Di An Di Visited Visited 8/26/2018 3.5 Forks

Di An Di  68 Greenpoint Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11222

Di An Di is one of the most buzzed about restaurants this year and given the dearth of really great Vietnamese places near me, I was super jazzed to try this place out.  Louise was visiting from SF and she was staying in Williamsburg so it was a perfect excuse to give this place a try.

As with any talked about place in Brooklyn, the place was jammed packed and despite having a reservation we still had to wait 20 mins for our table.  As you would expect from a place in Greenpoint, the place is totally hipstered out and is by no means a traditional Asian restaurant (not that I was really expecting it to be).  I'll give it credit and say it's beautifully designed and very Instagram worthy with gorgeous plants and pale pink accents on the walls.

The menu is a pretty authentic line up of Vietnamese dishes - pho, bun bo, banh xeo, spring rolls,  summer rolls, etc.  It's modern but still recognizable traditional dishes.  We split the "vegan pizza" ($15) and the eggplant appetizer while I got the pho hanoi #3 ($16) as my main entree.  It kills me a little bit to be paying these kinds of prices when my favorite pho place in Maryland is $8 a bowl but I'm paying for the upscale ambience and trendy crowd.  The prices in general are slightly overpriced for what I would pay for good Vietnamese food but it's pretty on par for what you are going to pay in the neighborhood in general.

The veggie "pizza" was really grilled rice paper filled with veggies and it was pretty meh.  There wasn't anything really good or bad about it - it wasn't very memorable or something I'd order again.  The eggplant was super overcooked so it turned out too mushy and it was a bit too spicy as well.  I had higher hopes for the pho and it was better than the appetizers,  although it still didn't measure up to Pho 75.  The broth was good and flavorful but there wasn't enough meat to the bowl.  It was just brisket, which I love but I felt like I could have used more meat variety.  Perhaps I should have ordered the Pho Bo #1 which had rare beef and brisket to it.  The menu says that this dish is covered in scallions and they weren't wrong.  The soup is practically green when you get it - I love scallions but it was a bit too much for me.

Overall, I left feeling a bit let down by the whole experience.  I like the concept and I read that the owners were Vietnamese folks from Houston where there is a huge Vietnamese populations, so it's not like it's run by people who don't know what they are doing.  It continues to get a ton of buzz and recognition from a bunch of well respected food blogs, so maybe it was an off night for me.  Despite my initial disappointment, I would still go back and order completely different things just to give it one more try.  Fool me once...Total bill:  $60/pp with tax, tip and drinks

Photo Credit:  Yelp

2 Weeks in Amsterdam - Part 1 - Visited 6/16-6/29/2018 3.5 - 4.5 Forks

Kitchen and Bar Van Rijn    Rembrandtplein 17, 1017 CT Amsterdam                                    3.5 Forks

One of the main reasons I've been so behind in my blog is that I recently started a new and exciting job at Booking.com and I've been doing a lot of traveling as a result of it.  One of the fun things about the job is that it's HQ'd in Amsterdam, so I had to head over there in June for a few week of training.  I hadn't been to Amsterdam in a really really long time, so I was really excited to check it out.  Unfortunately,  my schedule was jam packed with work stuff and I was super jet lagged but I was able to check out some good restaurants while I was there. 

Sadly, I was so busy with work that I didn't really plan much in advance so when a colleague of mine suggested Kitchen and Bar for the first night we were there, I didn't have too much of an objection.  It was conveniently located right by work, so it was easy enough to get to but it also meant that it was right off one of the main touristy squares.  Luckily the weather was pretty decent, so we got a seat outside but the place felt more like an outdoor cafe where you grab a few beers while you people watch vs. a true restaurant experience.  As a result the menu is kind of uninspiring but not totally void of decent sounding things to eat.  We got a gem salad to start and I got the salmon (23 euros) as my main entree.  Of course I sucked the table into getting fries to share because I can't so no to fries and also because we're in Amsterdam and every place serves fries.  Both the salad and salmon were pretty good - the salmon was "Asian style" which just meant it came on a bed of noodles, shiitake mushrooms and had some curry sauce to it.  It was an absolutely fine dish just not anything mind blowing.  The sad part of the meal was surprisingly the french fries - while it's really the Belgians who are known of their fries, the Dutch also put french fries on a lot of menus, so you'd think they would be perfect.  These were overcooked and wasted calories.

Overall the meal was fine - it kind of felt like a meal I could make at home myself but still in a appetizing manner.  It wasn't necessarily a gang buster way to be introduced to the food scene in Amsterdam but then again, Amsterdam isn't really known as a food city (although it is getting better).  Total bill was covered by a colleague but the prices were fairly reasonable for the area it was in.

