Williamsburg: Inventive French-Korean Fusion at Bistro Petit

My wife T was searching for Korean food on Yelp and discovered a really interesting place called Bistro Petit.  It was listed as French and Korean food,  a combination we've never seen before.  Being very intrigued, we read up on it and decided to try it out.

Bistro Petit is a tiny place with no tables inside and about 10 seats at counters.  The chef is a Michelin-star awarded chef named Sung Park.  Mr. Park is quite a character and was very engaging with us.  He even helped us pick our dishes.

T and I started off with the Truffle Mac & Cheese, which is made with three cheeses, bechamel sauce, white truffle oil, black truffle panko and thyme.  This appetizer was delicious!  The pasta was perfectly cooked, the panko crust was nice and crispy but the thing that really set this dish apart was the intoxicating truffle smell.  All I wanted to do was keep smelling the deliciousness of it.  Then we scarfed it down.

Truffle Mac & Cheese ★★★★☆

For entrees, I ordered the Striped Bass special.  The crust was really crispy, made with sesame, cinnamon, curry and mustard.  The fish also included grilled baby bok choi and lentils in a curry muscato broth.  It was an interesting combination and rather sweet for a sauce that goes with fish, but not one that I particularly cared for.

Striped Bass Special ★★☆☆☆

T's entree, luckily, was much better than mine.  She ordered the Kimchi Bouillabaise, which consisted of mussels, scallops, pollack, shrimp, fried tofu, rice gnocchi, konbu, white wine, Korean chili paste and kimchi. The dish came out in a pot brimming with delicious seafood, especially the tender mussels.  The broth was really tasty, just the right amount of spice and kimchi flavor.

Kimchi Bouillabaise ★★★★☆

The food at Bistro Petit is creative and fun, and I would definitely recommend you try out different things on the menu.  I plan to go back one day to try their Cinnamon Beignets.

Greenpoint: Delectable Doughnuts at Peter Pan Donut & Pastry Shop

Yelpers seem to love the doughnuts at Peter Pan Donut & Pastry Shop.  Many apparently feel that these are the best doughnuts in New York City.  I don't agree with them but what I can say is that Peter Pan has a huge selection of doughnuts and they are all good, but not great.

According to Peter Pan's employees, the most popular doughnuts are the red velvet and anything with white cream.  I brought home 6 doughnuts for T and I to try.

We started by tasting the sour cream doughnut, a flavor I have never seen anywhere else.  The texture was cakey and it tasted pretty good but it didn't have any unique flavor.  To me, it tasted like a plain doughnut with some glaze.

Next, we had a piece of the red velvet.  The texture of this doughnut is really nice.  The outside is crisp but the middle is really soft.  This is also kind of a cakey doughnut and was pretty good, but the sweetness of the glaze took a little away from the red velvet flavor.

Next, we tried the honey-dipped.  This was an excellent doughnut - fluffy, tasty, similar to a Krispy Kreme glazed doughnut but bigger.

The toasted coconut has the same softness and fluffiness as the honey glazed and had an excellent toasted coconut topping that is crispy and a little addictive.

Next, we tried the white cream-filled doughnut.  The cream was mildly sweet and very good, kind of like the cream in Italian desserts.

The white cream with red velvet, however, was a bit of a mess  I couldn't really taste the red velvet topping, which increased the size of the doughnut too much and made it difficult to eat.

Sour Cream ★★★☆☆
Red Velvet ★★★★☆
Honey Dipped ★★★★☆
Toasted Coconut ★★★★☆
White Cream Filled ★★★★☆
White Cream with Red Velvet Topping ★★★☆☆

Overall, Peter Pan makes good doughnuts, but none of them are truly delicious.

Prospect Heights: Great Diner Food at Tom's Restaurant

My co-worker recently told me that his favorite place for breakfast was Tom's Restaurant, a small diner in Prospect Heights.  Others apparently feel the same way as there always seems to be long lines on weekend mornings.  T and decided to try it one day to see what the buzz was about.

We weren't really that hungry so we decided to split an order of Crabcakes and Eggs.  The crabcakes were really tasty!  Although they weren't the type of crabcakes where you could see and feel lumps of fresh crab (like the kind you get in a good Maryland crabcake), these were still pretty good.  The chipotle sauce on the crabcakes really gave it a kick and made the dish extremely flavorful.  The sauce also went well with the home fries and eggs.  Can't wait to go back and try Tom's other food!

Crabcakes and Eggs ★★★★☆

Williamsburg: Average Thai Food at Sugar Beets

Woke up craving some Asian food today so T and I headed to Williamsburg for lunch.  We originally wanted to eat pho at a Vietnamese place called Nha Toi, but it wasn't open when we got there.  So we walked around for a little bit and settled on a Thai place called Sugar Beets.  T got pad thai, which she gets at every Thai restaurant (along with other stuff).  The pad thai at Sugar Beets was sweet, but did not have the spice or tom yuminess that I prefer in a pad thai.  It did not taste authentic and is not something I would go back for. 

