Category Archives: Local Good Eats

Brooklyn, eating, food scene, Foodie Goodie, good eats, Local Good Eats, New York City, Social Life

My Good Eats Review: Dekalb Market Hall, Brooklyn, NY

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Dekalb Market Hall– Brooklyn, NY

July 2017

Rating: 1 (not edible) to 5 (food heaven!): A Solid 3.5

First Impression: “unfinished”; “incomplete”; “some vendors need to get their sh*t together”…

Overall impression: some vendor(s) is amazing and some fell flat (on their faces! Cuz I will not be a returning customer… smh) and one could easily over-splurged and NOT know what you had for lunch… LOL (Total Spent – $46+!! What?!?!!)

The “Good” – definitely will return for more!
-Daigo Hand Roll Bar (loveeee! Got the Spicy Tuna/Seared Jap Beef/Snow crab w avocado) $18-20… exceptional & amazing! Would gladly spend all my $$$ here!

-Cuzins Duzins – mini donuts! Fresh made on the spot! This was so delicious, mini little drops of wonders! I got the powder sugar – I’m in love! Get it!!

The “Bad” – these vendors need to get their sh*t together!
-Taco Delicatessen & Churros Place – GO FOR THE Churros – SKIP the tacos! It was not good.  We grabbed the taco box (basically they just give you a box.. there’s no saving – all the same 2/$7, 3/$11, 4/$14… or a la carte.)  The carne asada was horrible, no flavor whatsoever, tortilla was rubbery! Very chewy.  The roast crab was fishy! Nasty! Ewww….   My Cali fam would laugh their a$$ off at this joint.   Go to Chelsea Market/ Los Tacos #1, muuuuuch better!!!

-The Churros (same operation as the Tacos place) were good, not blown away… but better than expected because it’s the same operational team w the Taco place… ugh.  (Although the so-called “churro unicorn” looked nothing like advertised… we were suckers!)

Honorable mentions:
-Wiki Wiki Pokebowl – funny story, my sister wanted Poke Bowl, went there for Wiki Wiki.
Sister: “hi, I’d like a poke bowl”…
Wiki: “sorry, we don’t have any bowls, we are waiting for delivery… not taking orders”…
Sister: “….  it’s lunch time… wow”…
Wiki: … walks away…

-Viet place – I was majorly craving a Viet Ice Coffee
Me: “Hi, I’d like a Viet Ice Coffee please…”
Viet place: ” oh yea… sorry, we ran out…”
Me: looks at time, 11:45am… “but you just opened…?”
Viet place: “yea… we don’t have the delivery yet”
Me: “wow… ok”…
Viet place: “we had a bunch yesterday!”
Me: …. well some of us were celebrating July 4th by stuffing our faces with BBQ meats! *smh*

-Nobletree – got a cold brew, the guy came through & went to the basement to bring up the giant container!! Thank you!!! So sweet! $4.50 + $1 tip, $5.50 – and I dropped that damn thing because I tripped over someone’s cart on the damn train! FML

Give it a few weeks for it to smooth out their kinks!

#Willtravelforfood

Brooklyn, eating, food scene, good eats, Hidden Gem, Local Good Eats, New York City

My Good Eats Review: TOGETHER Burmese Restaurant, Brooklyn, NY

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TOGETHER Burmese Restaurant – Brooklyn, NY

June 2017

Rating: 1 (not edible) to 5 (food heaven!): A Solid 5

 

I am in love with that “Mohinga”… savory, sour, crunchy goodness – just amazingly good!

Together Restaurant is nestled on a quiet block but busy street (it’s on a semi-main road with lots of traffic & delivery trucks) – however the block itself is a mix of grocery, bodega, hardware and some odd stores. With its loud red curtain blocking the interior view – passerby or potential patrons would miss it in a blink of an eye.  Although the signage of its namesake is on the top – I’ve witnessed first hand many curious ‘potential’ patrons just glanced & walked by.

Warning:  Do Not Be Turned Off By the Decor… it’s just a very homely place.  The restaurant looks a little dated, cozy space, with “American” news on one TV and cheesy karaoke music video on the other (very cute).

The staff is very nice, very sweet! The waitress/cook/server spoke little English but she understood the universal language of “pointing to the menu”.