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Bakers and Roasters  Eerste Jacob van Campenstraat 54, 1072 BH Amsterdam                      4.5 Forks

Obsessed.   I am still thinking about my breakfast here and can't wait to go back in a few weeks.  A colleague in Amsterdam sent me a nice long list of places to check out and this got a lot of great reviews, so I put it as my first stop for breakfast.  Not surprisingly, similar to the craze that is going on in the US, this popular breakfast spot is influenced by New Zealand/Australia.  I honestly don't remember breakfast being all that good when I was in Australia but that was several years ago, so maybe things have changed?   Apparently now, everyone around the globe loves a good "brekkie". 

Everything about this place screams Instagram and millennials but I still loved everything about the place.  The moment I walked in, I felt an immediate love to the place.  The menu is adorable and everything on the menu sounded amazing - they have lots of yummy egg dishes, chia bowls, acai bowls, plus salads and sandwiches.  It's like a hipster paradise.  I opted to be more "healthy" and got the vege brekkie (14.50 euros) - it came with 2 organic eggs (I got them soft scrambled), grilled haloumi cheese, avocado, breakfast potatoes, creamy mushrooms, homemade chili jam, and hot buttered toast.   The meal was HUGE and it could easily feed 2 people at once, so definitely come with an appetite.   Everything on the plate was wonderful, delicious and very well prepared.  The eggs were perfectly soft scrambled and the paired well with the chili jam (a perfect combination of sweetness with some heat).  If anything, the only complaint I have is that it was too much food and the mushroom was almost too heavy for the dish.  I would have preferred some fruit or extra avocado instead.  Also, since I was in a bit of a hurry, it was hard to really enjoy my meal - it would be a perfect meal if you have a long lazy Sunday morning and could really spent hours sitting here with a newspaper and coffee.

There are two locations and I tried the one that is Centrum area but during my next trip out to Amsterdam, I'll look to try the De Pijp location and compared.  Either way, this is a total must try breakfast/brunch list on my list.  Total bill:  18 euros with tax

De FoodHallen  Bellamyplein 51, 1053 AT Amsterdam                                                              4 Forks

As many of you know by now, I am a sucker for food halls.  I know they can be super touristy but I can't help myself.  I love the variety that a food hall offers and the excitement and buzz around them.  Sophia and I decided to check this place out after work on a random Tuesday and it was surprisingly packed. 

Like most food halls, there was a good diverse line up of food stalls - there was Vietnamese, Chinese, Sushi, Spanish, Middle Eastern, Dutch and German just to name a few.  All the food stalls have menus in English so it was super easy to figure everything out.  The one thing I miss a lot when I travel is eating Asian food, so I opted to go for the Vietnamese stall since they had a banh mi sandwich on the menu.  The wait was a bit long but the bar is literally right across the way, so grab a beer while you wait.  Who would have thought you could get a delicious pork belly banh mi in Amsterdam?  The bread was super soft and it came with the usual line up of pork and refreshing pickled veggies.  The one con was that I was still hungry afterwards but the pro of being in a food hall is that you can always get more food.  I didn't really want anything fried and while I'm usually skeptical of sushi in a place like this, I decided to go out on a limb and give it a go.  And you know what?  It was surprisingly pretty damn good.  I got a simple spicy salmon hand roll and the fish was great, the rice was the right texture and the seaweed nice and crispy.  Both Sophia (who lives in SF) and I were impressed with it and kind of regret not getting more.  

I'm not sure if there are necessarily other stalls that I would want to checkout next time, but my initial impression of my experience here very positive and I would definitely recommend it to others to check as fun local experience.  Plus everything was very affordable - everything I had was under 10 euros.  Cheapest expensed dinner ever!  

Photo Credit: Yelp

5ive Spice Visited 11/15/2017 4.5 Forks

5ive Spice  52 5th Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11217

This place is officially my new go-to place if I'm ever seeing something at Barclay's Center.  It's less than 10 minutes away, cheap, fast and super delicious.  A win-win for everyone!  Although I spent 10 yrs in Park Slope, I didn't really spend a lot of time in the area closer to Barclay's Center only because when I lived there there was no Barclay's Center yet - jesus do I feel old.  There are actually a ton of places near the center to eat, so don't fret, you won't be stuck with stadium food if you don't want to (although I'll be the first to say that the food at Barclay's is actually much better than a place like MSG).   Aarti and I were there to see Janet Jackson and I wasn't really in the mood for fries or something super greasy and Aarti wasn't feeling well from our last food outing on Sunday anyways. 

I stumbled upon 5ive spice and had a bit of hesitation going into it.  While the bulk of the menu here is Vietnamese comfort food (pho and banh mi) they have this weird taco section and they also serve sides like chips and guacamole and brussels sprouts.  I generally have a distain for any kind of fusion food and this seemed especially disjointed.  But I'm a sucker for pho and desperate for a place that serves a good one so I figured, why not?  

