30-Day Stay in Bed-Stuy (Brooklyn, NYC) - Request for Tips

Regional Dining Discussions New York City
1

My wife Toni and I will be traveling from the DC area to Stuyvesant Heights for thirty days in mid-August to mid-September. The primary purpose of the trip is to eat (and to listen to music).

My wife and I have made two trips to NYC in the past 12 months, one long one in Stuyvesant Heights in Aug-Sept. 2022 and a shorter one in the Lower East Side in January 2023. I thought I’d give you a listing of where we ate on those two trips, with very summary reviews, to give some idea of our tastes and the gaps in where we’ve eaten.

A&A Bake & Doubles - Crown Heights - very good
Arepa Lady - DeKalb Market Hall, Downtown Brooklyn - sub-par
Badawi - Brooklyn Heights - outstanding
Bahn Mi Zon - East Village - outstanding
Birdland - Times Square - good (surprisingly)
Bobbi’s Italian Beef - then at DeKalb Market Hall, Downtown Brooklyn, now relocated - good (nowhere near real Chicago Italian beef though)
Boulud Sud - Midtown - very good (but price and food quality weren’t a great match)
Chez Oskar - Bed-Stuy - okay
David’s Brisket - Crown Heights - very good
Dhamaka - Lower East Side - outstanding
Di Fara Pizza - Midwood - I can’t eat this due to severe lactose intolerance, my wife gave it a mere “good,” which she was disappointed about given the restaurant’s reputation
Dim Sum Go Go - Chinatown (Manhattan) - outstanding
Dino’s - Fort Greene - excellent (a surprise, since its reviews aren’ t that good)
Dong Bei Da Pai Dang - Flushing - outstanding (chicken skeleton salad was wonderful)
Eataly - Financial District - very good
Fette Sau Barbecue - Williamsburg - excellent
GT Rice Bowl - Little Guyana (RIchmond Hill) - good
Hometown Bar-B-Que - Red Hook - outstanding
Istanblue Kebab Grill - Midwood - very good
Katz’s Deli - Lower East Side - excellent
LaRina Pastificio & Vino - Fort Greene - outstanding
Le French Diner - Lower East Side - outstanding
Leland’s Eating & Drinking - Prospect Heights - excellent
Lucky House Kitchen - Bed-Stuy - good (we’d never had egg foo young before and wanted to try it at an old-time Chinese-American restaurant)
Macosa Trattoria - Bed-Stuy - good
Mama Fox - Bed-Stuy - very good (paella night)
Mario’s - Belmont (Arthur Avenue, in the Bronx) - sub-par
Nathan’s - Coney Island - excellent
Nathan’s - Citi Field (pastrami sandwich) - good
New Asha - Staten Island - outstanding
Olmsted - Prospect Heights - outstanding
Patsy’s Pizza - Citi Field - very good (my wife’s rating)
Peaches - Bed-Stuy - excellent
Rodo Foods - Bed-Stuy - outstanding
Russ & Daughters - Lower East Side - outstanding
Sahadi’s - Brooklyn Heights - good (carryout)
Sahib Restaurant - Curry Hill (Nomad) - very good
Saigon Social - Lower East Side - excellent
Saraghina Pizzeria - Bed-Stuy - excellent
Shanghai Eats - Flushing - good
Sin Kee - Flushing - excellent
Sobre Masa Tortilleria - Bushwick - outstanding
El Tenampa - Sunset Park - excellent
Takumi Taco - Vanderbilt Urbanspace food hall, Midtown East - good
Trad Room - Bed-Stuy - excellent
WenWen - Greenpoint - very good (but nowhere near as good as Pete Wells’ over-the-top review)

In previous years, we’ve spent time eating in Flushing, Brighton Beach, Harlem, Astoria, and the East Village/Lower East Side, but very little time in the Village, Jackson Heights/Woodside or any of Queens except the Arthur Avenue neighborhood.

We also like exploring neighborhoods we haven’t been to (we went to the Broad Channel neighborhood in Queens last year, just to see what it is like in what is reportedly the least visited neighborhood in NYC).

Suggestions would be very much welcomed. We like just about all cuisines (maybe not Mongolian). We’re staying two minutes away from a stop on the A and C trains, so restaurants on those lines would be particularly interesting. But we also managed to sort of figure out the bus system last summer, so hard-to-reach neighborhoods would be interesting too.

Steve R has also mentioned the possibility of a group dinner, which we’d very much like to do. We’re planning on going to the Queens Night Market and would be particularly interested in suggestions for that venue.

