Jeff "Veal Armstrong" O.'s Profile

This review is for Fan #81

A slab of meat never has been taken so seriously. The skirt steak was more than a foot long and you have 2 in an order. Short ribs were probably around 10 inches by an inch and a half - with 3 in an order. Make these measurements with your hands right now, imagine those hunks in front of you. That's a ton of meat.

It feels like a cafeteria. Open air, open din of the room. Servers loving their job, patrons loving their food,drinking from pitchers and hammering at each other.

I want to go again and again and again. I want french fries next time, they looked great. and potato salad. and blood sausage! and the steaks looked great too. Big ol' T-bone. oh, and the empanadas look like the Argentinian ones, baked not fried - and prettier than any I've ever seen. I want some of that linguini too. Damn, their plateful looked great.

I was surprised by how good our pasta dishes were. Intrigued, I did a little research on their ancestry; I found that  Uruguay apparently has a large Italian influence on their cuisine. Check this out: nearly half the population of Uruguay is of Italian descent - woahh, that's more than my hometown Seaford, Long Island - with about half from the northern regions. This must be why every cream sauce I see pass by my table I nearly melt from. Our own cannelloni in a white mushroom sauce tunnel visioned me. And I don't even like mushrooms.

Chimichurri is great . My god, it's great.  I am now in love with chimichurri. Me eat chimichurri. I need more chimichurri.

Lots of sides to choose from, but unfortunately, you only get one with a meat. Next time I'll skip the tostones, and the yellow rice, and the white rice and beans looked just eh. The mixed salad was crisp, fresh and green, but I want the FF or potato salad. And Sangria. I didn't even see it on the menu, but the later into the night, my eyes fixated on jug after jug coming from  the kitchen.

The parellada para 1 is a mockery of the term "1" - I think they mean 1 table, not 1 person. That and a pasta dish was perfect for 3 people.

My one hang-up is that sodas are just cans. Not even ice. I would hedge towards the house wine ($10) or the sangria ($20). And I would come again. We have tremendous potential here.

This review is for Fan #80.

At the Al-Shamy storefront on Steinway Street, there sits the Al-Shamy cart on the sidewalk out front.  The strong metal box appears brand new, but it's existed for over a year. It's big, accessorised with hot coals, rotating skewers, and followers looming in the space where the meat fumes are the strongest.

No worries about  exposure to elements of cartness, their raw meat is hiding inside the store itself and a refrigerator attached to the front of their building. This, and integrity, is the reason their cart is kept so immaculate.  They do pitas, heroes, platters and kebabs (is that what Egyptians call it?). I don't know tit from tat, but sandwiches are $6/7, and platters are $9/10.

The guy who runs it is like the mayor of Steinway and fun to talk to. He knows everyone and even if he doesn't, he pretends to. Just fifteen minutes standing with him and I witnessed his entire act of ogling at girls, smacking kids in the back of the head and preparing his food with the highest of integrity. That man is a star.

Not sure when they close, if ever, but it's late. I'm becoming a regular here.

This is for Fan #79

Curiously, I am pretty sure ordering by the slice yields larger slices - or it may have just been my luck.

Each slice measures about 16 inches in length. I pick it up and feel like a moron eating this. Or a clown... or Alice.

This slice is pretty good considering what it is... I can't vouch for quality, but who cares? It tastes garlicky and cheesy to the fullest, all properly sauced in between. The coastline can get very big, but considering the size of the thing, proportionally it is fair and balanced.

Here's one of my favorite dining rooms. Just 8 chairs and two tables. You have about 6 feet from the counter to the wall and fears of  the entire building collapsing are not unfounded. Locals are dropping in for a huge slice constantly and everyone loves it. It seems like they gave up on plates a long time ago, so now you get a slice on a sheet of wax paper. Wax paper.

It's so big, if you eat 2 slices, you are an idiot.

Colombian and Spanish cooking. Standard $6 lunch of soup and a plate of meat, rice and a fresh salad with beets, cucumbers, red onions and tomatoes or fries. Great home cooking.

I prefer El Austro across the street for food, but this is more delightful. I like the green theme throughout and the matching shirts of the waitresses. They are fluent in English, so I'm not in the dark while ordering.

Waaayyy different from the other Patsy's. If you are limp from the other locations, don't even think of making comparisons to the original. They really sold out when they started licensing the name...

The historical coal oven keeps them in business all the way in East Harlem. This should be a pilgimage in the same manner a trip to Di Faras is - but with much less frustration (and slightly less payback).

A thin crust, nearly soupy cheese plus tomato sauce and a killer flour caked crust. It's a masterful cheese pizza. This is the reason New York is known as THE City.

I liked it here because the old guy was cool. He seemed smart, estranged due to 20 years of immigration to Corona, and I loved his voice. They once sold a used dream bike of mine that I missed out on, and it's across the street from one of my favorite places to get lunch - Tropifood.

But I realized it's too expensive and the tools are old. The only competition in the area is another Cigi's, so it's basically a monopoly on bikes. For new bikes or service, maybe it's worth it. But I am doing my own stuff, and it's apparent that it's not up to my standards. This used to be my LBS, but I am officially in the market for a new one.

I am amused, and offended.

The round pie is just a round pie. Bypass it. You are here, you want the sheet pizza. You want a spumoni. That square is almost dessert-like. Smooth, thick, like a bread milkshake covered in tomato sauce.

L&Bs has been locked in time since 1939. Families, dates, and kids running around the red picnic tables, distorted radio playing overhead, nothing neuvo about this place. And I love it here.

I liked their sesame seed crust. It blended well on the coastline. Reminded me of the sesame seed crusts of my childhood.

In addition to seasoned crusts, there are some notable pies; The Everything has 22 toppings for 23 dollars. I consider that is impressive and intriguing - because there are only 20 toppings listed on the menu. Also, the Helm Special has shrimp, bacon, garlic and cheese. Interesting, Helm. Very interesting.

It was solid pizza. Seaside town pizza is usually good. And even this one had some beer on tap. This was fine, but I I bet there is better. Sausages Pizza.

Nice place, respectable menu but the execution is poor. If I'm back in the area, I'm checking out Shagwong instead.

O'Murphy's... I just think it's too much. I get it, you're Irish. "Murphy's" is fine. O'Malley's is good. But O'Murphy's is overkill. I'm just saying.