The clientele was definitely very Park Slope - I'm not saying that in a derogatory way but it's not like I stepped into a place full of screaming Asians, which is how I typically like my Asian restaurants.  Ha!  I got the traditional beef pho ($10) and hot Vietnamese coffee ($3.50) - pretty standard but you gotta get the basics right before you try anything else.  I gotta say, I was very impressed!  The broth was flavorful, the noodles the right texture and the best part was that the beef was thinly sliced and raw which is exactly how I like my meat in pho.  It was really one of the better phos I've had in the NYC area in a long time.  The coffee was great too and served in the traditional dripper.  I know that 4.5 forks seems very high and it's honestly much closer to a 4.25 fork rating but it's been a while since I really enjoyed a pho this much. 

The only thing that gives me pause is that I excitedly texted my friend Virginia who is Vietnamese and lives in the hood and she had more of a lukewarm reaction to this place.  I definitely trust her judgement but I would definitely still come back here anytime I'm headed to Barclay's.  The service is super quick which is even better if you're in a hurry or think you'll be late.  The only downside is that it's cash only but when your meal is likely to be less than $20 I guess that's ok.  Total bill:  $16 with tax and tip

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Madame Vo Visited 7/11/2017 4 Forks

Madame Vo  212 E 10th St., New York, NY 10003

Despite all the heat and humidity, I always crave pho even in the summer time.  So when the wait at Tim Wo Han was still over an hour on a random Tuesday, Virginia and I decided to check out Madame Vo instead.  It was also jammed packed but the host said it would only be a 15 minute wait, which was great.  My first impression is that it's definitely not your mom and pop Vietnamese restaurant - it's catered much more to the hipster East Village crowd but the host and wait staff were all Asian so I figured it still had some authentic qualities to it. 

The menu has a similar vibe to Hanoi House, which is of a highly curated greatest hits menu from a more traditional mom and pop place.  You'll find your typical spring rolls, summer rolls, banh xeo, pho, bun bo hue, and bo luc lac type dishes here.  Unlike my favorite pho places, there is only 1 kind here but luckily it's a pretty damn good kind.  VA and I split the fried spring rolls ($12) and I obviously had to get the pho ($16) while she got the vermicelli bowl ($14).  

The spring rolls came 4 to an order and were nicely fried and filled with shrimp, crab and pork.   It came with the usual fixings of the lettuce wrap and fish sauce to dip into.  It was a solid order, although with anything fried, it is hard to go wrong with that format but the filling was fresh and tasty.   Now that I'm writing this, I realized that we got another fried spring roll dish as well and frankly that was totally unnecessary order, especially for 2 people, I would recommend just 1 appetizer or if you are going to get two, don't get two spring rolls.   

The pho came out and it was a fairly large bowl but at $16 I would expect nothing less.  The smell and flavor was immediately intoxicating.  I could tell that it was at the very least going to be a tasty dish.  The broth was excellent and it was served with all the "best of" meats for the dish - brisket, eye round, bone marrow and meatballs.  For $5 extra, you could have also added short rib or $3 for oxtail but the idea of spending almost $20 for pho just didn't sit right with me.  And you know what?  The pho was excellent without them.  I would have liked less meatballs (or no meatballs) and more eye round instead.  Unlike some of the broths I've had in Chinatown, this one was not too oily and it had the right flavor combination.  The noodles were soft and the right texture for the broth.  I'm not sure if it was the heat or not but saldy I couldn't finish my meal - this is by no means a reflection on the quality of the pho but more on how much food there was and how freakin hot it was.  While I know leftover pho isn't as good as it is when it's served fresh, I couldn't bring myself to leave it behind (and yes, I can confirm that leftover pho is not good).  I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed my meal here as I was expecting to be lukewarm on it.  It's pretty on par with the fancy pants pho at Hanoi House and I would say that they are both a step up from some of the bleh places in Chinatown but it still doesn't match up to my all time favorite place at home, Pho 75.  

While I generally am not a huge fan of "gentrified" Asian places, I am starting to warm up to them when the food is executed well.  I will always prefer hole in the wall, mom and pop places, but some of these "nicer" places are still able to deliver on the the authenticity of the food without dumbing the food down.  My biggest complaint thought with places like this is the price.  Paying $16 for a pho (while delicious) is completely outrageous in my book but I guess that's the price you pay to live in NYC.  Total bill:  $41/pp with tax, tip and drinks

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Hanoi House 4/15/2017 4 Forks

Hanoi House  119 Saint Marks Pl, New York, NY 10009

Despite all the amazing food options NYC has to offer, truly mind blowing Vietnamese street food is something that has been missing from the scene (with the exception of Bunker but it's all the way out in a not-so-convenient part of Brooklyn) and it breaks my heart because it's one of my favorite foods ever.   But Hanoi House opened recently to rave reviews so I was eager to try it.  One of the first things that I noticed immediately about this place was that it was definitely more for hipsters as it's located right in the East Village and when you walked in, it was this dark, cramped room filled with non-Asians.  But in spirit of keeping an open mind, I put my name down and waited almost an hour for my table on a Saturday night.

