Mei Lai Wah

Chinatown.  Most big cities have one, and of course New York does.  I'm often drawn there, not only because I appreciate a lot of the cuisine, but also, forthe great prices and generally no-frills environment.

"Mei Lai Wah is synonymous with Chinatown, an embodiment of the American Dream."

Mei Lai Wah is a Chinatown business I've known about for a while.  It opened in 1968, and for much of its existence was not really standout from other Chinatown spots, but they became relatively famous in 2008 when the New York Times published a passionate piece about it (while it was closed due to health inspection violations ...).  Since then, it seems to have stayed very well known (particularly as it blew up a few times on Tik Tok), and now still has regular lines.  If you say "pineapple bun" in this city, people immediately will jump to talking about it.   It has been on my radar since I moved to NY, so I was thrilled when an event I was attending had all their top hits.

Pineapple Bun with Roast Pork.$3.96.

"Pineapple bun with a crackly crust filled with char siu roast pork."

The very, very famous item from Mei Lai Wah. I finally got to try it!

And ... yeah, wow, I see why it gets such accolades.  The pineapple bun itself is the clear highlight: certainly the best I've ever had, although also the sweetest I've ever had. If you like just a touch of sweetness in your pineapple bun, this is not for you. I thought it was fantastic, the outside shattered and made a mess in all the right ways (just like a high quality croissant!).  4/5 pineapple bun.

Pineapple Bun: Inside.

The inside was good, but not as high quality as the bun itself.  A bit more quality control could be done as I had some bits of pork that really were just rubbery fat.  I also do prefer a less natural more red style of bbq pork, but this was still flavorful and good.  I just wished for fewer pure fatty bits.  3/5 filling.

Overall, a delightful item, and I'm glad I finally got to have it.  Will gladly eat again (although really, I'd love that pineapple buns stuffed with custard as a pure sweet item...). 

Egg Yolk Bun. ($6.60/3).

"Soft, fluffy buns filled with rich egg yolks."

I was also thrilled to get to try the egg yolk buns, the item I would have naturally picked as my second item too.  The bun was fairly standard, soft, steamed, seemed fresh, neutral flavor.

Egg Yolk Bun: Inside.

But inside is what these were all about.  I warmed mine up so the egg yolk reached flow state again.   Soo good.  I loved the very rich salted egg lava.  These were very mildly sweet, more savory really, so not a dessert style custard bun.

Very enjoyable, yes a bit basic, but well made (although it made me yearn for some pork floss, I always love the salted egg and pork floss combo).  3.5/5.

Crushed Cucumber and Peanut Salad.

This was included accidentally in one of my co-worker's orders, and they didn't want it.  So I took it off their hands.

This was actually very tasty.  Crushed cucumber, flavorful "Asian" sauce, tons of peanuts. 3.5/5.

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Bánh Mì Cô Út

I am not really a sandwich person.  I haven't ever been.  I did have one gas station in my hometown growing up that had bulkie bun sandwiches I liked, but besides that, sandwiches have been something I begrudgingly ate.  My family never went out to actual restaurants when I was growing up (like, ever), but we had a phase of going out on Saturday night to one of Subway or Del Taco.  I always voted against Subway. In grad school, every once in a while my group of grad student friends would splurge and go out for lunch, and I was always saddened when the sandwich shop was the destination of choice for the group.  Going out was a real splurge for me, and paying for a sandwich I didn't really want always made me grumpy.  So suffice to say, you'll never see me seeking out sandwiches of any kind (is a hot dog a sandwich?  Let's not get into that, and yes I adore hot dogs, although I'd prefer a corn dog or bunless generally).

But when I do have a sandwich, a banh mi is pretty high up there on the actually interesting list.  Is it because I like the fillings and find them novel as I didn't grow up with them?  Well, mostly. Do I still dislike the actual sandwich part, and find that particularly with bahn mi the bread is too hard and I discard half of it?  Also yes.  Still, I was sorta craving banh mi, and did a little research on where I should go.

Bánh Mì Cô Út is routinely cited as having the best bread in Manhattan for banh mi. Since that is the element that usually lets me down the most, I decided to optimize on my best shot of having bread I appreciated, and thus, Bánh Mì Cô Út it was.  They make their own bread fresh daily, and yes, it really does make a difference.

#1: Bánh Mì Cô Út Special. $11.10.

"Pork belly, boiled Vietnamese ham, fried Vietnamese ham, jambon, pork floss, pate, mayo, cucumber, cilantro, carrot & daikon."

I went straight for the one with ~everything. There were at least 7 kinds of pork in here: pate and floss, 3 kinds of luncheon meats, two kinds of more standard pork (although, yes, I know the description only lists 6 kinds).  

The pate was spread along the bread on one side, and it was a fairly thin layer, but it was good.  I love pate, so this was a highlight for me, as minimal as it was.  The pork floss was on the other end of all the meats, in the middle of the sandwich, adjacent to the veggies.  I love pork floss too, and this was also good, but again, give me more!  I sorta wished it was positioned differently though, as it got lost in the very center a bit.  These were my two favorite elements, no question.

Next were the three kinds of processed loaf meats.  I'm not sure what they all were, two were sorta pale cold cuts style (one was the boiled Vietnamese ham, the other probably the fried version?), the third was full of all the bits and pieces.  I liked all of these, as again, I just tend to like anything in the bologna/mortadella space, although the one with all the color variations, fat circles, and just kinda mystery bits was my least favorite of the three.

The regular sliced pork was fine, not too tough, but pretty boring (is this the jambon?).  The other had a slight colored crust on it and had a bit more flavor (maybe this was the belly?).  These were the least interesting to me.

Then, all the veggies. There was a generous amount of pickled shredded carrot and diakon which really helped offset the fattiness and saltiness of the meats, and a little cucumber. These all were about as expected, and played their parts well.  I don't really like cilantro, but I understand it has its place in here too.  I barely noticed any mayo, I would prefer more.  I also wanted some jalapeno.

And finally, the bread.  It was very good for banh mi bread. Super crispy/crusty, but quite soft inside.  Clearly very fresh. Better than average, no question.

