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This is my favorite sushi spot in brooklyn. While the fish is almost always amazingly delicious and fresh, at other times the fish is of somewhat questionable quality. Normally, variations of quality are the first thing to look out for at a sushi joint, and at the first sign of mediocrity ones inner sushi angel usually advises one to stay as far away as possible. But the sushi highs are just so good here, that I cant stay away for long. One thing to note here is that their rolls are freakin huge. I dont know how they honestly expect a reasonably proportioned person to stuff the end piece of a shrimp tempura roll into their face. Its like trying to stuff your fist in your mouth.
I highly recommend their chirashi dish which is quite excellent and is loaded with fish and lots of strange little japanese pickles. Also, the white tuna sashimi that I’ve gotten here is the best I’ve ever had anywhere ever. Amazing stuff. Also interesting to note, is their “crazy” waitress is still there, and regardless of what anybody says, she is quite fun, which certainly adds to the experience there. Tell Frankie we said hello!

All I can say is yuck! This establishment is in the venerable Chelsea Market, a foodie heaven for new yorkers. I figured that anybody getting a lease in this spot would have to pass some sort of culinary exam or some such, but alas that does not seem to be the case. Also playing a part to mislead me in my initial assumptions regarding this spot, was the rather large line inside. Once inside, there is a great window through which you can see the kitchen, giant woks flaming with veggies, meats and seafood. I ordered the Pad See Ew which under normal circumstances is my favorite thai noodle dish. While the noodles and veggies were cooked right, the calamari was of highly questionable quality, and the sauce was bland to the point of disgustingness. Of course, I was hungry enough to eat the whole plate anyway, stopping intermittantly to exclaim how gross it was, before shoving another mouthful in. Granted it was good enough to eat, but it had none of what I want when I order the Pad See Ew. Other people in my office seem to like this place, (none of which incidentally have ordered the Pad See Ew). I’ll give it another shot maybe, but not anytime soon.

This joint is way out on Manhattan avenue, about six or seven desolate blocks west of the greenpoint avenue subway stop. We’d driven by a couple of times and always thought it would be nice place to stop by. Tonight, the monk and I figured it would be as good a night as any to pull the trigger. So we hustled down and made our way inside. There was only one waiter there, but that was fine as there was only one other table being served. We got inside and were taken with the decor. It was a nice assortment of wood and brick. I liked it. There was a somewhat open kitchen too which was a nice touch.
We skipped the appetizer to save room for some desert. I got the seared scallops and the monk got the pork chops. While waiting, our waiter left us a bowl of bread and a bottle of oil on the table to tide us over until our entrees arrived. But to our surprise, the bread was stale and the oil terribly bitter. We were ever so hungry, but just couldnt make do with what we had. However, we were pleasently surprised when the our entrees came. My scallops were pretty darn amazing, seared just right and ever so tender. Seasoning was near perfect. The monk was equally happy with her entree. How could they nail these dishes so well, but overlook stale bread?
For desert, I optimistically ordered the cheese plate and the monk got bananas foster which is her favorite desert. Unfortunately, keeping pace with the bread the cheese plate was quite awful. It was just cheese the guy picked up from the local key food. Terrible. No. Awful. Awfully terrible. Just so embarrassing. Why would they put a cheese plate on the menu and have it be key food schwag? The bananas foster was quite good and on par with our entrees. So, I dont know what to say. That place was just so hit and miss. I’d love to go back, but whenever I close my eyes all I see is that pathetic little cheese plate and forget about all the other good stuff we got. What a shame.

What can I tell you about this place besides it was decent. The monk and I were looking to get some food in a new neighborhood so we started walking around the lower east side to find something that suited us. We came across Caffe Pepe Rosso and they had a nice special in the window for a penne with tuna. We went inside and the guys inside were all italian and chatting in italian. Not like brooklyn italian, but italian italian. Fuhgeddaboutit.
So we ordered an arugula salad with bule cheese crumble and some dressing. It was okay, but the blue cheese was sort of on the sad side. Our main courses come and the pasta was really al dente. Cooked near perfect. The tuna was also very good and went well with the sauce. Also notable was that instead of being all stingy with the parm and giving us just one chance to cover our pasta with lovely lovely parmesean, they left it at our table. Free refills! To my chagrin however the cheese was old and sawdusty and not good at all. I thought these guys were Italian? Dont Italians like cheese? Oh well…
For desert we topped it off with tiramisu and it was pretty damn good. So this place was kind of a mixed bag. I wouldnt go out of my way to come here though.

We went to SEA, a thai restaurant on N 6th and Berry, because I was jonseing for some broad noodle. For those of you who aren’t in the know, SEA is the restaurant in which Zach Braff’s character works at in Garden State. The décor is very chic and very New York, but in surprising contrast, the cost is more than reasonable. As you walk in, you are immediately struck by a large reflecting pool, including buddah and a boat of flowers, all flanked by tables. To your left are some very unusual restrooms, and to your right is a swing and many, many, pod-shaped seats. The restaurant itself is huge, and can probably accommodate 250 or more. The exposed brick compliments the industrial ventilation throughout the establishment. All in all, it is an impressive acheivement.

