Olea Mediterranean Taverna Visited 5/31/10 3.75 Forks

Olea Mediterranean Taverna 171 Lafayette Avenue(between Adelphi St & Clermont Ave), Brooklyn, NY 11238

I have run out of decent brunch choices in Park Slope and have decided to branch out to Ft. Greene, which is an area that I really love. Olea is in the really cute part of Ft. Greene, lots of tree-lined streets and brownstones. The restaurant is adorable with a right mix of Mediterranean tiles and exposed brick and wooden beams. There are a few outdoor seats, but the majority of the seats are indoors.

The brunch menu is really interesting, it had egg/brunch stuff but with a Turkish/Greek flair to all of it. There were so many choices and I had a really hard time deciding. I had the green eggs and lamb (scrambled with fresh cilantro, tomato and red onion, served with merguez lamb sausage and pita $13), Aarti had the Turkish breakfast (eggs scrambled with cilantro, tomato and red onion, fattoush, eggplant salad, herbed yogurt and grilled pita bread for $10), Will had the Savory Parmesan French Toast poached eggs, peas and pea shoots, scallions, and avgolemono sauce ($12) with a side of eggplant salad and Dan got the French style scrambled eggs with smoked salmon and brie ($10.50).

The food came out relatively quickly although they did violate one of my biggest pet peeves in that the table next to us, which was seated after us, got their food before us. But our food came out right afterwards. My meal was pretty good, although the lamb in sausage form is not as good as when it's sliced up in a more traditional meat-like cut. The grilled pita was really good and I tried it with Aarti's yogurt, which tasted like what it was supposed to: plain yogurt with cucumber and herbs. The eggplant salad that Will got was a bit of a disappointment in that it was a bit too sweet (tasted like mint jelly) for all of us. But the best thing I tasted was dan's salmon brie scramble. It was so perfectly cooked and it made me want more. I was really happy that there was a cute place not too far that had different take on brunch because Lord knows there aren't that many good options in my direct 'hood. It looks like they have a pretty good dinner tapas menu and $1.50 happy hour oysters...I would definitely check that out.

Blue Ribbon Sushi Brooklyn Visited 5/30/10 4 Forks

Blue Ribbon Sushi Brooklyn 278 5th Ave (between 1st St & Garfield), Brooklyn, NY 11215

I had "won" an award at work where I was allowed to spend up to $100 on the corporate card. So this was a great opportunity to try a new restaurant that I otherwise would not go to. I had a lot of ideas, so it was hard to choose. I wavered between Morimoto, Jewel Bako and other sushi places. But when the time came to pick a place, we decided on Blue Ribbon Sushi b/c it was close to home but we never really go b/c it's a bit pricier than we would like to spend on dinner.

The decor is pretty modern inside...it's mostly wooden and edgy. The host and sushi chefs are all Japanese and greet you in Japanese when you enter the restaurant...I always kind of liked that in sushi places. The menu is pretty extensive and we were having a hard time deciding how to allocate our money. We considered getting the sake flight ($20) but thought that we would go with a 500 ml bottle of Kaguyahme ($30), which was really good. It was pretty light and fruity and perfect for the occasion. Next we started with the Hamachi Kama ($11.25), which was yellowtail collar. It's the neck/head part of the fish, which is secretly the best and fleshiest part of the fish. I usually really like it and this one wasn't all that bad. It was a bit more pan fried that what I would like but there was lots meat in it.

Next we split the sushi sashimi combo ($33.25), which we were told was made for 1 but we thought if we added a bunch of other rolls and stuff, would make up for it. The combo had 1 spicy scallop roll (Amazing!!! really fresh with not too much mayo), 3 pieces of salmon sashimi, 4 pieces of tuna sashimi, 3 pieces of red snapper sashimi, 2 pieces of spanish mackeral, then tuna sushi, yellowtail sushi, shrimp sushi, white fish sushi, red snapper sushi, and spicy crab sushi. The spicy crab was piled high and wrapped in a light sushi paper...I generally don't like spicy crab in sushi places but it was incredibly good. All of the fish was very fresh tasting and it made me realize the difference between ok sushi and great sushi. Next we had the yellow tail roll ($10), which was also good. It was tightly rolled and didn't have too much rice. After that we were still hungry, so we got the rock shrimp tempura ($15.50) and a spicy crab roll ($10). I had had the rock shrimp tempura a long time ago and remembered it being good and when this came out, it was extremely tasty. There were lots of shrimp and they were battered properly, and the side of spicy mayo that came with it was the right dip for it. The spicy crab roll was fine...probably not on par with the other dishes. There was some sort of lettuce or green leaf in there that I couldn't place that was a bit off tasting.

