Recent Eats II

Tooker Alley
I love Tooker Alley. Perfect cocktails, cozy atmosphere, breezy backyard, convenient location... This is the place that finally convinced my father that Brooklyn wasn't such a backwater after all.

Hot Bird
If Tooker is my cocktail bar, Hot Bird is my beer bar. Like Tooker, there's great seating both inside and out-, though Hot Bird ups the ante by offering a firepit in winter. I went with a few friends last week and, ignoring the taco stand in the yard, we ordered in from Nacho Macho Taco, then capped things off with a few fork-toasted s'mores.

White Tiger
Trying to get into Chuko? Long line and you're not sure it's worth it? Frankly, you're probably right. I am uninspired by Chuko's noodles. Luckily there's this new Korean place just up the block that serves similar soups, in addition to bibimbap and all that. I was quite satisfied with my ramyun.

Jin Ramen
Currently my favourite traditional ramen place (not to be confused with my favourite un-traditional ramen place, Bassanova -- get the green curry). I couldn't stop myself, several times during the meal, from commenting on how fucking good it was.

Bar Corvo
I used to rate Bar Corvo fairly high. This was maybe the fourth or fifth time I've been, and I'm not sure if we got an off night or if they're slipping. I had the lasagna, which I've had before, but it seemed underseasoned. Still a nice atmosphere and all that, and it certainly wasn't bad, but I'd gotten used to having this fantastic Italian bistro in my back pocket, and now maybe I don't anymore.

Butter & Scotch
Trekked up here with some friends after building up an appetite ice skating in the park. The more traditional cocktails weren't up to nearby Tooker Alley standards, though the existence of hot and milkshaked options makes up for it. The s'mores pie is definitely as good as it should be.

Luigi's Pizza
I don't know if I don't like grandma pie, despite continually thinking that I will, or if theirs isn't great. That said, their regular slices are great. I've eaten a lot of pizza in Park Slope, and this place is the hands-down the best for your standard New York Slice.

Russ & Daughters Cafe
This was our annual mother-daughter birthday (mine) lunch. I had the break-fast martini, and we shared plates of herring, sable, and latkes, all excellent. There's always a wait, I gather, but my mom put our names down and we wandered the neighborhood until they texted us. Painless, and certainly worth it.

Saiguette
Desperate lunch times on 135 St and Malcolm X Blvd lead to desperate measures. Yes, I am willing to walk this far if it gets me a decent sandwich. And I did. And it was.

Dizzy's
As much as I can, I try to give R the full American experience. Essential to that is: the diner. Growing up in suburbia, going to the diner is what we did. Driving anywhere, diners are where I'll head. No place does perfect rye toast with melting butter and sunny-side-up eggs like a diner. Find me a diner that serves real (not from a can) corned beef hash with that, and I will never leave. (My other go-to order is a tuna melt on rye with a chocolate egg cream.) In Brooklyn, our diner options are limited; it's pretty much Tom's or Dizzy's. I took R to Tom's on his first visit to NY, for the atmosphere. Unfortunately the pancakes & etc didn't live up to the hype, so thence forth I take all my diner needs to Dizzy's. It's still got the greasy spoon thing going on, but with quality food to back it up. Also our waiter was extremely informed about James Bond, and would have stood their talking to us about the finer points all afternoon, if we hadn't had to leave to actually get to our showtime.

MAP

RECIPE: Eggplant Dirty Rice, an easy, flavourful weeknight meal.