El Toro Taqueria, Fort Greene, Brooklyn:
Uninspired but decent enough tacos. R likes them more than I do. I'm definitely willing to go back and try the burritos though, as they're very reasonably priced around $7. Cheapness and the proximity to BAM will keep us coming back until something better comes along.
*Update* Still haven't gotten around to the burritos, but we did sneak some tortas into the movies last night. Again, uninspired. Not half as good as this one food truck that used to park on 9th Ave around 58th St. (Maybe it still does, but I don't work over there anymore.)
Chiang Mai vs. Kao Soy, Red Hook, Brooklyn:
Red Hook has recently seen a surge of Northern Thai restaurants. Pok Pok kicked things off a few years ago, and then suddenly there were two more a bit further south, right across the street from each other. There's a bad-blood backstory, but in the interest of fairness we visited both.
Chiang Mai came out ahead, mostly thanks to Kao Soy's whole-fish situation. It's good, this fish, but it's also the spiciest thing in the universe (and I'm backed up on this by a lot of other spicy-food people), so after a few bites it's basically inedible. To be fair, it says on the menu that it's spicy, and the waitress warned us, but... there's a line between wowza-spicy and inedible, and this crossed it. Chiang Mai also has a much more comprehensive beverage menu than you'd expect at a Thai place and, ironically, the "khao soi" I ordered was delicious.
Battersby, Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn:
This was our blowout (seriously; not cheap) third-anniversary dinner. Seven-course tasting menu plus wine pairings. Overall, they were a bit too heavy-handed with the butter, but we definitely enjoyed every course. By the time we left my stomach was aching.
Here's the rundown (obviously seasonal, so your mileage will likely vary): corn soup, dashi (both amuse-bouche), scallops, tuna crudo, fluke, honeynut squash, chestnut pasta, rabbit roulade, ginger cream (palate cleanser), almond joy sundae, nutella mousse (one of each, served together). (I had to explain to R what "almond joy" meant. Candy is one of those very country-specific things.)
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| Misclenanea |
Miscelanea, East Village, Manhattan:
I went for the Cafe Helado con Horchata, which sounded good in theory but ultimately didn't taste quite right to me. The torta I impulse-bought for lunch, on the other hand, was great. Queso Oaxaca. There's a small bench outside the shop (it's a sort of Mexican general store in addition to a counter-service cafe), but it was full, so I biked my sandwich back over the Manhattan Bridge and ate down by the water instead. They even throw in some fresh chips and a tiny container of pickled carrots.
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| Brooklyn Bridge Park |
Patacon Pisao, Lower East Side, Manhattan:
The patacon -- a sandwich with plantains for bread -- sounds like it's going to be the shit, and it's pretty good, but it's the chachapa that really stood out. Either way, you get enough food for two meals.
Burger Mexicano, Lefferts Gardens, Brooklyn:
Once upon a time, my neighborhood had a wonderful Mexican restaurant. It was my bar, my local, my everything. Now it's gone. It was replaced by a brighter, crappier Mexican restaurant -- and by this place, around the corner. So I really wanted to like Burger Mexicano. And it was fine, I suppose, as these things go. Bit cramped and noisy though, and not nearly enough guacamole in an order thereof. Does not replace the hole Cafe Enduro left in my heart.
MAP
RECIPE: Sock-It-To-Me Cake, which I'd never heard of before I started at the Schomburg, but which I've made more than once now, by request.
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