Salvation Burger - Midtown East, NY

Salvation Burger just opened recently, February 10th. Luckily, a good coworker of mine somehow stumble upon it and basically persuaded me to go. Good bye to my smoothie and salad for lunch.

Opened by the same chef as Spotted Pig, it was just a place to check out and say - "hey I've had that burger before!" Also, my coworker really really wanted to go.

They opened at 12pm for lunch, we made sure to go early. Even then we were beaten by a good 5 parties...and did I mention this place just opened like 9 days ago?!

Salvation Burger has a good amount of space, with walls lined with wine bottles, pretty neat decor. They also have a full size cocktail bar, along with communal tables, just because. My coworker and I were seated by the window, being distracted by construction workers blinging up the restaurant's exterior.

Menu was pretty basic. You got your snacks like fries or jalapeno fritters, then there's burgers and hotdogs, and last but not least, the milkshakes.

Service was a bit slow. Waited a bit over 10 minutes for the burgers, which felt like forever. When the burgers came, my eyes couldn't stop staring and literally how beautiful and simple the burger looks. It was served on a plate, nothing else around it, just the burger in its entirety. It was time.

The Salvation Burger was pretty good, patty was huge, thick I mean (that's what she said), nicely cooked to a medium rare and extremely juicy. It was simple but yet complex in its own way. I just couldn't figure out where the salt came from because they definitely didn't season the burger, maybe it was hidden in the crispy onions or maybe it was the buns or was it the taleggio cheese? Anyways, it was good and honestly worth the $25. On the other hand, the Classic Burger was your average any day burger. But, this one had two patties, house special sauce, cheese, and pickles. It was good if they were easy on the seasoning for this. I only had half the burger and even then the saltiness gradually picked up. For $17, I'd rather get the Salvation Burger. The fries started out great, but same thing with the burger, it got salty as we worked our way through it.

Nonetheless, it was a decent experience. I'd come back for the Salvation Burger, which I can count on to give me food coma.

Verdict:
Food ~ 3.5 out of 5
Price ~ 3 out of 5
Service ~ 3 out of 5 

Toasted Marshmallow Milkshake

Salvation Burger

Classic Burger

Salvation Burger
230 E 51st Street
New York, NY 10022

Midtown East, NY - The Campbell Apartment

Shanghai Margarita

Kentucky Ginger

Mango Mule

Roaring Twenties

Prosciutto Flatbread

The Campbell Apartment

15 Vanderbilt Ave 

New York, NY 10017 

(212) 953-0409

Midtown East, NY - Hinata

Kara Ramen

Hinata
159 East 55th Street
New York, NY 10022
(212) 355-2974

Midtown East - Hot Kitchen

I've been to Hot Kitchen a couple of times, for dine-in and takeout.

I see myself coming back whenever I'm craving for something spicy. It's a Szechuan style cuisine. The service is quite fast and the food is usually a hit or miss, depending on what you order. I usually get the lunch specials since it's the best 'bang for your buck' kind of deal.

I'm not exactly fond of their soup, the Hot and Sour Soup is barely hot - spicy wise and temperature wise.

I think this is probably one of the best dishes I've had from them. The Double Cooked Pork was very flavorful and I just couldn't stop eating those scallion/leek things.

The Shredded Pork with Dried Bean Curd was insanely oily. I think I would've enjoyed it if it was more gravy and sauce without the extra dollop of oil in it.

Not a bad rendition of the Mapo Tofu. Feels like it's missing some magic powder or ingredient but overall, not a bad choice for something spicy.

Hot Kitchen
251 East 53rd St
New York, NY 10022
(212) 588-8826

Midtown East - Totto Ramen

Totto Ramen opened another location not too long ago. My coworkers and I decided to check it out since it was dead of winter when we went (I know, this post is long overdue). During lunch hours in the winter, the wait can be anywhere from 15 to 45 minute wait but if you're by yourself, it might just be quicker.

There is a lot more seatings at this location compared to the west side. Service was quick and the staffs were crazy busy.

The Spicy Ramen was good, nice and hearty for the winter. Noodles were cooked nicely which is always a deal breaker when it comes to good/bad ramen joints. You get a choice between pork or chicken, I do recommend the pork since the chicken is quite dry. One thing I wished they did more for the pork was seared it to give it that crisp texture.