Luckily, we were immediately seated at one of the coveted tables next to the reflecting pool. The first thing we noticed were the tourists. I am convinced that SEA made it into Fodders New York, or Lonely Planet, or The Rough Guide. Everyone was taking pictures. EVERYONE. Pictures with flashes on digital cameras, pictures on phones; pictures, pictures, pictures.

We ordered steamed vegetable dumplings as an appetizer, along with Drunken Man’s Noodle and Black Noodle with veggies as our respective entrees. The starter was fantastic, though it’s entirely possible I was so famished I didn’t care; Jarkob concurrs with my assessment, however, so I’m leaning toward the former. In between courses, there were two ‘tweens running circles around the restaurant. These girls could not be stopped—running in front of the picture-takers, cutting off waiters, and just annoying everyone in general. Our entrees arrived and alas!, it was not what I ordered. Now, it’s important to note that I needed my Black Noodle and nothing else would do, so I sent it back. I nibbled on Jarkob’s while I waited, and it was delicious. Drunken Man’s Noodle is broad noodles with a host of seafood—shrimp, fish, and squid in a delightful sauce.

My Black Noodle had finally arrived. SEA has the best Black Noodle in town, no arguments from me, but not tonight. It was burned. I’m not sure how you can burn something made “on the fly,” but they managed to do so. Jarkob insists that it wasn’t burned, but frankly, he doesn’t really know what he’s talking about. It was the first time he had tried it. This was really the first time I’d been dissapointed so I’d still highly recommend it. If not for the food and reasonable prices, but just to eat in such a neat looking restaurant in a neat part of town.

Whenever I’m in Chicago, conversations about deep dish are de rigueur. In fact, thats pretty much all I ever talk about. In these discussions, Lou Malnatti’s comes up as being a favorite pizza destination. Granted there is far from a consensus, but Lou Mal’s is usually at the top of the list. Last time I was in Chicago, the monk and I came to Lou’s and didn’t have the best experience. We went to the downtown location, and were put on a 45 minute wait for a table. When we were eventually seated, we were stuck next to some couple who were evidently on their first date, and watched the guy bury any chances he might have had at a second date as he tried to explain the functional specifications of a jedi light saber. Further ruling out any communication whatsoever, he proceeded to knock his Jumbo 32oz coke right into the deep dish, which kind of freaked the girl out in a most unnatural fashion.
When we got our pizza, we were careful around our cokes of course as these tend to be contagious. Ultimately, I wasn’t the biggest fan because while the cheese and sauce was pretty good, the crust was just way too dry for my tastes. Whenever I told any chicago native about my Lou Mal experience, they would always ask me if I got the special butter crust. (I of course did not). so I figured the next time I was in chicago I would have to come by.
We got a little group from work together and headed down there. We ordered ahead so as not to spend so much time waiting for our precious little deepdishes to rise unhurried from the pizza ovens.
The family style house salad was pretty good and got me prepared for the deep dish extravangza which was to come. We ordered three large deep dishes. One cheese, one pepperoni, and one butter-crust half cheese and half giardiniera which is this jalepen/olive/hot pepper sort of concoction. The pizzas were of the stuffed variety and looked really good when they arrived with nice chunks of tomatoe on each pie. I started off with the regular cheese and it was much better than i remembered it. The cheese was practially married to the dough and you couldnt seperate them with a crowbar. The giardiniera was pretty amazing and gave a nice kick to the pizza. The sauce was decent and overall the pies were very good. Certainly better than the Unos in new york. In short, much better than my first experience, even without the butter crust. Certainly worth a shot, if for no better reason then just being able to contract “Lou Malnatti’s” down to “Lou Mal” like a real Cubs fan.

