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.

Park Slope: Crispy Tater Tot Nachos at Pork Slope

T and I stopped into Pork Slope for a snack on a recent Saturday as we were running errands in the Park Slope neighborhood.  We weren't that hungry so we just ordered the Irish Nachos appetizer, which consisted of chili, jalapenos, cheddar, tomatoes, onions, and tater tots instead of tortilla chips.  This dish is comforty goodness.  It had a rich, spicy, meaty flavor and the tater tots stayed remarkably crispy.  An excellent snack or appetizer.

Irish Nachos
★★★★☆

Gowanus: Tender and Moist Fried Chicken at Seersucker

T and I went out for dinner recently at Seersucker, a restaurant in Gowanus that specializes in southern food

We started out with the Biscuit Box.  These were very tasty.  The biscuits are soft and warm.  The molasses butter is really nice, like peanut butter but thinner and not as sweet.  The jams were great too.  I preferred the peach which was not as sweet as the blueberry, but both were good.

Biscuit Box ★★★★☆

T ordered the Country Fried Steak as her main entree.  The sauce, a tomato pesto cream gravy, was pretty good but unfortunately, the steak was overcooked and tough.

Country Fried Steak ★★★☆☆

T's entree also came with a side of Mac 'n' Cheese, which was pretty good.  It was creamy, soft and truly comforting.  The crust is nice and crisp, and the shells were soft and gooey, due to the super hot cheese.

Mac 'n' Cheese ★★★★☆

For my entree, I ordered the Fried Chicken, which came with baby carrots, yukon potato puree, and a sweet onion-bourbon gravy.  The Fried Chicken is Seersucker's signature dish and they do it really well.  The chicken was delicious.  I was a little surprised that it was boneless.  But the crust was well-seasoned and the meat was so tender and moist.  The gravy was also really tasty.  The sweetness of the gravy went particularly well with the potato puree.

Fried Chicken ★★★★★

Overall, Seersucker has some pretty good food, especially if you're in the mood for fried chicken.

Flatbush: Delicious Filipino Desserts at Purple Yam

T and I went to a Filipino place for dinner recently that is right around the corner from us.  It is called Purple Yam and some of my Filipino friends from New Jersey said that they travel all the way out to Brooklyn to eat there.

These are the dishes we ate:

Lumpia Shanghai.  Purple Yam's Lumpia Shanghai are deep-fried spring rolls stuffed with pork, mushrooms, carrots, and jicama and served with a sweet-sour pineapple dipping sauce.  There was a nice meatiness to these spring rolls.  The sourness of the pineapple sauce was a bit of a shock but the sauce, combined with the fresh carrots and daikon, made the dish quite distinctive and rather refreshing for a fried spring roll.

Lumpia Shanghai ★★★★☆

Tocino Sliders.  This was a great blend of meat, fruit, vegetables and bread.  The sugar-achuete cured pork blended was tender and meaty.  The sweetness of the cantaloupe and the crunchiness of the cucumber and jicama made the sliders surprisingly fresh, and the sweet, soft bread just added to the contrasting textures and flavors.  A nice appetizer.
 

Tocino Sliders ★★★★☆

Chicken Adobo.  Purple Yam's Chicken Adobo is delicious.  The chicken was soft and tender but it was the sauce that really makes the dish distinctive.  At first, the sourness of the sauce is shocking, but we could not stop pouring it on our rice.  The sauce is actually pretty simple, just vinegar, soy sauce and garlic.  But by the end, we had smothered as much sauce as we could on the rice and devoured it.  Yum!

Chicken Adobo ★★★★☆

Halo Halo.  Purple Yam's halo halo is an ice dessert with sweet beans, palm seed, cocogel, agar agar, coconut sport, jackfruit topped with flan and purple yam ice cream.  This is absolutely the best dessert I have had all summer!  This halo halo was so unbelievably refreshing.  The combination of ice, fruit, and sweet, gummy jelly things was a nice blend of textures of flavors.  But it was the ice cream that set this dessert apart.  Purple Yam makes its own ice creams and their purple yam flavor is fantastic.  It's creamy, earthy, sweet, but not too sweet, and blends so well with all of the other parts of the dessert.  It's a must have every time we go to Purple Yam.