Besides being very well known for their Spicy Ramen, their Paitan Ramen is pretty good also. For those non-spicy lovers, this bowl is for you. Broth was creamy and filled with onions, tasted extremely home-y.

They have an array of topping options, all with additional price of course. I usually get their boiled egg which is boiled to perfection, the yolk is still runny when it's being served to you.

I find myself coming here a lot since it's a nice quick fix, can be a bit pricey at times. A bowl can run me anywhere between $12-15, but I love to indulge once in a while.

Totto Ramen
248 E 52nd Street
New York, NY 10022
(212) 421-0052

Obao - you're better off not staying

Obao is a hotspot in Midtown East for some southern Asian cuisine. Mainly run by Thai people, but make quite spot on dishes. I usually order takeout from them because it's faster and slightly cheaper (because I don't have to pay tip).

One odd summer day, my coworker and I stopped by for lunch. We were seated all the way in the back, in their garden, no worries because they have a roof for some shade. Service was extremely slow. I understand that it's the busy lunch hour but having just 3-4 staff waiting the entire restaurant is quite unacceptable.

We got our glass of water after the table next to us got their's and they came in after us. I asked for the beverage menu and a few minutes later they didn't come by again to ask me if I wanted anything. Is it me or am I expecting too much from a restaurant in midtown? Maybe I'm just too spoiled...

Obao has these lunch specials that are pretty good, they range anywhere from $8-15 and if you want an appetizer, just tag on another $3-5. If you ask me, that's one pricey lunch.

The salad was pretty standard. Nothing special or worth mentioning here.

For appetizer, I ordered the Spring Rolls. It was quite good and was already drizzled with some fish sauce over it, which I wished came separately. Nonetheless, it was crunchy and filled with a nice amount of meat and vegetables.

The Pork Belly with Chinese Broccoli is what the rave is about here. I had it once for takeout and it was amazingly good, so it just had to be better fresh out from the kitchen right? Well, to be honest it wasn't any better, it tasted just like the time I had it as takeout. Don't get me wrong, it was good but I guess I expected more. Very powerful and flavorful dish, you can really taste southern Asia in this dish, no lie.

My coworker ordered the Thin Cut Vietnamese Pork Chop and it tasted just like the ones you would get at the Vietnamese restaurants. Marinated and packed with flavor, the lime gave it a nice kick which I like.

Overall, I wouldn't dine here again. Even though the food was pretty darn good, the service was really poor. I would rather order takeout and not deal with the service and still get some kickass food.

Obao
222 E 53rd St
New York, NY 10022
(212) 308-5588

 

Lunchin' Solo: Tanaka - Lunch Box

Tanaka is really close to my office and my coworkers always order from here. I finally gave in and tried out their lunch box because it was the biggest bang for you buck kind of deal.

I ordered from Seamless and it said it would be ready in 10 minutes. There was a lot of food for about $10 (I also used a code so it was cheaper than the original price). The entree came with soup and salad which was already more than enough.

I haven't had Miso Soup in forever, this wasn't bad but I also forgot how salty it can be also. I always like the pieces of tofu that came with it. There was also a small side salad with the ginger dressing but I passed on that since I want to be able to eat my box.

I ordered the Salmon Teriyaki. Everything was placed really neat in the box. Salmon was really tender and had just the right amount of sauce, there was also some grilled vegetables on the bottom. The fried dumplings were really good too, still crunchy by the time I picked it up and brought it back to the office. Best of all? Was actually the California Roll, I'm not a big fan of it because it's just a simple roll with imitation crab meat, cucumbers and avocado, but for some reason Tanaka makes it really well.

I would order this again on days that I'm starving or want a bento box. For midtown, the quality is quite good. Usually, I can't justify the price to what I'm getting in Manhattan because I always find it more worth it to get the same thing in Brooklyn for a cheaper price. But this was far better than I expected, apparently not a lot of people agree. Should give this place a go for lunch, you won't be disappointed.

Tanaka
222 E 51st St
New York, NY 10022
(212) 308-6976

Bluestone Lane Coffee -- Midtown

About a month ago, I was on a crazy rampage with coffee. Basically that week I came back from skydiving, I drank a whole weeks worth of coffee, mainly lattes.

