On arguably the coldest day of the year a few weeks ago on Super Bowl Sunday, your girl made a trek…read moreonly a few crazy people would. Tucked in the quiet end of Red Hook right by the water, is Brooklyn Crab - a lively, coastal shanty themed restaurant serving up some seafood favorites... but on a cold day in early February the abandoned and frozen tiki bar downstairs and the residue of snow salt on the staircase leading to the restaurant only served as a faint reminder of brighter, sunny days that await us this summer in New York. I plopped myself on the bar seating as cold gushes of air swept in with the opening door. The heating was struggling but so were we - it really was just that cold. However dire these conditions were, I was here for my weekly ritual - two dozen oysters on the half shell. Trish the bartender was a great sport. We chit chatted about the weather and her California upbringing and everything in between. She was great company and a delight to talk to. When the oyster platter arrived I was met with instant joy. Nicely sized oysters, neatly shucked, briny and beautiful with the accompaniments I like. A cold glass of beer I had been slowly working on in the background. They only have the $1 Sunday oyster happy hour during the winter months. Staff simply can't keep up with the shucking when it's busier. I deeply enjoyed this meal as the sun shined in the glass enclosure and it started to warm up. Far away I could see the waves crashing on the dock, as I guzzled down the ocean's perfect food. I also ordered the peel and eat shrimp and they were very good. Nicely seasoned, with ample amount of lemon wedges to make this meal truly one of a kind. This is one of the best oyster happy hours in Brooklyn, and even though I am traveling away from home right now, I can't wait to return and bask in this sunlit bar one last time this winter. Highly recommended!!

I have passed by Brooklyn Crab multiple times, and it is always super busy. Well, not so much in…read morethe winter! I am much more of a foodie person than vibes (though vibes are also important) but if you come at off peak and off season (i.e. middle of day in the winter), it is not so busy and you can take advantage of their great happy hour deals. We got a little of the happy hour oysters and some appetizers but also got a burger (not on happy hour list). The oysters were great - super fresh, not fishy. Really refreshing. The fries and the burger were also really good. And the shrimp was soo flavorful. I think if we were to come again, would skip the wings - they were ok, though the service was really nice and allowed us to try two flavors (gave us separate sauces) - maybe if we had done just one flavor and let them sauce them themselves it would have been better? Super close to IKEA and unbeatable sunset views. Will definitely come again if every around the area.

If perfection were a katsu bowl, that's exactly what Chef Katsu would serve. Every time im in the…read morearea, this is a must visit lunch spot. The katsu bowls are delicious, the soups are always good, and the service is fantastic. The price is fair and it's just overall an amazing experience. They have very limited seating, so keep that in mind when visiting! Overall, would highly recommend.

overall pretty decent, the food is like others said a bit bland but overall not bad…read more teriyaki chicken bowl tasted a bit off to me, feels like they didn't use enough teriyaki or it was a watery sauce but it didn't have much flavor and the rice was disappointing. kind of those big, overly fluffy yet kinda dry grains, not really sushi grade or anything close which i usually prefer in dishes like this. same was true for the fried rice ball, which wasn't crispy or sticky. the fries were also pretty bland, but crispiness and cut were so good! just needs a bit more salt, bit more flavor. mint yuzu lemonade was DELICIOUS it's just sweet enough and just concentrated enough. very fresh and yummy 10/10 yuzu cheesecake was also pretty good, though the texture's more whipped than usual cheesecake and a bit grainy, which i assume comes from the yuzu. which it had more crust but still great! so yes overall not bad but i probably wouldn't get anything rice-reliant and adding salt helps a lot

Essie's Oysters is a sweet lil pop up that I happened upon this past Sunday, parked in front of…read moreMermaid's Garden, on 644 Vanderbilt Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11238 (a plush little fishmonger and CSA provision). Esther, the founder of EO, is an employee at MG but EO is her own thing. That sort of employer support is rad so let's love up Mermaid's Garden and buy some fish there! EO sells one thing: oysters. You can half a dozen for ~17.95 + tax, served with lemon, teeny tiny bottles of Tobasco sauce--should you like--and did I see some additional homemade sauce, too ?? plus a napkin. I mean: do you really anything else if the oyster is super fresh? I don't think so :D FYI, EO doesn't have a liquor license. So think of this nosh as a on-the-go snack because you made it through another weekend's worth of errands. Pour yourself a proper when you get home or hit a local bar afterwards because it's hard to pull a cold one from your flask or discreetly chug champagne on the sidewalk without getting fined lesson learned for real :| Where will EO pop up next? Who knows! Follow @essiesoysters to learn. ps: they do private catering, as well.

