The Examiner.com's ethnic eats blogger Laurel Fantauzzo has come up with a trio of interesting, inexpensive, and hopefully seriously delicious Brooklyn Easter Meal restaurant possibilities:
Pacificana, a dim sum parlor in Sunset Park, 718-871-2880
Caribbean Soule Restaurant in Fort Greene, 718-399-7200
El Viejo Yayo, a Dominican restaurant in Park Slope, 718-369-9651
My first sip of Ovaltine was at a bakery in Chinatown. I liked it enough to buy my own jar of the powdered drink mix, but I would still buy a cup from a Chinese bakery in those times of Ovaltine cravings while outside of the comfort of my own home. Also, they seem to be able to make it better than I can.
You can get hot or cold Ovaltine from just about any Chinese bakery for $1 or less (for those who need some guidance, I'll list some addresses below of where I've had it, but seriously—any Chinese bakery). It's like drinking hot chocolate mixed with cereal milk. When I'm not in the mood for milk tea and I want to fill my belly with something hot and sweet, I usually go for Ovaltine.
70 Mott Street, New York NY 10013 (nr. Canal Street; map)
212-219-1431
5922 8th Avenue, Brooklyn NY 11220 (nr. 59th; map)
718-439-6343
You know how chain restaurants are reliable when you're in an unfamiliar area and have no idea what else to eat? That's how I treat Chinese hand pulled noodle shops. I assume each one, although not part of a chain, is a reliable source of large bowls of tasty noodles in tasty soup with tasty meat for $5, give or take 50 cents. While roaming around Sunset Park one night in search of dinner without any idea of what to eat, I knew where I was eating as soon as I spotted the glowing sign of Lan Zhou Handpull Noodle.
The main thing I noticed about Lan Zhou, aside from it being tiny (I'd guess you can fit about ten people in it) was that they had a large selection of condiments—vinegar, fish sauce, various chili sauces, and my favorite: a bucket of chopped cilantro. I may not have used all these condiments, but I like knowing that I could if I wanted to.
Crispy pig, photograph by Tam Ngo.
Sarah DiGregorio at The Village Voice's Fork in the Road blog has uncovered an easy alternative for holiday hosts and home-cooks: lechones! Lechones are suckling pigs, whole-roasted over charcoal and the toast of any communal feast. With a week's notice, New Public Meat Market can supply you with your very own 25-pound, crispy baby for $110. 5021 5th Avenue, Brooklyn NY 11220 (at 50th Street; map); 718-871-1188
From garbage plates to the chips, cheese, and chicken combination I was hooked on from English kebab vans, I have an unhealthy obsession with french fries topped with fattening goodies. So when my friend told me about salchipapas at Pio Pio, I almost ran over to the Upper West Side branch. French fries topped with fried hot dog slices? Say no more.
Since I live so close to two of the city’s greatest Chinatowns, Elmhurst and Flushing, I hardly ever take the hour-plus subway ride out to the Brooklyn Chinatown in Sunset Park. But when someone raved to me about Yun Nan Flavour Snack I knew had to undertake the trek. After all I’m all about flavor and I love snacks. Plus I’d never heard of any spot in the city that offers fare from China’s southernmost province, which borders Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam. Even though it required two transfers and the D train was running slower than molasses, I’m glad I made the trip.
Sarah DiGregorio, over at the Village Voice, is quickly becoming one of our new favorite people. This week she recommends four taco trucks in Brooklyn's Sunset Park, two of which are open all night long—for those of you with late-night taco and chimichurri cravings.
Planning ahead is important at Toby's Public House. While the brick-oven pizzas are tasty, don't you dare fill up prematurely. And don't go alone. Sweet tooths should plan around the $13 calzone dessert, stuffed with Nutella and fresh ricotta. Adam purposely left this monster out of his Toby's review on Slice today, sending me on special assignment.
Dusted with powdered sugar, the smile-shaped pocket "serves two," but that's two stomachs deliberately saving room. So massive, the calzone needs a metallic pizza round instead of a normal plate, and doesn't even merit the normal fork-and-knife routine; it's a hands-only food. Stumped, our own Ed Levine didn't even recognize the curious combo, but instantly wanted one.
What other cheese is soft enough to handle the brick oven heat without melting? And calm enough to let the Nutella do its rich, hazlenutty thing?
A chef at Toby's Public House birthed the combo, but according to a Frank Bruni review, a similar one exists at Gemma. Toby's waitstaff recommends washing it down with Frangelico, the Northern Italian hazlenut liqueur. Serious Eats New York editor Zach Brooks said it best: "this is a gross abomination in the best possible way." Another seductive photo after the jump.
The Village Voice has a nice roundup of Brooklyn banh mi sandwiches. Yeah. I know. Everyone thinks of the various holes-in-the-wall in Manhattan when it comes to these inexpensive Vietnamese subs, but Sarah DiGregorio digs up four places in the BK: Tan Thanh, Thanh Da I, Thanh Da II, and Ba Xuyen, all in the Brooklyn Chinatown out Sunset Park way.