Overall, this was a good bahn mi, and I enjoyed the adventure of trying everything in it.  I think my ideal would be just the boiled and fried Vietnamese ham loaves, 2x the pork floss, 3x the pate though.  3.5/5.

Banh Mi Lap Xuong Tuoi. $10.20.

"Vietnamese fresh pork sausage, mayo, cucumber, cilantro, carrot & daikon, and homemade soy bean sauce."

Since I was there, I also got my second choice, one with pork sausage, just to try a second item too.  Again some great fresh bread that was shockingly crispy yet soft, same attention paid to ratios of veggie to meat fillings - more veggies in this one, which worked with the more solid meatier sausage.  Alas, no pate nor pork floss in this one.

Banh Mi Nem Nuong: Inside.

The sausage was shockingly good.  Very juicy, but the aromatics were particularly impressive.  Just so well spiced.  

I'm not sure which of these sandwiches I liked more, as they were really quite different, but this was just as good as the first ... if not better. 3.5/5.

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Prince Street Pizza

My first day in New York after relocating my team had a pizza party.  It was not something I planned, nor even knew about, until right then.  I had other plans actually, but, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to at least grab a slice.  It felt like the proper NY thing to do.

"Our pizzas are available by the slice and as whole pies and are prepared using the freshest ingredients and handcrafted sauces made daily from scratch.  To get the same dough texture in markets outside of New York, we even use a water filtration process that replicates the water used in New York."

The host ordered from Prince Street Pizza, which I had certainly heard of, but hadn't tried before.  They have a few locations, in NY, and strangely in Miami and California.  I remember thinking that it seemed like people generally find it decent, not amazing, not the sort of place people line up for, but, a decent option for takeout or delivery for an office celebration like this.  They make both classic NY Style Rounds, and Sicilian squares, which I think is what makes them a bit more unique than most similar places.  They also have a couple token salads, motz sticks, garlic bread, and generic desserts (cheesecake, chocolate cake, chocolate chip cookie). 

Since then, I've stumbled into their leftovers at various events in my building, so I've had the chance to try it several times.

New York Style Rounds

"Thin, crispy crust for those that like a round-or-bust kind of pizza."

Our group started with a couple of the most basic NY style rounds.  

The Fancy Prince.

"Original Pizza Sauce, Fresh Mozzarella, Pecorino Romano, Fresh Basil, Extra Virgin Olive Oil."

First up, the Fancy Prince, or as all other establishments call it, the margarita.  I'll admit it looked pretty good.  I almost grabbed this just to have a good baseline.  But I only wanted one slice, and this wasn't my top choice.

The Boozy Broome.

"Vodka Sauce (contains Prosciutto) and Fresh Mozzarella."

The host's favorite pizza is the Boozy Broome, e.g. their vodka sauce pie.  I didn't try it however either.  

Sicilian Soho Squares

"Sicilian-style squares with a thick, crisp and fluffy crust."

The Soho Squares are their Sicilian style rectangular pizzas.  Cut into 8 slices.  I'm not usually one for Sicilian style, but I think this is what they are more known for.  

I didn't really care for this crust.  It was exactly the style I'm not into - it looks like Detroit style at first glance, which I do love, but then I taste it, and ... yeah, Sicilian style.  It tastes like the pizza I grew up with: airy, chewy in the wrong way, way too much crust, no interesting base flavor, and greasy.  Not the crust for me.

Spicy Spring.

"Fra Diavolo Sauce, Pepperoni, Fresh Mozzarella, Pecorino Romano."

I almost grabbed the Spicy Spring, as the fra diavolo sauce sounded interesting, and hey, what's not to like about fresh mozz and pepperoni?  I appreciated the use of cupping pepperoni.  I have to say though that not much care seemed to be used to apply the toppings, they looked pretty haphazard (which seemed the case on the prior pizzas with uneven application, but was much more clear here).

The Naughty Pie.

"Spicy Vodka Sauce (contains Prosciutto), Pepperoni, Fresh Mozzarella, Whipped Ricotta, Zab's Hot Honey."

Instead, I went for the final choice: the Naughty Pie.  It also featured vodka sauce, so I felt that was honoring my host's recommendation for the vodka pie, yet it was a spicy version of the vodka sauce, which is more my style, and it had the same pepperoni and mozzarella as the previous square, AND it had hot honey (trendy, I know, but it works) and ricotta.  Ricotta I can take or leave, but the rest sounded like clearly the best of all the pizzas.

I eagerly plucked a pepperoni off that fell off as I took my perfect slice (I had first pick!). Again though, toppings were kinda all over the place.  The pepperoni was thick classic cupping pepperoni.  No more, no less, but good.  The little bit of hot honey drizzled on it gave it a delightful sweet and spicy element.  I plucked off a few more.  I really liked them.

It was oozing sauce everywhere, so that definitely dominated.  

I wish I could tell you more about this slice.  But I actually wasn't hungry for pizza in the middle of the afternoon when this party happened, so I saved my slice to heat up in my toaster oven later for dinner.  But ... I put it in a fridge that failed, and I decided not to risk food poisoning and thus sadly had to throw it out (I was soooo tempted to still eat it ...).

Houston Jalapeño.

"Spicy Pepperoni + Jalapeño + Hot honey."

A few weeks later, another event, so I got another stab at (spicy) pepperoni and hot honey, this time with jalapeños too (although regular sauce, not vodka).  I was thrilled to see how ridiculously loaded up with toppings it was, three of which were spicy.  Bring it!

I did really like the pepperoni.  It was quite flavorful, thick slices, lightly curled up, and indeed spicy.  A great pepperoni, but because the pieces were so thick, and there were sooo many of them, this was obviously an exceptionally pepperoni forward pizza.  The pepperoni gave it actually plenty of heat, so the extra kick from jalapeño almost felt unnecessary.  And then of course, the hot honey, which was delicious, as expected, a bit of sweet and spicy, and always goes so well with pepperoni.  I did like all these toppings.  

It was a very topping heavy pizza, obviously, with the pepperoni and jalapeno so visible, but also underneath all that.  Lots of sauce.  Sweet, tangy, kinda in your face red sauce.  Too much sauce for my tastes.   Full coverage of cheese, this was a good element, it melted well, had good cheese pull, etc, but, definitely a cheesy pizza.  

