Happy Noms

Author: Victor
Restaurant: Guy’s American Kitchen and Bar
Chef: Guy Fieri

Date: December 13, 2012

Pete Wells’s NYTimes Review: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/14/dining/reviews/restaurant-review-guys-american-kitchen-bar-in-times-square.html

Notes:
-After my friend David and I read Pete Wells’s scathing review of Guy Fieri’s new restaurant in Times Square, we decided that we HAD to go.
1. The restaurant is HUGE. There are three floors, and there’s a LOOOOT of space.
2. The service sucked. We had to wait quite a long time to even get our menus, and they could use a few more waiters.
3. The deep-fried food was okay, but everything else was kind of bad. I would… not go back again haha. Some of the dishes confused me and just left me with the thought of, “I… don’t quite know what I’m eating… Why did I come here?”
-I kind of wish the food were even worse. It tasted like another average restaurant in Times Square—overpriced and for tourists. If only the food were exceptionally bad… haha.
-I’ve concluded that people who come here don’t really know any better. Even if you’re curious… don’t come.

Food:

1.
California Egg Rolls ($12.95)
“Chicken, avocado, cabbage trio, ginger, garlic + red peppers. Served with sweet Thai chili dipping sauce.”

I’m… still not quite sure what I ate. There was one point where I thought, “Okay, so I can kind of see what he’s trying to pull off; there’s a small taste of a california roll somewhere in here.” I then quickly thought, “Never mind, that was just the avocado—the rest is bad.” I concluded with, “I THINK this is just a really bad egg roll… with chicken and avocado. THEN AGAIN, I’m not quite 100% sure what I just ate!”

2.
“Awesome” Pretzel Chicken Tenders ($12.50)
“All white-meat tenders coated in crunchy, crushed sourdough pretzels and panko–a throwback to Guy’s Awesome Pretzel Cart as a kid. Served with spicy honey-Dijon dipping sauce.”

This was actually decent. I don’t really think the panko or sourdough pretzels made a difference, though. It was just… fried chicken tenders. You can’t really go wrong with deep-fried food hahaha. ($12.50, though?!)

3.
Rojo Onion Rings ($9.95)
“Buttermilk and sriracha-coated onion rings, lightly fried until golden brown. Slightly spicy with cool ranch dipping sauce.”

This was also decent. The sriracha wasn’t too strong, and it actually added some extra flavor to the onion rings; my friend really liked it, while I thought they were your average onion rings. Still, this is another deep-fried thing that you can’t really go wrong with.

4.
Pulled Pork Slyders ($17.50)
“Our righteous rotisserie pulled pork tossed with Guy’s signature bourbon brown sugar dipping sauce topped with fresh slaw and bacon on sweet Hawaiian rolls.”

This was okay. The pulled pork was solid, but the Hawaiian rolls didn’t taste good at all. Also, there was a bit too much mayo in the cole slaw. The mayo kind of overpowered everything; they should really just let the taste of the pork stand out on its own or something… Still, at least I knew what I was eating, and it didn’t confuse me!

5.
BBQ Buffalo Meatloaf ($22.50)
“Guy’s recipe for meatloaf made with lean ground buffalo, BBQ glaze, crispy sweet onion straws, ranch dressing, bacon bits + roasted garlic mash.”

I still don’t quite know what I ate here. There was something off with the meatloaf :(. It wasn’t satisfying to eat at all, and it just left me… confused. Also, the mashed potatoes weren’t great at all, but my friend thought they were okay.