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Brooklyn Heights Food


zpzjessica

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Prepared food and desserts:

I'd start with three places on Atlantic Av.:

Sahadi's, Damascus Bakery, and the shop on the other side of Atlantic near Yemen Cafe whose name I forget.

Restaurants:

The aforementioned Yemen Cafe has very good, hearty Yemeni food and the atmosphere of a social club where you are a welcomed guest. The portions are humongous, so it's best to go with at least one other person.

Teresa's is a good inexpensive Polish-American restaurant where you can get orange-ricotta pancakes and kielbasa in the same meal if you like. I'm in the East Village and go to their East Village location exclusively, but assuming the food is really the same at both locations, try their soups and pierogies, and get the chicken stew with the lunch special.

I went to Clark's Restaurant once and had a terrific, really superior diner meal there. I haven't been back but have read other good reports. I thought their home fries were the best I'd ever had.

If you want to go more upscale, there's Queen on Court St. I haven't gone in years but have had a couple of good meals there. They're known for both Italian-American "red sauce" style food and upscale Italian food.

Enjoy your stay!

Michael aka "Pan"

 

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Standing on Montague Street, face the river, then turn right and start walking towards the bridge.

Almost at the end of Henry Street you'll find Henry's End which was great when I lived there, and which still seems to be getting some pretty good commentary. :smile:

I second Pan's suggestions on Atlantic Avenue. The spinach pies are always good for a quick snack or lunch or to take home at any of the shops or bakeries (they come in different shapes with different doughs and flavorings sometimes so check out all the different places if you like spinach pie).

Brooklyn Heights was my home for twenty years. I loved it. I hope you have the same experience. :smile:

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Henry's End is great. Anyone who enjoys food and wine should eat there at least once in their lifetime. It's fun, casual, funky, small, terrific food, no decor, outstanding wine list and a user-friendly staff.

It's old NYC at its finest, but please stay away if you're an ambiance person - you won't enjoy it.

It's been around for more than 30 years, so I guess it must be doing something people respect.

Rich Schulhoff

Opinions are like friends, everyone has some but what matters is how you respect them!

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what's the cuisine?

I'm in the Heights a couple times a year and have never eaten there (except for two absolutely forgettable meals at Joya and some other shitty pseud-Thai place)

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I've been in Bklyn Hts for 25 years. Here's the run down.

There are 3 very nice restaurants in a row on Henry St betw. Cranberry & Poplar. These are: Petit Marche, a new French restaurant that's good for the neighborhood but not a destination; Henry's End, an American place that I think is excellent w/a similarly excellent American wine list (note: I'm a friend of the owner but pay when I regularly eat there); Noodle Pudding, an Italian place that is much better than average and well priced.

Jack the Horse, on Hicks off Cranberry is newish and ok but not more than ok.

Montegue St has Teresa's for inexpensive filling Polish food. Worth going if your expectations are of inexpensive decent Polish food. On the corner of Hicks is Heights Cafe, better than most think, but necessary to order carefully. Decent sandwiches (burger and chicken on baguette are the best) w/decent fries at decent prices. Turkish place is ehh, so's Buon Gusto and the myriad of Thai, Chinese, Indian and other places that come and go. Amin (Indian) is particularly vile.

I dont think that anything on Remsen or Joralemon off Court St is worth anything, especially now that Curry Leaf (sister of the one on Lex. Ave in the '20s) has closed down.

On Court St off State St, Queen is excellent old style Italian food with some updating. However, the room is not befitting the food and it's an expense account lunch place for the courts and other officials so they dont care much about neighborhood business for dinner... the waiters can be less than nice. I think the food is worth every penny.

On Atlantic, Pan is correct about Yemen Cafe (we were there together not that long ago). Waterfront Ale House for burgers/pulled pork and surprisingly for other food as well. Nice hangout, good beers and wines. I really like La Mancha for tapas and Spanish food but this is not a universally shared opinion. The owners are also friends but I'm telling you, it's good. A couple of the mid-east places are ok, but Waterfalls and Fountain have seen better days. Dont bother at all with Tripoli.