And then the aforementioned Sicilian style crust, which I just don't care for.

Did I really enjoyed the pepperonis?  Absolutely. Was I happy to take any extras that fell off of slices?  Absolutely.  Did I think the cheese was good?  Yep.  But ... did I actually like this pizza?  Not really.  When I disliked the crust and the tomato sauce, and they were so dominant (well really, every element was so dominant!), it just made it hard to really like it.  4/5 pepperoni, 2/5 crust and sauce, 3.5/5 cheese, so, yeah, probably just a 2.5/5 for me.

Mercer Margherita.

"Fresh mozzarella, basil, fresh garlic, and extra virgin olive oil, also pecorino romano."

I also tried a small piece of the margherita, but it was even less enjoyable for me.  Just so much of the sauce that I don't care for, the crust I don't care for, and some decent cheese.  Meh. 2/5.

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Lisa's Dumplings

Lisa's Dumplings is a dumpling restaurant up near Columbus Circle in NY.  It was started, you guessed it, by someone named Lisa.

"Her philosophy for Lisa's Dumplings is to create all natural, freshly cooked dumplings, with no artificial flavors or ingredients. Her store is an open kitchen where customers can see their dumplings being prepared right in front of them. The wrappers are hand made at the front counter, and the fillings are placed in them and then pinched closed into the perfectly formed  flavor pocket known as a dumpling. The dumplings come in a variety of flavors and are either steamed or fried. Customers stand at the counter watching the process take place in anticipation of that first savory bite." 

The restaurant features an open kitchen so you can watch the dumpling making action, which I haven't actually seen, as I only experienced their dumplings at a popup event offsite.

Popup Decoration.

At the event, they decorated nicely with traditional Chinese decor and a sign about the chef.

Popup Menu.

The popup menu was a dumpling meal, with choice of dumpling, sauce, and side.  Although the menu said only 1 kind of dumpling was allowed, many of us asked for two kinds which was no problem.

Steamed Dumplings.

Our lineup was only steamed dumplings, 4 kinds: Pork & Chinese Cabbage, Beef & Onion, Chicken & Green Pepper, and Veggie.  At the actual restaurant, they have more varieties (including seafood) and all are available pan fried or steamed.

If you buy them at the store, they come 7 to an order for $11.99/10 for $13.99/14 for $17.99, +$1 for pan fried instead of steamed.

I tried two kinds (pork & cabbage, veggie), but actually really disliked both.  They had a ton of 5-spice in them, and I truly don't like 5-spice.  There was no way to appreciate the filling given how strong the spicing was.  I wouldn't call them particularly well made dumplings either, as the wrappers were very thick and many weren't fully sealed.

Sides.

For sides we have 3 choices, all served cold:

• Cabbage and Cucumber Salad
• Kimchee
• Honey Glazed Potato

Dumplings (pork & cabbage, veggie)
w/ cabbage & cucumber salad, honey glazed potato.

For my meal, I selected two kinds of dumplings, and two sides.

Cabbage & cucumber salad:

This was a pretty simple side, just cabbage and cucumbers with rice vinegar and a hint of garlic and salt. It was fine.  3/5.

Honey glazed potato:

This was good.  Fairly flavorful, with soy and honey.  Potato not too mushy.  But a bit odd as a cold dish, and a bit odd alongside carby dumplings. 3/5.

Pork & Chinese Cabbage dumplings:

The wrappers were thick, and split apart on many of the dumplings.  The ball of pork inside was pretty big, and had a nice amount of chopped cabbage.  But ... I actually hated these due to the aggressive amount of 5-spice.  1/5.

Veggie dumplings:

The veggie dumplings turned out to be bok choy, carrot, and shiitake mushroom, with lots of five-spice.  Again, the 5 spice just killed these for me.  Also the veggies were pretty mushy.  Meh.  0/5.

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Metro Hong Kong Dessert

You would probably suspect that Metro Hong Kong Dessert, is, well, a dessert cafe, likely an asian one.  Which is ... sorta accurate.  They *do* have desserts.  But they actually have a full savory menu, including standard Chinese stir fry dishes, noodles, fried rice, steamed rice rolls, baked, fried, and steamed dim sum, porridge, bbq, plus, um sandwiches (literally, an American club sandwich?) and french fries, and more.  The sweet side of things is equally extensive, with milk or fruit tea and boba drinks, smoothies, mochi, egg waffles, and sooo many puddings, stews, taro ball/glutinous rice/glass jelly based desserts, and more.

Given my love for desserts, puddings, and taro, of course I was drawn in.  The restaurant is in San Francisco's chinatown and had very little curb appeal.  It didn't even seem particularly, um, clean.

Encounter #1, February 2021

For Chinese New Year, the downtown association was trying to help revitalize Chinatown given the aftermath of the pandemic, and they arranged a crawl to several different restaurants and shops.  You got a passport that you then redeemed for tastings at the different stops.  One of my stops was Metro Hong Kong Dessert, and I was so excited for, well, fun dessert.

Chicken Wing.

The first item in my goodie bag though?  A bbq chicken wing.  Doh.  I hate chicken!

I still tried it, and the bbq flavor was actually really quite good.  But it was still a wing, and still very much not my thing.

Normally part of the BBQ chicken wings and thigh 7 piece combo for $15.95.

Mango Sago Soup (Sample-ish).

Next up though I did have a dessert item, the mango sago soup.  Served in a small portion, not their normal serving.

It was very good, but very sweet.  Basically, well, mango puree, soft pliable small sago, a few small pieces of mango.  Sweet and a tiny bit tart.

I liked it.  3.5/5.

Encounter #2, September 2025

Several years later, I encountered Metro Hong Kong Dessert again.

Assorted Goodies.

I attended a small gathering where we had baked goods from Eastern Bakery, and desserts and boba drinks from Metro Hong Kong Dessert.  I tried several items, skipping the boba drinks, and instead focusing on the "real" desserts.  Here you can see the full portion sizes.