Pad Thai ★★★☆☆

I wanted to be healthy today so I ordered the Clear Noodle Soup with tofu and vegetables.  When made right, this is one of my favorite soups.  It's one of the things I go for when I want something healthy but comforting.  Sugar Beets' soup, however, lacked any flavor whatsover.  I had to add soy sauce, lemon and chili sauce to make it any good (although it did taste pretty good after I added those).  But still, I hate getting served food that is really bland.

Clear Noodle Soup ★★☆☆☆

Park Slope: Suprisingly Awesome Burger at Soigne Restaurant & Wine Bar

Brooklyn has its own Restaurant Week and it's called Dine In Brooklyn.  T and I decided to try a place that we heard about in Park Slope called Soigne Restaurant & Wine Bar.

Restaurant Week dinners typically include 3 courses.  Prior to our first course, however, we got a nice little surprise, complimentary pastries stuffed with gruyere cheese and onion tarts.  The gruyere-stuffed pastries were okay, a little salty for my taste.  The onion tarts were simple but good.

Gruyere-Stuffed Pastries ★★★☆☆    Onion Tarts ★★★★☆

For our first course, T and I both got the crabcakes.  These were quite tasty.  The mustard in the crabcakes complimented the white balsamic-tomato jam really well.  A thoroughly enjoyable appetizer.

Crab Cakes ★★★★☆

Next up, the main entrees.  I got the seared scallops with corn purée and lobster risotto.  This dish was not very good.  The scallops and corn purée were fine but the risotto tasted like rice and was undercooked.  Overall, not what I was hoping for.

Seared Scallops ★★☆☆☆

T ordered the Soigne Burger.  It was awesome!  Super juicy meat, with tasty cheddar, on a really soft brioche bun and side of extra tasty bacon and onion jam.  Yum!  One of the best burgers I've ever had.  The truffle fries on the side were also really good.  You could really taste the truffly goodness of it.

Soigne Burger ★★★★★   Truffle Fries ★★★★☆

For dessert, I ordered the ricotta cheesecake with blackberries and T got the valrhona chocolate bread pudding.  The ricotta cheesecake was much airier than most cheesecakes but overall it was only okay.  The bread pudding was warm and very chocolatey.  The whipped caramel creme was really nice, and complemented the chocolatey part really well.

Bread Pudding ★★★★☆   Cheesecake ★★★☆☆

Overall, it was fun meal, enjoyable but not fantastic, except for the burger, which was delicious.

Fort Greene: Fun Food Vendors at Brooklyn Flea

A couple of days ago, I read a feature on one of Brooklyn Flea's vendors, Yuji Ramen.  Today, I woke up thinking Ramen would be perfect for lunch.  So my wife T and I headed out around noon to Brooklyn Flea's winter location at 1 Hanson Place, right behind Atlantic Terminal.

Yuji Ramen and most of the food vendors were tucked away in the basement of the building.  Yuji was offering 4 types of ramen:

What's interesting about Yuji Ramen is that there ramen is not in soup.  It is boiled and then put in a bowl without broth and then toppings are added.  I never had ramen that way before so I thought it was worth a try.  I ordered the #2, the Bacon, Egg & Cheese Ramen.

Bacon, Egg & Cheese Ramen ★★★☆☆

The bowl looked pretty but the dish was not that flavorful. I was rather disappointed.

My wife went over to a stand called Cemita's, which specializes in Mexican Sandwiches.

Carnitas Cemita ★★★★★

Her Carnitas Cemita was awesome!  The red and green sauces on the sandwich gave it so much flavor.  It was a combination of spicy, pickly, meaty, cheesy, oniony goodness, the best thing we had at the Flea.

Since I wasn't completely satisfied with my ramen, I went for hot dogs at Asia Dog, a place I'd seen numerous times but never tried.  Asia Dog sells chicken, beef and veggie dogs with all sorts of Asian toppings like kimchi, pork belly, pickled carrots, and Japanese curry.  I ordered two dogs, the Wangding (Chinese BBQ pork belly, cuke, scallions) and The Vinh (pickled carrots, jalapeno, cuke, spicy mayo).

Left: Wangding ★★★☆☆    Right: The Vinh ★★★★★

To be healthy, I ordered chicken-based hot dogs for both instead of the beef.  The Wangding was okay, although the pork belly was a little sweet for my taste.  The Vinh, however, was delicious.  The freshness of the carrots, cuke and cilantro really hits you and with a little bit of sriracha, it gives you a great spicy/pickly combination.

Brooklyn Flea is such a fun place with so many food options.  I try to make it there at least a few times a year.