All in all the meal was great and worth the extra money, but it was nice that we didn't have to pay for most of it ($115). It's definitely a good place for special occasion or if you want to splurge a bit over the usual sushi places in the 'hood.

Red Hook Ball Fields Visited 5/30/10 4 Forks

Red Hook Ball Fields Clinton St & Bay St, Brooklyn, NY 11231

I have been to the Red Hook Ball Fields many times and I love it every time. It's basically a bunch of Latin American food charts that line a soccer field in Red Hook. There are pupusas, tacos, huraches, corn on the cob, fruit drinks, ceviche, etc. The carts are very authentic and run by many different kinds of latin americans. It's hard to decide where to go and where to start...and I would warn you to come hungry and with cash. We started off with a freshly squeezed watermelon juice ($2) and 2 corn on the cob with mayo and chili ($2.50/each). The watermelon juice was great and the ideal summer drink. The only hard part was that there are chunks of watermelon at the bottom so it's hard to drink sometimes. The corn was very fresh and the combo of mayo and chili was very tasty, but extremely messy.

It was hard to pick what our main meal would be...I had wanted pupusas, but everyone seemed to have the huraches, so we thought it would be good to try. The line was super long but goes pretty quickly. The signage on the carts are in spanish with some english, so I think if you know spanish you will have an easier time interpreting the menu. We got a hurache with chorizio ($6)...the thing is HUGE. It's a giant fresh tortilla (so good on its own) and it had chorizio, lettuce, tomato, and sour cream. It was delicious and extremely filling. One is enough for 2 people. What I love about this place is that it seems like you're a world away from New York City but it's really not that far away from the city. I will warn you that it's pretty hard to get to. Even after you get off the F train at Smith and 9th street, it's still a long walk through a semi-sketchy 'hood. But once you are there, the people there are all incredibly nice and you can see them cooking the food right there in the cart, so you know it's fresh and made well.

We ended the day with a strawberry shake ($2.50), which was made from fresh strawberries and milk, I think. I used come and get the ceviche but they've since raised the prices from $7 to $9, so I took a pass on it but in the past it tasted really good.

Wildwood BBQ Visited 5/29/10 2.75 Forks

Wildwood BBQ

225 Park Ave S (between 18th St & 19th St), New York, NY 10003

I've been to Wildwood before and normally wouldn't really think that I would need to go again, but I had a $25 BR Guest Gift card and didn't want to spend crazy amounts of money, so I thought I would give it another try.

The place is a giant room with large screen tvs and a general bbq feel. They have your traditional "jam jar" glasses and a large collection of sauces on your table. I was torn over getting a sandwich or a BBQ platter but I figured I should "splurge" on a platter. I got the pulled pork platter ($14.50) which came with 2 pieces of white toast and a choice of 1 side. I, of course, got the mac and cheese side. Dan got the brisket platter which came with corn bread and a side of creamed spinach ($15.50). Drink wise I got the Kentucky Cooler ($11) which was Makers, Firefly Ice Tea Vodka, peach, and lemonade. The drink was very heavy on the makers, so I had to wait for it to water down before I could have more of it. Dan got a pint of the Cold Ass Beer ($6), which tasted like regular beer and he got High West Rendez Vous ($12) whiskey. I assume that the pour was a regular 2 oz pour but it looked huge, almost like a 4 oz pour. The initial taste was pretty good but Dan wasn't a huge fan of it in the end.

The food came our very quickly. I had a small, but probably good size helping of pulled pork and the vinegar sauce came on the side. Pieces of it were juicy and good but other parts were just fine. I really did like my mac and cheese, it was extremely cheesy but maybe a bit too "grainy". I had a taste of Dan's brisket that I thought it was pretty good...they had asked him if he wanted it lean or wet and he asked for a combo but I wasn't sure if there was a huge difference. The cream spinach was good but when is creamed spinach not good?

I think what made me put this a shy under 3 stars was b/c I can't get Fette Sau out of my mind as a comparison when I eat BBQ and when we came home we were both incredibly de-hydrated.

Florentina/Magda/Lola Visited 5/29/10 TBD Stars

Florentina's aka Magda's International Cafe aka Lola's

454 Graham Ave, (between Frost St & Richardson St), Brooklyn

There are no stars or links to this place b/c I recently found out that they are going to close (again) and then re-open as a new restaurant/bar but they are going to keep somethings the same. I have a soft spot for this place b/c Dan and Prior love it and we tend to go here a lot for brunch. I know that I sometimes cringe when they mention it but in actuality, the food is decent, the sangria will kick your ass, and it's cheap.