I didn't get to try the mango pudding (front cups), but tried both of the sago soups (bigger round bowls), one was coconut juice sago, the other mango coconut juice sago.  Both were good - definitely sweet but not cloying, lots of coconut flavor, soft, not stuck together, little sago.  Not much sago, mostly just soup, and not quite what I was looking for, as I wanted more goodies, or at least, more sago to make them more like a pudding (but, to be fair, these were on the menu as soups, and they had other pudding options).  Both were very large portions, hence why myself and others split them, and the $6.95 each price seemed fine, although there wasn't much to them really.  I still did quite enjoy.  3.5/5.

Grass Jelly Taro Balls. $7.95.

For my main event, I went with an item from the Taiwanese dessert section of the menu, the glass jelly taro balls.  It had far more than just glass jelly and taro balls, as you can see here.

The base was the grass jelly.  Big hunks, pretty standard grass jelly, dark black.  You can't see it here, but there was a significant amount of it at the base.  It was good, refreshing, and not something I have often so I liked it.  Then there were black large size tapioca balls that frankly weren't very good - they were stuck together, not particularly soft.  I assume the same as used in their drinks, and I'm glad I opted to skip the drinks.  The red bean was fairly standard too, mostly whole little beans, not mashed, quite savory.

And then we get to the fun stuff.  Hunks of taro, soft but not total mush.  Taro balls and sweet potato balls that were both fairly soft and pliable, both savory too. Again, all fairly standard for this style of dessert, not particularly remarkable, but not things I have all that often.

The base broth was very plain.  I expected it to be sweetened, but it didn't seem to be, besides from the brown sugar syrup like boba pearls come in, but mostly, it was just a dark low flavor soup.  The net result is that this actually ate really quite savory, very little sweetness.  I liked the different textures, and the adventure of eating it, but didn't find the actual taste all that compelling.  I added some of the (very!) sweet mango and coconut sago soups to it, and enjoyed it considerably more that way.  Is that just my American palate so used to very sweet desserts?

Anyway, fun, and loaded with mix-ins, but not something I'd get again.  3/5.

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Friedmans New York

Friedman's is a relatively well known small chain of American comfort food restaurants in New York.  They are notable in that 98% of their menu is gluten-free, and includes things like pancakes, banana bread, and fried chicken that folks rave about, gluten-free or not.  The brand is relatively new, the first location opened only in 2009, and happens to be located right near my office, in Chelsea Market. They have 7 locations in New York, but I actually only experienced them via catering, when a group at work had some of their desserts, and had extra to share.

Fresh Fruit Board. Large (Serves 12). $105.

"With assorted melon and seasonal berries."

The fruit was relatively generic, and I avoided the melons due to allergy, but tried the berries (my allergy to cantaloupe and honeydew isn't so severe that adjacent things will cause me great harm).  The blackberries were large and fresh, but a bit sour, and not particularly good.  The blueberries were good, none mushy.  The strawberries were definitely the best, although they didn't look particularly ripe, they were quite flavorful.  Overall, 3/5.

Mixed Mini Sweets Board. $80.
(Serves 10).

"Chefs assortment of Mini Sweets."

I was of course most interested in the platter of mini desserts.  I tried nearly all of them, skipping only the one that looked like a lemon meringue tart.  I'll admit though, none of these looked particularly good.  Note: some of these do contain gluten.

From left to right:

Fruit crumble tart

Pretty standard generic tart shell, sweet style, a bit soft.  I don't think this is gluten-free.  The filling I think was just strawberry, soft and stewed, with some goo.  It is possible there was rhubarb or some other berry in there as well.  Not too sweet.  A tiny bits of toasted oat crumble on top.  It was "fine" but certainly nothing special nor interesting. 3/5.

Yellow cupcake

I really liked the buttercream on this.  Sweet but not cloying, and I think some lemon notes to it. Nicely fluffy.  The cake though was boring, simple plain style, not particularly moist, not particularly flavorful, tighter crumb structure than I prefer.  3.5/5 buttercream, 2.5/5 cake, 3/5 overall.

Chocolate cupcake

I didn't have this, but I did try the fudge frosting that was left behind.  It was thick, rich, good chocolate flavor. 3.5/5 frosting.

Pecan carrot cake with cream cheese frosting

The cake was ... fine.  Lots of shredded carrot, good crunch from the nuts, light spicing.  Not particularly good nor bad.  The frosting had a good tang to it, tasted indeed like cream cheese, sweet but not too sweet.  I didn't like that they garnished with a raisin.  Basically, fine, but not notable in any way.  3/5.

This is the one item that is also on their regular dessert menu at some locations (as a larger format, four-layer cake).  

Chocolate tart

Fairly generic chocolate tart shell, much like the fruit one I found it a bit soft.  Filling was just a choc fudge-ish, not as tasty as the cupcake frosting. Very low 3/5.

Mini Cheesecake Bites. (GF). $75.

"36 mini pieces of GF Cheesecake Bites."

The other item on their actual dessert menu is cheesecake, always gluten-free.  This was a perfectly acceptable cheesecake.  It was creamy, smooth, tasted of cream cheese, was lightly sweet.  Pretty classic, and pretty good.  The base I'd never know was gluten-free, it was crispy and sweet and not too much like sawdust, better than most cheesecake crusts really.  Strawberry on top was fine.

So, nothing remarkable about this, but it was above average, and by far the best of the desserts.  Low 4/5 perhaps even.

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L'Industrie Pizzeria, NYC

When you tell someone you'll be spending time in New York, the inevitably start telling you all the places you *have* to go.  The best bagels/pizza/burger/pastrami/drinks/etc of their lives, yadda yadda.  Even locals get quite passionate about some of these categories, and pizza of course is a common one to debate.  Once you get past the variations like square pizza (generally frowned upon), places only by the slice or only by the pie, etc, you are still met with intense debate.  But there are a handful of places that nearly everyone has heard of, and at least agree are in the top.

L'Industrie is one of these places.  It is also one of those places where people line up and wait for quite a while for their slices.  Those who want a whole pie can at least order those in advance for pickup (but, no delivery, and they have 6 pie order maximums).  But most people seem to line up and wait, as part of the overall experience.  They do not take reservations.

L'Industrie has two locations, the original is in Williamsburg, opened in 2017.  They followed their success by opening a second location in Manhattan in late 2023.  Both locations are open daily, 12pm-10pm.  Both are equally busy, all the time.  

