Tag Archives: hell’s kitchen

Southern Hospitality- Hell’s Kitchen

20 Apr

This week’s theme appears to be lunch in the “West of Midtown West” region.

Southern Hospitality was first opened by Justin Timberlake and friends in the UES.  A second outpost recently opened in Hell’s Kitchen, on 9th Ave and 45th Street.

When I checked in on Four Square, I was informed that there was a special where first check-ins were awarded with a free pitcher of beer.  I showed the waitress, and she informed me that I had checked in at the wrong Southern Hospitality (WHOOPS!) but they would honor it anyway.  The guys at my table were pleased.

The interior is massive and decorated in a very fun, southern, barry way.

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We went out for team lunch and ordered across the menu.  There was a BBQ chicken chopped salad.

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A side of… something?

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A cheese steak that wound up being quite disappointing when the orderer failed to read that there was cheese SAUCE on it.

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Some BBQ salmon

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A plate of smoked sliced brisket (which was questionably brisket) with a side of succotash and collard greens.

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And I took a dive and tried my very first chicken and waffles.

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They came with a side of mashed taters, which were fair at best.

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While the chicken looked over-breaded and over-fried, it wasn’t bad.  But it certainly wasn’t the best I had.  I understand why people like this combo (turns out syrup and fried chicken are delicious together), but I wasn’t impressed.

Turns out, no one else was either.  Nothing stuck out, nothing was particularly good, and nothing was worth going back for.

Sorry JT.  We’ve had much better BBQ, even in NY, elsewhere.

Total Nom Points: 6 out of 10


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Mercato

9 Feb

We are fortunate at work to have a boss who is Italian and loves good food.  This ensures that we eat well during team lunches with him. 

He scheduled a team lunch around the corner at a place I always just passed right by without a notice, Mercato (on 39th Street just before 9th Ave, right near Port Authority).

It was decorated in a way that made you feel like you were dining in someone’s eclectic home.

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I especially appreciated the mirror frame made out of corks and the wine vault made out of old wine crates.

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They did a nice job of making it look inviting and simple.

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And the food was QUITE good.  We started with some shared apps, including meat balls…

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Olives…

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And a trio of bruschetta.

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We all got our own dishes including linguini with seafood.

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And seafood soup.

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And grilled skirt steak with roasted potatoes, broccoli rabe, and balsamic vinegar.

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I went with the branzino, which included 2 perfectly prepared fillets with raisins, spinach, celery, and garlic mashed potatoes (which I traded out for the roasted potatoes).

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It was very well cooked and I really liked the mild sweet contrast from the raisins in the sauce.  I expected a bit more from the potatoes, however.

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We put 3 small desserts on the table for everyone to split (I always find it funny how no one ever wants dessert and then when something comes out with multiple spoons… it magically disappears). 

They had a special dessert that day which was like a pound cake drizzled in chocolate.  It was pretty good.

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We also got the pistachio and almonds ice cream cake served with chocolate and honey.  This was my favorite.

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And we tried the ricotta cheesecake with vanilla beans.  It was good, but, per usual with cheesecake, I like mine better. 🙂

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Overall, this place serves high quality, classic Italian food at reasonable prices for the area (all pastas were $10-$16 and all the main courses were $14-$22).  I still give a slight edge to Il Punto and Carbone for Italian in the Penn Station/Port Authority/Broadway/Javitz Center black hole of a neighborhood I live in.

Total Nom Points: 6.5 out of 10

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HK

14 Dec

 HK is a restaurant and bar (and lounge? and rooftop bar?) on 9th Ave at 39th Street.  It looks very modern inside and has garage door windows that open in the nice weather.  They have expanded it, and perhaps they are just trying to be too many things.  They do somethings VERY right… and some things VERY wrong.

Our evening here started before heading to see a Broadway show.  We showed up at about 6, figuring that we would have no problem getting in and out in an hour and a half to catch the 8pm show.  The restaurant was almost empty, and our chatty waiter informed us about MANY things, including that he was having a bad day and that it was his iPod playing.  Congrats dude.

We started with an app of tuna tartar that came with herbs, apple, and quail egg.  It was absolutely FANTASTIC.  I would go back in a heartbeat for this (though it doesn’t appear to be a permanent staple on the menu).

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It was all downhill from here.  Our entrees took about an hour to come out. 

Mike order the lamb chop special.  It was… fine… but nothing special. 

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 And rather small for the price (it came to $30 when we got the bill).

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 But small was not even realized yet.  I ordered the duck with cinnamon pears and carrots.  Sounded great.

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But there were 3 thumb sized portions of the duck, which was bland, and a whole plate filled with pear (which were delicious and all… but you don’t order duck for just over 3 bites).   And as I ate it, in this VERY dark restaurant, I realized there was an orange burried under the pile with the rind still on… and a cinnamon stick.  Top Chef echoed in my head: “You don’t put unedible garnish on the plate.”  And to make that worse, in a dark restaurant, the taste of orange rind can really ruin a so-so dish.

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And on top of that, we barely got out in time for our show.  Two couples that sat down next to us about 20 minutes after we sat down were still awaiting their entree when we paid the bill.  They informed their waiter, who was chatting up the (overly cute and gay) men at the table next to them, that they had to catch a show.  The waiter’s response: “Everyone here is trying to catch a show, sweetheart.”  Uacceptable.

Go for the drinks and tuna tartare.  Skip the entrees.

Total Nom Points: 5.5 out of 10

Total Nom Points: 5.5 out of 10

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