The menu used to be much bigger but now it's reduced to half its size. I got an omelet with ham, cheese, and mushroom with a side of home fries. They used to have a specials page which at times was completely bizarre (like an asparagus and brie omelet) or really good. The food there all has a mexican twist to it so there are a lot of dishes with rice and beans and flour tortillas. To be honest, my omelet this day was not very good. The cheese wasn't melted and there was nothing special to my meal. They used to have this one omelet with avocado, onions, peppers, cheese and other things and it was really good. Dan got some sort of breakfast burrito that had this insanely spicy/smoky red sauce. I don't know how he managed to eat the entire thing.

The brings the boys here mostly is the sangria. We watch them make it and it's basically really cheap red wine mixed with brandy and triple sec and they use orange juice as a base. If they make a batch the night before, the fruit that is soaked in it is usually black and very potent. One sangria ($6) will generally take me out for the rest of the afternoon. Prior and Dan often go for 2 or even 3.

The waitress recently told us that they were going to re-do the restaurant again so that there will be a bar, so I will reserve final judgement for when the new place opens.

Cheers Thai Visited 5/28/10 3 Forks

Cheers Thai 612 Metropolitan Ave (between Leonard St & Lorimer St), Brooklyn, NY 11211

Thank god Cheers exists because otherwise there is no other decent thai option by Dan's place. This is not to say that Cheers doesn't have its faults, but at least I know that the food is good.

The actual restaurant doesn't have much personality but they do have a nice patio in the back for nice spring/summer days. But the inside of the place is plainly decorated, which doesn't really bother me too much. As for their menu, it's got a pretty decent selection of your basic thai foods and some higher level thai foods. On this day, they had the New Zealand Mussel special, either as an app ($6.50) or as a dinner ($13, I think). Now, I LOVE New Zealand mussels and they are frequently used in thai dishes. The main difference between them and other mussels that are generally used in Belgian mussel dishes is that they are green on the outside and very very plump on the inside. However, I can see how the plumpness and therefore, heightened fishy taste might turn some people off, but I personally really like them. We started with the appetizer size, which came with 6 mussels and they were in a ginger lemon broth base and came with a side of sweet chili dipping sauce. I thought that it was really well done.

Now, my main gripe with this place was that it takes FOREVER for the food to come. I mean, I think I seriously waited about 30-35 mins for my food to come out and the place wasn't even that packed. It was getting to the point where I wanted to say something but our waitress didn't really speak english that well and it didn't seem like other tables were getting their food any faster.

But when the food finally does come out, it's pretty good tasting. I got a basic chicken pad thai ($8.50)and it was very moist and this one came with lots of crushed peanuts on the side. I always find it amusing that people ask for extra peanut sauce for their pad thai because in traditional pad thai there isn't any peanut sauce in it at all. In fact, this one tasted like it had extra fish sauce or tamarind sauce in it. It wasn't too sweet tasting, but I'm ok with fish sauce so I thought it was pretty good. Dan go the pad woon sen ($8.50), which is just glass noodles with chicken and veggies over a bed of lettuce. The "sauce" on there is very light, which is good b/c you don't want it to be too overpowering when there is a lighter noodle involved.

The most interesting thing about our meal is that they had this huge ad for fresh unfiltered ginger ale. We thought it would be fun to give it a try thinking that it probably wasn't going to be a big deal. But it was actually really really good. You could tell that it was fresh grated ginger and soda water mixed in and not the overly sweetened Canada Dry type of ginger ale. It was so good that we even looked it up online when we got home to see where we could buy it (Whole Foods, Fairway, etc).

All in all, it's a good go-to thai place, I just wish the food came out faster.

Toast Visited 5/24/10 3.5 Forks

Toast 2046 N Damen Ave., (between Dickens Ave & Mclean Ave), Chicago, IL 60647

Toast has always been one of my favorite Chicago brunch places. So it didn't seem right to leave Chicago without hitting up Toast before I left. It was great to go on a weekday b/c on the weekend it tends to be a mob scene. But surprisingly, there were several full tables on a Monday morning.

I was torn between the salmon omelet and the veggie eggs benedict. Since I had had so much benedict this weekend, I decided to go for the salmon omelet, but then after I ordered, it turns out they were out of salmon! Damn it. Back to the benedict! This one felt "healthier" b/c it had spinach and artichoke heart ($11), but let's be real, it was still covered in fatty sauce. Comparing it to Jane's, I thought Jane's was a bit better b/c this one had too much artichoke in it but it was still a good brunch meal. The spinach was cooked well but it was the giant leafier kind so it was hard to eat it without feeling I was taking on too much in one bite. Dan got the french toast orgy ($10 for a sampling of every kind of french toast), which came out and looked amazing. It was COVERED in fresh fruits, granola, and yogurt. I took one bite (the strawberry one) and it was so sweet but delicious. However, I could tell that Dan was starting to get sweetness overload and he wasn't able to finish the mexican chocolate one, which he surprisingly liked the least.