"From the City of Pistoia and the streets of NYC. We’ve come together to bring you L'industrie Pizzeria. With the artful techniques and passions of Italy blended with the flavors and characteristics of a classic New York slice. We work daily to bridge the gap between these worlds, while putting quality and passion above all."

They serve classic NY slices, but, more upscale versions of them.  The menu has 12 different curated pies on it.  No gluten-free options.  They also have a daily sandwich, soft serve gelato, and some Italian desserts (tiramisu, pistachio tres leches, cookies, olive oil cake, bombolone, etc).  No salads, no appetizers.  Just pizza and great desserts.  I like their style.

OMG, pizza.

I was thrilled, overjoyed really, when I arrived at an event to see the L'industrie boxes.  OMG.  Our hosts really brought it, with plenty to go around, a lineup of 6 different varieties (so half the menu), all of which they had to go fetch and transport to the venue, as they do not do delivery.  Dedication to serving us the some of the best pies in NY!  I was a bit sad they didn't get the fig jam and bacon one, but otherwise, happy to see the host's selections.

I tried to have restraint, and tried only 3 of the 6 kinds we had.  I'm glad I got to try 3, but my experience of each slice was fairly different.  One was ... exceptional, life-changing nearly, the others, forgettable.  That said, the great one was so great, I'll go back in a heartbeat.

L'Industrie Pie. $47.

"Prosciutto di parma and burrata."

I nearly started with their namesake pie, topped with burrata and prosciutto because, well, you kinda have to right?  And clearly many other people were going for it as their first slice.  But the prosciutto just wasn't calling out to me.  

Note that this pizza, when you get it fresh, it topped with the burrata and prosciutto after it is cooked, so those are cold toppings on the pizza.  You can see the burrata had partially melted here from being boxed up with the hot pizza, when first served, they are fresh gooey gobs.

Spicy Salami Pie. $37.

"Spicy Italian Sopressata."

I briefly considered the spicy salami too, but quickly moved on, as there were other meat toppings I was more drawn to.

Margherita Pie. $31.

"Tomato sauce, mozzarella, extra virgin olive oil, parmigiano, basil."

The basic margherita was easy for me to look past, although I did hesitate for just a second thinking it might be good to try just a simple classic one as a good base point.

Burrata Pie. $37.
(Signature).

"Tomato sauce, mozzarella, burrata."

I moved on because I saw the burrata pie, and that was clearly the answer for me, for my first slice.  A notch above the margherita, and in the direction of their namesake pie, just, sans the pork product.  And *this* is the one that turns out to be their signature pie.  I immediately understood why.  My goodness, this was an exceptional pizza.

It came with the expected big gobs of burrata well distributed on top, along with some less well distributed basil.  Again, when you get it in person, the burrata is applied after cooking, so not as melted in as it was here, the heat from the pizza had melted it a bit (which was fine with me!).

Burrata Pie (slice).

I selected a slice, and dug in.

My goodness.  I was blown away on all levels, even with extremely high expectations.  It lived up, surpassed even.

The crust was perfectly crisped, dusted with a tiny bit of flour, lightly chewy.  It was the right thickness to hold its shape well but not overwhelm, the back crust was puffy and had a slight char. Very good crust.  I'm not a crust person usually, but I wanted this crust.

The sauce is what blew me away, just the right level of tang and sweetness, and applied in the proper amount so that I tasted it in every bite, but it too did not overwhelm. And then of course the cheese and burrata on top, perfectly melted, and just dreamy.  The ratios here were right too.

Every element about this was done well, just really exceptional all together. I don't think I've had a better pizza of this style before.  5/5.  Nothing I'd change.

Pesto Hello Pie. $38.

"Crumbled Spicy Pork Sausage, Nut Free Pesto."

Next, I went for the Pesto Hello, an odd choice for me as I'm not a huge fan of pesto, but the spicy crumbled pork sausage really did call out to me.  It also had (not on the menu description) gobs of ricotta dotted on top.  This one was ... fine.

It actually had no sauce (I was expecting pesto spread under the cheese), but instead was a white pie with the pesto zig-zagged on top only.  The pesto was fairly standard, classic pesto taste, but there wasn't a lot of it.  

The sausage was as excellent as I hoped it would be, super flavorful.  I wanted even more hunks of it, or bigger hunks, as I loved it so much, and it was fairly minimal.  4/5 sausage though.

The ricotta was standard, slightly herby.  Same great crust.  But I found the slice a bit boring, besides the sausage.  Kinda dry.  It was excellent sausage but the rest of the slice wasn't compelling enough for me. 3.5/5 overall, although the sausage really was a 4/5 itself.  I wouldn't get this again, but I could imagine getting the sausage on another pie (they do allow customizations).

Tartufo Pie. $37.

"Mozzarella, braised cremini mushrooms, ricotta and truffle oil."

And for my final slice, I went for the tartufo, sorta because I had been really loving mushrooms on that trip. It too was one of their white pies, no red sauce, and it came with the same dots of ricotta on top.  The truffle (oil) aroma was strong as I picked it up.

It let me down.  The truffle oil is definitely the first thing I tasted with this one.  It was fine, but definitely dominant, so, be prepared for that.  But that is really all I tasted, no other flavors really came through.  It was fairly oily from both the truffle oil and the cheese.  It did have a good distribution of mushrooms on top as well, but I found myself really wishing it had some kind of sauce, and that the truffle oil was tamped down.  It did still have their great crust though.  The ricotta again made it eat a bit dry (besides all the oil).

But really all I tasted was truffle oil. 3/5, my least favorite.  I wouldn't get this one again.

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Cookshop

Cookshop is an American farm to table restaurant in New York, located a few blocks away from my office there.  There isn't a lot about it to make it stand out in particular - no celeb chef, no fancy decor or vibe lighting.  It somehow manages to be located in a touristy area (near the Highline, near Chelsea Market) and yet has a casual, neighborhood feel to it.  It is always busy but not hard to get reservations.  In short, you'd probably never notice it, if you didn't live or work nearby.  

