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2014-05-18
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You ever have a thought that just blows your mind, even though you're not on drugs? (OK, so maybe I've had some wine...) I was sitting here figuring out how to start my review. I thought I'd begin with something about how Hong Kong American food tends to take the basic idea and then fancy-it-up and charge you triple. But then I thought: y'know, maybe there are fancy-pants delis in the US that are in expensive hotels that rich people go to and I never knew what they were like because I was never
Well, I'm sure even the hoity toity places in the US can do a dill better than this. I won't say my pickle was terrible, because it wasn't. It wasn't a nasty sweet pickle either. But it was mushy in a bad way on the inside and had much too tough skin externally. I didn't even try the sauerkraut. For me, there's only two places sauerkraut belongs: on top of a sausage, and in goulash. Free is always A++
Someone in the reviews below was dissing the shoestring fries and McDonald's. I'm gonna stand up and say Micky D's has great fries (seriosly, compare literally every other US burger chain, sans maybe 5 Guys). Sure, fries get a lot better. But nothing to turn your nose up here. These were like McDonald's except, y'know, freshly cooked. Good, B-
The burger selection was weird. First, only about half of the burgers were made out of red meat. One had foie gras on it (see what I mean about the ritzy stuff?). One was bbq sauce (sorry, I'm from central TX and that's not how we do bbq). One was stinky moldy French cheese (are we at an American joint? I only eat Freedom Cheese). The one I got was plain. No Freedom Cheese, but piled with onion rings that you could not possibly eat, were you to try to eat them on the burger. Por que?I ordered medium and that's what I got. The burger was meaty with a great texture, and none of the standard HK flaws (too bread-crumby, odd color, soft texture, strange juices...). The lettuce and tomato were a little scant and I had to ask for mustard, but again that's just a TX thing. I'd say it was really good but shy of excellence. B+
The onion rings were off. They use these really big onion slices which leads to two problems: first, they were over-battered and second, the onions themselves were under-cooked. Big may be fancy, but fancy at the expense of taste? You lost me.
When I walked in they asked me if I was staying at the hotel. I had to stifle a laugh. It's nice to know I don't look so slovenly that someone thinks I might actually be a guest at a luxury hotel. But no, I'm just some dude who blows all his money on food.
Look, I'm not a real New Yorker. I'm not even a fake New Yorker, or an ex-New Yorker. I lived in Jersey for seven years and dutifully played my role as bridge and tunnel trash. I won't say I'm an expert on NY delis. I thought the food here was very nicely reminiscient of home, while not being particularly exceptional. I'm sure the overhead at this piece of prime real estate warrants the ridiculous prices. But I can't say I'm coming back.
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Authenticity points: my server had an American accent.
(The above review is the personal opinion of a user which does not represent OpenRice's point of view.)
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