Halo Halo ★★★★★

8/19/13 UPDATE:

Went back to Purple Yam for Sunday brunch with T and a friend from Boston.  This is what we ate:

Beef Tapa with Garlic Fried Rice and Eggs.  Beef tapa is air-dried beef.  It has an interesting texture. A little drier than stir-fried beef, Purple Yam's version was sweet and chewy.  It was pretty tasty and with the eggs and rice, made for a nice brunch dish.

Beef Tapa with Garlic Fried Rice and Eggs ★★★★☆

Pan-Fried Beet and Corn Wontons.  Never had beet and corn wontons before.  These were slightly sweet with a soft, mushy interior.  Couldn't really taste the corn.  A creative wonton, but not terribly tasty.

Pan-Fried Beet and Corn Wontons ★★★☆☆

Buko Pie with Macapuno Ice Cream.  Buko Pie is made with young coconut.  It is similar to a coconut cream pie but made with young coconut that is tougher and firmer.  The filling is also not as creamy since there is no cream in it.  Purple Yam's Buko Pie was warm, soft and tasty.  The coconut pieces were bigger than I expected and didn't add that much.  The Macapuno Ice Cream though is a type of coconut ice cream and complemented the pie nicely.  A nice dessert. 

Buko Pie with Macapuno Ice Cream ★★★★☆

Mango Tart with Mango Ice Cream.  Fantastic! This was not what I expected when I ordered the Mango Tart but this was totally awesome.  The filling is warm, soft delicious mango.  The pastry is thin and soft but topped with a layer of crisp, caramelized sugar.  The ice cream, which is homemade, was also really good.  Everything about this dessert was perfect!

Mango Tart with Mango Ice Cream ★★★★★

 Purple Yam's food is fun, original and tasty.  Good food overall, with delicious desserts.

Williamsburg: Sweet and Savory Ribs at Traif

T and I recently decided to go out for a nice dinner in Williamsburg.  We decided to try Traif, a place that gets great reviews on Yelp.  The dishes at Traif are small, kind of like Tapas, but with American food.

Here are the dishes we ate:

Cheese Platter.  This was just okay.  The blue cheese was good but the two soft cheeses didn't have much flavor.

Cheese Platter ★★★☆☆

Strawberry-Cinnamon Glazed Berkshire Baby Back Ribs.  This was the best thing we ate.  The sauce on the ribs is great.  You can pick the meat right off the bone.  The meat has a slight crispness on the outside but is really tender on the inside.

Strawberry-Cinnamon Glazed Berkshire Baby Back Ribs ★★★★★

Seared Dayboat Scallops, Snap & English Pea Risotto, Caper-Tomato-Lemon Brown Butter.  The scallops were nicely seared, the risotto complemented the scallops nicely and the caper-tomato-lemon brown butter gave the dish a refreshing hint of sourness.

Scallops ★★★★☆

Tomatoes and Creamed Corn.  This dish was a really nice blend of sour and sweet, hot and cold, and with a slight hint of sourness.

Tomateos and Creamed Corn ★★★★☆

Sauteed Broccoli Rabe, Portabello Mushrooms, Truffle Toast, Fried Egg, Aged Asiago.   A really good dish.  The toast and the egg make you think of breakfast, the mushrooms were really good, the broccoli rabe gave the dish that nice leafy, slightly bitter flavor and the gravy-like sauce added a touch of creaminess to the dish.  I really enjoyed this dish.

Sauteed Broccoli Rabe, Portabello Mushrooms, Truffle Toast, Fried Egg, Aged Asiago ★★★★☆

BBQ Braised Short Rib Sliders, Sweet Potato Fries, Smoked Paprika Aioli. The short ribs had a nice kick although they were a little mushy.  The sweet potato fries were crispy and delicious and tasted even better when dipped in the creamy paprika aioli.

