

Yes.

Will I win all the blogger awards this year for most in depth food writing?

Probably.

My one critique was with the crispy artichokes. They needed a dipping sauce, dammit.

All the best things in life have a dipping sauce, FYI.

105 Christopher St
New York, NY 10014 b/t Bedford St & Bleecker St
West Village

212-414-5774

isodinyc.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The baffling thing about Greek food is that the décor is always cheap and lacking, and most of the food sounds basic enough but then the prices always seem about double of what you’re expecting.

You’re paying as much as a fancy night out when you just wanted a freaking kabob and a greek salad. Or at least I did. And it’s my blog, so forgive me if I don’t always write from your perspective. Sheesh.

The food at TK was good (that lamb chops were amazing) and the portion size of that Greek salad could have easily fed us and our nosey neighbors (I swear they both swiveled their heads our direction each time I took a bite – granted my bites are not human sized).

But I almost feel bitter about wasting all this typing on this boring ass blog that no one reads.

Warmest Regards,

Bun Boy

228 1st Ave
New York, NY 10009 b/t 13th St & 14th St
East Village, Stuyvesant Town 

(212) 432-0011

• tavernakyclades.com    

 

Masa is officially the most expensive restaurant in NYC.

Now, I’m not one to quabble about cost when it comes to food. I’ll spend enormous sums that I don’t have in order to experience most kinds of culinary pleasures.

But I don’t eat shellfish (except the occasionally crab) so I’m just no fun at your typical sushi restaurant.

And since Masa is an omakase situation (a Japanese expression meaning “I’ll leave it to you”) there is no way in hell I’ll spend $500 and leave it to the chef to bring me all sorts of horrors from the deep.

Like I said, I’m no fun.

Tetsu is the much more affordable, hipper cousin (with a few tattoos, but no tramp stamps) from the Masa folks.

While I see the recent Yelp reviews are slightly less than stellar, I really loved my experience here.

The service was prompt and friendly. Maybe too prompt. Oh well, my seat had no back so there was definitely an expiration date on this meal for my lil ole back.

The famous burger (which is only served between the blue plate special hours of 5 – 6 pm) was really good but super simple. Judging from my picture below, it looked like it was 75% bun, but don’t be fooled. The bun was ultra soft and squished down nicely. This was a delicious burger.

The two meats on sticks were also both delicious.

But the star of the show was the Toro Nigiri. Blew me away. the perfect bite of food. The price is for ONE piece, so remember that when you keep harassing the waiter to come back time and time to bring you more sushi.

For all you see below (two drinks each and almost enough food), the cost was about $109 per person (including tip) so keep that in mind.

78 Leonard St
New York, NY 10013 b/t Broadway & Church St
TriBeCa, Civic Center

212-207-2370

www.tetsunyc.com

 

Momofuku Ko is one of the very few tasting menu only eateries in NYC with just a teeny bit of an edge (they found just the right Spotify radio station that plays the kind of old school punk and vintage alternative that your grandmother can still appreciate), where you can slightly relax and not worry that your every chew or shift in chair will be heard in the stagnant silence of a stuffy restaurant.

The Tasting Menu costs $195 per person (on the cheaper side, comparatively) and it’s just fun and unique enough to not be a series of weird shit that you think you need to pretend to be enjoying.

You’ll actually enjoy this food.

The menu steers towards seafood with a slight Asian slant but they will gladly accommodate allergies or just general aversions to things (I’m talking to you Uni).

8 Extra Pl
New York, NY 10003 at 1st St
East Village

212-500-0831

momofuku.com

For nearly 4 years I have lived in Chelsea and for nearly 4 years I’ve had Forager’s Table on my inclement weather list.

I keep this mental note of local eateries that I only wish to visit if the weather is too bloody awful to venture out in.

If it’s sunny and warm, I prefer to travel somewhere else for my meals. Visit another neighborhood. Any neighborhood is better than Chelsea in terms of trendy restaurants or even good food.

The problem is, whenever it’s shitty out, I just want to stay in, not wear pants and order Chinese delivery. Why would I want to go out in that mess?

And why would I want to wear pants??

Well, today’s issue was this. It was freezing cold. Like, insanely cold. But it was also sunny out. The sight out my window belied the horrific wind chill factor.

I was determined to walk the 3 blocks to get some overpriced avocado toast if it killed me (and it jolly well may have).

Forager’s Table, located in the Gem Hotel and attached to the Forager’s grocery store (home of the $15 pints of ice cream and $8 beets) leans towards the healthy side, so their version of avocado toast (the Avocado Tartine) featured all the things that I knew I should be eating whilst ringing in the new year.

Instead of the usual smashed avocado, the bread was topped with some tasty vinegary greens, pickled onions, shaved asparagus and thick slices of avocado. For $2 more, you add the obligatory poached egg. It was all quite tasty, although I would have preferred the bread to me more toasted. It was altogether soft.

Luckily, I had also ordered the quite scrumptious (Sorry, if you can’t tell I’ve been binge watching The Crown on Netflix) roasted vegetable scone. I mean, this is the scone of my dreams if I dreamt of such things. Who am I kidding, I dream of scones like any other red blooded American male.

While the prices here are about $2-3 more than similar eateries, I blame the hotel for that. All hotel restaurants are overpriced and I’m assuming it’s the upcharge to help pay the astronomical rent. Or pay off some hotel mafia guys, who’s to tell.

300 W 22nd St
New York, NY 10011
b/t 9th Ave & 8th Ave
Chelsea
https://foragersmarket.com/

While Jongro may not have the tastiest Korean bbq in town, it definitely makes up for it with ambiance (it’s like a little indoor Korean village in there) and that amazing kimchee pancake!