I have to mention that the service was almost too overzealous. I would take 1-2 sips of water and they immediately re-filled it and Dan was getting constant re-fills to his coffee to the point that he was getting annoyed b/c it was ruining his coffee to cream/sugar ratio. But I guess there could be worse things to complain about. Total bill ~$29 for 2

Silver Cloud Visited 5/23/10 2.75 Forks

Silver Cloud 1700 N Damen Ave(between Wabansia Ave & St Paul Ave), Chicago, IL

It was the night of the Lost Finale, so we were all looking for a quick place to eat in the neighborhood. Our original idea was to go to Feast for some summer time salads, but by the time we finished the previews, it was 9:15pm on Sunday. So in the essence of time, we just back tracked down the street and ended up at Silver Cloud.

On first glance, it seemed more like a bar than a place to eat. But they did have a decent slightly more higher level food menu. I got the blackened tuna burger ($7.95) which came with TATER TOTS! I haven't had tater tots since elementary school and it was such a nice addition. I don't know why other places don't offer it more. I had asked for my sandwich to be very rare and they did a great job of making it as rare as possible. The sandwich was pretty tasty but I could have done without the "cole slaw" that came on top of it. It had zucchini in it which was different but it didn't really add any value. In fact, the waitress had mentioned that the cole slaw was a bit oily. It didn't have any mayo in it, which I thought was weird. Dan got the brie burger which was basically a burger with TONS of brie melted on it. It looked quite tasty. Deanna and Aarti both got the grilled cheese and Erin got the Stuffed Turkey sandwich(which was basically Thanksgiving day in between 2 pieces of bread).

While the food was basic but generally good, the execution turned out to be a bit off. Erin had asked for her tater tots to be extra crispy and hers turned out to be soggier than any of everyone else's tots. Then Dan had asked for cole slaw as a side but got tater tots instead and when the bill came they had overcharged us on the grilled cheese. BUT they totally redeemed themselves when the waitress came and gave us the "friends and family" discount b/c of the charge error (which was only $.50, but thanks to Deanna for hooking us up!). The discount was pretty substantial...I think it was around 20-25%. Total bill came out to be $47 instead of $61, so that was really nice of them.

Jane's Visited 5/23/10 4 Forks

Jane's 1655 W Cortland Street
(between Marshfield Ave & Paulina St), Chicago, IL

Jane is in a really nice and quiet part of town. When we first walked by it, I thought it was cute but when we got seated in the "room next door", I was blown away by the beautiful decor. The immediate room has wood and vintage decor but the room next door is all white with gorgeous lighting. It would be a great place for wedding showers or any girly get together. The menu is pretty robust and was very veggie friendly for my friends. I, of course, got the 3-eggs benedict with roasted potatos ($12), Dan got the breakfast burrito ($12), Deanna got the banana nut french toast ($10) and erin got the tofu scramble ($7). I should note that the breakfast cocktail list sounded great, but after the wedding from the night before, I wasn't in the mood for an alcoholic drink. Deanna got a bloody mary ($8)which apparently was good and did not come with meat in it. I never knew that bloody mary's did have meat in it but apparently they do!

For some reason, when I ordered my dish, I didnt' think about the 3-egg part, but when it came out, lo and behold, there were 3 actual benedicts! I've never been to a place that had more than 2 pieces, some places I've even been to have even had just 1 benedict (Walter Foods, I'm looking at you). The eggs were perfect and runny and the potatos were great. There wasn't too much holandaise sauce which is great for my waist line. When I think about it, I really loved my dish...and so did everyone else. There were no complaints from anyone. Deanna's french toast looked particularly good and she said it tasted exactly like banana nut bread. The service was also very accomodating and nice. We had a baby with us, which I know can cause some service people to be cranky but our waitress was gracious and nice about it.

Irazu Visited 5/21/10 3.5 Forks

Irazu 1865 N Milwaukee Ave
(between Moffat St & Oakley Ave), Chicago, IL

When Deanna first mentioned Costa Rican food, I had flash backs to when I was in Costa Rica many years ago and I couldn't remember what the food was like...which isn't really good considering a love food and would remember it if the food was good. But it was a Friday night and there were 6 of us and we thought it would be best to go a bit more casual and laid back.

