Pricing: Not Cheap
Venue: Sit Down
Cuisine: American, Pizza
Favorite Dish(es): The Beast Master ($17)

For our anniversary we wanted to go somewhere low-key and unpretentious, instead of doing a fancy reservation-only spot. Upon recommendation from my friend (and new daddy) David, a true man about the town, we trekked over to the far industrial reaches of Bushwick for Roberta’s Pizza. This is no ordinary New York brick-oven pizza joint by any means (go to Lombardi’s, John’s or Grimaldi’s for that). Their ingredients are unconventional, super fresh, and many are grown right on the premises in their cool little DIY greenhouse out back. The service is better than top notch – you’re bound to learn a thing or two. Roberta’s is a really special place – almost magical if you will. You should make sure to add to your must-go list.

Let’s get right down to the pizza. The crust is simply amazing. It’s super light and crispy on the outside with big bubbles (for those who love them), and chewy and tender on the inside. It almost has the consistency of a super light naan (the Indian tandoori-oven baked bread). The ingredients are right on par with the crust in their quality, using really fresh mozzarella and just the right amount of ripe tomato sauce. Their toppings are the real star. The “Specken Wolf”, one of their trademark pizzas, features Speck, a salty, smoky ham originating from Austria and Italy, sliced super thin and accompanied by mushrooms, oregano, onions, and mozzarella. The “Beastmaster”, our favorite, is a monster of a pizza combining seven toppings: tomato, mozzarella, gorgonzola, capers, onions, Berkshire pork sausage, and jalapenos. It’s a flavor rollercoaster ride of salty, savory, sour, and sweet that puts any “Supreme” pizza to shame. The other pizzas also have a good combination of toppings, and we’re definitely aiming to try each and every one.

Shpecken ze Wolfen?

You can't Master this Beast at the Hut.

It’s also worth mentioning that we started off with a homemade pasta dish that we shared as an appetizer. “Orechiette (little ear-shaped pasta) with braised oxtail and parmagiano”. It had good flavor and was seasoned well, but the portion was a bit on the tiny size, even for one person, so it’s definitely only fit as an appetizer. In retrospect we could have done without the pasta and just ordered more pizza – which we ended up doing in the middle of the meal. We split 3 pizzas between the two of us, with 2 slices left over for a midnight snack.

Roberta’s is more than just a pizza spot, with a warm inviting ambiance, and plenty of areas to lounge. The interior is super low-brow, decorated in a homey way with a hodge-podge of random trinkets and little bits of artwork. There’s a decent size bar area for people waiting for takeout orders. The backyard is a special spot, with a cozy fireplace with another bar that serves warm mulled (spiced wine) during cold weather. There’s even a small local internet radio station that shares part of the patio, and the greenhouse is built directly on top of their room, that you can walk up to and check out. Roberta’s is like a Romper Room for big kids to hang out at for hours on end. Brooklynites in the area should consider themselves truly lucky.

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1.  Bouchon Bakery at Columbus Circle has some devilishly tasty-sounding specialty items this season.

• Bat TKO’s – A Bouchon Bakery Halloween favorite; crisp, bat-shaped chocolate cookies filled with sweet white chocolate ganache; $2.75 each
• Pumpkin Cupcake – These decadent devils food cupcakes are shaped as a pumpkin, complete with a rich, cream cheese center and finished with fondant; $4.50 each (see pic below)
• Spider Cookies – Homemade shortbread cookies festively decorated with fondant; $3.25 each
• Pumpkin Brittle – This classic brittle is fused with pumpkin seeds to highlight the flavors of the season; $5.75 per bag
• Caramel Apple – fresh, crisp apple smothered in house made caramel; $7.50 each

Check out these decked out pumpkin cupcakes. I can just imagine how sweet and buttery that fondant frosting must be...

…and….

2.  Cafe Du Soleil on the Upper West Side is holding a costume party dinner with a $24.95 Prix Fixe menu and $50 to the best costume.  Click the flyer image below to make reservations on their website.

This soiree looks sinful...

Homemade apple butter (applesauce reduced to a jam), cottage cheese, and butter

Looks like cole slaw, but they call it Pepper Slaw since it has no mayo and has chopped green peppers. Sweet and tangy.

Can't beat fresh squeezed lemonade on a hot summer day!

The main attraction - FRIED CHICKEN! Crispy, crunchy, organic, hormone-free and fresh from the farm across the street... Best we've ever had.

There's also other dishes that they change on the menu from time to time, from roast beef to a sweet ham meatloaf, and plenty of sides including mashed potatoes, egg noodles, and corn... but in our opinion, you can't beat the chicken.

