Posts from the ‘Williamsburg’ Category

Jan 7

DuMont Burger

I don't know why I spent the past two weekends traipsing around Williamsburg (I've tried to avoid the area for the past few years. I had a couple of innocent beers at Zablozki's and was totally scared by the riff raff, all entourage minus the star teeming out of SEA onto N. 6th St. Where do these baseball capped phantoms come from? It doesn't seem worth the travel effort from New Jersey or Long Island. Or from Bay Ridge or Bayside, for that matter) but at least this Saturday I managed to keep my food and drink in my stomach and out of public spaces.

Always the pessimist, I didn't have much faith that DuMont Burger, which somehow became the out-of-the-blue focus of two of the four members I was with, would still be open after 1am, but we were in luck.

The room was comfortably sparse, woody and counter and stool style. I'm more of a booth gal, but eating at the bar felt more personal like our burgers were being crafted just for us (well, technically they were since after the first ten minutes we were the lone diners).

We ordered various permutations, a veggie burger, a mini and two regular burgers, fries and a salad chosen for sides. I can only speak for my own, a medium-rare gruyere topped burger with fries. Having a few drinks under your belt always makes food a little tastier, but I truly think this meal was top notch. The meat was juicy, if not more rare than medium (I like a pink patty, but sticklers should probably order a notch more done than usual) and slightly sweet, perhaps from Worcestershire sauce. I don't think the sweetness of the brioche bun alone would've caused this. They come thick, and with the addition of tomato slice, onion rounds, sweet pickles and lettuce leaf it's a tad too tall. I guess the baby-mouthed could opt for the mini, but I wanted my full 9 ounces, just squished down slightly.

The parsley flecked fries pretty were right on, neither too thick or thin, nor too soggy or crispy. I've never been able to order a side salad when fried potatoes are an option. Though as of January 9 I'm supposed to be eating healthier, I'm not sure how DuMont Burger might fit into my proposed betterment plan. Moderation, right?

DuMont Burger * 314 Bedford Ave., Brooklyn, NY

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Dec 31

Zipe Zape

1/2 I don't eat tapas as much as I'd like to, but I finally got the chance to try Zipe Zape since I was in Williamsburg for New Year's Eve. Unfortunately, I had no way of knowing that a mere four hours later my precious tapas (along with Jameson, Frangelico, cheap champagne, Rioja and Sauvignon Blanc) would end up splattered all over a stranger's stairwell. Oh well, way to ring in 2006.

But I started the evening with good intentions and a nice Spanish spread. I had heard the servings were small and overpriced, and that was probably true of the $5 potato and chorizo nibble topped with a quail egg, but in general everything was a fair value. We also ordered baby chorizo in brandy, which are like Catalan lit'l smokeys (I love them), a cured meat platter, whose contents I can't fully recall, gambas al ajillo, which were super, and a touch spicier than I would've expected. They include the heads with whiskery antennae, which only meant more for me. We were so impressed we recreated the simple dish for dinner the following night. Dipping crusty bread into the garlicky oil is almost as good as eating the shrimp, themselves.

We also ordered a cheese plate, which we were getting antsy waiting for because there's nothing like a parade of meat, cheese and bread, but as it turned out we were being American and didn't realize they were holding it as an after-dinner treat. The cheese portions were really large in comparison to the rest of the dishes and way too heavy for two who'd already eaten a meal, but we plowed through. The selection included tetilla, manchego, a goat cheese, and membrillo. The food was better than average, the service gracious (it seemed like a mother and teenage daughter running the room) and all was well (until after midnight, at least). That's why I was surprised to read this negative Chowhound account from the same evening. I was glad to be on the good side of things for a change, it often seems that I have poor experiences with places that others love.

Zipe Zape * 152 Metropolitan Ave., Brooklyn, NY

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Oct 15

Taco Chulo

Ok I didn't actually eat there, just drank a beer cocktail for research purposes. But I was with two members of their target audience: Williamsburg vegetarians, and they loved it. I guess that makes me a Carroll Gardens carnivore, though that sounds hideous.

We arrived around 10:30pm, a half hour before they stop serving food and it becomes alcohol-only. Our waiter's admonishment was highly amusing, "I want to warn you, after 11pm there's a dj. It gets very different in here." Uh, ok. So, they were playing hip hop when we were seated–what would happen 30 minutes later? Wham and Kajagoogoo is what happened. Thanks for the head's up, guy. There's nothing like music from middle school to make you feel thoroughly decrepit.

Taco Chulo * 318 Grand St., Brooklyn, NY

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Aug 12

Sweetwater

1/2
Williamsburg so rarely has its act together food-and-service-wise. You might get one, youre not likely to get both, and you just might get neither. I dont know if my standards have risen with my age, but my tolerance for cramped ill-thought-out seating, same table entrees spaced twenty minutes apart, and so-so dishes, isnt what it used to be.

