Grubby: Denino's Pizza

This post is five weeks coming. Way back in April, our 5th Food Adventure took us to the supposedly delicious pizza haunts of Staten Island. Not so great. A beautiful ferry ride and a stop in a very "arousing " cavern of a bar redeemed our trip. Let me elaborate:

Sietsema obviously leads me to many spots described here. He likes Denino's. There are entire Chowhound postings on Staten Island pizza. So I thought we had to do it. Long story short - pretty good pie, but not nearly worth the ferry and bus I dragged folks on. If this was in your neighborhood, you'd probably get it regularly. But it's not worth a trip across Manhattan, let alone to Shaolin. Maybe if you had a car or something and were doing a big pizza tour. Anyways, I digress.

It's a soccer party pizza place. In fact, there were several tables of uniformed children chowing down. It could probably be transplanted to most anywhere in the country and would fit.

The pie: like I said, pretty good. I was expecting amazing, so maybe I'm being rash, but no one in our ten person troop was overwhelmed. I liked it - in fact I feel like I liked it more than everyone else. We got three pies: Buffalo chicken, the MOR (meatballs, onions and ricotta) and the Garbage (Pepperoni, Meatballs, Sausage, Mushrooms and Onions).
M.O.R :

Skeptic:

The M.O.R. was my fave - ricotta was the standout flavor here. Most others preferred the Garbage. The Buffalo Chicken would have benefited from a little crumbled Blue Cheese. Regular old thin crust, regular old sauce. What is with the hype? It's a serviceable, nay, pretty good spot. But superb? The "superior pie on the island"? Yeesh - I'll yank my collar there.

I think I'm just embarassed to have taken 10 people on a 90 min trip to the place.
Three slices:

Thank God, right down the street was the most excellent G-Spot bar. Child labor pouring drinks from handles of Captain Morgan. A pool table slanted towards one corner pocket - anywhere the ball was struck, it rolled back to the corner right! Gorgeous velvet Aztec landscapes. Good shit and cold Tecate.




Though it brings a vurp to my mouth, I will begrudgingly mention that I did take everyone to a second pizza spot, "Brother's", at the recommendation of Chowhound forums. Upon first bite, I deemed it "gas station pizza" and was ashamed. The crust came pre-made in plastic bags! I spent the rest of the time gratuitously apologizing to all and sundry. Here is sad Carina with something claimed to be "Cheese sticks" and Stan sucking on "part-skim cheese food":



As I mentioned, the ferry can be divine on a beautiful day:


Info: Way the fuck out on Staten Island. Get a car.

Boozey: Trophy Bar

I was going to wipe out the Boozey portion of this blog - I've got very little to say and, frankly, am completely uninspired by bars here. There is little point and I'm not going to take pictures and rate every fucking bar I walk into. It'd be like a punch to the nuts.

But...nonetheless, for the time being, I'm just going to make a small note of bars that are in some way reasonable, just so they are noted for any future need.

Trophy Bar:
We felt old there.
- Young people with hideous thrift store glasses frames everywhere.
+ Close to our place. Can walk home.
+ Cheap Beer/shot special
+ Good Tunes (garage dj last night)

Grubby: Baden Baden

Are you there, friends? I'm sorry y'all - I know I hurt you by not posting. But it hurt me too. It's both of our faults, really. I'm sorry baby. I promise, that's the old me. I've turned a corner. Come back to me. I'm still hungry and you are still bored - we can make this work.

After a whole freakin' month of not posting because of delicious trips to the Bay Area and New Orleans, I'm back. I won't be mean and tease you about the pulled meat and sliced meat and slow roasted meat and bbq meat I had. Instead, I'll give you fried meat that you can get right here in NY. I'm posting about a place we visited 2 months ago or so, but its still on my mind.

Stan took a few of us to the unmarked (at least in English) 2nd floor K-town joint Baden Baden. Their specialty: KFC, or, Korean Fried Chicken. Don't be looking for thick, greasy breading here or the dry hunks of flesh found in most fried chickens. This is juicy rotiserrie chicken that I'm guessing is flash-fried at the end leaving a dark, crisp yet thin skin. It is fine as Ginuwine. Squirt Sriracha all over to keep it real. And yes, those O-Rings were as good as they look.

It ain't just chicken either - they do much more. Pictured below is a sea snail salad with thick jalepeno slices and chilled vermicelli noodles. Fantastic. A soft tofu salad was also devoured quickly. More kimchi was needed - next time.


Info: Upstairs at 28 W 32nd.

Grubby: TipicoBK

On a recent Friday night, we were led by Stan to this new Williamsburg spot. I have no idea what really constitutes Paraguayan food, but it was similar in some ways to the Argentinean food I've had in the past.
Pictured below is a steak milenesa. The egg made this thing - runny yolk and crispy fried breading, so good.





Stan is eating some stew here. This and the pulled pork sandwich were both enjoyed.
They have yerba mate too, nice.
Honestly, we'll see if this place makes it. I could see it folding but hopefully it lasts as it is a good option in the area.

I will not go into what occurred after dinner, but it included a trip to the most depressing emergency room in NY. Get better Krista!

Grubby: Max

Small and candlelit, Max is a great date spot that I highly recommend. I really like this place and I always order the same thing: lasagna. Oh my god...it is so good. The sauce is possibly the darkest, deepest shade of red I've seen for a tomato sauce. Yet, there is the taste of cream in every bite. Served in individual casserole dishes, each order is good for at least two meals. You'll get to take a delicious lunch to work the next day.


Gnocchi proved tasty as well. I haven't tried the rest of the pasta dishes but the price is right at $10-15 a dish.
Really, it's the lasagna you want.



