So this isn't a brunch entry but it is a Brooklyn restaurant that serves brunch so I think it qualifies as brunch blog entry.
reBar is a gastropub located on the main strip in Dumbo - literally underneath the Manhattan Bridge at 147 Front Street between Jay and Pearl. reBar is part bar, part restaurant, part movie theater playing indie and old movies. The last part was a pleasant surprise to us and we'll going back to give it a try in the future. They have a full menu (food and drinks) in the movie theater so it looks like a good time. Now back to reBar as a restaurant. It's dark and gothic looking with metal gates and high backed leather chairs. In the dining area, there are a bunch of small 2 person tables and then 2 very large banquet style tables where you will be sharing table space with your neighbor. The space is dark with candlelight and a good mix of music from Kid Cudi to Adele. A huge beer list - like 3 pages just for bottles and then another page for whats on tap.
The menu is seasonal with both small plates and entree-size portions. I opted to try mainly small plates with a salad for my main while Justin had the entree-size portion along with the small plates. They give you olive bread to start with olive oil. Great bread - the olives were big pieces and the bread was soft and warm. It was a step up from the usual white or sourdough bread that you typically get at restaurants.
We tried 3 small plates: Polenta with an egg, salmon rolls, and buffalo mozzerella served with flatbread crisps. The polenta was a great dish - the fried egg took up a large portion of the bowl with polenta served underneath. The polenta was just the right amount of creamy and flavorful. The salmon rolls were interesting - it's Asian-inspired American cuisine - thin wrapping with salmon served sashami style along with some other vegetables. It was an interesting combination of flavors but they seemingly worked. The buffalo mozzerella ended up being a small bowl of fried cheese which was just too cheesy. One small bite of it and I knew that we had misordered. So one small plate - delicious, one small plate - good, and one small plate - gross.
My salad was an iceberg wedge with snow peas, preserved lemon, manchego, and pistachio vinaigrette. Mistake - an iceberg wedge is just too much lettuce. The other bits were nice but after I had ate a healthy portion of salad (including lettuce) - I still had tons of lettuce left over. Justin got the lamb which he thought was well-cooked and flavorful. It was interesting cut of meat since it was fatty but the fat made the lamb very tasty so essentially - it was a good piece of lamb. It also came with vegetables that needed salt.
Last we got a strange desert - marjolaine cake. It's no flour but yet it stays together somehow with custard and almonds/nuts. Not sure how to describe it except cold, custardy, and confusing.
I liked reBar but didn't love it. Yet, with an ever changing menu and a movie theater inside, I would return in the summer time to give it another try.
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Peaches Hothouse - Bedford-Stuyvesant
From the owners of The Smoke Joint in Fort Greene, Peaches and Peaches HotHouse feature an updated twist on Southern cooking and fried chicken. So in an effort to try and a new neighborhood - we trekked out to Bed Stuy to see how good this fried chicken really was. We opted to try Peaches HotHouse @ 415 Tompkins, the newer, cozier, and slightly cheaper sister to Peaches. The Hothouse is located half way between the Nostrand Avenue & Kingston Throop stops on the A and C or you can take one of a million buses. However none are that close so you will have at least a 5 block walk.
The place itself is small - maybe 10 tables. There's a small bar in back with 4 chairs as well. We got there and were told we'd have about a 10 minute wait. With the NCAA game in the background, we were content to wait....but where? Since there's no space in the restaurant to stand and we didn't want to stare at someone eating their food, we squeezed into the bar area. After about 20 minutes with a good 10 of them including me giving the evil eye to diners who had already paid but were lingering and watching the game - we got a table.
The menu is about a page with Southern classics: fried chicken, salmon, short ribs, and meatloaf. Each come with one side and there are alot of sides to choose from: collard greens, garlic kale, mac & cheese, french fires, bacon creamed corn, etc. There's also a bunch of non-traditional Southern dishes including rice bowl dishes including jambalya and lump crab. The place also features salads and sandwiches for those looking for lighter options. We had a really nice waiter who sat down and introduced himself and gave us food suggestions. First all drinks come in mason jars. I got a fruity coconut rum drink that was delicious, colorful, and also really strong. One was plenty! Also this isn't the sort of place where you get champagne. As our waiter said to a lady who ordered champagne and wanted a flute- "This is the HOTHOUSE, it's going to come in a cup". Suffice to say, she ordered a Coke.