The restaurant has a great outdoor patio and luckily one of my friends was able to secure a spot for us outside. They are a BYOB place, which always helps to keep costs down. When I looked at the menu, everything sounded great and it was crazy crazy cheap! Burritos were $5 and tacos were $2. Dan and I decided to split 2 different dishes so that we could try different things. We ordered the casado with tilapia ($12 which was one of the more "expensive" items on the menu) and a Milanesa Sandwich ($4.95) which was a breaded steak sandwich with mayo, lettuce, tomato, and avocado. Deanna got the vegetarian plate, Aarti and Erin got a veggie burrito, and Soph got the casado with chicken. As a table we got an order of Yuca with garlic oil ($3.95). When the Yuca came out, there were tons of pieces on the plate. We were each able to have at least 2-3 pieces. The yuca it's self was good but the BEST part was the garlic oil. It was just pure garlic goodness.

The first dinner plate that came out was Soph's casdo and it was enough food on the plate for 2 or maybe even 3. There must have been 2 giant chicken breasts and it came with sides of special costa rican rice (kind of like a dirty rice and beans), sweet plantains, a fried egg, and a cabbage salad. Our tilapia casado was the same but with tilapia (obviously) and the fish was cook well with no fuss. It almost seemed like it was steamed or cooked in a way that was not oily or saucy. Everyone else seemed to really like their food and most took home a to-go bag. The one thing that I wasn't a huge fan of was the milanesa sandwich. For me, there was too much bread and the steak was dry and a bit too tough.

I read and heard that the oatmeal shake is really good but I didn't get it. I would definitely go back and try a bunch of different things b/c it's so cheap (Dan and my portion of the bill was $24).

Caffe de Luca Visited 5/21/10 3 Forks

Caffe de Luca 1721 N Damen Ave
(between Wabansia Ave & St Paul Ave), Chicago, IL

I was in Chicago for a friend's wedding and stayed with a good friend of mine who lives in Bucktown. What I love about the Bucktown area is that there are tons of fun bars and restaurants. My flight was delayed, so by the time I landed in Chicago I was starving for lunch. Deanna gave us tons of options to choose from but really by that point, Dan and I just wanted something that was decent but close by. So we chose to eat at Caffe de Luca since it was the closest restaurant from where we were.

The place is a cute cafe like place with outdoor seating, but I wasn't sure that they would have robust food. But when we looked at the menu they had a good selection of unique sandwiches and breakfast food dishes. I had the breakfast burrito ($11), which came with a side of roasted potatoes. The good thing about this burrito was that it was just the right size. Normally when you get a burrito of any kind (breakfast or mexican), they are enormous! This was small but probably the right size. The potatoes were seasoned really well and were pretty crispy. Dan got a Mandoria sandwich ($11) which it grilled chicken with brie and fresh side of veggies on the side. Deanna got an omelet, which also looked fresh and well prepared.

The food hit the spot and was good and I can see how people like to just chill out there with the paper, coffee and some light food.

The total bill was around $44 for 3 of us with tip and tax.

Perilla Visited 5/16/10 4 Forks

Perilla 9 Jones Street (btw. West 4 and Bleecker Sts.), New York, NY 10014

Ever since Harold won Top Chef Season 1, I have been dying to go to Perilla. But it is a bit pricey, so I have kind of steered away from it, until now. I joined Blackboard Eats based on the recommendation from VA. It's the great site that gives you great discounts on really top/high end restaurants. I've seen 30% to Zenkichi, Umi Nom, and this time Perilla. I couldn't pass up on Perilla with a 30% discount!

Even after all these years, it's still pretty hard to get a reservation to this place. I could only get a reservation for 2 on a Sunday at 6:45pm 2 weeks prior. At first I was doubtful that it would full on a Sunday evening so early, but lo and behold, when we got there, it was completely packed. Before sitting down, we looked at the bar menu and it looked really good. They had a really good sounding duck burger with jack cheese, avocado, and spicy fries for $15 and a duck fat popcorn dish. Unfortunately, I don't think they offer those dishes at the table, so I would definitely come back and try those dishes. We sat down and ordered 2 beers: Dan got the Six Point which we've had many times before and I got a local Maryland beer called Flying Dog and it was really really good. I had never heard of it before but this was very light and a great summer time beer.

The menu has about 8 different apps and 8 different entrees and a handful of side dishes, so it's not that hard to choose a few different things to try. Dan and I were torn between the lamb belly and duck meatballs for an app and decided to go with the duck meatballs ($13). When it came out, at first I only saw a bowl with 2 meatballs and I was a bit annoyed but then it turns out when we had mentioned to the waitress that we were splitting the app, the nicely split the actual dish into 2 separate bowls and dressed it as if they were 2 separate dishes...each bowl had a right amount of pasta and each bowl had a quail egg. The meatballs were flavored really well with the right amount of spice and very tender. The mini pastas and quail egg was a nice touch and it made me sop up the left over with a piece of bread.