Literally each day of the week I had coffee from a different place. Then I somehow landed upon Bluestone. It just opened near my office so I had to try it.

Apparently, they were really well known for their Flat White and knowing me, I was curious. Bluestone is an Australian based coffee shop and a flat white is the Australian signature "latte." They are similar but the flat white is described as a more velvety and smoother coffee with a lower content of milk so you can taste the coffee even more.

First sip and I was in love. I really enjoyed the flat white and it was perfect with just one pack of raw sugar for my liking. It was $4.25 for the large which isn't a bad price. Heck, I would dish out more for something like it because it tasted perfect. There isn't a lot of flat whites in NYC so I'm glad that there's one right by me, I hope these Australian coffees are able to spread around NYC because they are just that fantastic.

Bluestone also carries pastries, like the croissant from Bathlazar. Nice and flaky with a hint of butter. But, $2.75 was a bit steep for a croissant. I did enjoyed it while it lasted...only 1.5 minutes haha

For now, Bluestone is my go-to place for a flat white. How can I say no when it's just so convenient.

Bluestone Lane Coffee
805 3rd Ave
Atrium
New York, NY 10017
(212) 888-8848

Lunchin' Solo: Yogi Korean BBQ - Spicy Pork w/ White Rice

The Yogi cart is here occasionally and not all the time, it's a hit or miss when I see it. The first couple of times I saw it, I was either not in the mood for it or I had already brought in lunch from home.

But this time, was an excellent time to get it since my coworker was getting froyo from the truck right next to it.

Thankfully, there was no line because nothing can be worse than standing in line for food when its 85 degrees out and you're near a blistering hot little food cart.

They had an array of options, anything from tacos to burritos to rice. I settled for the rice since by that time, I was really hungry and you can't really screw this up. The Spicy Pork ($7) was my choice since I didn't want Teriyaki Chicken or Bulgogi. They were also out of fried rice, what I initially wanted, so they gave me white rice. Told them to add on the kimchi and also some salad, ended up choosing the ginger white sauce - the guy told me it was made of ginger and some vinegar, sure why not since my pork is spicy anyways.

Kimchi was pretty great, might be sliced up too small but overall not bad. Also, be great if it was colder but no complaints because it was pretty bomb.

The pork was amazing. Tender and flavorful, the sauce went so well - kind of addicting. I was so glad I got the white rice also, the juices from the pork literally just covered the rice making it extremely heavenly. I've had fried rice from a Korean cart before and it wasn't exactly great so I'll steer away from it for now when I still can.

Definitely return for their tacos and burritos, plus the 2 guys working in the cart are extremely nice.

Yogi Korean BBQ
47th St & 3rd Ave
New York, NY 10017

Cannibal - Please turn around if you don't want anything meat

Been wanting a good piece of steak for the past month or so and finally satisfied this craving!

And to satisfy such craving, what's better than going to a place named Cannibal. A bit odd and creepy but we're not eating humans here, just other animals...haha.

In total, we ordered 3 dishes and none of them have greens in them. Pure meat heaven.

Started off with Pig's Head Terrine ($11) as an appetizer. A nice cold rendition of headcheese that is quite gelatinous and porky. There were bread accompany this dish so don't feel too horrified of eating this fatty goodness. The gherkins were a nice touch, love me some pickled cucumbers.

Next was the Beef Heart Tartare ($16), I have to say this was my favorite. I love trying something new and I know that J couldn't agree more! I was afraid the heart would be too gamey and had too much of an iron taste to it since it is a muscle of blood, but to my surprise, the beef heart was covered in spices that really brought out the meaty-ness of the dish.

The beautiful fried shallots on top really gave it that extra oomph, if you know what I mean. I would come back to Cannibal, get a glass of wine and just enjoy this tartare because it's that amazing. If you can eat tuna tartare or beef tartare, then this is just a piece of cake.

For our main course, we had the Steak Du Jour for two. It was whatever they had that night and they had a ribeye and t-bone. We chose the former because the t-bone was quite on the pricey side plus, we weren't that crazy into the steak.

