I had mixed feelings about trying Bricolage - I was originally super excited by it because it's from the same people who worked at Slanted Door in SF, which I really liked but then they also had a pop-up pho restaurant in Williamsburg recently that was not very good and quite underwhelming. So I wasn't too sure what to expect here but luckily it more like the former and not the latter. It was really quite excellent and I'm bummed that this place didn't exist when I had lived in Park Slope.
I met up with Anuja here on a Friday night and it was jammed packed. Luckily they let her sit at our table while she waited for me as I was a few minutes late. The menu looked wonderful - they had a lot of typical Vietnamese dishes on the menu like summer rolls and banh xeo and slightly more innovative dishes like ranch pork ribs. I was a bit bummed that they didn't have pho there but there are so many other amazing Vietnamese dishes that I was able to quickly get over it. I was really torn between the unshaking beef (a play on the Slanted Door's famous shaking beef dish) and the claypot chicken so it came down to a game time decision. Anuja and I got the vegetarian crepe ($12) to start with and for my main entree I went the claypot chicken ($20) while Anuja got the banh canh noodles ($18).
The crepe was a thin crispy slice of deliciousness. It was not oily or greasy at all and it was stuffed with fresh bean sprouts, king oyster mushrooms, trumpet mushrooms, and maitake mushrooms. It was served with mint, lettuce and dipping sauce. While it's recommend to wrap everything in the lettuce and then dip, it proved to be a bit too hard and messy, so I just ended up eating like without all the garnish and accessories but it was still fabulous none the less. Next came the claypot chicken and it smelled wonderful and fragrant. It was made with juicy tender chicken thigh meat and heaps of freshly sliced ginger. While I have been trying to not eat a lot of carbs lately, I just had to get this dish with white rice and it was like crack having white rice in my mouth again. I ate every last drop of what was in the claypot. I didn't try Anuja's dish but it also smelled and looked amazing. It was made with coconut milk, tofu, turnip, cucumber, bean sprouts, and these thick udon like noodles. We did save some room for dessert and we opted for the coconut tapioca pudding ($7) which was small balls of tapioca with five spiced ginger syrup topped with freshly chopped mango. It was a nice refreshing dessert that didn't sit too heavy in your stomach.
I should note that they have great cocktail menu too, so definitely try a cocktail or two. I was bummed that I totally missed out on the Vietnamese coffee there but it didn't even occur to me to order it even though it's one of my favorite beverages. The service here was also quite good - our waiter was warm and inviting. Overall it was a truly great meal in a very friendly cozy environment - it felt very Park Slope-y without all the annoying screaming babies that comes along with the 'hood. I would definitely go back in a heart beat and next time, someone remind me to get the coffee! Total bill: $ 53/pp with tip, tax and drinks
Photo Credit: Yelp
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