After the meal comes a selection of desserts including fresh, organic, ice cold chocolate milk and chocolate ice cream made from the same milk. Both are creamy with a clean chocolate flavor, not artificial or chemical tasting.

Some lemon crumb pie to finish it off. Totally unnecessary, but still good. They regularly change up their dessert selection depending on the fruit in season.

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Pricing: Not Cheap
Venue: Sit Down
Cuisine: BBQ
Favorite Dish(es): Wango Tango Chicken Wings (appetizer), Sweetheart Deal Ribs for Two ($27.95)

In a city where almost anything is readily available (for a price), a real down-and-dirty BBQ joint is actually very hard to find. There are a few spots worth mentioning that do a proper ‘cue, but they mostly specialize in Cajun / Soul Food, which tend to focus more on a secret fried chicken recipe than BBQ. Not here. This place does ribs – the real deal, smoky, finger-suckin’, crispy and juicy ribs. There’s also some BBQ chicken, pork, appetizers, and burgers, but you won’t see too many people ordering anything but ribs here. Dinosaur’s ribs are seasoned with a dry rub and slow-cooked instead of being basted in a wet BBQ sauce. This yields a crispy and zesty bark, which is perfect for dredging in a generous pool of their trademark BBQ sauce. Their bottled sauce, btw, is a mighty fine, smoky, vinegary, slightly sweet, and sassy sauce. These spare ribs are super flavorful and are about as good as anything you’ll ever get this far north of the Mason-Dixon.

Make Reservations! Be warned that the crowds flock here on the weekends, hungry for grilled meats, and the wait can get up to two hours anytime after 6 PM. Your best bet is to make a reservation well in advance, or make the trek out to the west side for lunch. The bright side is that bar and outdoor seating is first-come-first-serve, and the dining room is super spacious and accommodates big groups. Even with a reservation you’ll probably have to wait a bit at the bar, so make sure your guests come thirsty.

country atmosphere in a concrete jungle

serious about beer

note, it's not Southern, it's a "rib joint".

Wango tango wings are worth getting your fingers dirty

ribs for two, the Sweetheart Deal for $27.95

the magic is in the rub...

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Pricing:Cheap
Venue: Sit Down
Cuisine: Chinese, Dim Sum
Favorite Dish(es): Steamed shrimp rolls, Crystal Shrimp Dumplings, BBQ Pork Buns

Lately we’ve been on a dim sum streak. It’s the ultimate recession meal plan.  As mentioned in our previous dim sum posts, we’re usually too lazy (and hungry) to get up and make it all the way down to Chinatown before the big rush on the weekends. However, this one time we had early afternoon plans in the area and Dim Sum fit perfectly into the schedule, so we set out to check out Chatham Sq Restaurant, at the corner of Mott and Chatham Square (across from Dim Sum Go Go).  It’s a much smaller place than the main Dim Sum bastions (Jing Fong and Golden Unicorn), but is just as busy as the larger restaurants with equally high turnover, making it good for small groups and impatient (redundant) New Yorkers.

THE GOOD

The star of the show. Steamed shrimp rice crepe/rolls. Nothing fancy here, just a great crepe skin and fresh shrimp.

Fresh, perfectly steamed crystal shrimp dumplings. Some of the best we've had in Chinatown.

Steamed Char Siu Bao, or BBQ Pork Buns. Sure, you can get these almost anywhere in Chinatown, but these were served fresh and hot, with a very tasty BBQ pork filling. We saved one for the road as dessert.

THE NOT SO GOOD

We were in a rush and didn’t feel very adventurous, so we made a few bad judgment calls trying to play it safe.  Next time, we’re just going to order what the old grannies at the other tables are ordering.

Here are some of the other less notable dishes we encountered:

These are supposed to be Shao Long Bao, but were small, wrinkled, and overcooked with no soup.

Some sort of firm, flavorless fishcake. Not horrible, but a waste of space.

They looked nice, but were super doughey on the inside, like they were filled with extra dumpling skin. All dump, no ling.

All in all, the bill for two (very stuffed) people came out to less than $22.  Well worth waking up a little early on the weekend to do brunch the Chinatown way.

