Catching a wave at Brighton Beach

Brooklyn revealed some great surprises today.  I had pretty low expectations.  Firstly it was hot: in the mid 90s.  The kids had been up and down through the night and Advil had been administered.  Nobody wanted to eat anything in the morning.  And since we didn't have enough space in the car for everybody some of us had to go by bus.  I haven't taken a bus since taking TTC route 46 to my high school!  

Well, the bus was great!  It was love at first sight between me and the B68.  Nandika said one of her classmates liked it too.  It was practically empty and perfectly air conditioned (in fact the kids probably could've used a light sweater).  About 45 minutes later it deposited us at the corner of Brighton Beach and Coney Island Ave. where we ducked into the Walgreens to grab some junk food.  Even the Walgreens in Brighton Beach has Russian food!  

It definitely was hot and busy on the beach but once we staked out a place to set up our umbrellas and broke out the Russian cookies and mango nectar we were living it up.  A great day of splashing in the water and defending sand castles against the rising tide was had by all.  Afterwards we enjoyed another Brooklyn surprise when we were lured by Cafe Volna's siren song of shady tables and beer on the boardwalk.  As with the bus, I had low expectations.  Take a look at the Yelp reviews!  

Well I was pleasantly surprised.  It was the perfect ending to a beach day.  Fresh cold beer.  French fries with garlic and dill, some chicken kebabs and meat dumplings.  What more could you ask for?  Guess it shows you cannot always trust yelp reviews.  One hint of this is that weirdly some of the three star reviews actually seem pretty positive (I'm looking at you "its a hole. but best shish kebab on the boardwalk!" and "it was delightful.")  

Best Doubles West of Port of Spain

Visiting Tanya's cousin yesterday we met one of his Aunties who lives here in Brooklyn.  When we told her we'd been going to Liberty Avenue in Queens for Trinidadian food she gave us a great list of places to visit right here in Brooklyn.

A&A Bake and Doubles Shop - 481 Nostrand Avenue in Bed Stuy

Trinidad Golden Place Restaurant - 788 Nostrand between Eastern Parkway and Lincoln Pl, Crown Heights

Feeding Tree - (for the jerk chicken) 816 Nostrand, Crown Heights

Real good advice!  She also said the place to get good quality cheap kids clothes is Burlington Coat Factory in the city at 23rd and 6th (but avoid the one in Brooklyn!).

Greenwood Cemetery

Apparently there are parrots in Greenwood cemetery. I remember that from Joseph O'Neill's Netherland. Also, despite the fact that eating in the cemetery is prohibited, it has very good yelp reviews. You might see a girl listening to her ipod and drinking wine out of a ... pasta sauce jar?  Hours, directions and rules.

NY Pizza Suprema

Sunday: I remembered hearing about a guy who visited every pizzeria in Manhattan but didn't think about it much more because I don't often grab a slice when I'm in the city. But I just looked it up again after my buddy Ranjith mentioned he was looking for a good slice before heading back west. As it happens, that guy, whose blog was called Slice Harvester, only gave one perfect rating and it was to a place near Penn Station called NY Pizza Suprema. It sounds pretty good and maybe Ranjith will swing by to give it a try since he's staying nearby...at the Yotel!


Update Monday: Quickest Brooklyst turnaround yet!  Ranjith and I actually met up after work today and made it over to NY Pizza Suprema.  And it actually lived up to the hype!  The cheese slice was the thing (isn't it always?) with super crispy crust and a flavourful sauce.  Tomato sauce on a cracker!  Also courtesy of Yotel dweller Ranjith another Brooklyst first: pictures!

China, Egypt, Italy in Dyker Heights

Ice skating season is upon us and that meant a visit to Dyker Heights to buy skates for Nandika.  While driving around I noticed some big Chinese restaurants on 65th street that reminded me of dim sum places in Toronto or Vancouver.   This was a promising sight since on our few trips to Flushing finding parking was such a chore that I always vow never to return.  In Brooklyn we've been to Pacificana in Sunset Park which was alright and much more convenient.  Of the two we saw yelpers seemed to favour East Harbor Seafood Palace, it has a strong four stars after more than 100 reviews (compared with Pacificana's three and a half).  The other one we spotted was called New Spring Garden.  It seemed busy but did not get as strong reviews.

There are also many Middle Eastern restaurants in the same area.  One that caught my eye was El Bahary Fish Market which definitely did not look like a first date night kind of place but stirred up memories of the excellent grilled fish at Montreal's La Sirène De La Mer (which actually would be a good first date kind of place).  The verdict from the reviews seem to be that it may be a hole in the wall but the freshness of the fish makes up for the lack of amenities.

Last but not least, I could not help but notice an attractive and incredibly brightly lit storefront on 11th Ave. emblazoned with the name Faicco's.  Nor could I ignore another huge plate glass window immediately next to it behind which a bunch of guys were making sausage.  The yelpers make this old school Italian butcher sound like the second coming!  It sounds like the sausage is excellent but I think I'd like to sample some of the rice balls: "They're extremely creamy (yet still with discernible rice grains), cheesy, and have a prosciutto center that adds a delicious flavor."