Short Rib Sliders ★★★★☆

Bacon Doughnuts and Coffee Ice Cream.  The doughnuts themselves were sweet and fluffy.  The bacon crumble topping, on the other hand, was salty and crunchy.  They proved a nice contrast to each other, as did the ice cream, which had a really really strong coffee flavor.  All in all, a really interesting blend of flavors that worked well together.

Bacon Doughnuts and Coffee Ice Cream ★★★★☆

 A meal at Traif is a really fun and tasty experience.  The standout is the Strawberry-Cinnamon Glazed Baby Back Ribs, but Traif has many other tasty and fun dishes too.

Fort Greene: Tasty Cronuts at Le Petit Bakery

I was so looking forward to trying my very first cronut ever.  But there was no way I was waiting in line for hours at Dominique Ansell's bakery in Manhattan.  Luckily, Le Petit Bakery is the first place in Brooklyn to come out with their very own version of the cronut.  So I drove out early on a Saturday morning to get some.  I was so happy that there was no line at all.

On this day, Le Petit Bakery was selling three types of cronuts (they call them Squats): Vanilla Sprinkle, Chocolate Bacon and Lemon Meringue.  I got two of each.

My Box of Squats

Vanilla Sprinkle.  Very tasty.  The cronut is stuffed with vanilla pudding, which is a surprise when you first bite into it.  The pudding is very tasty though and right away gives this treat a distinctive texture and flavor.  The pudding flavor kind of bursts in your mouth.  The only problem though is that the cronut is way too greasy, enough that it might turn off some folks.

 

Vanilla Sprinkle Squat ★★★★☆

Chocolate Bacon.  Like the Vanilla Sprinkle, the Chocolate Bacon filling tastes like pudding.  But this is certainly outstanding chocolate pudding!  The chocolate flavor just bursts into your mouth!  It is both creamy and refreshing.  The crunchy bacon topping and sweet icing contrast nicely with the creamy chocolate filling.  Again, the cronut is way too greasy but this is still an excellent treat.

Chocolate Bacon Squat ★★★★☆

Lemon Meringue.  This cronut is quite different from the other two.  The filling is just like the filling in a lemon meringue pie.  What I really like about this cronut is that Le Petit Bakery didn't hold back on the sour.  The filling is really tart and delicious and is a nice alternative to the other cronuts on the menu, which tend to be on the sweeter side.

Lemon Meringue Squat ★★★★☆

Overall, the cronuts at Le Petit Bakery are really tasty and full of flavor.  The only thing I would suggest is to try to make them less greasy.

Park Slope: Inventive Ice Cream and Sorbet at SkyIce

Recently, we stumbled upon a small place in Park Slope that serves a few Thai dishes, ice cream and sorbets.  The ice creams and sorbets looked particularly good, and there were a variety of unique flavors, so we opted just for dessert.

SkyIce offers ice cream sampler platters, which is perfect if you want to try a lot of different flavors.  T and I decided to each get a sampler.  Mine consisted of:  Mangosteen, Cucumber Lime,
Watermelon, Thai Tea, and Lychee Rose.  The Mangosteen sorbet was only okay.  It was very light and not too flavorful.  The Cucumber Lime sorbet was very good.  The cucumber gives it a surprising freshness.  The Watermelon sorbet was also really good.  I was surprised at what an authentic watermelon flavor it had.  The two standouts though were the Lychee Rose sorbet and the Thai Tea ice cream.  Both were delicious.  The Lychee Rose is very sweet and has a remarkably strong lychee flavor.  The Thai Tea is an ice cream that is simply fantastic.  The ice cream captured the flavor of Thai Iced Tea so perfectly that I just had to buy a pint to take home with me.

Left to Right:
Mangosteen ★★★☆☆
Watermelon ★★★★☆
Cucumber Lime ★★★★☆
Lychee Rose ★★★★★
Thai Tea ★★★★★

T's platter consisted of: Rasberry Cilantro, Roasted Thai Coconut, Lychee Rose, Black Sesame Seaweed and Durian.  The Rasberry Cilantro was okay, but the cilantro flavor was too strong.  Similarly, I didn't care for the seaweed flavor in the Black Sesame Seaweed.  The Roasted Thai Coconut  was better, with a really nice coconut flavor.  I didn't taste the Durian because I hate Durian, but T said that it was delicious and really tasted like Durian.
 

