There are few things better than hot pizza right out of a brick oven on a cold January day. When I went to Roberta's for my interview at Let's Eat In on the Heritage Radio Network, whose HQ is in a shipping container in the back of the restaurant, I got to try their margherita pizza for the first time (having tried the Famous Original a few weeks earlier.)
As a purist when it comes to pizza, I like to think that you can judge how great a pie is in its most basic form, in this case, with just tomato, mozzarella, and basil. And the one at Roberta's is pretty great. It's slightly charred around the edges, with just enough tomato sauce for flavor. The mozzarella comes in nice big pieces, as it should.
Thanh Da in Sunset Park is one of my favorite Vietnamese spots in the city. I used to only go for the (delicious) banh mi, neglecting everything else on the menu. Then one day I saw that they offered bun rieu, a Vietnamese crab and tomato noodle soup that I hadn’t seen anywhere else in New York.
And what a shame too. This dish is immensely flavorful, with bright tomato-y broth, bits of crab paste, tender pork, fried tofu puffs, and a hearty amount of rice noodles, all topped with fresh mint and bean sprouts. To compare: the last time I had a bowl of bun rieu was in Hanoi at a street stall. Thanh Da’s version is almost as good, without requiring a plane ride to Vietnam.
As some of you may know, I have an on-going fascination with Chinese food from around the world. When I was living in Asia, I frequently visited Chinatowns and Chinese restaurants in whichever country I was traveling in. Some memorable experiences included eating mapo tofu ramen in Yokohama’s Chinatown, trying jajangmyeon in Seoul, and meeting a family from Yunnan at their Thai-Chinese restaurant in Chiang Mai.
In New York there are also a few notable Indian-Chinese, Cuban-Chinese, and Jamaican-Chinese restaurants. I’m starting a new feature for Brooklyn Galley that highlights great dishes and drinks from around Brooklyn (and some hits from the other four boroughs too). For this inaugural post, let’s take a look at jerk chicken lo mein.
Taro Sushi may be my favorite sushi restaurant in all of Brooklyn. I had been here for dinner many times before and always order the same appetizer: broiled mackerel with ponzu sauce (first pic above), so crisp and perfect with the slightly tangy sauce. Don't think. Just get it.
The restaurant itself is spacious and serene, but also manages to be a comfortable neighborhood spot. The sushi, while not world-changing, is always reliably fresh and so good. For lunch you can choose between an assortment of sushi roll, noodle, and bento box combos with soup and salad for around $11. If I lived closer I’d come here every other day.
Gotham Bar & Grill is one of those classic New York restaurants where it feels great just to walk into, with its soaring ceilings and polished decor. I had gone there once for dinner last spring and left stuffed and very satisfied (and dreaming of their signature chocolate cake for a week!) So it was great to head back there yesterday for the launch of“Greenmarket to Gotham 2012″, a seasonal lunch that runs for twelve weeks and supports both Greenmarket farms and the Grow to Learn NYC initiative.
Ever since reading about Pok Pok in Portland several years ago, I had wanted to try their take on Thai street food. The Brooklyn location opened last night and I went with two other food-obsessed friends. Pok Pok NY is on Columbia St., in that vague area that some might call Red Hook and others call Cobble Hill. As we expected, people in the surrounding area showed up in full force, and the wait was over an hour, but wow, was the trip worth it!
My friends Barb and Max, who moved to New York a few years ago from Los Angeles, often lament that back in L.A. it was hard to find places to dine outside. For a city with almost perfect weather year round, it has surprisingly few restaurants or bars with outdoor seating. So they were happy to find, upon moving here, that New Yorkers are pretty hardcore when it comes to dining al fresco, even in the midst of garbage cans, bus fumes, sirens, and the occasional crazy person.
Fortunately, Park Slope offers much less of a sensory overload than almost anywhere in Manhattan. I walk by Thistle Hill Tavern at least a few times a week and noticed that since Saturday the outdoor tables have been filled, even when it was in the low 50s.
So yesterday, on the last day of winter, which felt like the first day of summer, we took the opportunity to have dinner outside. (In March!) And what better food to have while celebrating the start of outdoor eating season than a nice juicy grassfed burger? The big fat salt and pepper fries don't hurt either, or the happy hour price of $15 for a beer and a burger.
P.S. Thistle Hill also has a beautiful newly renovated bar that seats about 3 times more people than before. After closing down for maybe 3 days to renovate. Everything in New York should get built this quickly.
Thistle Hill Tavern 441 7th Ave. (at 15th St.) Brooklyn, NY Neighborhood: Park Slope (347) 599-1262
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One of my first New York apartments was on Smith Street, where I lived from Fall 2005 to Summer 2006, when the area was already gentrified and rents were becoming pretty high. However, there were very few good dining options on Smith at the time. We had one incredible restaurant, Saul, and a few solid standby's, such as Zaytoon's and Cafe LuLuc, which was downstairs from my apartment. Most were bland or forgettable.
Flash forward to Spring 2010, when I moved back to New York after three years away. Smith Street was nothing like I remembered. Smith and Court Streets had become a dining destination of Brooklyn. So many noteworthy restaurants had already opened or would open in the coming months. Char No 4, Clover Club, Buttermilk Channel, Prime Meats, Watty and Meg, Seersucker, the list went on and on.
