ropa vieja's Profile
Suggestions for 60th Anniversary - Italian - Brooklyn
Frankies 457 is excellent, but probably a bit hip for a crowd that age. Also, not sure they take reservations. I think your best bet is Tommaso. Quite a scene, and a few of the dishes -- the osso bucco and the duck sausage in particular -- are outstanding. Its not Babbo or anything, but definitely several notches above typical red sauce fare.
-----
Tommaso
1464 86th St, Brooklyn, NY 11228
Best Italian restaurant in NYC
Forgot one more:
Esca. Excellent seafood.
Is the food at Sapori d'Ischia really good, or mostly atmosphere?
Best Italian restaurant in NYC
My two cents:
1. Al di La
2. Babbo
3. Lupa
4. Bar Pitti
5. Da Tommaso (the one on 86th St in Bensonhurst; not the place with the same name in midtown)
Perbacco/Peasant/Locanda Verde?
Was going to take my wife to one of these for her birthday? Thoughts? (Or, any other better, mid priced romantic lower Manhattan spot? Doesn't have to be Italian)
Advice is much appreciated.
Needed: amazing Italian or Chinese Restaurant Rec (mid-price) in Brooklyn!
For Italian, Al di La in park slope is outstanding. And very nice place. East Harbor listed below is great, but not sure Id go there for a 77th birthday.
Best red sauce Italian restaurant in Brooklyn?
osso bucco, rabbit pappardelle, veal cheeks, pasta with veal ragu, duck liver appetizer,
taramosalata?
S'Agapo in Astoria.
If you're in Brooklyn, Agnanti in Bay Ridge.
Those are restaurants, but you can get it to go. Also in Bay Ridge, the Greek specialty store Hellas on 4th and 87th makes excellent homemade Taramosalata, but you need to get it when its freshly made. If theyve already put it in the fridge -- as opposed to sitting out on the counter -- then you should skip it.
Best red sauce Italian restaurant in Brooklyn?
I think Tommaso' is more than just a notch over ok. It's not Al di La, but Ive had several excellent meat and pasta dishes. You do need to order carefully, but the good stuff there is really quite good. Definitely better than Bamonte's.
Looking for top quality bakeries in outer boroughs
For excellent Balthazar style brick oven breads, check out Royall Crown Bakery in Dyker Heights. Its sister restaurant Paneantico in Bay Ridge sells the bread too, as well as excellent prepared food/Italian heroes. Across the street is another place owned by the same people, Piazza Mercato, which sells all their bread and prepared food/butcher/olive oil, etc. The bread is really excellent.
Other top notch bakeries include Mona Lisa in Bensonhurst and Leske's in Bay Ridge, which is Norwegian.
Baked in Red Hook is excellent too.
Grand Sichuan House, Faith is Restored !
I recently drove by what appears to be Brooklyn's other authentic Sichuan place, called Bamboo Pavillion, on 18th ave and about 70th street. Has anyone been here? The menu definitely looks like the real deal.
Cafe Istanbul, Pho Hoi, Brooklyn, Feedback please
Both of those places are fine, but not sure I'd consider them destination restaurants. Nha Trang, on 8th ave in sunset park, is better than pho hoi, but atmosphere is just so so. There's an excellent Greek place just up the street from Cafe Istanbul on Emmons Ave called Yiasou, which has great fish. That would work easily for a group of ten.
Holiday party catering in Bay Ridge
We had Piazza Mercato cater a party recently, and they were excellent and cheap. Ended up being like $10 a head, all in. A&S has catered for us too, and they are also very good.
Butcher in Bay Ridge
Hellas, the Greek specialty store on 4th ave and 87th street, has an excellent butcher. Highly recommend their lamb chops and all their kebabs. Also, the butchers at A&S Pork store on 5th and 87th and piazza mercato, at 3rd ave and 92nd, are also great.
Culinary Walking Tours
yes, noshwalks is great. myra alperson really knows her stuff. i did one of hers in bensonhurst and it was outstanding.
Large fried chicken order in Brooklyn
I've had Soul Spot cater two parties, and their fried chicken is really top notch. Mitchell's Soul Food, on Vanderbilt in Prospect Heights, also has superb fried chickn. You really can't go wrong with either of those.