Pricing: Cheap
Venue: Sit Down
Cuisine: Chinese, Dim Sum
Favorite Dish(es): Steamed Rice Rolls w/ Shrimp $4.95, Steamed Chive & Shrimp Dumplings $4.95, Turnip Cakes $4.95

Jing Fong is a huge restaurant with a flagship restaurant in China, with a full course menu catering to large groups and wedding banquets. This is one of the biggest and most well-known dim sum establishments in Chinatown that pretty much defines the weekend dim sum experience. But we’re too lazy to get downtown on the weekend before noon, so we opted to check out their “Dim Sum On-Demand” during the week after work. It may sound like a new service from your local cable tv provider, but it’s basically just a few of their favorite most popular dim sum dishes available any time. It’s definitely worth your while to wake up early one weekend to sample their entire selection at their peak freshness, and experience NYC Chinatown dim sum at its best. For convenience, you definitely sacrifice freshness, but it’s still good enough for those midweek cravings of shrimp rice rolls. Worth a visit.

Dim Sum On-Demand, order by picture.

Classy banquet style decor, karaoke performers during special events.

Dim Sum Go Go
5 E Broadway, between Catherine St and Chatham Sq
(212) 732-0797

Pricing: Not Cheap
Venue: Sit Down
Cuisine: Chinese, Dim Sum
Favorite Dish(es): Steamed Rice Rolls w/ Shrimp $4.95, Steamed Chive & Shrimp Dumplings $4.95, Turnip Cakes $4.95

No, this isn’t a place for takeout dim sum, which would probably be a bad idea anyway. It is, however, a cool little spot at the edge of Chinatown where you can get dim sum whenever you want it, if you wake up late on the weekends (like we do) and miss the early morning brouhaha at the larger dim sum establishments such as Jing Fong or Golden Unicorn. You’ll find some of the more popular dim sum dishes including an assortment of steamed dumplings, turnip cakes, sticky rice, fried dough balls, and steamed rice crepe rolls, but they also have a full dinner menu as well. The dim sum is still the main attraction here. The dishes are prepared fresh and come out steaming hot, unlike most other places, and you pencil in your own order on a little crib sheet as soon as you sit down. The only drawback is that their dim sum is a bit more expensive than other traditional dim sum places, but if quality and convenience matter to you, then you get what you pay for. Make sure to get there before 4 PM if you’re going to order the Steamed Shrimp Rice Rolls, the crepe-like dish with sweetened soy sauce on top. As you can see from the pics below, we missed them this round.

Soybean snacks, pungent sweet and sour sauces, spicy dried pork sauce

Turnip Cakes

Chive & Shrimp Dumplings

Crab Dumplings

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Imperial Palace
136-13 37th Ave
Flushing, NY 11354
(718) 939-3501

Pricing: Not Cheap
Venue: Sit Down
Cuisine: Chinese
Favorite Dish(es): Pork Ribs in Black Bean Sauce Sizzling Rice Casserole ($11), Sauteed Dried Squid with Vegetable, Mixed Seafood Dish

To be honest, we only came to this place because Joe’s Shanghai was too packed (even in Queens), and it was right next door. We’re sure glad we did. The menu features a lot of seafood dishes you won’t find in Manhattan, let alone in most Chinese restaurants we’ve been to. This place’s specialty is a steamed sticky rice dish with lobster or crab, served in a huge bamboo steamer that serves a family of four. We opted for the smaller sizzling rice casserole dish with tasty little pork rib tips in black bean sauce. We also had a perfectly cooked squid dish with a green chive-like vegetable that we’ve never had before but was tasty and had a very interesting texture. To finish, they usually give you a plate of canned lychees and pineapple, but this time we also got a cup of red bean porridge, which is usually served on special occasions like Lunar New Year. The food here is clean, flavorful, and comes out fast. This restaurant is well worth the trip to Main Street Flushing. On the weekends, you can take the LIRR CityTicket for $6.50 roundtrip and get there in under 20 minutes.

Sauteed Squid w/ String Beans

Pork Ribs w/ Black Bean Sauce Rice Casserole

Red Bean Porridge

Carmine’s
200 W 44th St, between 7th and 8th Aves
2450 Broadway, between 90th & 91 Sts (2nd location)
(212) 221-3800

Pricing: Not Cheap
Venue: Sit Down
Cuisine: Italian
Favorite Dish(es): Spaghetti with Bolognese Sauce ($26.50), Fried Calamari (appetizer, $28), Peppers and Onions (side dish, $14), Chocolate Torta (dessert, $11.50)

This place is another NYC tradition. Italian food served family style. That means HUGE plates. The serving sizes for all of their dishes are enough for four or even six people, which is why everything is over $20 a plate. The food has a very home-cooked flavor, not too rich, salty, or greasy like fancier restaurants. The menu includes a long list of pastas, meat dishes, appetizers, salads, and side dishes to accommodate anyone in your party, and there are plenty of large tables for big groups. It gets crowded during weekends from all the tourists, so make reservations and be sure to come hungry. You’ll still be bringing home leftovers.

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