Colonie Visited 3/14/2015 4 Forks

Colonie 127 Atlantic Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11201

Colonie is a Brooklyn standby that I somehow have never gone to in all my years of living in Brooklyn.  So when Vinita and I were looking for a place to meet up in Brooklyn one rainy Saturday afternoon, this place popped into my head.  It's located on Atlantic Ave so it's a bit off all the crazy brunch places on Smith Street but it's still super crowded. 

We grabbed two seats at the bar which was actually the best idea ever because you can get the attention of the bartender much faster and not have to wait for a waiter to come around.  The brunch menu has a lot of good staples:  pancakes, shrimp and grits, scrambles, lox plate, eggs benedict, and a great looking burger.  Vinita and I both ended up getting the leek and gruyere scramble ($13) which comes with toast, potatoes and a salad and a choice of breakfast meat (I got the sausage). 

The scramble itself was great - soft, fluffy and moist.  The combination of the leek and cheese was great although I'll be honest that I'm not sure if I could really tell that there was a lot of leek flavor to it.  The potatoes were your basic but good brunch potatoes and helped to add some starch to the meal.  The sausage was super hearty and you could tell that they were homemade and not some defrosted frozen version.  It was more like a sausage patty rather than a link - which is actually how I prefer them.  The only thing that I would say was a disappointment about the dish would be the salad. It was a nice array of better lettuce and mixed greens but they were a bit heavy handed on the dressing, so that made it a bit too soggy and just overwhelming in general.  

While the food was delicious, so were the cocktails.  We ended up hanging out at the bar for over 3 hours chatting and of course that meant that we had to get a cocktail at some point.  We got a blood orange margarita ($12) and it was fantastic - a great way to kick start a blah grey afternoon.  While there wasn't any one thing that was particularly mind blowing, I did really enjoy being there.  It just felt homey and welcoming without a lot of douche bags, annoying screaming families or loud 20 something's that you generally find at brunch these days - I guess I should say that it just felt like nice adult place where you can get great drinks and food and be able to enjoy a 3+ hour conversation without feeling rushed.  Total bill:  $42/pp with tax, tip and drinks

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Hibino Visited 5/1/2011 4 Forks

Hibino 333 Henry St., (between Atlantic Ave & Pacific St), Brooklyn, NY 11201

 I had been craving sushi for the past few days so when we were out in the Boreum Hill area for afternoon drinks and Dan's friend had mentioned that this place was right down the street from the bar we were at, I got really excited.  It is located on a quiet, unassuming street and the inside has a really clean and modern feel to it.  This place seems slightly upscale but yet was very welcoming and comforting at the same time.  I heard that it was a pretty authentic Japanese restaurant and I definitely got that feeling as soon as I walked in the door.  There are tons of sushi places in the city that are run my non-Japanese people but this place, from the hostess to the waitstaff to the sushi chefs, were all Japanese.  I had also heard that the star of the food here is actually the tapas small plates, but by the time we got there at 9:00pm on Sunday they were all out of these dishes.  The rest of the menu is pretty streamlined and simple.  It's not one of those places where they offer a tons of '"fancy" sounding rolls.  They have very simple and basic sounding rolls and sushi or sashimi plates.  


We got to sit at the bar and watch them make all the dishes and so I knew they used all fresh ingredients.  We ordered the sashimi plate ($24), the spicy scallop roll ($6) and the yellow tail jalapeno roll ($5.50).  In retrospect I wish I had ordered the homemade tofu and seaweed salad too, but that's for next time!  As you can see, the prices are extremely reasonably priced for the quality of the food that you are getting.  It was almost a bit shocking to see such a beautiful place have food priced within reason.  My only complaint would be that the sashimi plate didn't come with a soup or salad, which is something you kind of expect these days.  The sashimi had about 15 pieces of fish: salmon, tuna, amberjack, yellowtail, white fish, scallop, and white tuna.  They were all really fresh tasting and the scallop was truly melt in your mouth.  The one slightly weird thing was that there was a small piece of beef? It was a very melt in your mouth small piece of meat but it was just a bit bizarre to see it on a plate full of sashimi. The rolls really hit the spot and were done well (although they were just as good as some other places I've been to).  The jalapeno definitely packed a punch and the spicy mayo on the scallop roll was done with the right amount of kick.  I would have liked just a bit less rice on the rolls but they were definitely not the monster sized rolls that you sometimes get at sushi places these days.  I saw a few other type of rolls that the chefs were making but I didn't see them on the menu, so next time I would definitely ask if there are any specials (and now that I am on their website I do see a few yummy sounding rolls that I didn't know about, damn).

The service was what you would expect from a well run Japanese restaurant.  Very nice and efficient.  Overall, it was a great meal but next time we go, I want to go early so that we can at least try some of their specials of the day.  Total bill with tip $52.