People are always asking me for tips on places that they should go and eat when they travel to cities to which I have been, so for New York I decided to take a bit of extra time and catalogue some of the food highlights to create a post that I can refer people to when they ask me where to eat in Brooklyn.

I expected that New York would become one of my favourite cities in the world, and I was right – it’s a truly amazing place – and it’s deep and varied food scene is just one of its many facets. There is a real focus on fresh, seasonal, local produce and supporting independent and local businesses which is great.

Prices range from cheap $, to medium/affordable $$, to expensive $$$.

Diner

$$
85 Broadway, Williamsburg, Brooklyn
(http://dinernyc.com/)

Diner is a [really] small bar in that serves food that is anything but typical for a small bar. The ingredients are fresh and local, and the menu ever changing and very innovative. It is literally an old refurbished diner caravan on a street corner. As the menu changes daily, I can’t search back to find out exactly what it was that I ate here, needless to say it was all great.

Some kind of ravioli with a bacon broth. I don’t usually go for bacon in these sorts of dishes as I find the flavour overpowering however the balance was just right in this dish, and the bacon flavour was very subtle and balanced with the rest of the dish.

Again, I can’t remember the specifics, but it was essentially slightly salty beans with flaked razor clam and buttered toast. This was amazing.

Grilled duck heart on buckwheat salad. The heart was extremely tasty and the chewyness of the buckwheat added an amazing texture to the dish. I cannot remember what the sauce on the side was. This was my favourite dish of the night.

Blue Bottle Coffee

$
160 Berry Street, Brooklyn
(http://www.bluebottlecoffee.net/)

New York, in recent years, has really started to take its coffee seriously. Sure there are Starbucks everywhere, but more and more as the years go by, are lots of great independent cafes. One of the best is Blue Bottle, which have a handful of locations around the US, with the Williamsburg outpost being our ”local”. They roast coffee on site and have an obsession with their technique and equipment. The end result is, unsurprisingly, amazing coffee.

We went here three times, but on this occasion got a Bench Maji (Ethiopia) filter drip and a FB80/MP Blend macchiato. The pastries all looked amazing but every time we went we couldn’t go past the Brooklyn Bootleg S’mores which was just amazing. It is made from Mast brothers (a chocolate factory literally up the road) chocolate, house made Graham crackers, and Kings county distillery bootleg marshmallow. You seriously have to try this thing.

Update, Jan 2013: Blue Bottle have expanded their New York operations to include 3 Manhattan location, which is great news for those of you who can’t get out to Brooklyn. There’s one at Chelsea (450 West 15th Street), The Rockefeller Centre (1 Rockefeller Plaza, Concourse Level, Suite D) and TriBeCa (102 Franklin Street)

Five Leaves

$$
18 Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn
(http://www.fiveleavesny.com/)

This was a place we just stumbled across in the Greenpoint part of Brooklyn. It had a great vibe and the food was really tasty. Below looks like just a great burger, but the fries are actually truffle fries. I don’t know why I haven’t seen anyone do this before – French fries and truffle oil are very tasty match!

Only while eating and looking up the place did I find out a very interesting fact about this venue – it turns out that Heath Ledger (from Perth like me!) lived in this area and he, along with his close friend that taught him how to skateboard, were going to open a bar on this corner. After Heath Ledger died, Heath’s dad got involved and the bar was opened as intended. Here is a really interesting article about it (http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/30/a-new-restaurant-in-heath-ledgers-memory/).

DeKalb Market

$
138 Willoughby Street, Brooklyn
(http://dekalbmarket.com/)

Shoddy photos I know, but the DeKalb market is essentially bunch of shipping crates and some tables, which is home to various food stalls, shops and the occasional free performance. We went there quite late and everyone seemed to be there for the performance, with most of the shops closed down for the day (I went again a few days later during the day and it was much busier but I didn’t take any photos).

Update, Jan 2013: I’ve just been made aware that DeKalb Market closed late 2012 and will be replaced with a branch of Austin’s movie theatre/restaurant chain Drafthouse in 2015. Really sad to hear, as it was a great spot doing some great things for the local food, art and music scene. Alas, I suppose it would be naive to expect a prime piece of land in a fast changing part of Brooklyn to remain undeveloped for too long.

Southern style fried chicken with hot sauce. The sauce was actually really interesting – both spicy and sweet (and tangy) at the same time.

A local band, with the singer being from New Zealand. There’s even an independent radio station that broadcasts from one of the shipping crates here!