I noticed Cookshop only because they are available on Doordash for delivery, and I was really craving liver one day, and they were one of the few results to come up.  The menu overall was quite appealing to me.  So I ordered from them (after doing a modicum amount of research to make sure people generally liked the place).  It was great.  A year later, I attended a work event with pre-organized small group dinners, and my group was assigned to Cookshop.  I was excited to get the full restaurant experience, but I found it really quite average.  I don't see any reason to return, but I wouldn't be opposed if someone wanted to drag me there.

They are open daily for lunch and dinner, and on weekends for brunch.  Both of my "visits" were at dinner.

Visit #1: August 2024, Delivery

My first "visit" to Cookshop was when I was really craving chicken or duck liver, and ordered just that for delivery.  I was really pleased with it, and vowed to order, or visit, again soon.

Chicken Liver Mousse. $14.

"Pickles, focaccia crackers."

This was really quite good mousse.  Remarkably smooth and creamy, no graininess to it at all. It was sprinkled with a little bit of something on top, that I couldn't quite identify. If I had any criticism, I would say it needed a touch of salt, but that was very easy for me to add some nice large flakes fleur de sel. Really top notch liver mousse, really. 4/5.

The pickled red onions had a great harshness to them, and the acid helped cut the richness of the mouse. I usually like to have a sweet element to a liver dish though so I did miss that. 

The crostini weren't interesting, very hard and abrasive, drizzled with a lot of olive oil. I didn't end up using them, and opted for some truffle brioche toast that I had instead and greatly preferred that combination. I generally want a light fluffy brioche as my carb component for any kind of liver.  2/5 For the toasts, but I still give the dish a 3.5/5 overall. 

My Creation.

The next day, I made my own little creation with the rest of the mousse.  I was VERY pleased with what I made: chicken liver mousse + my great aunt's homemade dilly beans (for acidity to cut the richness) + fresh blackberry (sweet component that is always nice to have with pate/mousse) + sprinkle of smoked sea salt (to make it all pop), on a truffle brioche toast (major upgrade from their crostini).  This was 5 star all the way.

Visit #2: August 2025, Dine-In, Dinner

My next encounter with Cookshop was a full year later, when I went in person, for dinner, with a group of 7, for dinner, at 6pm.  The food really didn't live up to my expectations though, and was really quite mediocre.  Themes were far too much olive oil on everything, and underseasoning.  Service was average.

Patio Seating.

In nice weather, there is a fairly large patio space for outside seating, which I suspect is a big hit at brunch in particular.  However, it was dreary and cool the day we visited, so we were inside.

The restaurant was pretty empty when we arrived, but quickly filled up.  It was extremely noisy within, I failed to get a photo, but there was just nothing to dampen the sounds, and it was impossible to hear each other even at our own table, across from each other.  Service was ok, not neglectful, but not super attentive, infrequent check backs.  They did try to hit some higher service points, like crumbing the table between courses, bringing out fresh cutlery between courses, etc, but didn't really deliver on a high service level experience.

Oven.

One feature inside is the big wood fired oven, where you could see pizzas and roast meats being cooked.  I was surprised that the menu doesn't call out the wood fired items more explicitly, as that seems like a unique feature.

Menu.

I was excited to order from all areas of the menu this time, as there were appetizers, mains, and desserts all jumping out at me when I looked online.  Alas, some of the menu changed the day I got there.

Cabernet Sauvignon. $20.
Trig Point 'Diamond Dust' Alexander Valley, California 2022.

The wine list was pretty short, for reds, there were four options: an Oregon pinot, an Italian, a Spanish, and a California cab, which I went for.

It was a very boring wine.  No real structure, nothing really to it. Not high acid nor tanin, but just ... boring.  Low 3/5.

This is a $30 bottle that they were selling for $20/glass.

Appetizers

Most of my group was fairly hungry when we arrived, as we were at a work summit all day, and, unlike me, they relied on the event catering, and hadn't eaten in 6+ hours.  They quickly ordered some appetizers for the table, doubling up on most of them per the server's recommendation for our group of 7.  We went for mostly hot apps, and skipped the single raw bar option, oysters.

I was heartbroken when we arrived to see the menu.  The dish I was planning to order for my appetizer, and probably NOT share, was gone!  My precious chicken liver mousse that I had before.  It was literally on the menu the day before, but rotated out that day.  I decided to still ask the server about it, who initially told me "if it's not on the menu, it means we changed the menu, and don't have it anymore", in a polite enough way.  I did ask her if she'd still check with the kitchen to see if they had any left, and she sorta non-comitally acknowledged my ask.  She returned several times to check on us, deliver drinks, etc but didn't mention the liver.  I asked again if she was able to ask, and she said no, she hadn't, and this time at least said she would.  I think she could tell I was going to be a bit annoying. She never got back to me this time either, BUT it did work out ...

The appetizers arrived in a couple waves, with a few min lag between waves.

Focaccia. $12.

"Whipped ricotta, olive oil, lemon, rosemary."

The hungry carb lovers really enjoyed the focaccia.  I never care for focaccia, so I skipped it, but tried the whipped ricotta.  I thought it was fine, not interesting, but the group really liked it.  The pool of olive oil on top seemed unnecessary, but set the tone for the rest of the main, which was very olive oil heavy throughout.  It was attractively presented on the cutting board.

Deviled Eggs. $14.

"w/ tuna salpicon."

The group also ordered a bunch of deviled eggs, which came 4 (halves) to an order.  I do like deviled eggs, although rarely order them out (and yes, deviled eggs went through *such* a phase in SF a few years back where ~everywhere had them on menus, with fun toppings/seasonings/etc, so this is not novel to me).  I think I ate way too many deviled eggs in college, where making them myself in the dining hall was my fun hack (as we had hard boiled eggs available in the salad bar, mayo and mustard and pickles in the sandwich bar, etc).

They had a somewhat unique presentation, with the eggs perched on top of extra yolk filling, and the filling clearly applied inside and out with a piping bag.  They were sliced the opposite way of how I slice them when I make them myself, but I suspect this allowed for more generous filling (and they seemed to use more yolks than whites per piece).