Best red sauce Italian restaurant in Brooklyn?
Nominees? I've been to Da Tomasso, Ponte Vecchio and Bamonte's and enjoyed them all. Anyone think there are others out there that are better?
Brooklyn Chinese
There are two, relatively new places, that have opened in the past few months just south of the place you're talking about -- on 65th street. One is 65th and about 8th Ave and the other is closer to 6th Ave. One is called Spring Garden and the other is East Harbor. I haven't been to either, but they both look very promising and neither appears to be Sichuan. (Both look enormous.)
Any place to eat in Manhattan Beach?
To clarify, I do mean Manhattan Beach proper, not Brighton Beach or Sheepshead Bay.
Bay Ridge pizza rules!
All these places are great. I think best pizza in the nabe is at Peppino's and at Nino's. Peppino's gets soggy on delivery, cause its brick oven, but Nino's is old-fashioned oily, salty slice. Excellent.
Wedding reception in Brooklyn for 130 guests?
Grand Prospect Hall is great, in south slope, between 4th and 5th.
http://www.grandprospecthall.com/
Superb gelato in Bensonhurst
Just had some great gelato at a fairly new place in bensonhurst, called oro verde gelati espresso bar, 1740 86th street. they seem to be renting space from a next door tanning salon (!), but it is really topnotch. up there with villabate or grom. not in a great location for getting much business, and based on my conversation with the owner gino, it doesnt seem theyre getting much attention, so spread the word. had great espresso, pistaccio, nocciola and cherry gelati.
call to make sure theyre open 646 708 4622.
1 day in Brooklyn, what's not to miss?
yes, royal crown and coluccio are both fantastic. get the lard bread at coluccio, which is actually baked by sal & jerry's in nearby bensonhurst.
1 day in Brooklyn, what's not to miss?
Best mozzarella: its not even close -- go to lioni latticini in bensonhurst. go to the wholesale store, not the sandwich shop a few doors down, for the full-on experience. men in the back playing cards, etc. 7819 15th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11228, Phone: 718-232-7852
Bay Ridge to impress a Manhattanite
I second Tanoreen, Tuscany Grill and Agnanti. Elia is a very nice place -- probably the nicest space of any of these -- but I think the Greek food isn't quite as good as Agnanti. Ponte Vecchio is excellent red sauce Italian and a great scene, but a bit overpriced for what it is.
Grand Sichuan and First Oasis have excellent food -- particularly Grand Sichuan, which is really stunningly good and hot --but the atmosphere is pretty much zero. You can't miss with the first three, however.
Another good place that I rarely see written about on these boards is Kim Chee, a solid Korean restaurant on 3rd ave and 93rd or 94th. Grills in the table and an enormous menu. Not quite on the level of Korean places in Flushing, but very tasty.
Also, I don't want to start a fight, but I think Gino's is very mediocre. Tuscany Grill and Ponte Vecchio are far better.
Greek Food Products?
I second Hellas. It is excellent for olive oil, multiple types of feta and great butcher. Their premade pork and lamb shish kebabs are excellent and they sell whole lambs. Favorite olive oil there is called Horio. Really great and cheap too.
Best Jerk Chicken in Brooklyn?
Both Danny's and Peppa's (used to be a single place) down on Flatbush -- actually, one of them might be on Ocean Ave -- just east and south of prospect park are superb. both take out.
there was a jerk eating contest whose results were reported on this board a few years ago. do a search for "jerk off." (i kid you not.)
Big classic Italian Market in Brooklyn?
I second Jen's two recommendations here. (the store on 3rd and 93rd she's thinking of is called Piazza Mercato.
Go to Pastosa on 75th and new utrecht, which is pretty much in the middle of these two places, and youve hit the trifecta. But yes, you will be missing produce. Theres a great produce place across the street from Pastosa, called Paradise.
Any great cheesecake in Bay Ridge/Bensonhurst?
I second Villabate.
Also, Leske's, a Norwegian bakery on 5th Ave and about 76th st makes an excellent cheesecake.