Roebling Tea Room

$$
138 Roebling Street, Brooklyn
(http://www.roeblingtearoom.com/)

Started by one of the original chefs from Diner, Roebling tea room is in the similar vein food wise, although in a clearly much larger space. The food and ingredients are all top notch. The menu is an interesting mix of American cooking with a definite French influence. This is another venue with an ever changing menu so again you’ll have to excuse the less than detailed descriptions!

This was probably my favourite dish here. Miniature crab and corn cakes with Chipotle tartar sauce.

Salmon and something – all I know is that it tasted great.

Mac and cheese. Simple, but excellent with the best ingredients used. Needs to be eaten while hot though as it’s not as great once the cheese starts to solidify!

Cockaleekie – Breast and Drumette / Dark Meat Chicken Meatballs / Lavender / Dates / Corned Beef / Champ

The above dish came with a side of Mashed potatoes. Really generous servings here – neither of us could finish our meals.

Cafe Peddlar

$
210 Court Street, Brooklyn
(http://cafepedlar.com/)

Another one of this city’s great little cafes. We came here for the coffee, but the pastries are really nice too. The coffee is roasted at Stumptown Roasters up the road (if you see a place in New York advertising that they sell Stumptown coffee, it means they care and most of the time you’ll be assured a decent cup of coffee) and the milk is local and organic.

Cappuccino and Macchiato to drink. Buttermilk Biscuit (like an English scone, but softer on the inside and crispier on the outside) and Olive Oil Cake.

As an aside, the owners of this place also own a place called Frankie’s Spuntino which is known for it’s seasonal, light, traditional Italian food. I didn’t get to try it out but did grab a copy of the cookbook which looks like the kind of thing that I can use on a daily basis, being full of modern, fresh, simple, healthy, easy to prepare Italian recipes.(http://www.merlinmerchant.com/product_p/manual.htm)

Fatty ‘Cue

$$
91 South 6th Street, Brooklyn
(http://www.fattycue.com/home)

I didn’t actually know what to expect from this place, which can best be described as Texas BBQ meets South East Asia. Odd yes, but boy does it work. These guys are really obsessed with their technique, and have a smoker out the back which they use to work magic when BBQing their meat. The South East Asian touches – a bit of chilli here, a touch of citrus there, are all used for a reason. For those who don’t want to go across the river to Brooklyn (your loss!) a second outpost has just opened up in the West Village in Manhattan.

Smoked Brisket Sandwich with garlic butter, fresh cheese, salted chili, mustard greens.

The Smoky Johnson – Local grass-fed beef, sheep’s milk cheese, mustard aioli, b&b pickle, bacon.

S’mores tart.

Mile End Delicatessen

$$
97a Hoyt Street, Brooklyn
(http://www.mileendbrooklyn.com/)

This place is described as “A Montreal Jewish Delicatessen In Brooklyn”, and that’s what it is. Traditional Jewish food, spruced up and done to perfection.

A few places sell sodas from the “Virgil” brand. They are really good sodas.

Pickles.

Smoked Meat Sandwich – Cured & smoked beef brisket, rye, mustard.

The Ruth Wilensky – Smoked beef salami, mustard, onion roll. This was a real highlight. It was so tasty.

Caracas Arepa Bar

$
291 Grand Street.
(http://caracasarepabar.com/index_2.php)

I’d never tried Venezuelan food before, so decided to try this place I’d heard about. They do a few different things, but the main menu item is the Arepa, which is a kind of cornflour pita which is baked and grilled as to have an ever so slightly crisp outside and a soft, fluffy inside. They are filled with a variety of flavours. It was a really good meal and quite different to what I’d expected.

Tinto de Verano – Sparkling wine based cocktail, similar to Sangria.

De Pabellon Arepa – Shredded beef, black beans, white salty cheese and sweet plantains.

Reina Pepiada Arepa – Chunky chicken and avocado mix salad.

Roberta’s

$$
261 Moore Street, Brooklyn
(http://www.robertaspizza.com/)

Roberta’s is a very interesting place. In some ways it’s two types of venue. You can go there for great beer and pizza, or you can go there for some really innovative food. We went for lunch so the beer and pizza option was what was available. Roberta’s is in a really odd location – it’s literally a shed on a side street in a super industrial part of Brooklyn behind some warehouses/factories. Definitely not a place you can just stumble across but very cool and very popular.

Beer has also been caught up in the trend we noticed in this city, and Brooklyn, and New York (and well the USA in general) is full of great micro-breweries producing a multitude of really great beers of all varieties. For example, this pumpkin ale. Pumpkin is really popular in America – in cakes, lattes and everything else you can think of, there always seems to be a pumpkin option. If you’re the kind of person who likes cinnamon (also hugely popular in the USA), carrot cake etc., then you’ll love the pumpkin based stuff.