I tried one when there were still several left.  The filling was entirely average - it wasn't particularly creamy, it wasn't particularly seasoned, it was just generic deviled egg filling.  The tuna salpicon on top was a nice touch though, it added a salty briny pop to the eggs, much like roe does (another common bougie-up deviled eggs topping).

The tuna was unique, but still just 3/5 as there was nothing compelling about these.

Tempura Vegetables. $17.
w/ lemon aioli.

The server told us all about the vegetable tempura, which changes out based on fresh seasonal vegetables.  She recommended it, and told us it had squash, okra, squash blossoms, and I think a few other things.  I wasn't particularly interested as none of the particular veggies called out, but the group ordered it.  It was a fairly sizable portion, so I did try a few pieces.

It wasn't very good.  The ratio of batter seemed way off, far too much coating, which I wouldn't have minded if the flavor was good, but the batter also didn't really have much flavor.  Nor were they well seasoned.  Kinda greasy.  The pieces were nicely crisp however.  Eh.

The lemon aioli was standard, not particularly strong lemon.  Others dunked their tempura in the ricotta instead.  2/5.

Crab Beignets. $19.

"Carolina lump crab, smoked bluefish, corn, tartar sauce."

We finally got to an appetizer I ordered, not because I was that excited for it, but because it was the most appealing thing on the available menu (as the liver was not an option).  I knew from having read reviews that people were pretty lukewarm on it, and that in particular I should not expect a beignet, but rather, basically a crispier ball shaped crab cake (that also had corn and bluefish in it), so my expectations were set accordingly.

And yeah, the reviews seem accurate.  The balls were very crispy, perhaps a touch over fried, and definitely nothing beignet like about them besides the shape.  They came on top of what was dubbed a tartar sauce, and I usually love tartar sauce, but I wasn't into this.  It seemed more like a watery relish, with lots of chunks (good), but far too much red onion/acid, no brininess, and was just strangely liquidy.  I was excited to dredge my crab in it, until I took one bite, and changed my mind. 1/5 tartar sauce.

Crab Beignet: inside.

Inside was indeed a generous amount of crab, but also bluefish that had a pretty strong flavor, and masked the more delicate crab.  It was fairly fishy.  The corn I didn't actually notice while eating them, but the kernels were there.  So crispy, yes, but again a bit greasy, and the taste just wasn't very good. 2.5/5.

Charred Bread (for liver).

A few minutes later, another server emerged, and put a bread board on the table. We had not ordered another bread, but he quickly explained that it was a gift from the kitchen.  The bread was toasted fairly crisp, and was a kinda generic rustic/peasant loaf style.  Kinda average, not good nor bad, but also not something any of us really wanted.  3/5.  

I later realized this was intended to go with the liver (when I had it previously, it came with little crostini.  I'm not sure if their preparation changed, or if this is just how they improvised given that the liver was no longer on the menu).  

Off-menu Liver!

And behold, my liver!  Although it was not on the menu, and although my server definitely never indicated that they could still indeed whip this out for me when asked, it did show up, with a smile (from another staff member) and a mention of being a special gift from the kitchen.

It came served just as I had it a year ago with pickled cucumber and onion, plus a slightly odd garnish of an herb I couldn't identify.  That herb showed up later on my scallop dish, looking equally, if not moreso, random.

It was creamy, richy, and quite good, but I again felt it was missing salt to make it pop (harder to solve there in the restaurant than at home where I had nice finishing salts handy, and they had no salt or pepper on the tables and I was too lazy to ask), and missing a sweet component to balance it out. The pickles were quite harsh and highly acidic, but did cut through the richness of the liver a bit.

So, the liver itself was easily 4/5, probably 4.5/5, but the composed dish was more like a 3/5.  It wasn't a problem as I had ordered the other appetizers, and just took this home to play with.  I served it on top of fluffy toasted brioche one night, and on truffled brioche crackers another, and added fresh blackberries and fancy salt, and really adored it again.

Salads / Sides

The menu has a trio of salads, only a super basic little gems (literally, just lettuce and radishes in, you guessed it, olive oil dressing), a stone fruit salad, and heirloom tomatoes.  For sides, there are four vegetables, one of which is another raw tomato dish (this time beefsteak tomatoes, but I'm not sure what else is different from the salad version, as both has oil and basil and little else ...), plus romano beans, eggplant, or corn on the cob.  The middle two options didn't seem particularly seasonal, which seemed odd, given the farm to table nature of the restaurant, and the fact that it was peak summer.  I found it interesting that there were no carbs/starch side options, no token mashed potatoes or even fries (although the later did come with a few dishes).

The server tried to encourage ordering some vegetable sides for the table, but no one was interested.  No one wanted salads either.  I however really did want some vegetables, so I ordered one of the two tomato dishes, randomly picking the heirlooms (considered a salad) as it seemed perhaps a bit nicer?

Heirloom Tomatoes. $18.

"Olive oil, salt crystals, basil, red onion."

The dish was basically exactly what it seemed it would be.  Assorted colors and sizes of heirloom tomatoes.  Some thin sliced red onion.  A bit of basil.  And of course, lots of olive oil.  Like other dishes, they needed salt, despite salt crystals being an explicit ingredient.

I didn't find any of the flavors of any of the tomatoes to be nearly as intense as I hoped.  They were vibrant, and it looked great, but the flavors were fairly average.  My office salad bar had more flavorful tomatoes.  Absolutely nothing remarkable about this dish, and certainly not worth $18.  3/5.

Mains

The dinner menu has only 8 main dish protein choices, pretty much the basics: burger, steak, roast chicken, and slightly more interesting pork chop for the meat & poultry eaters, two kinds of fish, scallops, and lobster.  They came as fairly fully composed dishes, the burger and lobster with fries, the steak with potatoes, and others with some kind of minor vegetable side.  The majority of the group, myself included, ordered the scallops, although we had one person get each of the fish (tuna, bluefish), and one person get steak.  I was curious about the bluefish, as I've never had it, but I can never pass up scallops.

There are also two pastas and one pizza, all vegetarian, and it was unclear if these were main dish portions or smaller dishes.  We didn't get any, although one diner was tempted by all of them.

Pan Roasted Sea Scallops. $33.

"Fresh corn pudding, oregano, roasted red pepper relish."