I have lived in Brooklyn for 12 years, but never had dinner in Red Hook until this weekend…read more My friend was visiting, and she remembered vividly eating from the Red Hook Lobster Pound food stand in Union Square a few years ago. It made such a strong impression on my friend that she demanded we eat at this restaurant. The restaurant was packed, but we managed to get a spot at the bar and watch the Mets game. The food was immaculate, and we ordered the Hot Crab Dip, Garlic Biscuits, and I ordered "The Connecticut." All of this arrived in no time, and we will be returning soon, this time with a reservation. Hehehe.

Stopped by to celebrate a birthday - nice spot. They were pretty slow, likely because it was so…read morecold out. Food was delicious, their garlic biscuits were 10/10! Also got the calamari, chicken sandwich, and Caesar salad with lobster - all really good.

We went this past Friday for acclaimed chef of what used to be WD50 Wylie Dufresne. It was a great…read moreexperience aside from one fact that is no fault of the chef. The noise. The place is like unreasonably unenjoyably loud. Like yelling at the person directly across the table from you loud. It was irritating. Other than that we had a fantastic meal. We did the full 9 with wine pairing. The wine pairing was good price at $64 for 5 glasses but when one glass turns out to be champagne and another turns out to be an oz of sherry you lose me there. Next time I'd stick to single glasses. Everything we ate was either extraordinary or at the very least delicious. We did about 8 or 9 courses. 3 of which were dessert. And might I say quite delicioso. The tables were long and sat about 18 people per. There's also an upstairs area. After the meal Wylie gave a 5 min speech that was very nice. He then gave everyone a copy of his new cookbook that isn't even out yet (AWESOME) and he stayed and signed everyones book and took pictures with people (AWESOME). Overall a great experience. Had such an amazing time. A few small hiccups but other than that it was fantastic. Would totally do again.

* Review for Dinner Series with Jessica Koslow (Sqirl, Los Angeles)…read moreKenScale: 8.0/10 I typically don't go to pop-up special dinner events because by definition they are pop-ups with limited duration, which practically means I don't get to go to those events again even though I fall in love with the dining experience. When Seaport FoodLab nearby where my wife Jun and I live announced that they were doing special dinner series with some acclaimed chefs from the country, I was somewhat on the fences for that exactly same reason. When one of the chefs being featuring in the events is a star in Los Angeles, which unfortunately thus far has eluded the reach of my culinary journey, I decided to give it a try and purchased two tickets on Resy for Jun and myself for a Friday dinner. Jessica Koslow's Sqirl has been that mecca of California cool vibe with cult followings thanks to the cafe's offering of various seasonal dishes focusing on the freshness of ingredients. Of course, New York City has a lot of those "seasonal" restaurants too, but I was certainly intrigued to see an LA's chef's point of view. Her dinner series at Seaport Food Lab was also being publicized as a preview of her upcoming new project called Tel in LA. Overall, we had a delicious dinner but I also discovered that these pop-up dinners, especially where they serve a large number of diners at the same time with the same menus, also lose its charm. When Jun and I showed up, we were led to one of several long communal tables that were absolutely packed with other diners. There were probably close to 70-80 diners based on my estimate. Because everyone is eating the same dishes, the whole dining session felt like, in Jun's words, an assembly line with no individuality for each group of diners. I didn't expect this event to have this many diners, and was actually hoping that it was limited to a smaller number of people (30 at most) to create a more intimate atmosphere. Instead, Jun and I had to scream at each other across the communal table just to be heard. What about the food itself? The menu at the event featured several small, shareable plates, largely divided into five courses. The focus is definitely on vegetables, with only one meat (quail) and seafood (sturgeon) dish. There were more hits than misses, but we both felt that the dishes were a little bit predictable. Is that due to our experience having been to so many restaurants with similar concepts? Perhaps so, but honestly we did expect to be wowed. Some winners in the beginning included citrusy eggplant dip with marketable vegetables (first course), dry cooked russet potato (second course), and crispy Jerusalem artichokes (third course). There was no question that the best dish of the night was the oven roasted cabbage and avocado seed tahini that came out in the third course. We both loved the balance of flavor and texture in the dish with different ingredients working harmoniously together, and it perfectly complemented the fried quail in intense shwarma spices next to it. On the other hand, we didn't understand what the flatbread (first course) came out so greasy which was not eased by creamed yoghurt that was placed next to it for dipping. Frisee salad (second course) was surprisingly boring, and we definitely expected sturgeon (fourth course) to be more memorable as it was the only fish course of the night. On the other hand, the combination of braised tomatoes in pomegranate molasses and koda farm rice with pickled rose hips dill did have a pretty interesting textural effect that I hadn't quite experienced before but eventually grew on me over time. The dessert of labne milk custard with honey braised stone fruit was another standout dish of the night, with a delightful but not overly sweet flavor that we both liked plenty about. The small wine selections were (not surprisingly for a dinner event with this type of theme) skewed toward organic and biodynamic varieties, although we did have a serviceable bottle to share along with some cocktails. I'm very much curious to know what the actual Sqirl can offer next time I visit LA. Would I be wowed by the real restaurant where I get to pick the dishes myself instead of being served mass-produced ones? Perhaps. Until then, all I can say is that chef Koslow does have a sense of putting together dishes with seasonality that are more crowd-pleasers than mind-blowing winners. It is nice to have these acclaimed chefs from out of town show up and do their own things every once in a while, but I also believe that they'd better display a full arsenal of their skills than play it safe in these ventures.