Once my text came through, I had to shove my way through the door and was seated practically on top of another table.  Space constraints aside, I was excited for the food.  The menu definitely has an authentic feel to it and if you're a vegetarian, you're a bit SOL as the only things that didn't have meat or seafood in it were the veggie sides or the vegetable crepe.  But I was here for 1 thing, their pho ($13). You can fancy up your pho with either oxtail (+$3) or bone marrow ($3.5) - even though I love both, I opted for the oxtail because it's something that I really don't eat all that much anymore.  Lisa and I shared the spring rolls ($9) and the papaya salad ($14) and she got the shaking beef ($28) as an entree.

The spring rolls were served traditionally with the dipping sauce made of fish sauce, herbs and lettuce wraps.  You could tell that they were double fried which is the authentic way to make them, so an A on the spring rolls.  Next came the papaya salad - this one was served with crispy pig ear, which sounds gross but it really wasn't.  It just came it some saltiness and crunch to it.  The papaya salad itself was nice but could have used a bit more heat/spiciness to it.

Finally came my pho.  It smelled great and the broth didn't look oily at all.  The one disappointed was that this pho wasn't served with the traditional side plate of bean sprouts, basil or mint.  WTF?  But I will say that the fragrance and the taste of the cuts of meat in the broth were pretty damn good.  The noodles were nice and soft and the oxtail was a nice variation on the traditional cuts of brisket.  I inhaled the whole thing and of the phos I've had in the city, it's definitely on the right track.  But I still missed my bean sprouts and extra sauces you get at a real pho place.  Lisa seemed to like her shaking beef but didn't seem totally in love with it so based on her reaction, I would say her specific meal was a 3.5 rating.  We were pretty full by then so we didn't order dessert but apparently their che sundae is famously addictive.  Oh well, next time.

Overall, I enjoyed by pho greatly but did miss the traditional "sides" that come with it and kind of the low brow feel of a non-fancy Asian place.  My watch outs here are that your definitely going to pay more than if you were at a authentic mom and pop type of place (I mean my pho with $16!!), the place is full of hipsters and you will definitely feel cramped at your table but let's be honest, those are the same gripes that apply to every other hot trendy restaurant in NYC, so I'd definitely give this place a try maybe a few months after the hype has died down.  Total price:  $42/pp with tax and tip

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Nha Trang Centre Visited 4/1/2017 2.5 Forks

Nha Trang Centre  148 Centre St., New York, NY 10013

As most of you know by now, I am a pho addict.  It is probably one of my top 5 favorite foods but sadly, I have yet to really find a go-to place in NYC.  How this city is so lacking in quality pho places is frankly still a mystery to me.  I had just completed my first pilates class at Wundabar (super fun class if anyone is looking for a new work out class) and since the studio was in spitting distance of Chinatown, I felt like I deserved a big bowl of pho as as reward.  Unfortunately, I was exhausted from class, so I wasn't really in the mood to run around town and I settled on this place right across from the Canal street subway stop.  I had seen it before several times, but never been so I figured it was worth a shot. 

In classic Chinatown fashion, there is no decor to speak of and they usher you into a seat and ask you for your order within 10 seconds of stepping into the place.  The menu had your typical line up of Vietnamese food but I was here for the pho and I got the #1 - it had a little bit of everything (tendon, tripe, brisket and rib eye)  in it plus an Vietnamese iced coffee.  I noticed that the place is run by Chinese people instead of Vietnamese people (I mean it is Chinatown) but I usually find that ethnic restaurants run by people not of that ethnicity just aren't nearly as good.  This place was no exception. I got my food in about 5 mins and upon first glance I could tell that it wasn't going to be my favorite pho.  It had huge chunks of red onion which I had never seen in pho.  I know that the broth usually requires onion in it, but I've never really seen a pho with giant stir fry sized sliced of onion in it.  The meat in it wasn't as rare or tender as I would have liked but the kicker was really that the broth just wasn't doing it for me.  It was greasy and missing some key pho flavorings like clove, star anise, and cinnamon.  The noodles were fine but that's not saying much when the star of the show was lacking. In good news, the iced coffee was lovely and came in a traditional press which I love. 