Left to Right:
Rasberry Cilantro ★★★☆☆
Lychee Rose ★★★★★
Black Sesame Seaweed ★★★☆☆
Roasted Thai Coconut ★★★★☆
Durian ★★★★★

All in all, SkyIce has some real gems like the Thai Tea and Lychee and, if you like Durian, T says this is the best Durian Ice Cream she has had.  We are definitely coming back.

Prospect Heights: Surprisingly Burnt Pizza at Franny's

One of the most talked about pizzas in Brooklyn is Franny's clam pizza.  I love clam pizza, ever since I had it at a place in Boston called Fig's.  So for my birthday, T and I decided to see what all the buzz was about.

Franny's has a bunch of eclectic appetizers and we decided to start off with two of them before diving into the pizza.  First, we ordered the Buffalo Mozzarella with Peas, Mint and Pine Nuts.  This app was excellent.  The olive oil is really good and the peas and pine nuts add nice flavor to the extremely soft and tender mozzarella.

Buffalo Mozzarella with Peas, Mint and Pine Nuts ★★★★☆

The second appetizer we ordered was the Wood Roasted Sunchokes with Almonds and Pecorino Ginepro.  This was also an excellent app.  The dish was lemony, with a nice mix of textures.  The crunchy sunchokes mix nicely with the soft roasted potatoes, little bits of cheese, crunchy almonds and crispy spring onions.

Wood Roasted Sunchokes with Almonds and Pecorino Ginepro ★★★★☆

Unfortunately, the apps were the best part of the meal.  T and I decided to split the Clam Pie.  We expected it to be great but unfortunately it was just bad.  First, it was burnt.  Normally, I don't mind if my pizza is a little burnt, but this one was just too much.  You could taste the burntness in every bite, which really ruined the pizza for us.  Second, the flavor of the pie just wasn't that good.  The clam sauce that is on the pie had kind of a funny taste and was mostly dried out from overcooking.  Third, the pizza was really small and I felt like I was done after a few bites.  All in all, thoroughly disappointing.

Pizza with Clams, Chilies and Parsley ★★☆☆☆

Bay Ridge: Divine Eggplant Napolean at Tanoreen

Tanoreen is what I consider a Middle Eastern/Mediterranean hybrid restaurant.  It has a very wide selection of appetizers and entrees.  The fare is varied, from light vegetarian fare to heavy cuts of meat and savory seafood.  On our first trip to Tanoreen, T and I decided to start off with a couple of appetizers.

First, we started off with a little hummus. Tanoreen's hummus is very distinctive.  It has a strong lemony flavor and is creamy and delicious.  I highly recommend it.

Hummus ★★★★★

Second, we ordered the Eggplant Napolean, which gets rave reviews on Yelp.  And now I know why.  It is delicious!  The Eggplant Napolean is crispy breaded eggplant layered with baba ghanouge and served with hummus and a tomato basil salad.  The textures are perfect.  When you bite into it, the juicy eggplant bursts from its crispy shell and the creamy hummus in the middle mixes perfectly with the tomato basil salad and baba ghanouge.  This is one incredible dish, something that is a must-have everytime anyone goes to Tanoreen.

Eggplant Napolean ★★★★★

Now, on to the entrees.  T ordered the Grilled Combo, which is platter of grilled chicken, grilled lamb and lamb sausage.  The chicken was delicious, which a great lemony flavor.  The grilled lamb, however, was kind of gamey and the ground lamb had a very strong but unusual flavor that I could not quite pinpoint.  Overall, I didn't really enjoy this dish.

Grilled Combo ★★★☆☆

I ordered a dish called Leaves, which consisted of shredded chicken and a green leafy vegetable (I'm not sure which vegetable it was).  This dish was not very flavorful and I probably would not get it again.