My heart kinda sank when the scallops were placed in front of me.  This was perhaps the least attractive dish of scallops I've ever seen!  But aesthetics aside, I had issues with the execution too.

First, the scallops were sliced horizontally 2-3 times, so although there were 7-8 slices, I think it was only 2, maybe 3, full size scallops.  I know this is a style, and one even Gordon Ramsay does at his restaurants, but, I really like whole scallops, with a hard sear, and mid-rare center.  Particularly for a main dish, not appetizer portion, this prep seemed odd.  These were cooked fine, not rubbery, but barely any sear, and obviously fully cooked since so thin.  They were fine, but just not the style of scallop prep I would prefer.  3.5/5.

Then there was the "fresh corn pudding", that was a sorta chunky corn puree of sorts.  I loved the sounds of this, as I adore summer corn, and the natural sweetness of both scallops and corn seemed like they'd pair beautifully, but it was strangely bitter.  The texture/consistency was good, but the bitterness really somewhat ruined the otherwise delicate nature of the dish.  Another dinner who also ordered this commented that it was bitter and seemed like maybe it was made with just too much olive oil, which can make things bitter.  So, great concept, not great execution. 2/5.

The roasted red pepper relish I actually was sad to see on the menu, as I don't care for red peppers usually, but this was fine, and did compliment both the corn and scallops well.  It was fairly oily though, like many things in this meal.  3/5.

The random herb garnish seemed entirely out of place (the same garnish that came with my liver).

So put it altogether, and it was great concept of a dish, but alas, just not great in actual taste.  3/5.

All Natural Sirloin Steak. $44.
(partially consumed).

"Crisp potatoes, brava sauce, garlic, smoked paprika, salsa verde."

The server told us the steak was her favorite dish, and really sold it.  The diner next to me ordered it, and definitely thought it was oversold.  She thought it was fine, but not particularly great, and definitely not the patatas bravas style dish that was enthusiastically described.  In particular, she was let down by the sauce, that seemed like just gochujang.  She offered me what was left (pictured here), and of course I tried it.

The potatoes were decent - *very* crispy, very oily.  They reminded me of the style of potatoes that are frequently served in Australia, except that the interior wasn't as creamy.  The salt level was good on them.  But they were kinda dry, besides the oil, and I felt myself wanting something to dip them in (even ketchup would have helped!).  And, just swimming in oil on the plate.  Low 3/5.

The condiment provided was a "brava" sauce/spread, that had a bit of smokiness to it, but also just wasn't very good.  It seemed to be lacking something, not quite sure what, but it just wasn't very balanced nor enjoyable. 2/5.

Dessert

After the dishes were cleared from our main course, the table was crumbed again, and we were presented dessert menus.  Even after a kinda ho-hum meal, of course I wanted dessert.

Dessert / Cheese / Drinks.

The desert lineup is fairly small, with just three real desserts (a fruity one, a chocolate one, a cheesecake), plus cookies, ice cream, and sorbet.  Our group all mostly ordered the same thing (shortcake!), although two people opted for just a simple scoop of lemon sorbet, and one selected cookies.  I was disappointed that no one ordered the cheesecake, as I did want to try it (although, it was goat cheese!).  

We were strangely all given spoons only for our dessert, which was difficult to use to eat the shortcake.  Several of us asked for a fork instead.

Summer Berry Shortcake. $12.

"Jersey strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, vanilla whipped cream."

The shortcake was good.  It wasn't quite a traditional shortcake, at least, not how I grew up with it with a biscuit (generally cut in half), topped with macerated (or fresh) berries, topped with whipped cream, but rather it was a layered tower with the shortcake biscuit split in half, with layers of whipped cream between the pieces and on top, and then more of a berry coulis or sauce than fresh or macerated berries spooned over it all.  In fact, the number of sliced or whole berries was fairly minimal.

But it was still decent.  The shortcake biscuit was fairly firm (and nearly impossible to eat with the spoon they gave us!), but it had a decent flavor to it, a slight tang, and some sugar crystals on the outside to accent it.  A fine, but average fine, biscuit.  Not memorable, but it certainly didn't detract if that makes sense.  3/5 biscuit.

The whipped cream was above average, very thick, rich, not overly sweetened, and just tasted like really good fresh cream.  It reminded me of whipped cream you'd get in Japan where the taste of the fresh milk/cream is the dominant feature.  4/5 whipped cream.

The berry element, the least traditional aspect of it, is what I liked most.  The coulis was super fruity, very sweet yet somehow not cloying, and just really intense berry.  I wanted to lap up every last drop of it.  I did sorta miss having more actual berries, but this was too tasty to really be mad at.  4/5 berry stuff.

The plating did feel a bit like they were trying to elevate a classic comfort food homemade dessert to restaurant level, and failed slightly, as it did look messy (and not in a rustic charm way), and the mint sprig was just sorta there.  Overall though, very enjoyable, low 4/5.

One of my fellow diners was smart enough to order vanilla ice cream with theirs, which I got to try as well.  It was good - fairly creamy, quite strong vanilla bean flavor.  Not something worth getting on its own, but so great with that sauce. 3.5/5.

Oatmeal Dried Cherry Cookies. $10.
(+whipped cream, berries).

"White chocolate, pumpkin & sesame seeds."

The cookies actually came with 3 to the order, but the person who ordered them had only one, and passed the rest along to the rest of the group.  No one wanted to even try them, so of course I couldn't let them go to waste, even though cookies are definitely not what I consider a real dessert (particularly when I had my glorious shortcake!).  She also asked for basically the shortcake toppings with her cookies, basically wanting the berries, and was given a small bowl of the berries (which you can see she enjoyed!) and whipped cream that she did not have.  I was more than happy to take the extra whipped cream too!

The cookies were ... fine?  Fairly soft but still crispier around the edges than I like.  Pretty hearty, kinda healthy tasting cookies from the seeds and oats, yet plenty sweet from white chocolate, dried cherries, and sugar, the base cleary was a regular sugar content style cookie, not a healthier style.  I really wanted to like them more than I did, as I do love white chocolate, but I just didn't find anything particularly special about these.  Some slight lemon notes to them as well.  Low 3/5.

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