I would actually just go for that pancake and watch my poor fellow diners swim in mediocre meats.

Ok, the meat isn’t really mediocre. it just needed SALT!

Many KBBQ places offer a little dish of salt. This place obviously did not. Which is why it is now incurring my wrath!!

How dare they?

Thank the gods for that kimchee pancake.

Yes, I refuse to spell kimchi correctly. As punishment.

22 W 32nd St
Fl 2
New York, NY 10001
b/t Broadway & 5th Ave
Koreatown, Midtown West
(212) 473-2233
jongrobbqny.com

The Modern is Danny Meyer’s two Michelin star restaurant tucked artfully inside the Museum of Modern Art.

It’s a tasting menu only situation. For dinner, you can choose 4 or 8 courses. But be warned, the courses are pretty sizable and I was full after the 4 course (and a few tiny freebies thrown in).

Basically, even if you’re a little piggy like me, you’ll be satisfied without completely emptying your wallet (only just sort of emptying it).

The highlights were the pumpkin soup with hazelnut foam amuse bouche and the heavenly moist and tender comte crusted beef.

Nothing really was a lowlight, except the apple dessert was slightly forgettable. It just tasted like apples. NBD.

The Modern is definitely worth the splurge (our total bill was $250 each, tips are built into the price and not accepted at the end) for a special occasion meal in a swanky locale.

9 W 53rd St
New York, NY 10019
b/t Avenue Of The Americas & 5th Ave
Midtown West
(212) 333-1220
themodernnyc.com

If I were 15 years younger or if were 6 months ago, I would say that my meal at The Grill was delicious AF.

Everyone was super excited when this place first opened (I won’t bore you with the reasons why, aka: I read online that people were excited) so I made sure that securing a reservation here became the order of the day (before bowel movements).

And I was not disappointed. Dining here is truly a bowel moving experience.

OK, I really need to get off that train…..

I’m not someone that gets excited about Prime Rib. In my mind, Prime Rib is what you eat at weddings or what everyone ate at restaurants in the 1950’s.

But at The Grill, it’s the star of the show. Order it. Order it because it’s thick and delicious and is delivered by trolley directly to your table.

First, however, start with a few appetizers.

Start with the AMAZING crab cake (topped with crispy scalloped potatoes) and also get the theatric Pasta a la Presse.

When you order this dish, you’re treated to a live execution of a tasty looking platter of roast chicken, herbs and veggies. The server dumps this perfectly lovely looking dinner into an antique French torture device and squeezes all life out of it until this unique and wonderful essence oozes out and then is tossed with some pasta. You will never taste anything like it.

We ordered the grasshopper pie for dessert because it’s pretty. Not because we were particularly hungry (the complimentary bread basket helped see to that). We actually had no room left in our fat effing bellies.

However, in honor of the Great Gatsby décor and general over the top vibe, we dove head first into extreme and glorious excess.

99 E 52nd St
New York, NY 10022
b/t Madison Ave & Park Ave
Midtown East
(212) 375-9001
thegrillnewyork.com

I really hate wasting my time writing about boring restaurants.

We came here because the place we wanted to eat at had too long a wait.

In retrospect, I wish I would have waited. This place wasn’t bad, it was just boring.

The most interesting part of the entire meal was the complimentary breakfast bread. But not really delicious enough to write about.

So, why am I even bothering with it??

What’s the point of anything anymore??

Just kidding. I’ll calm down now. However, this blog post is done.

118 2nd Ave
New York, NY 10003
b/t 7th St & St Marks Pl
East Village
(212) 253-0425
barvirage.com

We all think about different things when we first wake up in the morning.

Some of us think of loved ones or troubles at work.

Some of us need a jolt of coffee before we can properly focus on anything.

Some of us grab our phones like they’re on fire and check Open Table or Resy to see if there are any decent availabilities at our current restaurant obsessions.

This is what I’ve been doing for the past month, with regards to 4 Charles Prime Rib.

Every morning, even though my bladder is bursting, I check to see if just maybe there is a reservation available past 5 pm but before 11 pm. Basically, if you’re 21 or 71 years old, you will have no trouble finding an acceptable time slot at 4 Charles.

I even enlisted my friend from LA to log into Resy.com at 9 PM (midnight in NYC) to see if she could find me a decent slot. No luck!

But because I have the temperament of a 71 year old, I was perfectly fine with eating at 5 pm. It was the day after Thanksgiving, after all, and my stomach was already accustomed to a ghastly amount of food being shoveled inside it at odd hours.

Ok, now that I’ve wasted all my energy on all that, I don’t have many words left for an actual review. Sorry.

The place is very charming. Dark, romantic old basement in brownstone in the West Village. Service is friendly and casual. Food is delicious, absolutely no complaints.

The mushrooms and corn sides are PERFECTION. Either one would be a fine choice but both would be finer.

The burger is the thing to order here (as is the off-the-menu French Dip). It’s a similar burger to their sister restaurant in Chicago, Au Cheval, who makes the best burger I’ve ever chowed down on. And I’ve done a LOT of chowin.

If you’re gonna dive into some actual prime rib, I would suggest the thicker Chicago or 4 Charles cuts, because the thin English cut slices grew cold quite quickly. Not anyone’s fault, just how it works with thinly sliced meats.

In conclusion, come here no matter what sad reservation time slot you get stuck with. 4 Charles is a very special place and, besides, the dining room is so damn dark you won’t what time it is!

4 Charles St
New York, NY 10014
b/t West St & Washington St
West Village
(212) 561-5992
nycprimerib.com