I liked the idea of eating in a restaurant called Sweetwater that used to be the bar Sweetwater, at least for the sake of novelty. Not being wowed by any of the cooked offerings, I opted for a charcuterie platter and frisee salad. I guess thats French, though I wouldnt say this is a French restaurant. My food was perfectly fine, but James had a different feeling about his fish that almost never arrived.

I was more irked by the person seated haphazardly behind me. I was properly seated, squarely at a table. His chair had no proper place and had been added onto the corner of a table diagonal to me. The backs of our chairs were just shy of touching, which created blockage for anyone trying to get through the restaurant. I'm not the restaurant designer, it wasnt my idea, yet I managed to garner dirty looks all evening from patrons insistent on squeezing past. Perhaps this wouldnt have gotten under my skin so much if earlier, on the subway ride home this fat guido hadnt been shouting at me “Sweetie! Sweetie! Move ovah” from the complete other end of the row like it was my responsibility to give his ass space. I take these things personally.

Vibe matters, and it overshadowed my dining experience. I so rarely eat in Williamsburg anymore anyway that Sweetwater wouldnt warrant a return visit.

Sweetwater * 105 N. Sixth St., Brooklyn, NY

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Jan 7

DuMont Burger

I don't know why I spent the past two weekends traipsing around Williamsburg
(I've tried to avoid the area for the past few years. I had a couple of
innocent beers at Zablozki's and was totally scared by the riff raff, all
entourage minus the star teeming out of SEA onto N. 6th St. Where do these
baseball capped phantoms come from? It doesn't seem worth the travel effort
from New Jersey or Long Island. Or from Bay Ridge or Bayside, for that
matter) but at least this Saturday I managed to keep my food and drink in my
stomach and out of public spaces.

Always the pessimist, I didn't have much faith that DuMont Burger, which
somehow became the out-of-the-blue focus of two of the four members I was
with, would still be open after 1am, but we were in luck.

The room was comfortably sparse, woody and counter and stool style. I'm more
of a booth gal, but eating at the bar felt more personal like our burgers
were being crafted just for us (well, technically they were since after the
first ten minutes we were the lone diners).

We ordered various permutations, a veggie burger, a mini and
two regular burgers, fries and a salad chosen for sides. I can only speak
for my own, a medium-rare gruyere topped burger with fries. Having a few
drinks under your belt always makes food a little tastier, but I truly think
this meal was top notch. The meat was juicy, if not more rare than medium (I
like a pink patty, but sticklers should probably order a notch more done
than usual) and slightly sweet, perhaps from Worcestershire sauce. I don't
think the sweetness of the brioche bun alone would've caused this. They come
thick, and with the addition of tomato slice, onion rounds, sweet pickles
and lettuce leaf it's a tad too tall. I guess the baby-mouthed could opt for
the mini, but I wanted my full 9 ounces, just squished down slightly.

The parsley flecked fries pretty were right on, neither too thick or
thin, nor too soggy or crispy. I've never been able to order a side salad
when fried potatoes are an option. Though as of January 9 I'm supposed to be
eating healthier, I'm not sure how DuMont Burger might fit into my proposed
betterment plan. Moderation, right? (1/7/05)

DuMont Burger * 314 Bedford Ave., Brooklyn, NY

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Dec 24

Acqua Santa

Christmas Eve was the perfect night for a Dyker Heights festive lights
excursion. Under the circumstances Italian food made sense, but I was kind
of hoping for Bensonhurst style L&B Spumoni Gardens, not
Williamsburg fare. But thats how things turned out. Fornino, the new brick
oven place, wouldve been my first choice, but pickings are slim the night
before big holidays and they were closing up shop right as we approached the
door. This scheduling issue was mildly compounded by my dining companions
dietary restrictions. I totally wanted to try Spike Hill across the street,
but I feared theyd make me go to Pita Power if my eyes even wandered that
direction. Aqua Santa, around the corner, was the compromise.

All I had was quesadilla type pizza stuffed with robiola, prosciutto and
red onions and what seemed like an abnormal amount of malbec for splitting a
bottle of wine, so I didnt sample a wide swath of the menu. No complaints,
honestly, though its doubtful I'd return unless in the company of
Williamsburg vegetarians.

Acqua Santa * 556 Driggs St., Brooklyn, NY

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Oct 17

Khao Sarn

OK, so I professed the wonders of using green apple in
lieu of green papaya in a som tam, but that was a bad Brooklyn produce,
last minute desperate measure. I don't want to see actual restaurants
pulling this off, and especially not without warning you first.