Leaves ★★★☆☆

Lastly, we decided to order dessert because we heard so much about Tanoreen's Knafeh.  This did not disappoint.  In fact, it is one of the most unusually delicious desserts I have ever had.  The outside is a phyllo dough that has the texture of shredded wheat.  The dessert is served warm and the inside is filled with two types of sweet white cheeses that ooze out of the middle.  The cheese sort of has the consistency of mozzarella.  The whole thing is drizzled with rosewater syrup and topped with crumbled pistachios.  A truly outstanding dessert that you must try!

Knafeh ★★★★★

Overally, Tanoreen had really delicious appetizers and an exquisite dessert.  The entrees, however, did not impress.  Since the apps and dessert were so good though, we plan to come back and see if there are some entrees that would make a completely superb meal.

Williamsburg: Pretty Good Brisket at Smorgasburg

Went to Smorgasburg today for the first time this summer.  The new location is nice and big and there seem to be a whole bunch of new vendors.   I only had time for a quick bite though so I decided to try Lonestar Empire, a vendor that specializes in one thing, Texas style brisket sandwiches.

The Low Smoked Texas Style Brisket Sandwich is really tiny, more like a slider.  The meat is tender but not that tasty by itself.  When you add the sweet pickles, jalapenos and onions, however, the sandwich actually becomes pretty good.  It is a nice mix of sweet and spicy and the veggies are very crunchy, giving the sandwich a nice mix of textures.  The Texas Style Mustard Potato Salad is a nice side and has tons of flavor.  It is a little sour, somewhat spicy and very tangy.  It wasn't my favorite but definitely had a lot of flavor.

Brisket Sandwich from Lonestar Empire ★★★★☆
Texas Style Mustard Potato Salad ★★★☆☆

Brooklyn Food Sentinal Rating System

T and I want our readers to know, when they go somewhere to eat, not just what our favorite restaurants are but the exact dishes we love.  To that end we developed the following rating system:

★★★★★  Awesomely Delicious
★★★★☆  Enjoyably Tasty
★★★☆☆  Just Okay
★★☆☆☆  Not Good
★☆☆☆☆  Awful

Williamsburg: Tasty Comfort Food at Dumont

T and I really like tasty, juicy hamburgers.  I had read about the burger at Dumont, which some had said was among the best in the country.  So when my sister-in-law and nephew came for a visit recently, we decided to head to Dumont for lunch.

We started off with an bowl of little doughnuts as an appetizer.  The doughnuts were nice and warm, small like munchkins and sprinkled with a little sugar.  Compared to other doughnuts, these were not very sweet.  They were also kind of chewy, not fluffy at all.  The doughnuts had a simply doughy flavor with a subtle sweetness.  Not bad, but unlike most other doughnuts.

Doughnuts ★★★☆☆

Now, on to the entrees.  T had the Mac 'n' Cheese and it was excellent.  The crusty top was the best part.  It was so perfectly crispy and covered the steaming pasta and cheese perfectly.  The thick pieces of diced bacon contrasted nicely with the creamy pasta and overall, the dish was quite tasty.  If you're at Dumont, I would recommend getting the Mac 'n' Cheese.

Mac and Cheese ★★★★☆

My nephew ordered the Hanger Steak.  This was only okay.  Didn't love the flavor.

Hanger Steak ★★★☆☆

I ordered the Burger with Bacon and Gruyere Cheese.  I was really looking forward to it as it looked so good.  The patty was big and round and the fresh veggies on the side looked really appetizing.  Unfortunately, the Burger did not meet my expectations.  It was really tender, which was nice, but the flavor just wasn't that great.  I would even say it was bland.  Oh well, too bad.  The garlic parmesan fries, at least, were really tasty.

Burger with Bacon and Gruyere Cheese ★★★☆☆

The best thing that we ate was what my sister ordered, the Pork Tacos.  These were barely recognizable as tacos but if you can put aside your notions of what a taco should be, this dish was great.  The pork was tremendously juicy, tender and flavorful.  Adding the guacamole to the top of each taco added a nice level of creaminess and flavor as well.  I don't really consider this a real taco, as there were hardly any veggies on it and no salsa, but the meat was so delicious that I just had to give this dish 5 stars.

Pork Tacos ★★★★★

Overall, Dumont has pretty good food.  To me though, the Mac 'n' Cheese and the Pork Tacos were the standouts.