For prepared food, there's Lassen and Hennigs (reasonable food, high prices) & Garden of Eden (okay) on Montegue, but there's SAHADI'S on Atlantic for prepared foods, middle eastern deli food, lots of jars & canned food & imported stuff at great prices and (best of all) nuts, dried fruits, grains, spices, olives, cheeses. The Lebanese Zabar's. Go there first. Oriental Grocery across the street is also good, but much smaller. As Pan also said, Damascus Bakery for pita, small pies & other baked goods.

Had enough? If not, you're living 5 minutes from Smith St, with another 20-30 restaurants and 15-20 minutes from Ft. Greene, Park Slope, Red Hook and Prospect Heights... all with tons of good places.

Starting this weekend, the Red Hook ballfields have Latin American vendors cooking up great cheap fresh tacos, papusas, ceviches (well, not exactly "cooked") and lots of other stuff. I'm there a lot. It's a long walk or a 15 minute bike ride (or 5 minutes by car).

That's it... can't type anymore. Welcome to the neighborhood.

Edited by Steve R. (log)
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I've been in Bklyn Hts for 25 years.  Here's the run down.

There used to be an odd little German place right off Court Street up the street from the Borough Hall Station. Only open at lunch but one thing they always served (year round, forget about seasonality) was a really nice Sauerbraten with all the sides. There was also a Spanish take-out/deli/bodega on Court Street, halfway up the block heading into Bkln. from the same subway station that had good home-style oxtail stew with yellow rice or braised chicken, the same, and again only open for lunch. I wonder if they are still there. Just "home-style" cooking but both very good at what they did.

P.S. I also wonder if the fresh poultry market is open down by the docks around the Cobble Hill/Red Hook border. Oh! Also some great bakeries in Cobble Hill, and certainly not a huge walk at all. :wink:

Edited by Carrot Top (log)
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Don't forget about DUMBO.....

I still consider Grimaldi's under the Brooklyn bridge Top 3 non-bytheslice pizza in NYC - when the oven is at it's hottest - next door is Pete's downtown, great view but you don't have to pay River Cafe prices...... SuperFine has the best sliced steak sandwich in the zip code at lunch, and a great bar.... there's also a Rice right there.... it's been a few years since I lived there so someone else might have more recent info

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[...]A couple of the mid-east places are ok, but Waterfalls and Fountain have seen better days.[...]

I've read that a lot, but I have yet to go to Waterfalls, and I've liked Fountain. Very good shawarma and felafel and some nice desserts. I'm sure it used to be better, but I lack that basis for comparison.

Have you tried Hadramout, the Yemeni restaurant a few doors down from Yemen Cafe? I haven't but I'm sort of vaguely curious. Their menu looks a lot less Yemeni and their prices are higher.

Michael aka "Pan"

 

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[...]A couple of the mid-east places are ok, but Waterfalls and Fountain have seen better days.[...]

I've read that a lot, but I have yet to go to Waterfalls, and I've liked Fountain. Very good shawarma and felafel and some nice desserts. I'm sure it used to be better, but I lack that basis for comparison.

Have you tried Hadramout, the Yemeni restaurant a few doors down from Yemen Cafe? I haven't but I'm sort of vaguely curious. Their menu looks a lot less Yemeni and their prices are higher.

I haven't tried Hadramout or the Yemen place on Court (next to Mexicali), which also looks interesting.

It's a good point about recommending a place based on current absolute worth vs. comparitive worth to it's own past. I do that a lot and since I've been in the neighborhood for awhile, I forget that the place may be fine as is to someone who hadn't been there "in the day". Having said that, I've still had a couple of not so fresh food experiences in Waterfall this past year and, although I really like the owner, she (and her mother) haven't regularly been in the kitchen. It may well be more "uneven" than "poor". I havent been to Fountain in awhile so I'll back off any comment about its current food.

