Hubby Corner: Primehouse

Primehouse

(27th Street and Park Avenue)
 

Hello A Manhattan Food Story readers. I am the “hubby-to-be” and part-time blog correspondent for this exceptional website. We thought it would be a good idea to add a man’s perspective every once in awhile, especially when we visit a restaurant that serves lots of beef!

My first dispatch comes from the steakhouse hot-spot known as Primehouse on 27^th and Park Avenue. We paid a visit to Primehouse with another couple during the summer of 2009 and I have been plotting my return ever since. It turns out due to a reservation snafu at another restaurant (Gilt - which we will be dining at later this month), my fiancée and I were making a mad scramble to find a destination for Saturday evening. Luckily, we both decided Primehouse would be a perfect place for an upscale evening and we were not disappointed.

 

We arrived promptly at 7:30pm and were seated immediately. The restaurant décor is very trendy with high ceilings, a black-and-white color scheme, and slate walls which add a nice touch. The restaurant was mostly full with an upscale crowd of all ages. The general attire was casual, no need for anything more than jeans and a dress shirt. Now onto the best part, the food:

I have to admit we cheated and viewed the menu before we left our apartment. We had our eye on the chateaubriand for two, which also came with two sides. After briefly glancing over the menu at the restaurant, we put in our order as planned. We were pleasantly surprised by the bread which soon followed, especially my fiancée. The bread reminded me of a bagel, but sweeter. Throw in some whipped butter and you are good to go! I also ordered a beer. The wine selection was obviously much more expansive than the beer selection, which although moderately priced was rather narrow in scope. While my fiancée and I engaged in pleasant conversation, our chateaubriand was cooking to perfection. A few minutes later our main dish arrived. The meat (cooked to medium) was a beautiful sight. The pinkness in the middle made my jaw drop (I am being a little dramatic) and the combination of the smell and the sheer size of the portion made me smile. The waiter’s assistant cut the meat tableside in fine cuts, and also dropped off our two sides, steamed asparagus and truffle asiago fries.  A quick note on the sides: The asparagus was huge. I have no idea where they grow these vegetables but they were big and covered in butter. The asiago fries are highly recommended. They are big steak fries with cheese on top. We soon dived into our meal and I couldn’t have been happier. The beef was mouth-watering good, a must have for any meat enthusiast. The sides were a nice addition and complemented the beefiness of our meal. We finished strong with a bananas foster sundae, which in true steakhouse fashion was humongous. By the end of the meal I must have consumed an unspeakable amount of calories, with my fiancée not far behind. 

M-Stars:
Decor/ambience: 4 out of 5. Décor is excellent, location is relatively trendy, and the crowd is a mix of young wall street types paired with older no doubt well to do New Yorkers.
Food: 4.5 out of 5. The beef is simply outstanding. I have been to a fair share of steakhouses in the city and Primehouse’s steaks can compete with any of them.
Service: 4 out of 5. Certainly no La Grenouille, but our waiter was prompt and courteous. No complaints in this department.
Value: 4 out of 5. The Valentine's Day menu was a fairly good deal ($78 for the chateaubriand for 2 people), but otherwise, be prepared to pay anywhere from $35-50 for a steak.
"It" factor: 4.5 out of 5. Primehouse is a great destination for a date, a dinner meeting, or taking out-of-town guests out for a New York City night.
M&M's overall satisfaction: 4.5 out of 5. A wonderful night of meat eating at a great restaurant. I withhold 0.5 stars only for the lack of 5 star service. But overall I cannot recommend this place more!

Tapas at Casa Mono

Casa Mono
(17th Street and Irving Place)

If you're ever in the mood for Chinese/family-style eating but minus the Chinese food, look no further than Spanish tapas!  I know of 2 places in the city that serve great tapas - Alta (on 10th and 5th) and Casa Mono.  Today's review will cover Casa Mono, where my fiance and I enjoyed the pleasure of dining last night.  To summarize our meal in one phrase, all of the tapas are served with contrasting but extremely complementary flavors which make for a delicious, unique and memorable dining experience!