The Ribeye ($95) cooked to medium rare was perfect. Placed on a wooden cutting board and served to us just like that. We cut our own pieces, or we could've used our hands...no one cared since we're suppose to be cannibals! There was a lot of fat on the ribeye though, the non-fat parts were quite juicy and delicious. Was it worth the $95? Definitely not, but it was aged for about 4 weeks so that's where the price kicks in.
The waiter asked if we wanted any sides, I really didn't want any because I literally just want to be left alone with this ribeye. But, good thing we didn't because I was stuffed and J would have to finish everything and I don't think he'll be too happy with that.

Would I come back again? Sure, but I won't be getting the Steak Du Jour again though. Maybe try their bone marrow or cold cuts or even sausages.

Cannibal
113 E 29th St
New York, NY 10016
(212) 686-5480 

Wild Edibles - An early affordable aphrodisiac coming my way

One of the best places for happy hour since it occurs everyday from 12-6pm. It's early but totally worth it.

J and I came for lunch around 1pm, good thing we were able to snatch seats at the bar because it was quite packed.

There was a small section of a fish market inside the restaurant. They sell their seafood by the pound there and during our lunch there, 2 people came for this...interesting.

I had a glass of Reisling White Wine ($9) while J had the Narrgansett Lager ($4) that came with 1/2 dozen of oysters. Quite a good deal for him.

We started off with a dozen of oysters, that day's special were Bluepoint ($.99 each). So delicious and succulent. For less than a dollar an oyster, we placed another order of a dozen oysters. They were so plump and meaty. Usually at happy hour, restaurants would give you the puny and meatless oysters because you're paying a cheaper price for it, but not here. Wild Edibles gives you quality even if the price they charge you is low.

For main, I got the Oyster Po'boy ($12.99). Going to avoid the next time I go there. The wrap was filled with cole slaw which made it taste like I was eating a plain lettuce wrap. I wasn't too impress with this. On the other hand, the fries were amazing...too bad I couldn't finish it.

A round of applause for J again for choosing the best dish (rolls eye). The Grilled Tuna Steak Club ($14.99) was the best fish sandwich I had ever devour. Hands down the best. The tuna was tender and grilled lightly so you can taste the fishy flesh within the sandwich. Tasted a bit like chicken if you ask me. I need to go back for this. I had to share half with J, at least he gave me half right?

I'm returning for sure, maybe some time soon since I can't stop thinking about the tuna club now.

Wild Edibles
535 3rd Ave
New York, NY 10016
(212) 213-8552

Don Bogam BBQ & Wine Bar

One of the reason why J chose this specific Korean place as one of our first full meal back in NYC is not because of the BBQ but because of the wine part. We went away for 3 weeks to Asia and it was definitely unfortgettable. But, now that we're back, it's time to continue on this journey of NYC feasting.

Don Bogam is one of the places where you can choose to BBQ or not, and from that decision the maitre'd will either seat you at a regular table or the awesome table where the table is above a pit and your legs dangle when you sit. Sort of like a cheating way of sitting Korean style.

We ordered quickly because we were starving. For this place, you need to order at least 2 entrees from their BBQ list in order to BBQ it at the table (odd).

Delicious Plum Wine ($19) was a bit on the sweet side. Quite smooth and no aftertaste at all.

Your typical Korean set-up. I really missed kimchi in general and this place didn't disapppoint. Something that was different was the steamed egg custard, it was a lot firmer, softer, and smoother; tasted like tofu and it had a shrimp on the bottom...interesting.

The Pork Belly ($25.95) was already pre-cut and was placed on the grill for some sizzling action. The cut here were particularly thinner than any other places I've previously ate at. The cooking time was quicker and the outcome of pork was a lot more tender.

Love my wraps with lettuce, scallions, kimchi, radish and top that off with the pork belly...heaven. This combo never gets old.

I decided on a Kimchi Jjigae ($10.95) because it was extremely cold that night. We asked for 2 bowls of rice to go with the stew. I was surprised at how much I liked and enjoyed this stew. I never liked kimchi back then but the past year, I've been eating kimchi like it's an obsession. This kimchi stew was excellent, spicy and tangy which makes it really appetizing.

While we were finishing up the pork belly and stuffing ourselves with the stew, our waitress came by and refilled our lettuce basket and gave us more scallion salad (this salad is addicting).