I’ve been looking forward to this Chicago trip for a couple of reasons, one of the most evocative being the mass consumption of tasty Chicago deep dish. As you might know, the power of a thing is in some form resident within the actual word that is used to describe it. Mystics have claimed that the known manifested universe was created with the first utterance of “the word”, and that word might well have been “deep dish”. But certainly that deep dish was not located at Armand’s.
This is the local pizza place of my friend Matt Derosa. We took a quick 10 minute walk from his house to this place and ordered some pizzas. Now, he’d mentioned that he’s been eating at this joint for a good part of his life and had only gotten the thin crust. But my infatuation with the deep dish impelled me to request the deep dish anyways. Between me, Matt and his wife Kelly, we ordered a medium thin crust (half with mushrooms and garlic), and a small deep dish (plain cheese) for starters we got the antipasto.
When the pizzas got there, the first thing I noticed was the way they sliced the pizza. The deep dish to which I had become accustomed was sliced all normal like (wedge shapes, all originating from the center of the pie, like spokes in a wheel), but the thin crust was cut like someone wanted to play tic-tac-toe on it. Huh? How very awkward. Upon further inquiry it appears that all thin crust pizzas in Chicago are cut like this. Anyways, the thin crust was actually very good. The sauce/cheese ration was near perfect and the crust was just thick and crispy enough. What’s great of course is that they provided a nice big bowl of parmesan cheese and red pepper. Usually, the red pepper is always presented in one of those short and stout shakers, with holes so small that you have to shake the darn thing for an hour before you can get enough out. But when placed in a nice open dish with a spoon, its all the red pepper you could eat.
The deep dish was good, the dough was nice and moist, the cheese and sauce good, (although it was a little slippery and not baked on/in like it should be). Y’know sorta like grooving a road before laying down the asphalt. But of course, that is not the point of this place. I asked the waitress about the pizza, and apparently only one table out of 50 orders the deep dish. This is truly a thin crust place. But don’t sweat the deep dish.

Jarkob and I finally went to Divine Folly after over two years of back-and-forth preemptive strikes in which one of us, under the guise of earnest consideration, would suggest dinner, delivery, or brunch from this less-than-stellar Greenpoint eatery. Neither of us wanted to go, and one would always back down in favor of a more savory option. It became a joke of sorts to see who could most creatively suggest it.

But on Sunday, March 26 the inevitable happened; the day in which neither Jarkob nor I would back down from this dreaded suggestion. I’m not sure why this restaurant in particular caught our contempt. Perhaps it was the menu, which left much to be desired. Or maybe it was the fact that they didn’t sell liquor, or that they turned us away the one time we tried to go for brunch (we arrived 10 minutes after they stopped serving).

We arrived for brunch at 11:50AM and Divine Folly had not opened. Relieved in knowing that we wouldn’t have to eat there, Jarkob and I decided to eat at Paloma around the corner. Unfortunately, Paloma was closed for brunch through the spring, and since there was nothing else in the area (save for Thai), we went back to Divine Folly (which was open by then) and took a table by the faux ficus with silk rose vines near the window.

The menu was limited, but refreshingly inexpensive. Jarkob ordered the eggs florentine ($4.5), and I had the eggs benedict ($5). I tried to order the eggs w/ smoked salmon, but the waiter/cook/manager advised it was unavailable. Strike One.

The coffee was good, and when the food arrived, it was presented beautifully (considering the price and the fake rose vine), and was a generous portion. Both entrees were served with a side salad that gave the impression (both in olfactory and gustatory sensation) that we were in fact chewing our cud. Jarkob later remarked that it “made his mouth dry.” Strike Two.

The benedict part of the eggs was also mediocre. There was not enough hollandaise, and the Canadian bacon on mine was awful. To boot, both of us reported soggy English muffins. Strike Three.

The upside to this is that we had two entrees and a cup of coffee for only $12.

Would I go back? I hope not.

Location: Manhattan Avenue near Kent, Greenpoint, Brooklyn

It was absolutely freezing out and there was a 45 minute wait for “Heavenly Basil” across the street. It was really cold out and windy, and The Monk was hungry and cranky and she really wanted to settle on some place soon. So we crossed the street to the much less popular fusion thai restaurant across the street “Thai On Two”. The place has the decor of an old 80’s chinese restaurant down to the nasty aquarium with the nasty gross fish with the skin tumor. We got seated immediately and started looking over the menu. Every wayward glance that landed on a waitress resulted in them running up to us asking us if we were ready to order. While I really appreciated their attention to service, after 2 or 3 not ready yets, they took to ignoring us and when we were ready we couldnt flag them down with those landing the airplane light sticks.
Anyways, we ordered the fried tofu with the spicy plum sauce for apps, I got the “Vegetarian Duck”, and the monk ordered the “Massaman Curry”. The tofu app was pretty good as was the spicy sauce, however we were really disapointed in our main courses. The curry was really watery and all the vegetables were undercooked. I ate it all anyways, but it wasnt really that good at all, and I was really pretty disapointed. Had I had any left I certainly would not have taken it home with me. We really shoulda gone elsewhere. Maybe Subway.

180 2nd Avenue
Total Cost: $29.80 for Two

My coworker convinced me to be “adventerous” and order some food from this place instead of from Spice which is my usual thai delivery haunt. Based on the previous ratings at menu pages we figured this place would be a good choice. I ordered the pad see ew and the food was delivered pretty quickly. However, the flip side is that the food was really pretty bad, contrary to all the positive reviews posted on menu pages. While the noodles were well cooked and not too soggy or anything, the sauce was amazingly bland, and the whole thing was very blah. That being said, I was able to eat the whole thing (which puts it a step above Montien Thai cuisine) but I didnt come close to enjoying it. My co-worker got the Massman curry and it wasnt good either. Bland was the verdict. However, it was cheap at $5.95. You get what you pay for!