Luckily the price was right for such a mediocre bowl of pho.  I came here purely out of connivence and laziness so I guess this is what I get for not putting much effort into things.  If you're desperate for cheap pho, I can see this working in a pinch but I can't really endorse it knowing how much better pho there is out there in the world.  Total bill:  $13 with tax and tip

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Nicky's Vietnamese Sandwiches Visited 11/18/2016 3 Forks

Nicky's Vietnamese Sandwiches   554 Lorimer St., Brooklyn, NY 11211

Who knew that there was yet another Vietnamese place in Williamsburg?  This place is literally right across the street from Brooklyn Banh Mi on Lorimer Street, so it's easy enough to get your casual Vietnamese fill in on this one block.  The main difference is that Nicky's has actual seating and they offer a slightly bigger menu which includes pho. 

I vaguely remember there being a Nicky's in Park Slope when I lived there but I don't recall them offering pho there, only banh mi.  Given that there is such a dearth of nearby pho options, I was willing to try anything that vaguely resembles this dish.  It's definitely not an authentic place as they only offer beef, chicken or a veggie option - a more traditional pho place will offer 20 different kinds of strictly beef pho.  I went with the beef option and an ice coffee.  The "kitchen" is open and right next to the cash register and you can hear them microwaving and heating things up, which I'm sure other places do as well but somehow I didnt' want to actually hear or see it.  The pho comes out and it's in this cheap plastic bowl and flimsy plastic spoon.  So that was kind of a turn off.  But the noodles were actually pretty good and cooked well.  The broth was only ok and was missing that simmered beef bone flavor that a true pho base has.  I put a bunch of hoisin sauce to give it some more umph.  I did end up slurping up most of the broth, so I guess it couldn't have been that bad.  The cuts of meat were nice and thin but they were cooked all the way through and not as rare as I would like in my pho.  They do give you a nice side of bean sprouts, cilantro and peppers if you want to add more than what's in the bowl.

The place is run by loud Chinese people and I could hear and understand everything they were arguing about while I was eating there.  Funnily enough, it entertained me more than annoyed me but I could see how it could be distracting for some people.  Overall, the pho wasn't anything I would be excited by but the fact that it's a 10 minute walk from my house and the only real pho option, I could see myself coming here every now and then when I'm really desperate but not willing to trek into the city for it.   I am open to trying their banhi mi as that could be a nice take-out lunch option.  Total bill: $13 with tax and ice coffee

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Love Mamak Visited 6/11/2016 3.5 Forks

Love Mamak  174 2nd Ave., New York, NY 10003

Love Mamak is one of those places that you've probably walked past a bunch of times on 2nd Ave but never actually went into.  I met up with Aarti, her brother and Will late on a Saturday night and Love Mamak was pretty crowded with the NYU kids.  It's smack in the middle of the East Village and is typical of the restaurants in the area where you can load up on quick, casual, tasty and cheap food. 

The menu is a mix of Thai, Vietnamese and Malaysian food.  Normally I don't like places that mix and match cuisines and while I still don't love it, it works here because it wasn't all fused together but separate sections of the menu.  Plus they don't go deep into each cuisine - it's pretty much a line up of the basic standard hits of each region.  We got the Uncle Plumb's Dumplings ($6) from the Vietnamese appetizer section, the Roti Canai ($6) from the Malaysian appetizer section, a standard veggie Pad Thai ($10), Mee Goreng ($10), Cashew Smoked Chili ($11), and a Vegetarian Clay Pot ($11).  In true Asian style, everything comes out super fast.  Uncle Plump's dumpling was the only meat based dish we got and it was a yummy combination pork and chive but what was unique about it was that it was doused in smoked chili oil and peanut sauce.  Yum.  The roti was a nice fluffy dough that was easily used to sop up the dal lentil dipping sauce it came with.  As for the main dishes of pad thai, mee goreng and veggie clay pot, they were all your run of the mill, solid neighborhood Asian noodle dishes.  There was nothing flashy or fancy about our meal here but on a late hot summer night, all these dishes hit the spot.

If Love Mamak was in my neighborhood, I could see myself ordering take-out or delivery a lot from here.  It's one of those places that you need when you to satisfy your Asian food craving at a very affordable price point.  Total bill:  $25/pp with tax and tip

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Pho Vietnam 87 Visited 4/16/2015 4 Forks

Pho Vietnam 87  87 Chrystie St., New York, NY 10002

As many of you know by now, I've had a life long obsession with pho and if I could, I would probably eat it every day of my life (if done right).  I have constantly been on the hunt for a good place in the city but have never really found my go to place.  While I still think the place at home is still the best, Pho Vietnam 87 is a pretty good substitute and definitely filled my craving for pho that day. 