Last but not least, the Beef Short Rib in Spicy Sauce ($27.95) which wasn't spicy at all. Marinated really well, so we didn't need any sauce for this. I actually just ate it on it's own because it was tender to a point I just want it to linger in my mouth solo.

The meal was your average Korean BBQ food, the service was more than I expected at a Korean restaurant, and the seats were what amazed me the most. Will I be back? Definitely, but with a large group of people.

Don Bogam BBQ & Wine Bar
17 E 32nd St
New York, NY 10016
(212) 683-2200

Sushi Yasuda

This is my second time at Sushi Yasuda, the first time with J and we sat by the sushi bar. This time around, we came in a group of 5 and sat at the table. Both experience were extremely different and it made me decide which I liked better.

WARNING: There will be a ton of photos...some possibly repetitive, because I can.

Got seated right away because we made reservations a week in advance. There was 3 girls and 2 guys in total and we all ordered differently, which was just a tad bit confusing. Two ordered the omakase, two ordered from the a la carte, and one chose a prixe fix meal.

We all started with a small amuse bouche with pickled daikon, carrots, cucumbers, and seaweed.

Ordered a plate of Flash Fried Tuna. I thought it was just ok, nothing too special about it. Wish they had fugu instead though.

Lovely display of ginger and wasabi. You're suppose to have a piece of ginger after each sushi piece to cleanse your palate but I never do that since I'm not a big fan of ginger. As for the ginger, the sushi doesn't even need it because the chefs already tucked a bit of it in the sushi, sneaky indeed!

My beautiful table set up. Just thought it was cute and so neat. Lame but neat.

Starting off with my friend's dishes. She ordered a prixe fix (I assume) which she chose sashimi and was given a piece of paper to decide which type of fish she would like. She also ordered 4 piece a la carte because it was so tempting after seeing J and my dish (which you will see later on).

Our other two friends that ordered the Omakase had about 3 rounds of food coming and this was their first dish.

Of course, they couldn't resist and ordered more also.

This is J and mines. Went a little overboard but was totally worth it.
In no particular order, we ordered -- Big Eye Fatty Tuna, Little Tunny, Warasa (Yellowtail), Kanpachi (Yellowtail), Fluke, Sea Trout, Coba (White Fish), King Salmon, Sockeye Salmon, King Salmon New Zealand, White King Salmon, Coho Salmon, Sanma (Mackerel), Cherrystone Clam, Oyster, and Sea Urchin.
If you're able to match up the names with the pieces, congratulations because we can't for the life of us.

We ordered two more of our favorite pieces. Mine was the New Zealand King Salmon and J's was the Cherrystone Clam, the only place he eats clam raw.

Decided to get the Freshwater and Saltwater Eel sushi because our friend had it with their Omakase. I wasn't going to order it but it looked so appetizing and I just had to have it. Looks sure are deceiving because it was more on the bitter side since they used sake soy sauce instead of the sugared sweetened soy sauce glaze.

Finally, to end the meal we all ordered a piece of uni for ourselves. The uni was especially fresh and delicious that day. They only had the Santa Barbara Uni, a bit disappointed they didn't have the east coast but overall still extremely satisfied.

Our Omakase duo ordered the Green Tea Mochi Ice Cream. Nothing special since I remember having this the first time with J. It's good but the green tea powder can really dry up your mouth.

Our bill for 5 wasn't as bad as we thought. I remember the first time here with J, we easily spent over $300 for two people so either we held back this time (which I doubt because we're not cheap when it comes to food) or our stomach shrank, I like to think it's the latter.

And because we're Asians and we can, we divided up the bill into 3 hence the 3 credit cards. We even did the math for them and wrote it on the to of the bill. I was so proud at how organized we were. *thumbs up*

A good meal but not the greatest that I had here. Definitely interesting eating with a group and I look forward to it in the future.

Personally, I like sitting by the bar better because you get the full experience. You get to communicate with the sushi chefs and they can make you pieces of sushi according to your appetite and liking. They even give you some off the menu items which J and I had last time but not this time around since we weren't by the bar.

This is one of the places where I will find myself coming back, regarding if I go broke. Sushi Yasuda proves that great quality does come with high prices.

Sushi Yasuda
204 East 43rd St
New York, NY 10017
(212) 972-1001