For entree, I chose the Trigger Fish ($26) and Dan got the wild board tasting ($29). We were torn between our chosen dish and another, so next time we come back I would get the Hanger Steak and Dan would get the Tea-smoked duck. The trigger fish is a nice white fish that doesn't have any fishy smell or taste to it. It came with baby potatoes, beans, de-shelled clams (they were great), and they were covered in this amazing coconut flavor curry sauce. Dan's wild boar came 3 ways: the belly was wrapped in a phyllo dough (I had a bite and it was incredibly tender, fatty and yummy at the same time), the loin which was on a bed of greens and covered in a apple sauce, and another cut wrapped in cabbage. The dish was very unique and didn't make you think you were eating boar. For dessert, I was contemplating a cheese plate (3 for $10) or the banana upside down cake ($9) but in the end, we decided to try something different. We got the rhubarb sundae ($9), which had rhubarb jam/sauce, sour cream ice cream, peanut butter ganache and these mint macaroons. The sour cream ice cream went from tasting like sour cream to not tasting like sour cream. But all in all, it was pretty tasty. The service was impeccable...the waitress was super nice and friendly, the food came out at just the right time (not too long and not too slow) and the busy boys cleaned our plates without interrupting our meal. Our total bill was $91, which I usually think is a bit too much for a regular dinner for 2, but with the Blackboard eats discount, it was a more reasonable $67! Thank you blackboard eats for letting me try a restaurant that has been on my list and next time I will definitely go and sit at the bar and try the duck burger and have another flying dog beer.

Relish Visited 5/15/10 3.5 Forks

Relish 225 Wythe Ave, Brooklyn, NY

I must have walked past Relish a million times and not even realized what is was. It's this cute diner looking place on Wythe that's near all the new developments in Williamsburg.

Dan and I were craving burgers and really didn't want to go to Dumont, so we figured this could be a good substitute. The good thing is that they had a cute back outdoor patio, which was great for Saturday night. The one annoying thing is that Wythe is a pretty busy street and our meal was interrupted with lots of loud truck noises. The outdoor tables are a bit smaller that can be somewhat uncomfortable but I actually didn't mind too much. I got the burger ($12) with cheese and Brooklyn Ice Tea ($8) and Dan got the Haymaker ($13) which is basically a heart attack in between 2 pieces of bread...it had french fries, a fried egg, ham, cheese, bacon, pork, and garlic mayo. The Brooklyn Ice Tea was supposed to have vodka in it but it tasted just like plain iced tea which was a bit disappointing. But the burger was quite good; it came on a nice soft bun, onions, tomato, and this weird shredded lettuce (weird only b/c it was dark green and didn't look like any lettuce I've seen). But the best part of the meal was the french fries...they were AMAZING. Perfectly crispy and thick, I had to restrain myself from eating all of them. I only had a bite of Dan's sandwich and from what I can gather from that one bite, it had a LOT of flavors going on.

All in all I really enjoyed my meal. I was a bit nervous b/c it's in a very trendy part of Williamsburg and it didn't get consistent good reviews on Yelp, but the day I went, it was quite good. Total bill was around $52.

Mermaid Oyster Bar Visited 5/14/10 3.5 Forks

Mermaid Oyster Bar 79 Macdougal Street, New York, NY

I have been to Mermaid Inn in the East Village before and loved it, so I figured I would try another in their chain for dinner with my dad.

The menu itself is pretty small and from what memory serves me, it was pretty similar it to the Mermaid Inn menu. I was bummed that I apparently missed Blue Plate Special which was a Lobster entree and beer for $20 before 7pm and $1 oysters at the bar. I will definitely keep this place in mind if I am looking for something to eat before 7pm.

We order 6 oysters as an app: 3 West Coast Fanny Bays and 3 East Coast Wellfleets ($2.85/each). They were all really really amazing. Very plump and fresh tasting. I preferred the Fanny Bays since they were bigger and juicier but they were both great and I would have loved nothing more than to just sit there and order oysters all day long. For a meal, my dad and I got the lobster sandwich ($26) and Dan got the fish tacos ($18). While I love a good lobster sandwich, this one was in between a brioche bun that was too buttery and I generally prefer it on a hot dog roll. But the actual lobster mixture was pretty decent, you could definitely tell there were chunks of lobster...there was a good helping of mayo, which personally doesn't bother me, but it might turn some off. The old-bay seasoned fries were a good addition to the meal.

As for the fish tacos, there were 3 of them and while they were pretty good, there was a bit too much red cabbage at the bottom of the taco that overpowered each bite. I generally think paying that much money for tacos, you should get more than 3 because you are undoubtedly still hungry afterwards.

The cute thing about the Mermaid chains is that for dessert they offer you a free small cup of chocolate mousse with whip cream, which is always appreciated. Total bill $109 (without tip) for 3 people.