Lamb, cucumber and mint sandwich. A tad on the greasy side, but very tasty nonetheless. The lamb was slow cooked to perfection.

Guanciale & Egg Pizza – Tomato, mozzarella, guanciale and egg. Very tasty pizza. Although not at the same level as Keste and Co., still excellent with a really great wood fired base.

The Rest:

Chinantla

$
657 Myrtle Avenue, Brooklyn

Chinantla doesn’t have a website, or much to indicate that it exists.  You wouldn’t go out of your way to eat here, but if you’re in the area it’s a great option.  The hotel that I was staying at wasn’t really close to anything of note, and one night I decided to walk up and down a few blocks to find something to eat for dinner.  On Myrtle Avenue, was a small convenience store.  I popped inside, with the intention of getting just some fruit if they had some, and noticed some noise coming from the back as well as a small menu.  Odd, I thought, as wasn’t this just a convenience store?  Turns out it wasn’t.

Walk to the back of the store, where the fridges are and you’ll find a door, walk through that and there is a tiny restaurant.  Greeting me was Mexican TV, Mexican music playing, a table with some Mexicans and a rather large collection of empty Corona bottles, and the smells of some amazing food.

Everything at Chinantla is made on the premises, it’s very clearly aimed at locals, and you can get a very decent feed for under $10.  Some of the best, most authentic Mexican food I have ever eaten.

Mast Brothers Chocolate

$$
105A North 3rd Street, Brooklyn.
(http://mastbrothers.com/)

You’ll see the chocolate that these guys make pop up at a few places around New York and for good reason. The guys are obsessed with producing excellent chocolate, and it tastes amazing.

Smorgasburg

$
East River Waterfront (between North 6th and 7th Streets)
(http://www.brooklynflea.com/2011/04/25/smorgasburg/)

This has now closed but will be reopening for the summer/autumn next year. Basically a lot of the great food places in Brooklyn set up stalls here for a huge outdoor food market. It was a great way to see a lot of great stuff in one spot, with a view of Manhattan from across the river.

For more great food tips click here to check out my Manhattan Food Guide.

People are always asking me for tips on places that they should go and eat when they travel to cities to which I have been, so for New York I decided to take a bit of extra time and catalogue some of the food highlights to create a post that I can refer people to when they ask me where to eat in Manhattan.

I expected that New York would become one of my favourite cities in the world, and I was right – it’s a truly amazing place – and it’s deep and varied food scene is just one of its many facets. There is a real focus on fresh, seasonal, local produce and supporting independent and local businesses which is great.

Prices range from cheap $, to medium/affordable $$, to expensive $$$.

Momofuku Ssam Bar

$$
207 2nd Avenue, New York
(http://www.momofuku.com/restaurants/ssam-bar/)

If you are into your food, you have probably heard of David Chang. He does amazing things with simple ingredients and has really made a name for himself with his Asian fusion food. Fusion can so often go wrong, but he makes everything work, and the food was worth every bit of hype. He is a self-proclaimed pork nut, but at Ssam bar it is duck which is given top billing

Rotisserie duck over rice with lettuce. I love roast duck and this is by far the best I have ever had. The meat was succulent; the fat melted in my mouth, and the skin was super crispy.

David Chang is famous for his pork buns however at Ssam there is also a pulled duck bun with sauerkraut and smoked mayo. Again, worth every bit of hype it has received. Everything about this bun was amazing.

Duck dumpling soup with garlic scapes, bok choy and jicama. Also unsurprisingly brilliant.

Keste Pizza & Vino

$$
271 Bleeker Street, New York(http://kestepizzeria.com/home.html)

The question of “who makes New York’s best pizza?” is a divisive one at best, with a variety of opinions depending on who you talk to. What was not in dispute though, was that this new place was either at, or very near the top of every reputable list that I found. The pizzas are not the typical “NYC Slice”, but rather traditional Neapolitan style pizza done to absolute perfection. Roberto Capousicio, a cheese maker from Pontinia just outside Napoli really knows his pizza. I got the Regina Margherita – Tomatoes, fresh buffalo mozzarella, grape tomatoes basil, extra virgin olive oil. Up there as one of the best pizzas I have ever eaten.

My fiancée got the Pizza Insalata – Pizza sandwich filled with spring mix, prosciutto di parma, artichoke, lemon and extra virgin olive oil.

Ai Fiori

$$$
400 5th Avenue, 2nd level Setai Hotel, New York
(http://www.aifiorinyc.com/)

The dish we came here for isn’t actually on the lunch menu, but not to mind, as the two course $36 prix fixe was amazing. Ai Fiori is unashamedly fine dining and, if you look at the reviews it has received since it opened earlier this year, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a Michelin Star coming its way next year [edit: It was awarded its first Michelin Star that very month]. The food was very rich, very tasty, and all kinds of amazing.

