Flatbush: Excellent Comfort Food at Oxcart Tavern

T and I went to Oxcart Tavern for brunch today and it was great.  T ordered the Banana and Raspberry French Toast.  The bread was perfectly cooked, slightly crispy on the outside and soft and warm in the middle.  The bananas were cooked nicely and layered in between different pieces of bread.  The bananas had a really rich flavor and felt really infused into the toast.  The raspberries on top added a perfect tartness to the toast and bananas and made this one of the best french toasts that I have ever dad.

Banana and Raspberry French Toast ★★★★★

I ordered the Chicken Fried Chicken, which was also really good.  The chicken was nicely fried and flavored.  The gravy on top was flavorful but not too salty.  The biscuit was crisp on the outside and soft on the inside.  But it was the spiced apples that, when combined with the fried chicken and gravy, added the most unique flavor to the dish.  A little sweet, a little tart and a little fruity, the level of flavor added by the spiced apples to the crispy chicken and savory gravy was surprising but the largest reason that the dish tasted so good.

Chicken Fried Chicken ★★★★☆

Oxcart Tavern is a gem.  Everything on the menu is appealing and looks good when served.  One of my favorite neighborhood restaurants,

Red Hook: Sticky Bun Heaven at Home/Made

Thy and I went to a small little cafe/restaurant in Red Hook called Home/Made for brunch recently, where we found possibly the best sticky buns in Brooklyn.

But first, we each ordered a main meal.  T ordered the French Toast.  This was not your ordinary French Toast.  It had a real blend of interesting flavors.  The pears and apples added a strong fruit flavor, the cherries added tartness and the caramel sauce added a little bit of bitterness.  Very creative overall, although it actually could have used some additional sweetness.

French Toast ★★★★☆

I ordered the Wild Mushrooms and Fontina Scramble, which had a nice lightness.  The potatoes were well-seasoned and I liked the texture of the mushrooms mixed in with the eggs.  Overall, the scramble was enjoyable but not spectacular.  I also ordered a side of  Chicken and Apple Sausage, which was very good.  There was an unexpected sweetness to the sausage and great flavor.

Wild Mushrooms and Fontina Scramble ★★★★☆

The best part of this meal, however, was the Sticky Pecan Buns.  We just ordered 1 sticky bun, which came out warm and buttery.  What I really liked about it though was that it was not overly sweet.  The outside is crunchy like a croissant and the raisins add a perfectly simple tartness.  The crunchiness of the outside is due to some slight caramelization and it was just awesome.  The flavor is great, the texture is great, and I don't even know where you can find a sticky bun as good as this one.  This is the type of thing you want to tell all your family and friends about.

Sticky Pecan Buns ★★★★★

Gowanus: Excellent Vietnamese Comfort Food at Nightingale 9

T and I decided to celebrate the New Year with brunch at a new Vietnamese restaurant in Gowanus, Nightingale 9.  We were pretty hungry so we ordered 4 things off their menu.

The first was the Steamed Pork Dumplings.  According to the menu, the dumplings came with a sauce called Kentucky Soy Dipping Sauce.  This turned out to be delicious.  The dumplings themselves were very basic but the sauce was a blend of soy sauce and either lemon or lime I believe, and perhaps other things.  It was really delicious and if you also add some of the homemade spicy fish sauce, homemade sweet fish sauce or homemade hot sauce, you will have experienced a pretty awesome array of flavors.  The sauces are what this a 5 star dish.

Steamed Pork Dumplings ★★★★★

The second thing we got was the Fried Chicken Thigh Banh Mi.  This was pretty good.  The chicken had a nice crispiness and the pickled veggies and fresh cilantro were nice additions.  It wasn't fantastic but it was enjoyable.

Fried Chicken Thigh Banh Mi ★★★★☆

The third thing we got was the Big Classic Breakfast.  This was fantastic.  The dish consisted of two eggs over easy on top of onions, sausage and crispy pate with a side of baguette.  This is one of the most comforting breakfasts I have ever had.  The bread came out warm and was crispy and flaky on the outside.  I made myself a breakfast sandwich and added all the sauces, which were again, delicious.  The sweetness of the onions, the savoriness and saltiness of the sausage, the texture of the pate and the pure deliciousness of the sauces made for a great breakfast.  This is a dish that I crave for.