I got the Nashville-style fried chicken because well it's the Hothouse. Also staring at the signs advertising the chicken and watching satisfied diners proved to me that I should get it. For $12, you get three pieces and they are big pieces. It's served on the top of white bread which doesn't really seem to add anything to it. Now a word about the entree: among the best fried chicken I've ever had!! Crispy but not overly crispy. Flakey, flavor-ful, and just darn good. Also liked that I also got to get a side (garlic kale) which was had alot of spice which made it hot and good. We also got mac & cheese and corn with bacon. The mac & cheese was a little bit too cheesy and basically the same that you get at Smoke Joint. The corn with bacon was alright but a bit too much bacon and not enough corn for my liking. Justin got the jambalaya which was a whole bowl of rice, sausage, shrimp, veggies, and some other things all thrown in together. It was good with alot of flavor and spice. Both of us were a fan of this dish and I'd consider getting this dish on my own. Too full for desert even with our waiter's suggestions even though the options did look really good.
Overall this place is worth the trek! Peaches Hothouse features good Southern food at reasonable prices and a welcoming, warm atmosphere. The waitstaff was very helpful and let us sit for awhile after we were done with our meal, which added to our experience. The menu has a wide variety of choices that makes this a place I want to return to.
The place itself is small - maybe 10 tables. There's a small bar in back with 4 chairs as well. We got there and were told we'd have about a 10 minute wait. With the NCAA game in the background, we were content to wait....but where? Since there's no space in the restaurant to stand and we didn't want to stare at someone eating their food, we squeezed into the bar area. After about 20 minutes with a good 10 of them including me giving the evil eye to diners who had already paid but were lingering and watching the game - we got a table.
The menu is about a page with Southern classics: fried chicken, salmon, short ribs, and meatloaf. Each come with one side and there are alot of sides to choose from: collard greens, garlic kale, mac & cheese, french fires, bacon creamed corn, etc. There's also a bunch of non-traditional Southern dishes including rice bowl dishes including jambalya and lump crab. The place also features salads and sandwiches for those looking for lighter options. We had a really nice waiter who sat down and introduced himself and gave us food suggestions. First all drinks come in mason jars. I got a fruity coconut rum drink that was delicious, colorful, and also really strong. One was plenty! Also this isn't the sort of place where you get champagne. As our waiter said to a lady who ordered champagne and wanted a flute- "This is the HOTHOUSE, it's going to come in a cup". Suffice to say, she ordered a Coke.
I got the Nashville-style fried chicken because well it's the Hothouse. Also staring at the signs advertising the chicken and watching satisfied diners proved to me that I should get it. For $12, you get three pieces and they are big pieces. It's served on the top of white bread which doesn't really seem to add anything to it. Now a word about the entree: among the best fried chicken I've ever had!! Crispy but not overly crispy. Flakey, flavor-ful, and just darn good. Also liked that I also got to get a side (garlic kale) which was had alot of spice which made it hot and good. We also got mac & cheese and corn with bacon. The mac & cheese was a little bit too cheesy and basically the same that you get at Smoke Joint. The corn with bacon was alright but a bit too much bacon and not enough corn for my liking. Justin got the jambalaya which was a whole bowl of rice, sausage, shrimp, veggies, and some other things all thrown in together. It was good with alot of flavor and spice. Both of us were a fan of this dish and I'd consider getting this dish on my own. Too full for desert even with our waiter's suggestions even though the options did look really good.
Overall this place is worth the trek! Peaches Hothouse features good Southern food at reasonable prices and a welcoming, warm atmosphere. The waitstaff was very helpful and let us sit for awhile after we were done with our meal, which added to our experience. The menu has a wide variety of choices that makes this a place I want to return to.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)