No. 7, Near BAM

[BryanZ]

No. 7

7 Greene Ave., Brooklyn

After a couple recent shows at BAM over the past few weeks I've stopped in here twice, once for a quick drink and again for dinner. This is a cozy, unpretentious space. The bar area is a bit cramped as there's no other foyer for people to wait, but if you can grab a seat in the little lounge area by the windows I'm sure that'd be a nice place to have a round or two.

The menu itself is almost frustratingly short, but the items I tried on it were all really enjoyable. This is obviously a kitchen that's resource-constrained and I certainly wouldn't travel to eat here, but it's definitely worth the walk of a few blocks. Early PR tried to play up some bizzaro Korean-Eastern European fusion or some such. Yeah, not really. There are Korean influences though, mainly in the form of various pickled items.

Off the bar menu, available in the dining room also, I tried the braised pork tacos with kimchi and the fried fish sandwich. Tacos were simple but totally delicious. Fish sandwich was nice, too, but the tartar sauce had an interesting herbal note I couldn't quite place. Both plates were less than $10.

On the dinner menu I tried the fried broccoli with a salad of bitter greens and grapefruit and the roasted chicken with beans and Brussels sprouts. Fried broccoli was pretty awesome in an updated-comfort food kind of way. A huge piece of broccoli, like 1/3 of a head, just dipped in batter and fried until crisp. Nicely offset by the bitter and acidic salad. Chicken was pretty aggressive on the thyme but otherwise a nice dish. A bone out, skin on thigh is rolled around the breast into a nice roulade. This was served atop some rich beans and lightly browned sprouts. We cleaned all our plates. I think four out of the five mains are $19 or less. There's a beef tenderloin dish at $24. We didn't drink but those four plates of food split between two people came out to just shy of $30 after tax and tip. Very reasonable I thought.

Service was fine. Generally the servers get the job done with minimal issue. The food came out very quickly, which wasn't a problem for us since it was late in the evening and we were starving, but it wasn't exactly the leisurely pace one might want if on a date or catching up with friends. I liked the place though. I'd go back after I try out a couple other spots in the area I've been meaning to get to.

[tim]

Bon Appetit Magazine seem to like the place: 2009's Top Ten Best New Restaurants in America

[Sneakeater]

They're out of their minds.

[BryanZ]

By pure random chance I've found myself at three of the ten in recent months. Based on this random sampling and with no other expectations that a solid neighborhood restaurant, I concur with Sneakeater. No slight to the restaurants themselves, but you've got to wonder where those BAM folks have been eating.

[Ochowie]

Bon Appetit Magazine seem to like the place:  2009's Top Ten Best New Restaurants in America

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Yeah they also have Woodberry Kitchen in Baltimore on that list. Which is a great restuarant for Baltimore, but is neither that new nor in my opinion in a qualifier for top 10 best in the country.

[BryanZ]

I found Woodberry to be the most exciting and well-rounded of three I've been: Mado, No. 7, Woodberry. Though it's execution was perhaps the weakest of the bunch. So take that as you will.

Edited August 11, 2009 by BryanZ (log)