Van and I went on a random Thursday night and it was fairly empty but we noticed that there were a few people speaking Vietnamese in the restaurant, which is always a good sign.  While I had been on a Americanize/fusion Vietnamese kick lately, there's no good substitute for a supremely authentic divey, mom and pop place that's located usually in Chinatown.  This place is the stuff of what I'm talking about - no fusion bs, it's straight up pure ethnic eats.  Van and I were totally overwhelmed with what to get but I had to get a pho (although the bahn mi looked good and it was only $4.25!!).  I opted for the #1 ($7.25) which was the large pho that had pretty much a little bit of everything, we split the banh cuon ($6.95) to start and Van got a pork rice plate ($6.50).  Another thing I love about eating at places like this is that the prices are crazy cheap.  It was music to my ears.   I also got a Vietnamese coffee and was so happy that it was served with the stainless steel single serving coffee maker and not pre-mixed.   We started off with the banh cuon which is a steamed rice rolls/crepe dish stuffed with ground pork and mushroom in it.  It's been a really long time since I've had this dish before but it was great. Our only complaint was that the rice crepe was a bit thick for both of us but it didn't stop us from eating the entire dish.  Next came my pho and it was a huge bowl of yumminess. It smelled great and was definitely very full of everything - broth, meat, and noodles.   The broth was tasty, flavorful and not too oily.  My only complaint would be that it might have had a bit too much star anise or clove for my liking but it wasn't so overwhelming that I didn't like the dish.  The meat was thinly sliced  and rate and like I said early, plentiful.  The noodles were the right consistency - soft and delicious.   Usually when I have pho, I clean house and can finish the whole thing but this one was just too much to handle and I had to call it quits about 3/4 of the way through.  I had a small bite of Van's dish and it was also quite well done and delicious. 

All in all, it was a great experience and it brought me back to my first love of eating which is cheap local ethnic eats.  While I still doesn't match the Pho 75 back home, it was a very filling and affordable addition and Van and I are already making plans to go back and try out the other half of the menu (although we really just barely scratched the surface!).  Total bill with tax and tip:  $16/pp 

Photo Credit:  Yelp  

Nightingale 9 Visited 4/11/2015 3 Forks

Nightingale 9  329 Smith St., Brooklyn, NY 11231

Apparently I've been on a Vietnamese kick lately since this is the 2nd Vietnamese review in a row (and there is another one coming up), which isn't a bad thing at all!  I had read about Nightingale 9 a while ago and even though it sounded like a very Brooklyn-fied version of Vietnamese food, I was still very curious to try it out.

The space is casual yet modern and I sat at the lovely bar while I waited for Virginia.  They had an excellent sounding cocktail menu, but I started the morning off with an Vietnamese Iced Coffee ($4). Although I wasn't a huge fan that it was already pre-mixed, it was quite sweet and tasty with the right balance of coffee to condensed milk.   I could have had 3 more that morning.

The menu here is traditional with a fusion slant - they try to incorporate traditional Vietnamese dishes but put their own spin on things.  I'm usually a fan of keeping things more authentic and classic but I was open.   They have a bunch of great sounding appetizers:  green papaya salad, assorted meats and cheese, spring rolls, and donut holes; while the entrees also peaked my interest with lemongrass pork chop, Hanoi style omelette and a few pho options.  I was not a fan that they said that for a $1 you could add a poached egg to your pho.  Not only does that sound disgusting but that also makes no sense when you think about what a traditional pho tastes like.  Given that it was brunch, I opted for a steak and eggs combo and Virginia got a their version of an eggs bendict.  We also split the spring rolls ($10) to start.  I was quite impressed with spring rolls - they are perfectly crisp on the outside and they were filled with delicious ground pork, woodear mushrooms and served with fish sauce and fresh mint and lettuce leaves.   This dish plus the ice coffee was a nice start to the meal.  Next came my main dish which was their play on steak and eggs.  For some random reason they also paired it with baked/burned potato chips as the bottom layer of the dish and that was a turn off for me.  It's not that I don't like potato chips, I do, but it just seemed a bit out of place here and added more salt than was necessary.  The meat was cooked well and was nicely medium rare but cut into pieces as opposed to being served like one piece of steak.   The egg looked great but was a tad overcooked for me - I like a much runnier egg while my meal.  I didn't try Virginia's dish but it was essentially a benedict but served on white pieces of bao instead of english muffins - which is a nice touch but seemed like too much bread-y stuff for what was on top.  We were both still a bit hungry so we got the donut holes ($6) to finish and that was one of the best ideas all day.  It was served with a coconut curd which was fantastic - there were actually a lot of donuts to this order so be ready to eat.  They were lightly sprinkled with sugar on the outside and while they were thick, they weren't super dense - it was a great way to end a meal.

While I liked elements of my meal here, I couldn't help be feel a bit disappointed by it.  I could see real potential to the place and would definitely come back for the spring rolls, coffee and donut holes but I've just got to be a bit weary of a place that encourages people to add an egg to their pho.  Total bill for 2 pp with tax and tip: $77

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Bricolage Visited 3/27/2015 4.5 Forks

Bricolage 162 5th Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11217

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

Saigon Market Visited 10/18/2014 3 Forks

Saigon Market 93 University Pl., New York, NY 10003

Mabel and I were looking for something quick and cheap near Union Square before heading out for the night and Saigon Market fill the bill.  It's one of those local places that caters mostly to the NYU crowd since it's 2 blocks from campus.  It was fairly crowded for 9:30pm on a Saturday night but we were still able to get a seat immediately.

