gangly handful's Recent Activity
Chowhound Post
Burger and Beer Near Foley Sq.
Can someone please recommend a place to get a solid burger and beer tonight within walking distance of Foley Square/Courts/Municipal Bldg.? Much appreciated.
Chowhound Post
Best Burrito in NY?
It is probably not "the best in NY" as the OP requested, but the burritos at Fast and Fresh Deli on Hoyt just above Atlantic are very very good. The only drawback? They close at 6:30, which is before I get home from work.
Chowhound Post
For dinner instead of Vinegar Hill, Buttermilk?
Just for comparison's sake: I've always found the service at Chestnut professional and warm.
I actually prefer the dishes at Chestnut to Buttermilk, albeit based on only a couple visits to the latter. Chestnut's dishes are by a small factor less ambitious than BC, but better executed, in my opinion. My overall impression of BC has been that the dishes are underseasoned. I expect this will improve as the kitchen figures it out.
Chowhound Post
Coimbra in Ironbound
I'll add a second for Coimbra. The best Portuguese I've had in the Ironbound. Excellent sausage & garlic shrimp apps. Passadinho (sp?)--chicken in wine and garlic--was delicious. Also great picadinho. Very friendly service with a hand-shake at the end. The waiter said to come back in a few weeks when, apparently, they'll have a new dining room. I can't recommend this highly enough.
Chowhound Post
Downtown Brooklyn lunch?
Walk down Court to Atlantic Avenue. Make a right. Go to Damascus bakery. Buy a falafel sandwich, stuffed grape leaves, and chickpea salad. Walk back up Court to the plaza in front of the courthouses and eat your lunch. That'll be far better than anything you'll get on Montague and it'll take you 15 minutes, tops. (For sit down Middle Eastern, try Yemen Cafe or Waterfalls, both on Atlantic.)
If you must stay on Montague, I think Teresa's is the best of the bunch, especially their white bean soup on Friday.
Chowhound Post
Any one check out Eton for dumplings yet?
Oh, you're right of course. I was just describing the shape, which i think is more rounded than your typical potsticker. No doubt, they cook like potstickers.
Chowhound Post
Any one check out Eton for dumplings yet?
I wouldn't call them soup dumplings in the traditional sense. They're not injected with soup and I don't think you could really eat them in the same way (i.e., bite off top, slurp out soup, eat delicious remnants). They're just really juicy.
They are more round than crescent, more like a large shumai than a potsticker.
Chowhound Post
Any one check out Eton for dumplings yet?
Tried the chicken and pork/beef dumplings last week. Both were excellent. They have a lot of juice in them, which tends to explode out of the dumplings. Maybe this attests to how fresh they are. I'll be back.
Chowhound Post
Ted and Honey (red deli space)
I've had two different egg sandwiches (avocado-tomato-cheese; redneck wrap w/ grits, ham, cheese) and both were delicious and reasonably priced. As a nearby neighbor, I'm rooting for the place to succeed. Their line of non-breakfast foods, mostly sandwiches and salads, looks interesting. Also, good coffee as mentioned.
Chowhound Post
Cold Noodles Chinatown
I work in the courthouse area just below Chinatown and need a new recommendation for cold noodles. My old standby was Moon House on Bayard but it has closed up shop and been replaced.
I'm ideally searching for something like the cold sesame noodles offered at Fried Dumpling on Allen near Delancey. Nothing beats that on a hot summer day. But it's a bit too far from my office. The Fried Dumpling offshoot on Mosco, which is well within range, doesn't carry the cold noodles.
Does anyone have any suggestions?
Chowhound Post
Middle Eastern Food
Completely different take on Yemen Cafe for me. Incredibly friendly people serving delicious food. Foul madamas, roasted lamb w/ veg, salta. Lots of hubcap-sized bread and homemade hot sauce. It would be wrong to group it with Waterfalls, which is also excellent, or Fatoosh, which are Syrian rather than Yemenite. It's my personal favorite on Atlantic Ave. But to each his own.
Chowhound Post
"sports bar" in BoCoCa/BK Heights/Downtown Mnh.
I'm not sure whether they would show soccer in the common area where you wouldn't have to make reservations. I imagine they'd play anything you wanted if you got 5 guys together and reserved a booth.
Chowhound Post
"sports bar" in BoCoCa/BK Heights/Downtown Mnh.
I was facing this same question a few months ago. I think a good sports bar should have the volume on for the game you're watching and top notch TVs. Downtown has tremendous beer but usually has music playing (unless it's something like a big NFL playoff game) and has big but not HD tvs. Those things aren't important to everyone but I throw it out there for purposes of full disclosure. The food is ok.
For some big games, we go to Blue Seats, which is a sleek sports bar on the LES (Ludlow & Stanton area), 2 minute walk from F-train. Good food and huge TVs all over the place. They have booths & other special showrooms. It's not a casual experience though--it's a hardcore sports bar. No one is there unless they're watching sports. That might not be what you're looking for.
Chowhound Post
What Recent Meal "Blew You Away"?
Fried chicken at Momofuku Noodle Bar: the perfect blend of heat, honey, salty, and crispy. I've never had anything quite like it.
Chowhound Post
Complete My Black Bean Dish
Hmmm....excellent suggestion. I actually made a variation of that a few weeks ago (hence the leftover sausages) and it was fantastic on flour tortillas with some mexican cheese and fresh guac. I cooked the beans til they broke down some but not a full refry.
