557 Driggs Avenue Williamsburg

We enjoyed an impeccable date night meal at El Almacen. It started a tasty gin, cucumber jalapeño concoction and amazing appetizers. Both the shishito peppers and avocado fries are worth reordering on my next visit.

Jim and I were so intrigued by the menu we got a few things to split. The Entrana skirt steak is fantastic, truly. Cooked perfectly to medium rare, but nicely charred it came with two flavorful dipping sauces and a nice poblano pepper mash potato. The grilled octopus and potato salad was refreshing and almost crab like while the empanadas boasted a buttery flaky crust unlike most I’ve had.

End the meal with churros if you’re not busting and be sure to bring cash. Can’t understand the relatively low marks on yelp. The place was bustling, loud, dark (hence, just one photo) and small but kind of fun in that way. One of the best new(ish) places to open in Williamsburg.

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Posted on October 1, 2011

31-14 Broadway, Astoria

The first thing you need to know about Bahari Estiatorio is that it used to be called Stamatis (and is listed as such on line) but it’s the same well reviewed restaurant, so no need to panic if you make the trip out there and find it missing.

It’s really hard to go wrong with Greek food in queens but fortunately that doesn’t mean that they’re all cookie cutter replicas of each other. Each place we’ve been seems to offer something unique and in Bahari’s case it’s a flavorful dried sausage appetizer unlike any that I’ve had. At it’s worst Greek sausage can be oily and a tad bland but this was anything but.

Among our other shared appetizers (a great way to sample lots of good stuff) were more stand out dishes: a fresh feta tomato salad, a baked feta and pepper casserole, a tender grilled octopus (more mildly flavored than I prefer), and a huge pita and spread plate with the usual suspects: my favorite taramasalata, tzatziki, and babaganoush as well as less familiar potato and garlic and cheese spreads.

The staff is friendly, even picking Van up for a hug, though the atmosphere is a bit forgettable.
The meal was quite memorable though and a perfect stop before heading over to the Museum of Moving Image. Plus, a parking lot is right next door which is great in the hard to park area.

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Posted on September 12, 2011

42-47 Main Street, Flushing, Queens

Behold Hunan Kitchen of Grand Sichuan – a Chinese restaurant that even the most squeamish of eaters (our friend Shaun) can call absolutely delicious. And when I say squeamish, I mean our he was getting nervous even before we walked in the door panicking over the idea that there would be a bathroom in the restaurant (?!). The boy is no fan of Chinese food, with belly aches past to blame, but by the end of our feast, he had declared that he did, indeed really like this place.

Most Flushing gems we’ve frequented (Spicy and Tasty, Little Pepper, Imperial Palace: all brilliant in their ways) offer up at least one dish in our random selection that makes us all stop and say with politeness.. well that was a little weird. Mind you, (to give you an idea of our comfort level) we’re not all the way stuck with Western palettes, we don’t mind “strange” combinations and don’t hold back on the spiciness, but at the same time we never order a bowl of pigs feet either.

At the recently opened HKoGS, every single dish was a hit, we only had favorites among all the yumminess starting with a jalapeno and pickled bean fried rice that is, without a doubt, the best friend rice I have ever encountered.

Dan Dan Noodles arrived next surprising us by being hot (we had had cold before) and kicking our butts with chili oil heat. Continuing on our epic order of appetizers, we chowed down a perfectly toothsome scallion pancake, some fried savory sweet pumpkin cakes (not the favorite of the bunch, but still really good), and pork soup dumplings that were smaller and, dare I say it, better flavored than Joe’s Shanghai.

That is where my meal took a turn – not food wise, but my own body failed me when a filling popped half way out (not on anything I ate, it had felt weird for days and finally broke). I couldn’t really chew properly anymore, but as the meal continued to be so delicious I carried on as best I could (and took lots of left overs home, which I am LOVING as I write this).

OK, so personal woes aside, lets get on with the main dishes. Again all were excellent but perhaps the favorite was the Sauteed Pork Farmer Style, a slightly black beanish, saucy dish that had a lot of kick and was the biggest gamble of the night (most other dishes we read about either in the Times review or on yelp).

Sour Green Beans and Ground Pork was unusual but in a great way (in fact I am devouring a huge bowl of it now) the pickled beans from the fried rice accompany chopped spicy peppers and you know I am a sucker for ground pork.

Our third adventurous dish was white pepper beef, a nifty dish full of flavor but not as hot as it appeared on first look : tons of chili’s peeking out from the almost jerky like bits of beef.

Really, all three are highly recommended, though it seems from out experience that you can’t go wrong with anything on the menu here.

Add in a really friendly staff that makes you feel comfortable to linger (and who doted on Van) and you have yourself one spectacular eating experience, one that can even over shadow dental problems. This is bound to become a foodie destination if it’s not already.

We went as an early celebration to our Anniversary. We didn’t want to be away from Van and we didn’t want to spend a fortune so this was perfect. Our huge meal was less than $30 a person and it was laid back enough that Van could be comfortable there.

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Posted on August 22, 2011

Various Locations

Most days I only have time for some microwaved meal between naps, diapers, and play so I can get pretty envious of Jim’s many food truck options that litter the streets around his office.

So I was pleased when a favorite of his showed up the other evening near McCarren Park.

Mexicue has a tempting menu but Jim advised that a smoked short rib taco and a pulled pork slider were the way to go.

Both were noteworthy but the pulled pork slider was exceptional.

If you think you can come up with an even better Mexican treat they should add to their menu? Enter their Menu contest!

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Posted on July 29, 2011

On Block Island, it’s all about seafood and I am going to steer you away from the mediocre to the great.

Starting with Ballard’s, which is often party central, I’m talking dudes with tramp stamps (a phenomenon we speculated and joked about all trip), and views of all sorts of revelers on Ballard’s Beach. You might think the place was a mere tourist trap, and even if it is, it’s got the crab legs to make your summer blissful. Great oysters, chow-dah, mussels, and steamers too. And of course, once can’t pass up their Del’s plus vodka.

Another Old Harbor favorite is Finn’s, which also boasts great steamers and fried whole belly clams with a great outdoor deck. We also got huge shrimp for their market for barbecuing.

We started our trip with a dinner of great fried clam strips and weird but good doughboys from Rebecca’s. Heard their lobster rolls aren’t so hot, but just hop across the street to the Del’s spot for a pretty good one.

Best meal, though, next to those succulent crab legs, goes to Three Sisters, a tiny outpost of sandwiches during the day, and an amazing fish cook out menu at night. We had blackened bluefish, grilled zucchini, awesome clams, and incredible slightly teriyaki tuna steaks which made me obsessed with making tuna this summer.

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Posted on July 15, 2011