Now the food – everything was so delicious! Something about Southeast Asian – love love love all the spices, cilantro, peanuts, lime, vermicelli, chili, fish sauce, simplicity at its best!

–Mohinga “fish soup w/ rice noodle” (every Yelpers raved about it!) – GET IT! It was awesome! I cannot wait to go back for another round!

–Tea Leaf salad, while it’s a little salty, it has great texture and will go well with your curry entree. Dried tea leaf with peanuts, lima bean, cabbage, onion (seasonal)

–Curry Chicken w/ Paratha – which is served with a roti like bread. Yum!!!

–Curry Pork Belly – spicy – very tender and not very spicy, goes well with the rice and cucumber that comes with.

–Coconut Jelly, this is as good as I remembered it… most Asian household have had made this one time… it’s basically coconut milk with gelatin (like jello!)

–Shwe Yin Aye – now this ones’ crazy – it’s a bowl consists of salted bread, ice cubes, coconut jelly, glutinous rice, sago in coconut milk.  My first spoonful was salty & then sweet, my tastebuds were confused. Then I tried again – it’s not bad.  I like my desserts sweet but this one’s a must try for you 1st timers!  Total bill for all this food – $45 (tip & tax) – totally worth it.

Bottom line – GO. NOW. EAT. HERE.

#Willtravelforfood

Brooklyn, eating, food scene, Foodie Goodie, good eats, Hidden Gem, Lifestyle, Local Good Eats, New York City, Queens NY

My Good Eats Review: Ginger and Lemongrass, Whitestone, NY

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Ginger & Lemongrass – Whitestone, NY (Queens/Long Island border)

May 2017

Rating: 1 (not edible) to 5 (food heaven!): A Solid 5

This place is a hidden gem… and when I say “hidden” I mean freaking far…! Well for brooklynites – yes! For anyone w/o a car, impossible! It took us a good 1.5hr w/ minor traffic to get to… Whitestone, Queens… (the only time I would be jelly of my Queens peeps!)  – SO WORTH THE DRIVE!  #willtravelforfood

Ginger & Lemongrass looks misplaced, on a residential block, next to a no-name gas station… (Delta?!? What?! Idk… never heard of it before) but what a quint find!  I can only venture a guess – this used to be a 1 family home, turned to a restaurant.  The outside is unassuming, with its namesake in yellow and a few bar seats facing outside patrons through its window.

Once inside the cozy restaurant, the decor will welcome you with brightly painted mellow yellow steel chairs… and thick block tables.  Cute light fixtures and tiny pottery on the walls with self-serving utensils/chopsticks/menu/napkins – a side (bottle!) of sriracha & hoisin sauce.  The staff is very welcoming, attentive at times (we never got small plates for the spring rolls… my niece had to use double napkins on the bare table… a little germ will make you stronger, right?!?).

While Ginger & Lemongrass call themselves Viet-Thai fusion, I think their best sellers are the Viet items… actually it’s the infamous “Beef Pho w/ Marrow”… YES!!! It comes with a giant half bone “melt in your mouth” marrow!!! (Plan your visit now!).  While glancing through the menu – we knew at first sight what we were getting.

-Spring rolls (Pork version… ) although, I still prefer the traditional Vietnamese spring roll skin & filling, this one is good – too meaty for my taste, and the crispy Chinese spring roll skins was more greasy than the traditional skin.  My niece loved it!  Well she is 5… what kid doesn’t like fried anything? 😉  – $9
-2 Large Beef Pho w/ Marrow; comes with all the fixing (bean sprouts, jalapeño, cilantro, lime, basil, thinly sliced beef) – what’s different is that this broth is very rich, more than the traditional Pho, which is usually on the lighter side, it’s also a little more milky… and there are chunks of beef briskets!  I know!!?! And of course this giant bone marrow… roasted to perfection topped with a creamy well seasoned pesto…  mmm…  I literally had foodgasm.  Seriously. – $34
-2 Viet Iced-coffee w/ condensed milk – it’s the ONLY way to drink this…  – $6

Total bill $65 (tax & 20% tip included) – it’s definitely more pricey than your local Viet joint… but there’s no happy ending… LOL

Take a drive! #happyfoodhunting