Chowhound Post
Complete My Black Bean Dish
eh, because i didn't have any fresh ones and i was heading out all day.
Chowhound Post
Complete My Black Bean Dish
Out of sheer boredom, I poured into my slow cooker:
2 cans of black beans (undrained)
2 small chorizo (chopped)
chopped onion & garlic
cumin, red pepper
1.5 cups homemade chicken stock
It smelled and tasted pretty good. I put it in the fridge to separate some of the fat, though I haven't scraped the fat out yet.
Any thoughts on what I should do with it? Puree it w/ immersion blender for soup (and if so, while heated or cold)? Refry them? Any other thoughts?
Chowhound Post
Passover Brisket
Thanks for all the suggestions. I chose the "My Mother's Brisket" and prepared it last night. It looked delicious after about 4 hours in the overn. I can't wait to go home and slice it up and serve.
Less successful were my latkes, which just about ruined my all clad pans. lesson learned.
Chowhound Post
Passover Brisket
I'm planning on making a brisket for my book club meeting this friday night. We read "Portnoy's Complaint" so I felt a solid Jewish holiday dinner--like my Grandma used to make--would be in order. I plan on starting and cooking the brisket tonight, cooling it, refrigerating it overnight, and then carving and reheating tomorrow. I was planning on using my oval le creusset dutch oven. I have 12 people coming and I'll be serving latkes and vegetable sides. Can anyone point me to a good recipe? I'm not afraid of fat and I have a pretty good butcher, I think. Also, how many pounds on the brisket? Thanks for your help.
Chowhound Post
Downtown Brooklyn lunch places...
There is no good Indian or Thai to speak of, at least not in Downtown Brooklyn. The walk down to Atlantic for Middle Eastern--Waterfalls, Yemen Cafe--is your best bet. There's also a Nicky's for Vietnamese banh mi just east of Smith on Atlantic. If you're ordering in, I think EmThai down on Smith is the best of the lot for Thai but I don't think they'd deliver all the way up to downtown.
Chowhound Post
Looking for some Polish Home Cooking
Can I ask where you go in Bay Ridge or Sunset Park for Polish? It's a lot easier for me to get to than Greenpoint.
Chowhound Post
Best Gyro?
Definitely the winner. Especially fun for fumigating the subway car on the ride home with the after-effects of the extremely garlicky and delicious tzatziki. Great fries too.
Chowhound Post
Actually pretty decent Chinese on Smith
We tried it on Saturday, prompted by this post. Delivery to Brooklyn Heights was fast. We loved that it wasn't the standard, gloppy, greasy mess that most neighborhood Chinese joints serve. We played it safe with the first order. The Szechuan wontons were delicious. The chow fun and kung pao chicken were also top notch and stood out for their lack of grease. The sauteed string beans were still relatively crisp and full of flavor. All in all, I'm ecstatic that this place is delivering in the nabe and I plan to order more ambitiously in the future.
Chowhound Post
Connecticut Muffin on Montague in Bklyn Heights
I've always found the service there just fine. In fact, I've come to consider the morning guys as friends. I think a lot of other people in the nabe would agree. They may have their grumpy days but so do I. Just my 2 cents.
Chowhound Post
Best possible meal for $20 in Brooklyn?
Agreed, how bout $6? Go to the dumpling place in the high 40's along 8th avenue and then walk down to Ba Xuyen for the best banh mi in the city.
Chowhound Post
if you weren't working..mid-week lunch rec's
Spartan Souvlaki on 8th Avenue just before the Gowanus crosses over. 6817 8th Ave. Sublime gyros and fries and the best, garlicky tzatziki I've ever had.
Chowhound Post
Thomas Beisl Questions
I've eaten there twice. As someone who lived in Austria for a while, I was really looking forward to familiar surroundings and food. The place really looks like your local Viennese eatery, down to the green trim and Gosser signs. But the service, at least the times I was there, was on autopilot. It took forever to get refills. The food was OK but not inspired. I remember commenting at the time that it felt like the dishes were cooked and prepared in Austria and then shrinkwrapped and shipped to Brooklyn where they were reheated. That being said, I didn't have any goulash so I can't comment on that and they certainly have the Gosser or Stigl that wash down that goulash.
On the other hand, your brother has particularly bad taste.
Chowhound Post
Best Chinese in Sunset Park?
I recently had really good fried dumplings (pork & chive) at Rai Feng Du on the south side of 48th street, just east of 8th avenue. Across from a construction site on the corner of 48th and 8th. They have a rather large menu posted above the ordering counter. I thought they were quite good.
Chowhound Post
Hibino - Japanese in Cobble Hill
They have a license...beer, wine, and sake. It had been byob while the license was pending.
Chowhound Post
Hibino - Japanese in Cobble Hill
Just had the most recent of many excellent meals at Hibino on Henry St. at Pacific St. in Cobble Hill.
Tonight, my obanzai, a tapas-type appetizer that changes daily, was simmered beef tendon with konnyaku, which is a very dense yam noodle thing. It had the texture of a very dense, very thick chow fun noodle. It was delicious and the beef just fell apart. We also had an assortment of sashimi, with the very fresh fluke and the scallop being favorites tonight. The yellowtail jalapeno roll was also excellent. Service, as always, was very considerate and efficient.
I don't get the urge to post very often but I've had so many positive experiences at this place that I figured I'd throw in my 2 cents. It gives me a certain satisfaction to see a real labor of love like this place filled on a Tuesday night and seemingly doing quite well. A wonderful addition to the neighborhood this year.