Info: 51 Avenue B

Grubby: Dumpling House

Also called Vanessa's Dumplings (bought by new owner?), I thought this spot was really good. Big crowd there around dinner time and not a lot of tables. Everything is cheap as shit. The sesame sandwiches looked great but Julia got a veggie one and all I could think about was how much better a pork and egg one would be. Also don't get a veggie bun - tasted like rotting fungus.

Do get pork and chive dumplings. So good for so cheap. Julia thought the dough was too think - whatever. Extra dough is nothing to scoff at.
Can't tell how much better/worse it really it is than other dumpling spots as dumplings are pretty much impossible to fuck up and almost always taste good. Anyone want to go back with me and get a pork & egg sesame sandwich and more dumplings? Oh, the honey lemon tea was sweet, figuratively and literally.


Info: 118 Eldridge

Grubby: Tasty Dumpling

Another choice for dirt cheap dumplings. Not nearly as pro as Dumpling House - just a grimy little kitchen with a couple grimy little tables. But c'mon, it's $1.50 for five competent pan-fried pork and chive dumplings. Use the tar-like sauce, it be good.

This picture really didn't turn out...we gotta get a better camera!

Info: 54 Mulberry

Grubby: Chatham Square Dim Sum

Stan, good job man. You did well guiding your first food adventure. Dim Sum, ice cream and Dance Dance Revolution - powerful combo. I don't know what was with the mellow vibe - maybe no alcohol? Too early in the day? Big crowd? New faces? No hype man? Fuck it. Shake it off.

Dim Sum was good - although we knew very little of what we were eating. Lots of buns. And rolls. And goopy dough. Few on the wait staff speak much English - but you order with a pencil and paper, so no problems there. Try the bamboo fungus roll. The translucent jelly cube has lychee in it.


I really liked these pork buns...almost a bbq sauce thing going on.

Behold: Krista's right hand in all of its dexterous glory. We won't see fork action like this from Krista for a few more weeks, but I'm sure her left hand will compensate until the cast is off. Enjoy your painkillers Krista and get better.

Sauces. I love sauces.

Two fly boys.

Info: 6 Chatham Square

Grubby: Chinatown Ice Cream

It's a must-go.

The "Regular" flavas: Sesame, Ginger, Taro, Green Tea, Zen Butter (sesame/peanut butter), almond cookie, Lychee sorbet, etc.

The "Exotic": Vanilla, Chocolate, Chocolate-Peanut Butter, etc.

Unless you're getting the Choco-peanut butter (Always a top 2 flavor for me, anywhere), stick with the "Regular" if you know what's good for you.

I scream. You scream?

Photoshopped Phlyers of Phood Phun #4

Courtesy of Stan

Grubby: Salut

For our third weekly Food Adventure, we traveled into Rego Park, Queens in search of Uzbeki food. As a result of its location wedged between three distinct civilizations, Uzbekistan cuisine is a melange of Russian, Middle Eastern, Jewish and a smidge of Asian cuisine. In other words, there is lots of lamb.


Is lamb any old sheep or only baby sheep? Doesn't matter to me; it is delicious when a sword is stabbed through it.



Salut was, frankly, amazing. It is out where Rego Park meets Flushing Meadows. It is a tiny little place, Russian tv and little English spoken, and with such a large group, we were lucky to be seated, but once we were, Baltika 9s and 3s were ordered right away.


Given that several in our crew were working off mean hangovers (someone who will go unnamed was celebrating his birthday Hasslehoff style, drunkingly chowing on McDonald's cheesburgers in a fancy hotel room the night before), we needed deliciousness and were not dissappointed. Kababs. Man, they are good. Get the lamb, get the beef and get some lamb rib (juicier, pinker, fattier and thus tastier than the regular lamb). I don't think I've ever had lamb as jucy. They might spritz it with vinegar before bringing to the table. Beef was preferred by some in the group.


A really nice, vinegarey shredded carrot salad was served. The above photo is of lamb cheburekis. Meat and pastry, triangulated and fried. Below are some amazing fries. Do you see the piles of garlic and parsley on the corner of the plate? Yes, you do.
And dear lord, the baba ganoush. I have never tasted eggplant like this - so creamy. They must put mayo or something in it because this is a rich, creamy dip.





Go to Salut. Now. You'll like it.

Info: 63-42 108th Street, Closed on Shabbas

Grubby: Cheburechnaya

Second on our Uzbek adventure was Cheburachnaya. Not nearly as good as Salut but it did have its positives. For one, it was BYOV (the V is for Russian Standard, the "best selling premium vodka in Russia" - see below.)



Cheburachnaya was more of a group/party spot compared with the cozy Salut. And it had this man running 20+ burners for kababs:


The specialty here are the chebureki - isosceles turnovers, perfectly golden, filled with either ground lamb, cabbage or pureed potato, and served with some kind of cross between salsa and gravy. Total toss-up on the prefered filling - some raved about the lamb while potato was cited by others as superior. These were my highlight.

Bowl-shaped, cracker-like bread called noni-toki was tossed about the group and used to scoop baba ganoush which was good but not nearly as good as Salut. The lamb kababs were also good but inferior to Salut. Way more gamey than what we had just sampled.



Basically, I would recommend Salut over Cheburachnaya to anyone in most situations, unless you are having a big group and want to celebrate. Cheburechnaya was kind of jumping for a Sunday afternoon. And they serve 4 types of Baltika. And you can bring your own vodka.

Am I being too harsh? Should I not be comparing the two? Leave your piece in the comments.

Info: 92-09 63 Drive; Closed during Shabbas

Photoshopped Phlyers of Phood Phun #3

Courtesy of Stan