The Farm on Adderley - Ditmas Park

The Farm on Adderly is the reason that some people trek to Ditmas Park. This traditional American/semi-organic restaurant in an outer borough neighborhood is a bit of the beaten track yet its inventive and playful cuisine is one that shouldn't be missed.

The Farm on Adderley is at 1108 Cortelyou Road, near the Cortelyou B/Q stop. Cortelyou has a bunch of other restaurants that looked interesting so all and all - this area does require a return trip on my end. The Farm on Adderley itself is a long narrow restaurant that opens up to a backyard garden. A large, dark wood bar is located in the front of the restaurant with tables squeezed in the front. In the back seating area and the backyard, there's more seating with more room between the tables.

Wait staff was prompt and eager to answer questions. The bread was a cross between an herb focaccia and standard sourdough bread (very delicious!) and was served with olive oil for dipping. While they only give you 3 pieces to start with, they are eager to refill the bread, even without prompting. Fabulous bread. I'd go back for the bread alone. We split a bottle of wine that wasn't cheap ($30 range) but they do have an extensive wine list starting at around $30 and ranging to the $80s. They also have a list of their own inventive cocktails ($10-14). Overall, the wait staff was very attentive except when it came time to get the bill – then they were nowhere to be found.

The menu isn't that extensive but there's more than enough to pique your interest. I settled on the Roasted Summer Squash dish with polenta fries and basil for $17. The dish itself was beautifully plated with a bright green base with zucchini and other various green squashes followed by a yellow squash middle with breaded pale yellow strips of polenta on top. The polenta was expertly cooked with a crispy shell and a rich creamy inside. The best cooked polenta that I've had in awhile. The rest of the dish didn't live up to the standard set by the polenta though in all fairness, it was still very good. I had assumed that there would be some sort of starch underneath the squash but I was mistaken, as there wasn’t anything hiding under the squash. The squash was cooked well and was the right amount of crunchy and soft but I did feel like I was eating the equivalent of a vegetable plate. If there had been less squash and more polenta (as there was only about 4 small pieces of polenta in total), I think the dish would score higher in my mind. My friend, Caroline, got skate aka a white fish dish for $19 which was expertly cooked and tasted delicious as well. The skate with a healthy serving of vegetables, which shows the restaurant, takes the ‘farm’ part of their name very seriously. High marks from her on the dish.

Desert left much to be desired. We got an apple crisp dish ($6), which was too heavy on the ice cream and granola with little apple to be found. It felt more like granola ice cream than anything else. I'd recommend forgoing desert in favor of a cocktail.

All in all, I liked the playfulness of the menu from the combination of dishes to the tasty and unique flavors. It has options for vegetarians and meat-lovers alike which can sometimes be a challenge to find. Definitely worth the 2 subways and bus that it took me to get there.

Chez Oskar - Fort Greene

Chez Oskar is located in the heart of Fort Greene's restaurant row at 211 DeKalb Avenue. The restaurant is your standard French bistro with a large and appetizing brunch menu - full of brunch classics from eggs benedict to omelets to crepes. If you are looking for a place with reasonably priced brunch classics, this place may easily become your new brunch go-to location.

The restaurant is a bit dark as they typically use sunlight to provide lighting; however, on a dark day, it makes the spot a bit too dark for my liking. Others say that the darkness creates the right amount of ambiance. There is a large bar on one side of the restaurant that provides for a good waiting spot as you typically will wait to sit down. There's also a patio full of outside seating which makes this a very popular spot in the spring, summer, and early fall. The day that we were there, the hostess immediately informed us that their cash registers were down and so the service was going to be extra slow. A fair warning as the service did prove to be exceedingly slow. Our wait staff took 10 to 15 minutes to just take our order.

I settled on Eggs Norwegian - Eggs Benedict with salmon, which comes with potatoes and a small masculine salad (really just lettuce and vinaigrette dressing) for $8.50. The dish was good with a delightful flavors and a good portion of potatoes with rosemary seasoning that was a bit salty for my taste. The eggs themselves were cooked wonderfully and were still warm when I took my first bite. Justin got an omelet with House Cured Salmon, Dill, Capers & Ricotta Cheese for $9. A good combination of flavors but Justin felt the Salmon tasted a bit overcooked. Both dishes tasted as one might expect which makes this a reliable and must-try spot, especially for those who live in the area.