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."

Shondesh, Momos, Kababs and More

After dropping Tanya and the kids off at the airport I made the most of my bachelordom (or is it bachelorhood?) by...doing some Christmas shopping and then hitting Jackson Heights for Indian food.  Unfortunately my adventurousness failed me here and instead of trying out something new I went to the always reliable Rajbhog.  But as I was walking around later I saw a ton of places that looked worth checking out.  For hopeful future reference here's a yelp search for restaurants around 74th street.

I noticed Bengali writing in almost every restaurant, and reading through the reviews there are a good number of places serving Bangladeshi food like Khaabar Bari and Premium Sweets.  These include some dishes I recognize from West Bengal like shondesh.  There are also a number of Tibetan or Nepali places like Lali Guras and South Asian Family Restaurant with dishes like momos.  I also noticed Kabab King on 37th was doing a booming business, it sounds like the Bihari kabab is the thing to get there, as opposed to Kababish where its apparently all about the gola kebabs.

Brooklyn Commune

We had beautiful weather this weekend.  Brooklyn is best in fall.  The quality of the light filtering through the clouds and the fall colours in the park and elsewhere can make even the most mundane blocks seem a little romantic.  After dropping the girls at their class, we managed to check out the Postmark Cafe.  It was not life changing, but the latte was good and the bench outside was the perfect place to enjoy the season while Darshan puttered around.  

On our way back from the library in the afternoon and too tired to contemplate preparing dinner we checked out Brooklyn Commune on Greenwood Avenue.  It is very stylish and appealing in a modernist way: blond wood, high ceilings, big windows, an elegant marquee.  The food was good, had variety, was not overpriced and passed what I call the leftover test: it tasted good even when eaten cold the next day.  I think we will be back.  

Postmark Cafe

It feels like there are approximately five gajillion cafes in a two block radius around 5th avenue and 5th street.  In fact, you may spot one while emerging from another as I did when I spotted the Postmark Cafe after buying a coffee at Brooklyn Bread.  The storefront looks tiny but the pictures on Yelp show that Tardis-like it sports a spacious interior.  Unlike most of the other cafes in the neighbourhood this one is a not-for-profit business run by the Church! of Park Slope (yes it has an exclamation point in its name) but as any visitor to the Ganesh Temple canteen will tell you religion and good coffee need not be strangers.

Governors Island

Governors Island is only open till September 25th. Ferries depart from Pier 6 in Brooklyn. Looks like a great day trip: a ferry ride, views of the Statue of Liberty and hammocks. Yes, hammocks.

Culture

Culture: An American Yogurt Company 

331 5th Ave

(between 3rd St & 4th St) 

This place caught my eye as I was walking down 5th avenue a couple of weeks back.  What could be more Brooklyn than a yogurt shop called Culture?  I looked it up on Yelp and it sports an impressive 4 1/2 star rating with 60 reviews.  The Key Lime pie yogurt recurs often in the reviews but it sounds like an all around winner.