We just got back from our trip to NY to visit our son. He lives in Brooklyn and we have found a great B&B on Park Slope to stay in that is just around the corner from many of the top restaurants in the city. Here's the review of the dining:
Tuesday: Arrived late and tried to dine at Al Di La Trattoria, but they are closed on Monday and Tuesday, so went to a favorite, Peperoncino's. Great Italian trattoria and pizzaria, good food, reasonable prices, good wine list. I had a white fish in an artichoke sauce. Delicious.
Wednesday: Lunch at the Booklyn Museum on Park Slope (great art, fantastic building worth seeing for the architecture, and no crowds.) Dinner at Olea Mediterranean Taverna in the Fort Greene area. Sort of a pan-Mediterranean restaurant, the small plates and tapas were great. We had a great selection then I got the salmon, done with clams. Interesting pairing, and very well done, but not spectacular. The tapas were the best part. After we were seated an accordian player came in and took a chair not far from us and proceeded to play jazz accordian. Ruined the ambiance for me. He was not that good and far too loud for the space. More on that later. By the way, if you are ordering the pasta, the smaller serving is very generous--they say it is appetizer size but it would have made a meal for me, and I like to eat.
Thursday: Walked around Brooklyn Heights and DUMBO with our son, then lunched at Rice. I'd read about it in Edible Brooklyn a few years ago. Simple, affordable, Thai/Vietnamese inspired dishes served with rice. We had some delicious spinach and rice balls in a tomato sauce for appetizer, my son had a Satay, my wife had a Thain Beef Salad, and I had a delicious Chicken Lemongrass, all served with (as befits the name) rice. Actually, you pick the rice you wish and we all had a black Thai rice.
Dinner Thursday was at Miriam's, on 5th Ave in Park Slope. Miriam's is an Israeli restaurant, nice and quiet and very good. I had Kofta Kebab which was simply done, and delicious. Monday through Thursday they were offering half-price bottles of wine, which I think they normally do. We were dining very late so didn't take advantage.
Friday was the disappointment of the trip, and it happend in Manhattan. Our son took us to Otto, one of Mario Batali's restaurants. The food was, I think, quite good, but the restaurant was so noisy that it was impossible to really tell. We did the small plates, and there were some incredible olives recommended by our waiter (unfortunately, I couldn't understand the variety over the pounding rock music). Also had a special, which was air dried pork tenderloin, sliced paper thin. It was superb, but the noise ruined the entire experience as conversation was impossible and the racket so overpowering one could not enjoy the savor of the food. Also, had a delicious bottle of wine, very full bodied, but alas, I don't know the name as, you guessed it, I couldn't hear it over the noise and the lable was so artistic as to be indecipherable. My son had been there several years ago and the ambiance was better.
Tuesday: Arrived late and tried to dine at Al Di La Trattoria, but they are closed on Monday and Tuesday, so went to a favorite, Peperoncino's. Great Italian trattoria and pizzaria, good food, reasonable prices, good wine list. I had a white fish in an artichoke sauce. Delicious.
Wednesday: Lunch at the Booklyn Museum on Park Slope (great art, fantastic building worth seeing for the architecture, and no crowds.) Dinner at Olea Mediterranean Taverna in the Fort Greene area. Sort of a pan-Mediterranean restaurant, the small plates and tapas were great. We had a great selection then I got the salmon, done with clams. Interesting pairing, and very well done, but not spectacular. The tapas were the best part. After we were seated an accordian player came in and took a chair not far from us and proceeded to play jazz accordian. Ruined the ambiance for me. He was not that good and far too loud for the space. More on that later. By the way, if you are ordering the pasta, the smaller serving is very generous--they say it is appetizer size but it would have made a meal for me, and I like to eat.
Thursday: Walked around Brooklyn Heights and DUMBO with our son, then lunched at Rice. I'd read about it in Edible Brooklyn a few years ago. Simple, affordable, Thai/Vietnamese inspired dishes served with rice. We had some delicious spinach and rice balls in a tomato sauce for appetizer, my son had a Satay, my wife had a Thain Beef Salad, and I had a delicious Chicken Lemongrass, all served with (as befits the name) rice. Actually, you pick the rice you wish and we all had a black Thai rice.
Dinner Thursday was at Miriam's, on 5th Ave in Park Slope. Miriam's is an Israeli restaurant, nice and quiet and very good. I had Kofta Kebab which was simply done, and delicious. Monday through Thursday they were offering half-price bottles of wine, which I think they normally do. We were dining very late so didn't take advantage.
Friday was the disappointment of the trip, and it happend in Manhattan. Our son took us to Otto, one of Mario Batali's restaurants. The food was, I think, quite good, but the restaurant was so noisy that it was impossible to really tell. We did the small plates, and there were some incredible olives recommended by our waiter (unfortunately, I couldn't understand the variety over the pounding rock music). Also had a special, which was air dried pork tenderloin, sliced paper thin. It was superb, but the noise ruined the entire experience as conversation was impossible and the racket so overpowering one could not enjoy the savor of the food. Also, had a delicious bottle of wine, very full bodied, but alas, I don't know the name as, you guessed it, I couldn't hear it over the noise and the lable was so artistic as to be indecipherable. My son had been there several years ago and the ambiance was better.
Photo above are the small plates at OTTO. Be thankful I didn't have a sound recorder.
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