Vellutata – Lobster velouté, périgord black truffles, chervil.

Trofie Nero – Ligurian crustacean ragoût, seppia, scallops, spiced mollic.

Spaghetti – Blue crab, lemon, bottarga, chilies.

Rice To Riches

$
37 Spring Street, New York
(http://www.ricetoriches.com/puddy.aspx)

We just stumbled upon this place randomly and decided that it looked interesting. A different take on the frozen yoghurt craze, Rice To Riches sells unapologetically full fat rice pudding in a huge variety of flavours with toppings to match.

A terrible photo, but I got the “Possessed By Espresso Choc Chip” with Espresso crumble. It was very nice and filling, but could do with a tone down of the sugar levels.

Pinkberry

$
Various Locations
(http://www.pinkberry.com/)

The Los Angeles chain that kicked off the recent frozen yoghurt craze has several stores across New York, and the US for that matter (and even one in London at the Selfridges food hall as of September 2011).

It tastes great, with a range of flavours and toppings and not overly sweet. The thing I love is that they aren’t stingy on the toppings – they will cram on as many as you like until there is literally no room left. Word of advice – the small (not mini) is the perfect size. Anything bigger is too much.

Momofuku Noodle Bar

$$
171 1st Avenue, New York
(http://www.momofuku.com/restaurants/noodle-bar/)

The original Momofuku – and everything that I said about Ssam bar applies to this place too – there’s more of a focus on pork and ramen here.

Supposedly Moxie is a real traditional American soda. Personally I thought it just tasted like carbonated cough syrup – not recommended!

Pork Bun – Hoisin, scallion, cucumber. So succulent and amazingly tasty.

Kimchi stew – Braised kimchi, pork shoulder, rice cakes. This was super tasty, and so filling that I couldn’t even finish it and barely felt like dinner that night, which ended up being quite late as a result.

Goat ramen – Piquillo, red shiso, soy egg. Also super tasty.

Burger Joint at Le Parker Meridian

$
119 West 56th Street, New York
(http://www.parkermeridien.com/eat4.php)

Another one of those divisive questions is “What’s the best burger in New York”. After a bit of research, we found a few places to try, and Burger Joint was by far the best. To find it, you have to walk through the lobby of the Le Parker Meridian hotel and then turn into the alcove to the side of the red curtain. Behind the curtain is something completely unexpected in such a fancy hotel!

The burger might not look like much, but when you bite into it you’ll see why for almost 8 years it’s been considered one of the best in this city. A succulent meat patty cooked exactly the way you want, with lettuce, tomato, mayo and mustard in between two white buns, and then a combination of the following (“the works” if you want it all): once piece of white and one piece of yellow cheddar, onions (not cooked).

About as simple as you can get from a burger but the quality of the ingredients, and how it comes together is just amazing. We ate here three times and even at 4pm on a weekday, during their “quiet” period, all the tables were full. At dinner, there was a line to get in.

Shake Shack

$
Various Locations
(http://shakeshack.com/)

Shake Shack is a place that’s become a chain in recent years due to huge popularity and expansion in this city. My thoughts about it were mixed. it was certainly cheap which I guess is part of its appeal as for the price it’s clearly better than your standard burger chain, but the burgers themselves, especially after eating at Burger Joint, just didn’t really make the grade in my opinion – primarily because they were too greasy.

I would, however, recommend going for their drinks – shakes, concretes, custard/soft serve etc. I had a pear and ginger custard (which is like soft serve and custard combined) and it was very tasty and had a good balance of flavours.

The Spotted Pig

$$
314 West 11th Street, New York
(http://thespottedpig.com/)

This place is pretty well known and widely regarded as kicking off the Gastro pub scene in New York. It’s often frequented by chefs, part owned by Iron Chef Mario Batali – you get the drift.

Does it live up to the hype? Yes.

Chicken Liver Toast. I’ve had a lot of goose and duck liver in my time, but had never actually tried chicken liver until now. It’s got its own thing going on and is very good.

Crispy Pig’s Ear Salad with Lemon Caper Dressing. I must admit I was surprised when this dish came out and literally had an entire pig’s ear on the plate. Can I please recommend that you be a bit adventurous and try this dish, as the crispiness, texture and gelatinous portions of the pig’s ear really are something amazing.

Prosciutto & Ricotta Tart with Marjoram. Not as “adventurous” as the above, but brilliant nonetheless.

