Monday dining choices in central Brooklyn

[phaelon56]

I'll be at Metrotech Brooklyn near Jay Street / Borough Hall A, C, F stop for the day this Monday working with a client and will be free from about 5 PM onwards until I grab a cab to LaGuardia at 7:45 or 8 PM.

I'm planning to meet a friend from Manhattan for dinner and she'll take the train out to meet me.

1) Franny's is a short distance away and I'd love to try it so it's high on my list but are there other options near there worth exploring? I'm looking for casual and low key in a moderate to mid price range. I know there are some good middle eastern places on or near Atlantic Ave and am wondering about those.

2) I usually get car service from the Brooklyn Marriott to LGA when I'm finished with this client on any given day. How tough is it to hail a cab on the street in the evening in other areas of central Brooklyn?

[fendi_pilot]

I assume you're talking about Franny's the pizza place on Flatbush near 7ave. There's a great hidden little spot right around the corner that does a 3 course prix fixe for $25 and also has an a la carte menu. I believe it's called Sorrel. It's basically more upscale bistro type fare with french and some asian influences. It's on Carlton a mostly all residental block only steps away from Flatbush Ave - and St. Marks much more quiet and relaxing. 2,3 to Bergen walk up Flatbush to St Marks and turn left. Or Q to 7 Ave - walk down flatbush and turn right on st marks. (both franny's and sorrel are on the prospect heights side of flatbush as opposed to park slope).

Car Service might be your best bet Aricebo usually comes in 5 minutes - 718 783 6465. I know it's $33 to JFK not sure about LGA.

Hope that helps.

Edited November 2, 2007 by fendi_pilot (log)

[raji]

If it were me, it's not far at all to Montague then down Henry Street, and there you'll find Henry's End and Noodle Pudding, and a little further, Grimaldi's...

Arecibo is best, yes! Bring some duct tape for the seats!

Edited November 2, 2007 by raji (log)

[Pan]

I'll be at Metrotech Brooklyn near Jay Street / Borough Hall A, C, F stop  for the day this Monday working with a client and will be free from about 5 PM onwards until I grab a cab to LaGuardia at 7:45 or 8 PM.

I'm planning to meet a friend from Manhattan for dinner and she'll take the train out to meet me. 

1) Franny's is a short distance away and I'd love to try it so it's high on my list but are there other options near there worth exploring?  I'm looking for casual and low key in a moderate to mid price range.  I know there are some good middle eastern places on or near Atlantic Ave and am wondering about those.

2)  I usually get car service from the Brooklyn Marriott to LGA when I'm finished with this client on any given day.  How tough is it to hail a cab on the street in the evening in other areas of central Brooklyn?

←

First of all, Franny's is closed Mondays!

In terms of places to go, make sure you look through the food in Brooklyn Heights thread. To me, casual and low-key in a moderate price-range suggests Junior's, but that may just be my mood today, and you may be looking for something different. For a much cheaper, more informal place that has my favorite Arab food in the area, I recommend Yemen Cafe on Atlantic.

I've never taken a cab from Brooklyn to anyplace, I don't think. I'm not sure how easy it would be to get a cab in Downtown Brooklyn (probably easier in Park Slope, and I do see cabs on Smith St.).

[Steve R.]

Not only is Franny's closed on Monday, but so's Noodle Pudding. And, so's Chestnut on Smith St. And Downtown Atlantic. And many others.

Close to Metrotech on Henry (next door to Noodle Pudding) is Henry's End. Depending on your definition of moderate-mid, this is one of the best choices for good food in Brooklyn. And the game menu is on. With wine (all domestic, mostly California, but huge list) this could run you from $100 - $200 for the two of you.

The Middle Eastern choices on Atlantic arent what they used to be, and they're okay, nothing more. Waterfalls, Fountain & Yemen Cafe are the most interesting.

The best choice on Smith for a Monday would be Savoia, a decent pizza place that uses its oven well and has some other "closer to Italy than Brooklyn" touches. Very moderately priced with good ingredients. Only the service can be iffy but, as they're all young and from (mainly Northern) Italy, deal with them as you would if you were there not here and they're friendly and attentive.

If your friend is coming from Manhattan and you dont mind treking to Park Slope, both al di la and Tempo are open on Mondays and are worth traveling to. No reservations at al di la (the best food in Brooklyn) but you're going early and, if you get there when they open (just before 6pm), you'll be fine. If not, Tempo is a fixed price $25pp (without wine of course) and is one of the great bargains in NYC. They're both within a block of one another on 5th Ave in the Slope.

Car service will pick you up from any of the above... the restaurants are all known and most have one within blocks that'll show up quickly.

Edited November 3, 2007 by Steve R. (log)

[phaelon56]

If your friend is coming from Manhattan and you dont mind trekking to Park Slope, both al di la and Tempo are open on Mondays and are worth traveling to.  No reservations at al di la (the best food in Brooklyn) but you're going early and, if you get there when they open (just before 6pm), you'll be fine.  If not, Tempo is a fixed price $25pp (without wine of course) and is one of the great bargains in NYC.  They're both within a block of one another on 5th Ave in the Slope.

Car service will pick you up from any of the above... the restaurants are all known and most have one within blocks that'll show up quickly.

←

Follow up report:

Thanks to all for the advice and suggestion. It took all of ten minutes for me to get from Metrotech to the Union Street station on the M and by chance my friend had arrived just a few minutes prior on the R. We walked the a few short blocks to Tempo arriving at 6 PM and, although I had called earlier in the day for reservations, found that none are needed that early in the day - at least not on Mondays. We were the only people in the restaurant for the first 30 minutes and upon departure at 7:45 PM it was about half full.

Service was friendly, down to earth and professional. Food was very, very good and a fantastic value.

For starters I had Tuscan Farro salad (I'll ask for the roasted beets to be left out next time - I keep trying to like beets and it's just not gonna happen) and she had a very good chopped salad. Generous portions on both.

Ditto the prortions and quality on the entrees. Papardelle with ragout of wild boar for me and some kind of shrimp and pasta dish for her. $4 upcharge for me and $2 for her on the entrees but there were perhaps only three or four entrees out of ten or so that had an upcharge above the $25 three course fixed price (and the upcharge was well worth it).

Her dessert was an "okay" apple streusel cake like thing about the size of a generous muffin. A bit dry but topped with a scoop of very good gelato. My sticky warm date and toffee pudding was not as good as sex but it was damn near orgasmic - and as good or better than the one I used to have at Up the Alley in Chelsea before they closed. Given the opportunity I could eat one every day.

With two "okay" double espressos, all of the above, a humongous side order of "Tuscan fried potatoes" (too large for two people to finish), a large bottle of Lurisia mineral water and a call brand vodka and OJ the total bill was $88 including tax before tip. Can't comment on the wine selection or prices as alcohol is not on my list of ingestibles.

Excellent low key and casual dining experience with very affordable prices. If you don't mind the trip out to Park Slope or are in Brooklyn for other reasons this is a GREAT choice - and I sincerely appreciate the recommendation.

By the way - we asked about car service and they offered to just hail us a car and a cab in front. Loads of them go by and within two to three minutes our rides were lined up and waiting. $33 car service to LGA and $30 yellow cab to CPW and 102nd.

[Pan]

I'm glad you had a good dinner. Just one tangential note, for those of you like me who couldn't figure out what "Union Station" was: It's the Union St. stop.