Big Classic Breakfast ★★★★★

The last thing we got was the Chicken Pho.  This was good too.  The broth had a nice and clean flavor, although not very salty by itself.  When I add in the chili peppers, the fried onions and the lime, it was a nice flavor.  The lime adds a hint of sourness that is different but in a good way.  Again, add the homemade fish sauces and homemade spicy sauce if you want to give the dish extra flavor.

Chicken Pho ★★★★☆

Overall, a very satisfying experience.

Williamsburg: Delicious Cragels at The Bagel Store

The cragel craze has only begun.  Although The Bagel Store started selling cragels in September, cragels have only been really popular for a couple of weeks, when a ton of national and local articles started to come out concerning the 50% bagel, 50% croissant hybrid.  I got up early on this Sunday morning and got to The Bagel Shop right before 8 a.m.  No line!  Perfect!  And tons of cragels on display.  The cragels are medium-sized, not at large as most bagels in NYC, but not small either.  The glaze on the cragels make them look particularly appetizing.

I bought six cragels and took them home to my wife T. Six is the maximum number a customer is allowed to purchase due to the high demand. When I got home, I put a couple of cragels in the oven to warm them up, which was such a good idea because they came out warm and still crispy on the outside.

T and I then sat down for our first taste.  It was so ridiculously delicious!  The outside maintains the crispness of a good NYC bagel and the glaze on the cragel gives it a beautiful sweetness.  The middle is soft and warm and twists apart like a croissant.  I had bought a few cream cheeses to spread on, but after the first bite, we knew we wouldn't need to use any of them.  The cragels were perfect without anything on them.  They remind me a little of an Auntie Anne pretzel.  They were sweet, not donut sweet, but sweet enough that adding something like a strawberry or blueberry cream cheese would not really add anything and sweet enough to overpower most savory cream cheeses.

Cragels ★★★★★

It is hard to describe how good these are.  I plan to go back many, many times for The Bael Store's cragels.  They are one of the best things I have ever eaten.

Park Slope: Tasty Mediterranean Brunch at Miriam

T and I were out running errands on a Saturday afternoon and decided to try Miriam, an Israeli restaurant in Park Slope that gets great reviews on Yelp.  We started off with some hummus, which came with some hot fluffy pita bread.  I really enjoyed the thickness of the hummus and the chick pea flavor really came through. Not too much extra flavoring, just pure chick pea flavor.

Hummus ★★★★☆

For my entree, I ordered the Mediterranean Crispy Dough, which came with scrambled eggs, pickles and two fantastic sauces, a really fresh tomato puree and spicy harissa sauce.  I also ordered a side of Merguez Sausage.  This dish was fantastic.  The dough reminded me of a Chinese scallion pancake, but it was the sauces that really made this dish.  The tomato puree is really simple but so light and fresh-tasting.  The spicy harissa was one of the best-tasting hot sauces I've ever had.  The two sauces combined on top of the savory scrambled eggs and the crispy dough created a perfect combination of brunch flavors.  The pickles, which were not too sour, and the extra-meaty and grisly sausage also complemented everything else really well.  I would go back for this dish again.

Mediterranean Crispy Dough ★★★★★

For her entree, T ordered the Burekas brunch platter.  Burekas are pastry-like things that are made of phyllo dough.  Miriam's version is stuffed with feta cheese and olives. The dough was excellent.  The stuffing was very creamy and full of olive flavor.  If you like feta cheese, you'd probably really like this.  The labneh cheese has the look and feel of cream cheese, so it's very rich.  The Israeli salad and eggs were okay, although the green tahini sauce didn't have that much flavor.  This dish overall was okay, a little heavy with all the chease, and not nearly as much flavor as my entree, although a side of spicy harissa sauce would have probably amped up the flavor of this and any other dish.
 

Burekas Brunch Platter ★★★★☆

Overall, Miriam has pretty good food and is a nice twist on a traditional brunch.  The Mediterranean Crispy Dough was sublime and lots of other things looked good as well.  I would definitely go back and try some of their other brunch items.