Shoestring fries. Probably the best fries I had on this trip. So thin and crispy, and ultra-tasty.

Co.

$$
230 9th Avenue, New York
(http://co-pane.com/)

Another pizzeria that constantly came up around the top of my list in my research, the pizzas from Co. are less “traditional” than those at Keste, but not at the expense of being amazing. Co.’s Roman style pizzas have a beautiful crispy, wood fired base and quality ingredients – you can’t really go wrong.

Ribollita soup – Tomato, savoy cabbage, cavolo nero, cannellini beans, parmesan, mirepoix, chili.

Chicken Liver toast.

Meatball pie (Co. call their pizzas “pies”) – Tomato, mozzarella, veal meatballs, caramelized onions, olives, aged pecorino, oregano.

Doughnut Plant

$
379 Grand Street, New York
(http://www.doughnutplant.com/)

Seems like cupcakes are old news in New York, and the current emerging craze is doughnuts. Certainly something that America has always been known for but, as with most things, the new places are focusing on the quality of their ingredients and the depth of their flavours. The doughnuts from here were really great – you’ll never want to eat a Krispy Kreme again after coming here – in a completely different league.

Korilla BBQ

$
Location changes daily.
(http://korillabbq.com/)

This place won NYC food van of the year 2011 and for good reason. Korean Tacos originated on the East Coast, and kBBQ has really made them popular in NYC. It’s what you think, and then it isn’t. Essentially it’s what you eat when you go out for Korean BBQ, in taco/burrito form. It works – brilliantly. Being a van, it’s location depends on the day – you check their website or twitter to find out where it’s going to be that day.

We asked for the most popular thing on the menu and got the Ribeye burrito with bacon and kimchee fried rice, red kimchee and Korean BBQ sauce. This thing really is bastardised food done right, and unlike anything you’ve tried before, although really it isn’t!

Marea

$$$
240 Central Park South, New York
(http://www.marea-nyc.com/)

This was our splurge for the trip. Two Michelin starred, high end Italian restaurant with a focus on seafood and pasta that is considered “genius”. It completely lived up to the hype and was an amazing meal. The menu also changes slightly depending on what’s fresh and in season, so a few things that we ordered are currently not on the menu.

Not sure what the appetiser was – you drink it and it was delicious.

Scallops on something pears with something.

Sea urchin on something.

The much hyped Fusilli – Durum wheat pasta, red wine braised octopus, bone marrow. It was every bit as amazing as it’s hyped up to be.

Capesante – Roasted sea scallops, polenta crocchettes, speck, braised mustard greens.

Branzino – Wild striped bass, roasted cauliflower, charred scallions, marble potatoes.

Sorbetti – Saffon Pear, Concord Grape, Raspberry Rose.

Nocciola Pralinato – Hazelnut, dark chocolate, lemon, mint.

Petitt fours

Caracas Arepa Bar

$
93 1/2 East 7th Street.
(http://caracasarepabar.com/index_2.php)

I’d never tried Venezuelan food before, so decided to try this place I’d heard about. They do a few different things, but the main menu item is the Arepa, which is a kind of cornflour pita which is baked and grilled as to have an ever so slightly crisp outside and a soft, fluffy inside. They are filled with a variety of flavours. It was a really good meal and quite different to what I’d expected.

Tinto de Verano – Sparkling wine based cocktail, similar to Sangria.

De Pabellon Arepa – Shredded beef, black beans, white salty cheese and sweet plantains.

Reina Pepiada Arepa – Chunky chicken and avocado mix salad.

The Rest:

A few places which I actually didn’t take any photos of but are still worth a mention:

Joe, The Art Of Coffee

$
Various Locations
(http://www.joetheartofcoffee.com/)

This place has a few locations around New York, and is a good option for those of you who won’t be venturing out of Manhattan too often. We went to three different locations, and each time the coffee was very good.

Sheng Wang

$
27 Eldridge St, New York

This is a hand pulled Noodle place that had brilliant noodles and was very cheap. It’s a tiny and narrow place, probably seats 40-50 people and the guy making the noodles is in the main dining area at the back before the kitchen, and you see him making the noodles with a thud as they hit the bench a few times every minute.

Well worth a visit for a very tasty, cheap meal and a bit of a show with the noodles being made in plain view.

I hope you enjoyed this guide, and get to try some of the places on here some time. If you have any other tips, would like to discuss your experiences at any of the above places, feel free to do so below. I’d love to hear what you all have to say about food in this amazing city.

Also, if the passage of time has made any of what I’ve written redundant, please let me know so that I can update the entry.

For more great food tips click here to check out my Brooklyn Food Guide.