Food and service were amazing. 10/10 would visit again. I went with a friend and we had bottomless…read moremimosas--very tasty and I had the chocolate fondue pancakes. So good I can't wait to go back.

I went for a quick brunch on Friday afternoon.. I sat at the…read morebar and was served very quickly and with hospitality. This spot has brunch all day like why would this not be a fave spot! Bottomless are you kidding me LOL no im not i got busy as soon as i sat down. I ordered cranberry mimosas and for my entree i got Steak with home fries and Greens because I am on a no fried diet lol. WHEN I TELL YOU IT WAS SLAPPING !!YUMMY. Please look at the pic I had to leave early but i did take it home to finish and it still was good ! Visit Verde on Smith if your downtown Brooklyn it does not disappoint!

Notes: Only open till July 31st. Submitted the address change…read more Anyway, this is a review for the newest location of the Mission Chinese pop-up located within Cha Kee on Mott. The service was friendly constantly refilling waters and bringing extra napkins but the lighting was way too dark. I had heard from prior experience that the food was a bit oversalted so I ordered a milk tea which was $5 and tasty with a pretty strong tea flavor and not much sweetness though there could have been a little bit less ice. The food all came out very quickly with I think the last dishes to arrive being the lamb ribs and the mapo. They also have a tasting menu for $65 consisting of a bunch of small plates, two appetizers, a choice of mains, and their dessert which is not that bad of a deal if the portion size is decent and two people could go and order everything from that meal and split stuff. We soon got their Addictive Cabbage Salad for $12 with sesame and seaweed secret dressing. The cabbage was crunchy with a good bright dressing with some umami to it. It was nice to go back to this occasionally when I wanted to eat something a bit lighter. The Cha Kee Chow Fun for $20 was pretty good. Consisting of fresh rice noodles stir fried with beef, bean sprouts, and garlic shoots, the noodles had a good chew to them with some good wok hei and the beef had a nice texture. This was probably the most normal tasting dish of the bunch and one of the tastier ones. Also available for noodles was Jacky's Spicy Sprite Noodles for $16 consisting of thin noodles with bean sprouts, garlic chives, and effervescent dressing served cold. Apparently inspired by Haidilao, this is a new dish for the menu and was unique. There was a bit of sweetness and a tiny bit of spice from the chili oil, and a bit of chew from the noodles. Less successful of the smaller plates was the Shiso Fried Rice for $19 with garlic, salted butter, and plum pickle. There was just way too much shiso and the rice itself was very lightly fried lacking much texture. I think it needed more pickled vegetables or something as it felt one note. Least favorite of the small plates and the dishes overall was the Chongqing Chicken Wings for $19 consisting of "very spicy and numbing" chicken wings. I think they came with five to an order and the wings were quite large and moist. However the biggest issue was the powder on top. I'm all for flavor and I enjoyed the numbness from the Szechuan peppercorn and I love five spice powder but this didn't taste good. There was way too much of the five spice powder making the skin bitter from the overpowering star anise flavor alone making these pretty unappetizing. We finished everything outside of one wing at the end for a reason. One of my favorites of the larger plates was the Broccoli Beef Cheek for $27 with stir fried gai lan and smoked oyster sauce. The beef was plentiful and very tender and the vegetables had a good crunch. I guess the only complain was that I couldn't taste the smokiness of the oyster sauce so the sauce was a bit plain. My other favorite was the Kung Pao Pastrami $31 with hometown pastrami, home fries, peanuts, peppers, and onions. While it definitely had a lot more pieces of potato then pastrami, the flavor was excellent with some nice richness though apparently it wasn't as spiced as last time one of the other people there had been to one of their pop-ups. It was just a good mix of textures as well. Also good was the Sizzling Cumin Lamb Ribs for $39 with sweet dates and white barbecue sauce. The lamb ribs were very tender with a hint of sweetness. The cumin flavor could have been a bit stronger which is a bit funny to me as the other cumin focused dishes had too much of it but overall the flavors were solid. Least successful of the mains was the Mapo Tofu for $24 with minced pork shoulder and silken tofu stewed in beef fat and fermented chili sauce. The texture of the silken tofu was excellent but this was the only really good part of it. The sauce didn't have enough ferment to it and the peppercorn was light. There was also only a tiny bit of meat so I didn't really think it was worth it. They can honestly make this vegetarian and charge maybe $5 less and it would be a better more worth it dish as the tofu as said was excellent. Two of us split their dessert which is the Silky Lemon Cream for $12 with black tea ice and pop rocks. The dish consisted of two distinct layers with the top being a barely sweetened black tea ice with a sprinkle of pop rocks and the bottom being a sweet and sour lemon custard with a texture reminding me of a panna cotta. As someone who likes desserts that aren't overly sweet, I of course loved this dessert and the little bit of pop rocks was fun. Out of review space. Overall solid with a couple faults. Mid/upper 3