Pho 75 Visited 5/9/10 5 Forks

Pho 75 771 Hungerford Dr, Rockville, MD 20850

This is the pho places that started it all for me. This was the first place I've ever had pho and it's still the best. The place is in a strip mall and it has absolutely no decor to speak of. But the food more than makes up for it. Unlike many Vietnamese place, they only have pho on the menu (no spring rolls or other dishes); they have several varieties of pho but in reality I think they are all the same just a different mixture of "toppings". I get the large #11, which I think is just beef brisket. The broth is just amazing...it's perfectly seasoned and tasty. They also have plenty of meat and enough noodles. The best part is that you literally get your order 5 mins after you order. It's the fastest service I've ever experienced anywhere (and the order is always right!)

I also get an iced coffee when I am there...they do it well but it's nothing other places haven't done well.

Tachibana Visited 5/8/10 5 Forks

Tachibana 6715 Lowell Ave, McLean, VA 22101

Tachibana is only sushi place I have been to in MD/VA in years. I just love this place for its quality and freshness. And it's close to Tyson's Corner mall, which is always a plus.

The waitstaff is mostly very Japanese in the sense that they all barely speak English. The menu offers lots of other options besides sushi but I think they do sushi right. While I usually get a bunch of fancy rolls when I get sushi in New York, I tend to steer towards the sashimi here b/c it's just that good and it's more affordable/better value. I took my mom there for Mother's Day dinner but after having dinner there, I think I like having lunch there better, but dinner was still a great meal.

We ordered the sashimi deluxe ($34), which comes with 1 soup, 1 salad, 1 appetizer, and 1 dessert along with 4 pieces of really fresh tuna, 4 pieces salmon, 4 pieces of white fish, 3 pieces of yellowtail, a cucumber cup of clam and a separate bowl of lightly seared tuna in a soy sauce. We got the seaweed salad and shrimp/veggie tempura combo. What's nice for lunch is that they give you the option of beansprout salad, which is my favorite! But that is not an option for dinner for some weird reason. All the fish is really fresh and tasty but I just wish there was more, especially when you are splitting it with another person. I don't really like the clam option and for lunch it's actually more salmon, which is another reason why I like lunch better. We also got 2 rolls: spicy tuna ($5) and spicy scallop ($6.50). Both are made with the chopped up spicy mixture instead of large fish pieces with mayo. The tuna is inside out (seaweed on the outside) and smaller but the scallop roll is a bit bigger and inside out.

Part of me would like to branch out and try different things at the restaurant but I can't seem to not get the sashimi. While I'm sure there are other sushi places in the area that are great, this is still and will always be one of my favorite places when I go home.

New Fortune Visited 5/8/10 2.5 Forks

New Fortune 16515 South Frederick Avenue, Gaithersburg, MD 20877

This is basically my go-to dim sum place when I am at home mostly because of its convenience and less so because I think the food there is amazing. Don't get me wrong, at times, the food can be good but I don't think it's the most amazing dim sum ever. But due to the lack of dim sum places near my mom's house, this is where we end up most Saturday mornings.

The place is basically one giant room with carts being pushed around and people screaming at you. Cleanliness is average here...I haven't seen anything out right dirty or gross but it could use some sprucing up a bit. In terms of variety of dim sum, it has it all. They have all my favorites (which I don't know how to say in English, so I won't list them here) and generally don't run out of food, even if you come later in the afternoon. My main gripe with the food is that at times it can be not as warm and fresh as I would like. This time, the shumai I had was a bit congealed and only lukewarm and there was something a bit off about the crystal shrimp dumpling. We also decided to try something new and got veggie dumplings this time and I was not impressed by them.

My mom complained about the service saying that in "proper" restaurants they should be clearing our plates and giving us new one more frequently. Honestly, in my opinion, this is not and will never be one of those types of restaurants and as long as they took our small plates away and filled our water glasses, I was fine. All in all, we had about 10 different dishes and I think the total bill came out to be around $40.

Benjarong Visited 5/7/10 3 Forks

Benjarong Wintergreen Plaza, 885 Rockville Pike (Rt. 355), Rockville, MD 20852

This place is literally a 5 min drive from my mom's place, so it's a good go-to for thai when I am home. I got in late on Friday night (around 10pm) and our original idea was to just grab some Chipotle. But Chipotle was actually closed and I was surprised that Benjarong was still open open (in fact they close at 10:30pm on Fridays and weekends). I usually get the Thai Style Fried Mussels which is a bunch of mussels with batter and fried with egg and bean sprouts. But it's a bit pricey ($17) and it seemed a bit extreme for a 10:30pm meal. Instead, I opted for my usual chicken pad thai and my mom got #45, which was mussels, scallops, squid and veggies sauteed in a spicy basil sauce. The mussels were great, very plump and juicy...they looked to be new zealand mussels but I'm not 100% sure. The other seafood items on the dish were also quite good, but at $17, I wish there was more. The pad thai ($10) was good but not great. It was a bit on the dry side...I tend to like my noodles with more wet sauce on it but it was totally fine for what we were looking for. In general, the food is pretty good here but I think the prices are $1-2 more than they should be. I can get a better pad thai in New York City, where everything is more expensive, for $8.

