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