I wouldn't expect mind-blowing Thai food in Williamsburg in the first
place, but being in the neighborhood on a hungry Friday night, I thought I'd
give Khao Sarn a shot. And it was all very adequate, which apparently is
fine for all the locals wielding chopsticks and downing their BYOB Corona
six-packs. But I would've liked a little more oomph. I'm swear not a snobby
fussbudget (well, sometimes), but Thai cuisine is one of those things where
I'm pretty particular. If I don't see lime leaves, if I do see chopsticks,
and particularly if I'm given green apple passed off as papaya, it's
curtains for a restaurant. Khao Sarn Rd. is totally the Bedford Ave. of
Bangkok so in some way it all makes senses really.

Khao Sarn * 311 Bedford Ave., Brooklyn, NY

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Aug 2

Nar

I'm always wary of those little restaurant write-ups in Time Out NY
or New York Magazine. Not of their validity–whatever–they're trend
fueled, but that they'll create artificially huge crowds the week they
appear. Such was my fear at Nar. Showing up prime-time on a Friday night
posed little problem, however. The place was empty. Absolutely patronless.
That makes me even more wary. No matter how much one hates crowds, facing an
empty restaurant is even more unnerving.

We only ordered a couple things, an eggplant puree not unlike baba
ganouj, fried calamari and a special of meat dumplings in a sour cream-esque
sauce. Nothing was hideous, nothing was amazing either. I like Allioli and
it's the same owners, so I thought I'd give it a try.

I was heartened by little touches like how they used a Turkish(?)
newspaper to serve the calamari in, fish and chips style. That's the sort of
tiny flourish I'd employ at a party, and no one would notice, and I'd come
away feeling like I'd really, really wasted my time. (8/2/03)

* Swiftly gone and probably already forgotten. Now it's Zipe Zape.
(8/23/04)

Nar * 152 Metropolitan Ave., Brooklyn, NY

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Apr 25

Chickenbone Cafe

Can you separate food from experience? I should've been scared off when I saw the sign on the front door indicating a private party would be taking place from 7-9:30pm. But as it was 10:30, and we were told it would be only a 20 min. wait, I figured we'd be fine.

The place was shoulder-to-shoulder packed, we left, came back, no one had budged from the tables and no one was eating; only drinking. It was a bar scene, and ultimately we ended up waiting around an hour to be seated (one of those situations where you've waited so long, you feel more annoyed by leaving). It was a birthday party, the crowd was drunk and rude, and it was clearly the first time in Brooklyn for many of the revelers (one had rented a Zip Car, especially for the occasion–I only know this because of the loudmouth factor in the room), and it showed. Apparently the crew that had set up shop, thought it was a bar that happened to serve food, and had no plans to vacate any of their spots. When we were finally seated, a drunk girl practically sat on my lap a number of times and people begin throwing wads of who-knows-what back and forth through the open window next to me. An inebriated frat-type randomly tried picking a fight twice with James, "If you bump into me one more time, I'll…." and yelled at us when we left.

By the time we ordered food I just wanted to get the hell out of there. In fact, I can barely remember the food. I did the banh mi, which was good enough, though I would have been fine with a Chinatown rendition. I also had some fennel, citrus-y, prosciutto, parmesan salad, which I can barely remember. James had a pork sandwich that he insisted tasted like tuna fish salad.

It's rare that I leave a restaurant feeling wholly irritated. One could chalk it up to a bad night, and I probably would if this place wasn't so incredibly overhyped. This "Brooklyn global cuisine" they proffer just doesn't cut it.

Chickenbone Café * 177 S. Fourth, Brooklyn, NY

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Oct 24

Tacu Tacu

Half Japanese, I've heard of. Half Vietnamese, I'm not so sure about. In
that crazy, oh-so-eclectic Williamsburg tradition, they've created a
Peruvian/Vietnamese restaurant with two separate menus under the same roof.
I guess it works for White Castle/Church's and Dunkin Donuts/Baskin Robbins,
right? Some family members want burgers, others want fried chicken. James
got paella (is that Peruvian?) and I got the whole fried red snapper in a
spicy sweet and sour sauce, which wouldn't be likely at most other
restaurants. So, for variety's sake, it's an amusing concept, though I'd
feel better about eating Peruvian at a Peruvian place and Vietnamese at,
yes, you know, a Vietnamese restaurant.

TacuTacu/Maison Saigon * 134-136 N. Sixth St., Brooklyn,NY

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Posts from the ‘Williamsburg’ Category

DuMont Burger

Zipe Zape

Taco Chulo

Sweetwater

DuMont Burger

Acqua Santa

Khao Sarn

Nar

Chickenbone Cafe

Tacu Tacu

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