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Don't forget about DUMBO.....

I still consider Grimaldi's under the Brooklyn bridge Top 3 non-bytheslice pizza in NYC - when the oven is at it's hottest - next door is Pete's downtown, great view but you don't have to pay River Cafe prices...... SuperFine has the best sliced steak sandwich in the zip code at lunch, and a great bar.... there's also a Rice right there.... it's been a few years since I lived there so someone else might have more recent info

Don't forget 5 Front. Very good modern American and a cute date spot esp with the garden. Had a couple nice dinners there a couple yrs ago

http://www.menupages.com/restaurantdetails...d=0&cuisineid=0

That wasn't chicken

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It's on the brink but TAZZA is a nice little cafe.

Surprised nobody has mentioned Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory, I know it's a one trick pony, but what a fabulous steed.

I didnt mention DUMBO as a neighborhood but wouldnt have listed anything specific anyway that wasnt in the Heights. But.... since we're on an expanded topic... I cant stand Grimaldi's and have felt that way for 10 or more years: Lucali's in Carroll Gdns is much better and, since that's relatively new, Cristardi's in Cobble Hill (now long gone) was always better than Grimaldi's anyway. 5 Front has, in my opinion, been going downhill over the past year or so. My last 2-3 meals there, although pleasant enough, werent even close to comparable meals in the immediate area. I hear that they may have been sold... they were the same ownership as 12th St in Park Slope and I'm pretty sure those owners are gone.

Tazza was an omission. We hang out there for coffee on weekends and, although I dont think much of their food, the coffee/pastry/wine bar part is good enough.

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Don't forget about DUMBO.....

I still consider Grimaldi's under the Brooklyn bridge Top 3 non-bytheslice pizza in NYC - when the oven is at it's hottest - next door is Pete's downtown, great view but you don't have to pay River Cafe prices...... SuperFine has the best sliced steak sandwich in the zip code at lunch, and a great bar.... there's also a Rice right there.... it's been a few years since I lived there so someone else might have more recent info

Don't forget 5 Front. Very good modern American and a cute date spot esp with the garden. Had a couple nice dinners there a couple yrs ago

http://www.menupages.com/restaurantdetails...d=0&cuisineid=0

Yeah it had just been built and was not at all good while I lived there - but that was now 5 years ago...

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I haven't tried Hadramout or the Yemen place on Court (next to Mexicali), which also looks interesting.[...]

Is that the Yemeni luncheonette, or is that on Smith? If it's the one I'm thinking of, I remember it having a lot of offal on the menu, but I've never been able to schedule my arrival at the right time of day.

Michael aka "Pan"

 

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I haven't tried Hadramout or the Yemen place on Court (next to Mexicali), which also looks interesting.[...]

Is that the Yemeni luncheonette, or is that on Smith? If it's the one I'm thinking of, I remember it having a lot of offal on the menu, but I've never been able to schedule my arrival at the right time of day.

The luncheonette on Court just in from Atlantic on the same block as Mexicali and India House. Even plainer looking than the ones on Atlantic.

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  • 1 month later...

Strange - I am not a fan. A muddled collection of awfully presented food. Lo mein next to burritos - no focus whatsoever.

The people that have taken over that corner are in my opinion poor restauranteurs.

In addition to the "Busy Chef" we now have:

- "Uncommon Grounds" - the coffee shop that for some reason doesn't open in the morning. Convieniently built adjacent to the long-standing neighborhood coffee shop with a very loyal following. Nice placement!

- "Oven" - a gourmet pizza place located a few doors down from Fascati's - one of the great classic slice joints in NY, and just up the street from Grimaldi's, perhaps New York's most famous pizzeria.

All run by the same people, all going to be a big waste of money.

These ill-conceived projects will not last.

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