The menu is fairly overwhelming.  It's probably 5 pages long with every kind of Asian food you can think of:  rolls, soups, curries, stir fry, noodles, fried rice, whole fish, etc.   We started with the shrimp summer rolls to start ($7.75) and I got the Pho Bo ($9.25) and Mabel got the Curry Tau Hu ($12.50).  The service is extremely quick and we got the summer rolls in a matter of minutes.  It was supposed to have been served with a peanut sauce but instead we got what looked like fish sauce and hoisin sauce which was kind of a bummer because I am a huge fan of peanut sauce and it just wasn't quite the same.  The rolls themselves were ok, a bit heavy on the lettuce and rice noodles and not so much on the shrimp.  In fact I only got a bite of shrimp on my last bite.  But I was more looking forward to the pho.  I had remembered coming here years ago when I was in B-school for lunch and not really loving the pho, but I was willing to give it one more chance.  This time around it was better than I remembered it and better than my last disastrous outing at Sao Mai.  The broth was much more flavorful than the one at Sao Mai and the noodles were cooked well.  I would have preferred the slices of meat to be a bit thinner and more on the rare/raw side rather than fully cooked.  It was an acceptable pho but not something that was overly impressive.  I tried a few bites of Mabel's dish which was bean curd, mushrooms, peppers, broccoli, etc in a coconut curry sauce but the sauce tasted more like a corn starchy brown sauce instead.  It was fine - a very basic stir fry kind of dish and it was also huge.  It was big enough for at least two people to eat.

All in all, the place suited what we were looking for:  cheap, quick and convenient to Union Square. I wouldn't make this a destination restaurant by any means but if you are in the area and have a Vietnamese fix, this place will do fine as long as you're not expecting truly authentic food.  Total bill:  $24/pp

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Sao Mai Visited 10/2/2014 2 Forks

Sao Mai   203 1st Ave., New York, NY 10003

It actually pains me to write a bad review for this place because it came so highly recommended by two of my favorite and most trusted food blogs:  Eater.com and theinfatuation.com.  They both raved about how much they loved this place and how great the pho is.  As someone who has been constantly in search of the best pho, I jumped at the opportunity to check this place out.  I mean how can both of my favorite sites be wrong about a place? 

Uh - so apparently they can.  I can't say how some of the other food tastes but the pho itself was no winner in my book and I've had plenty of other better experiences in Chinatown (i.e. Pho Grand). Aarti and I met up here on a Thursday night and I did appreciate that they let me actually sit at a table while waiting for her.  I immediately went for the Sao Mai house pho ($9.50) which came with brisket, beef eye round and beef balls and Aarti got the vegetarian version ($8.50) and we split the vegetarian summer roll ($5.50).  The summer roll came out first and the main reason we ordered it was because it came with peanut sauce.  But this peanut sauce was very thin and seemed to have more soy sauce than peanut flavoring.  The roll itself was basic and totally fine - stuffed with tofu instead of shrimp or pork - but for me it's always the sauce that makes the roll and this one just didn't hit the mark. 

The pho came out quickly and it looked pretty promising.  I will give credit in that there was lots of meat in it and the noodles were nice and soft.  But what MAKES an entire pho dish is the broth and this one was just severely lacking.  It tasted bland and it was just missing that punch of seasoning and meat bones flavor that makes pho so wonderful.  When I go to Pho 75 at home, I not only polish off the entire bowl of noodles and meat, but I slurp up every ounce of broth I can because it's just that good.  Here - I actually left behind a few pieces of meat and drank none of the broth.  You know you have a sad pho when that happens. Apparently, Aarti had the opposite experience where she said she enjoyed the broth but didn't really care for the noodles or vegetables.

Another bummer was my Vietnamese Ice Coffee ($3).  I like it when it's served to me in the drip form and into a cup of sweetened condensed milk and then I stir it up and pour it into a cup of ice. This was pre-made already and just didn't have that same feel to it and was a bit over sweet to me.

All in all, I was really disappointed by my experience here.  I'm usually very in sync and in agreement with my other fellow food bloggers, but this one left my head scratching.  Not sure if we just had two totally different experiences or they just don't know Vietnamese food very well, but the only good thing was the bill:  Total cost with tax and tip:  $17/pp

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Bun'ker Visited 7/26/2014 5 Forks

Bun'ker  46-63 Metropolitan Ave., Ridgewood, NY 11385

I know, it seems so crazy to give a tiny hipster whole in the hall of a place in the middle of an industrial wasteland 5 Forks.  While it wasn't an entirely flawless meal, I loved it enough and haven't given out a 5 fork review in a while, that I really thought now was the time. 