There was a little bit of drama that ensued before our arrival at our final destination.  Our dinner reservation was at 5:30pm (hey, early birds catch the worm!) which meant that we'd have to leave work at 5 on the dot.  On an average Friday, that is no problem, but I almost had to work late because of missing data for a client report... through no fault of mine, of course.  I called Casa Mono and they said their standard policy is to give a 15 minute grace period, but after that, they would have to let my reservation go.  Fortunately, I ended up only having to work until 5:15, which gave us exactly a half hour to get from Midtown West to Union Square!  I had decided to dress up a bit yesterday and so I was wearing boots with 3-inch heels... as you can imagine, that did not make for easy walking/trotting/running down the streets of Manhattan and tunnels of Grand Central!  Fortunately, the 7 and 4 trains came within seconds, and we actually made it to Casa Mono no more than 5 minutes past 5:30.  PHEW.  I had already missed a prior reservation at Casa Mono (which I was originally going to with my sister but then I fell ill) and I was not going to let that happen again!  Not after I booked this reservation more than two weeks in advance!  So phew... all was well in the end.  Now back to my review.


I adore Irving Place (quiet, quaint, near to Gramercy Park...) and Casa Mono lies in the heart of it.  It is a tiny, darkly-lit and intimate restaurant of no more than 10 tables.  There are also two bar tops - one in front of the open-air kitchen and one by the drinks.  My first time at Casa Mono, my friend and I sat at the bar top in front of the kitchen and it was a delight to watch all the food being prepared! 

 

(I stole the above picture off a Google search... I'm not sure how my fellow patrons would've felt about me taking flash photos in the darkly lit restaurant!)

I didn't know this until recently, but Casa Mono is owned by Mario Batali and was awarded one Michelin star in 2010!  Prices are fairly high (expect to pay around $15 per dish) but the flavor combinations are amazingly complementary and synergistic.  Also, due to its size and popularity, Casa Mono gets booked up VERY fast... I don't even know if it's possible to make a reservation on Monday for a dinner that upcoming Friday.  Your best bet is to plan ahead... way ahead, like I did (and I still got stuck with a 5:30 table).

After some good ol' fiance-to-fiancee decision making (where he chose the skirt steak and then knowingly deferred to his better half!), we ordered:

• Duck egg with mojama - this is one of Casa Mono's specialties and for good reason!  The duck egg is served sunny side up on top of cured ham and the most delicious potatoes.  A MUST-TRY!
• Chopitos with white beans and salsa de tinta - chopitos = fried baby calamari.  I never thought white beans would go so well with calamari but hey, it was a burst full of flavor!
• Skirt steak with onion mermelada - this was my least favorite, as I thought the steak tasted a bit gamey... however, hubby-to-be enjoyed it very much.  I did like the salsa that came along with it, as the flavors complemented very well.
• Quail with gingered cranberries - they gave us a whole quail with wings and legs outstretched atop a pile of cranberries and stuffing.  Again, the salty and sweet flavors went together very well. 
• Crispy pork belly with greenmarket apples and guindillas - this was another one of our favorites!!  This was our first time trying pork belly and it was sumptuous.  Crispy... fatty... soft... it had the perfect texture.  It's not something you would eat a lot of, but this plate came with 4 small pieces, which was enough to get a good taste for it but not enough to get sick of.  The apples were a great contrast.  Mmm... I would recommend this dish as well!  

5 dishes ended up being the perfect amount for the both of us.  I don't think we could have handled anymore!  We also had 2 glasses of Merlot and for dessert, we shared the torte de chocolate with apricots... a great way to clear the palate!  :) 


M-Stars:
Decor/ambience: 3 out of 5 (it's dark and intimate... but I can't say the decor is especially unique.  Tables are somewhat crammed so my elbows actually brushed the patrons to my left and right, who were technically at separate tables.  I would also recommend dining at the bar - it's entertaining!)
Food: 4.5 out of 5 (again, the flavors were extremely complementary even in areas that you would never deem possible... calamari and white beans?!  We loved the originality of each dish on the menu - it's not everyday we find pork belly or duck egg at a restaurant.  We tried many new foods and combinations last night!)
Service: 2.5 out of 5 (nothing spectacular, but nothing horrendous)
Value: 4 out of 5 (we spent $135 total, so it wasn't cheap.  However, the food is a delight and we were mmm-ing the whole night!)
"It" factor: 4.5 out of 5 (the food says it all, my friend)
M&M's overall satisfaction: 4.5 out of 5

Bottom-line: We loved it and mark our words, we will be back!  Maybe next time we will have the courage to order the cock's combs and bone marrow!