Doug H

2022 - 09 - 07 - Chicken Skeleton Salad Dong Bei Da Pai Dang 17.56.14
2022 - 09 - 07 - Chicken Skeleton Salad Dong Bei Da Pai Dang 17.56.141920×1280 131 KB

7 Likes
2

Tips on how to upload a photo to Hungry Onion would also be welcome. I’ve tried and tried to upload a photo of the chicken skeleton salad at Dong Bei Da Pai Dang, but it doesn’t seem to have uploaded.

1 Like
3

When replying, click on the icon pointed to by the red arrow to upload an image. After that, the trick is knowing where you stored the picture!

Screenshot_20230706-141936_Chrome~2
Screenshot_20230706-141936_Chrome~21600×563 52.2 KB

1 Like
4

The Queens Night Market always takes a break during the U.S. Open. This year, after August 19, QNM doesn’t return till September 16. If that does fit your schedule, I can offer plenty of suggestions. A group dinner sounds great in any event.

5

But the good news is that the US Open Qualifying rounds are the week of the 21st and they’re free. One can just walk in & out as one wishes. A couple of hours of watching great tennis players trying to make their way into the following week’s tournament coupled with dinner in Jackson Hts or Flushing is always a good thing.

1 Like
6

Thank you. That makes August 19 our only option then.

7

Thank you. That is what I’d been doing, but it wasn’t showing up on my screen. It’s there now though.

1 Like
8

Thanks for your list! Plenty of places I’ve never been, and would love to try. That picture of the chicken skeleton salad looks amazing. Glad you were able to upload! :yum:

I would be down for the group dinner, if I can make it.

9

Looks a little light on Thai and Japanese - maybe Thai Diner? Cocoron?

1 Like
10

This is a possibility for me.

11

@FlemSnopes you uploaded that pic on your last report thread, so I’m guessing the issue this time was that you hit “Reply” before the photo was done uploading (you have to wait till the upload shows 100%, or the upload arrow becomes visible again — it’s probably an oversight that the software allows the Reply button to be used mid-upload).

2 Likes
12

Ah, thanks. That’s helpful.

1 Like
13

I had had my eye on Ugly Baby in Carroll Gardens for a possible Thai meal. Has anyone here eaten there?

14

Diverse and interesting list, thanks for sharing!

You mentioned Jackson heights - there are a couple of different threads with comments on it iirc. I’d recommend Bangladeshi, Pakistani, and Tibetan there, in addition to @DaveCook and others’ Central American food explorations.

I’d also suggest trying Ethiopian — I know the DC area is known for it, but I think our version is a bit different, and as good (if not better, there, I said it :scream: :rofl:). Midtown on the AC, or uptown.

Thai on 9th or elsewhere — there’s a wide range to be had in New York.

Divey Indian / Pakistani / Bangladeshi either on Lex or on 10th Ave (cab driver watering holes).

Vietnamese in Manhattan Chinatown (near the courthouse).

Not a “cuisine” but a delicious bite — I’d suggest eating at Bang Bar and Kati Roll Company, different incarnations of the same idea.

1 Like
15

Xian Famous Foods. Now I want cold skin noodles. Dammit.

1 Like
16

Yes, several years ago when he first opened. You should defiinitely go. It’s great, but way too hot to handle for my wife & too spicy for me as well. He makes his food as he feels it should be eaten & does not take requests to tone it down or modify it in any way. I wish I could handle it, as it really is a notch or two above the fare at just about any other Thai place in NYC that I have been (Ayeda, Sripraphai…). At least that’s what my taste buds told me when they weren’t screaming in pain.

17

Thank you for the suggestions, much appreciated. The one pushback is the one you anticipated. I don’t think I’m going to be trying NYC Ethiopian, DC has that cuisine wrapped up. We have more Ethiopians than anywhere outside of Ethiopia. My wife and I went there on vacation a few years ago and it seemed like people we met kept saying, "Oh, yes, I have a cousin in Silver Spring (or Arlington or another DC suburb).

I try not to be provincial, but I might be about our Ethiopian food. We’re the best.

2 Likes
18

A question on Xian Famous Foods. I have a neighborhood-by-neighborhood planning list and it seems like every neighborhood now has a branch of Xian. Are the branches as good as the original?

19

I can’t discern a difference. And the original is long gone, anyway.

1 Like
20

Ugly Baby: I was so excited when it opened, as “good” Thai was non-existent in my neighborhood. I ate my appetizer (a savory coconut fritter of some kind) and exactly one bite of my entree, which was so spicy I was speechless. I tried to convince myself to eat another bite, but it was hopeless. I paid and left.

1 Like