The one big drawback to this place is its location (and maybe the insane plethora of hipsters).  When I say it's in an industrial wasteland, I'm not even exaggerating - it's across the street from 2 scrap metal yards and next door to a Western Beef Market.  Without a car, it's extremely difficult to get to (it's about a mile walk from the closest subway stop).   However, despite its location, there was an hour long wait there and unfortunately there is no where to wait  except on one of their 2 benches.  Aarti also mentioned that when she gave our name to the host, he gave her an extremely sour puss look which was annoying.  But regardless once we sat down, we were all in heaven. 

Now this is definitely not a place for everyone.  The place is small (less than 25 seats) and the decor kind of reminds me of one of those cheap hole in the wall places you would find in SE Asia.  But honestly, that was the appeal to me.  As Will said, the only thing missing from it would be a dirty mangy dog running around and you would have thought you were in eating at one of those road side restaurants in Thailand or Vietnam.   Luckily, the food was just as good as what you would get in one of those road side stalls.  They have a seasonal menu and then they have a chalk board with a bunch of specials.  All of us were starving (plus I was with two big guys who came ready with their appetite) so we really went to town on the ordering.  For the table, we split the traditional banh xbo ($11) as well as the vegetarian version ($10), the summer rolls ($8), the crispy flounder banh mi ($12), the garlic tomato fried rice ($5) and the sauteed water spinach ($8).  Then after that we each all ordered our own thing.  I opted for the Suon Nuong Xa ($15), Aarti got the grilled eggplant and zucchini ($13), Will got the Ca Ri Ga ($16) and Kinney got the Grilled Lemongrass Black Angus Short Ribs ($16).  So yeah - we clearly over ordered but that was totally ok.  I should mention that I also got a Vietnamese Ice Coffee ($4) that was one of the most delicious drinks ever.  It wasn't like the usual kind I'm used to where you strain it into a cup with condensed milk at the bottom.  It was pre-mixed already but it was like crack cocaine - incredibly addictive and left you wanting to have 10 more of them. 

On to the actual food.  Everything was phenomenal and tasted fresh and home made.  The summer rolls had the right amount of shrimp, pork and vermicelli noodles in it and the side of peanut sauce was heavenly.   Next I moved on to the banh xbo which is a crispy crepe with shrimp, bacon, and bean sprouts which you then wrap in a lettuce leaf and dip into fish sauce.  It was super hot and tasted like it just came off the griddle.  The flavors just all worked really well together and the edges of the crepe were nice and crispy but the inside still had some moisture to it.  I honestly didn't taste too much bacon in it, just more of the bean sprouts than anything.  Next I took a bite of the crispy flounder banh mi (we split it 3 ways) and while it's definitely not your traditional banh mi, it had a great flavor profile to it.  It came with a pickled garlic tartar sauce, dill and scallion.  It a far cry from the original kind that has pate in it but I did really enjoy it and the bread was pillowy and just right.  Lastly I took a few pieces of the garlic tomato fried rice and sauteed water spinach and they were nice side dishes to add as supplements to our main dish.  Sadly but the time I got to my main dish, I was so full, all I could do was take 3 bites and I had to take the rest home.  There were 2 decent sized pork loins, served with a ton of white rice but the kicker was the fried egg on top.  Now this is where I  get a bit nit pickey - while the fried egg looked beautiful, it could have been a bit runnier in the yolk.  I like an oozing egg yolk but this one was close to being over cooked.  The only other dish I tried a bit of was Will's curry bobo chicken -  I dunked a piece of soft delicious roti into the curry and it was fantastic, full of spice and flavor.  

The only service hiccup was that Aarti's dish came out much later than ours - despite her getting just a vegetable dish.  Not sure if they forgot or what, but I do hate having to ask waitstaff repeatedly where someone's food is when everyone else at the table got theirs (this seems to be a running trend with me these days).  

All in all, we were all amazed by our meal.  It's been a long time where I have been truly wow'd by a meal that wasn't one of the nicer or fancier establishments.  It's places like theses that are much more my speed and what I am drawn to vs. 4 star restaurants (although don't get me wrong, I would never turn down a meal at a 4 star place).  This is place is definitely best to go with a lot of people so that you can try everything because you'll want to order everything when you are here.  I didn't think the prices were too unreasonable although a banh mi as a stand alone dish for $12 is a bit on the pricey side.  Again - order it and split it with 3 people while stuffing your face with summer rolls and papaya salad. 
It's almost tortuous knowing that this place is only a 10 minute drive from me yet it's a painful 30+ minute commute on a subway including walking.  But honestly, it is totally worth the pain and effort. Just do it and go.  You won't regret it.  Total bill:  $36/pp with tax and tip

Photo Credit:  Yelp