Caracas Arepa Bar Visited 5/1/10 3.5 Forks

Caracas Arepa Bar 291 Grand St(between Roebling St & Havemeyer St),Brooklyn, NY 11211

I have been to this place many times both in the city and in brooklyn, and it's always been good. Arepas are something different than most types of food I've had and they are delicious. When we went on Saturday it was totally packed, but got a table inside pretty quickly (it was a 30 min wait for outside space). The decor is very rustic with lots of exposed wood.

The menu is very simple in that it's just arepas or empanadas with 1 or 2 platter dishes. They also have a bunch of sides which as guacamole & chips, a variety of plantains and rice & beans. Drink wise they have rum flights and beer. If you've never had an arepa, I would warn you that the size is very mis-leading. I would say 1 to 1 1/2 arepa per person. You'd think you could hammer down 2 but the flour tortilla expands and fills you up very quickly. We had the A6 (chicken and avocado mix) and then the A17 and A18, which was some fish mix and spicy pork mix respectively. My favorite is the A6, it's amazing with tons and tons of avocado. The other 2 were good with the pork definitely being spicy but the problem with them was that they are more "wet" in filling and that makes the arepa start to fall apart a bit and/or make more messy. Dan got a beer and rum shot to drink. The best part of this whole meal was that it was $29 for 2.

Hachi Asian Bistro Visited 4/30/10 2 Forks

Hachi 631 Grand St
(between Leonard St & Manhattan Ave), Brooklyn, NY 11211

Hachi gets 1 fork for the decor and 1 fork for the mojito but that's about it. I had read that it was the sister restaurant to Nana in Park Slope and I remember thinking it was decent, so I thought I'd give a new place a try. The decor was pretty "trendy" complete with DJ and a bunch of Buddha statues and funky black and white wallpaper and a nice small garden area.

I need to remember that anything that lists its menu as Pan-Asian or Asian Fusion should be avoided b/c you can't do all those things right. The menu it a mix of thai, japanese and other random asian foods...it had pad thai, curries and sushi. We were in the mood for sushi so we chose 3 different special rolls ($6.95/each). The service was really nice and I think they try hard but they need to step up the food quality if they want people to come back. My first pet peeve was that when the sushi came out, it was only 5 pieces per roll. Now I think 6-8 pieces are standard unless it is a huge roll, which these were not. Then when I took a bite of one of the rolls, it completely fell apart on me. The rice was not sticky at all and not of sushi quality, which I think led to the pieces coming undone so easily. The 2 redeeming parts of the meal were the edamame (they gave us a TON of them, almost the entire bag) and the mojito was pretty delicious (a bit sweet but it didn't ruin the drink). The total bill was around $20/pp and I'm glad it wasn't much more than that. I'm bummed this place wasn't good b/c I think Williamsburg needs more good asian/sushi places.

Flipster's Visited 4/25/10 2.5 Forks

Flipster's 444 9th St
(between 6th Ave & 7th Ave), Brooklyn, NY 11215

We were in the mood for burgers and Flipster's is the closest burger place to my apt. I've been there before and found it to be fine, so I was willing to give it another go.

I feel like the place is cursed as it has undergone several management changes. The place is laid out like a basic bar/restaurant, so it's pretty casual and laid back. As you can imagine, the main item on the menu is burgers...several varieties: regular, organic, bison, turkey, veggie, etc. The prices seem fine at first glance (~$8/burger for a regular burger) but then you realize that everything else is $1 extra, such as cheese, mushrooms, bacon, etc, so you're basic $8 burger becomes a $10 burger and it DOESN'T come with fries (which highly irritates me). Fries cost about $3-5 extra, which to me is a crime b/c who would get a burger without fries. We ordered 1 side of waffle fries ($5) to split and then 2 beers ($6) each.

I'll admit the burger was tasty and pretty decent as burgers. I got a cheeseburger with mushrooms (which was cold, so I think they just dumped it on the burger at the end instead of sautee'ing them) and Dan got the special burger, which was the chipotle burger, which was spicy and delivered as described. The waffle fries were good, but how can you really go wrong with waffle fries. But the fact that our bill was $40 and all we got were beers and burgers, that seemed a bit overpriced. I think I would suck it up and walk to Bonnie's on 5th next time.