They're ok, portions are small and if you're adversed to salt I would order carefully. Don't get me…read morewrong I've been a huge fan of mission Chinese for a long time, I own their cookbooks and pantry products, but the for the price point, you'd wish it would be worth a special occasion order.

A Decade of Love on a Plate: A Local Favorite That Punches Above Its Weight…read more This place is the definition of a neighborhood gem--the kind you almost want to keep secret, yet can't stop yourself from praising. Cheap and cheerful on the surface, it punches way above its weight class, delivering inventive, clean, Asian-inspired food that's masterfully cooked by clearly skilled hands--and made with real love. I've been coming back year after year for most of this restaurant's 10-year lifespan, and that consistency is no accident. Every dish tastes intentional, thoughtful, and deeply satisfying, with a clear goal: to feed people love on a plate. It's a super veggie/vegan friendly that easily wins over even my "meat and potatoes" husband--who happily cleans his plate every time. In an era where genuine hospitality feels increasingly rare, Perry single-handedly restored my faith that quality service is not extinct. Warm, attentive, and authentically kind, Perry makes every guest feel seen, welcome, and cared for--without pretense or attitude. This is food that nourishes, service that uplifts, and a place that keeps you coming back not just for the flavors, but for how it makes you feel. A true neighborhood treasure.

Mediocre food and very slow service!…read more This place was a disappointment for what I hoped from a highly rated ramen place in the area. The service was quite slow, almost waited 1 hour for entrees to be brought to the table. It's a small place with limited staff working everything. The food was fairly basic. The fried rice seemed to be bland and below par despite ordering the spicy version. My friend who ordered the ramen liked the soup but the meat was not fully cooked and felt chewy.

Fried chicken banh mi was surprisingly really good, likely because we ate it as soon as it came out…read more(not sure if takeout would've been as good). The chicken was steaming. Would like to try their actual wings and sides

Before trying Wangs, my favorite wings in Brooklyn were exclusively from Chuko, but these were…read moretruly such a delightful experience. We got the 9 piece with their not hot sauce and garlic ginger aioli on the side. The extra sauce was delicious but the wings didn't need it! So crispy, perfectly flavored and not too sweet, good to the last drop. Each one was huge!! You only need 3-4 for a full meal in my opinion. The cornbread was fluffy, the mac was solid too but the wings are really the standout. Pretty reasonably priced too for all the food you're getting. Definitely give it a try!