Three Saturdays ago I did have an intense fooding day since I went to the Big Apple BBQ 2008 with Giulia during the early afternoon (which I’m not going to write since everyone wrote about this eons ago and ate a lot more than I had, just Google it and you get a lot of hits) but you may look at my photos for that outing.
As for the second leg of this fooding excursion, I finally went out to Brooklyn! Park Slope to be more specific. It’s been ages since I went to this borough just because it’s a two-hour commute from home in Queens. Even though I do admit that it’s a 20-minute express subway ride from Union Square, so it ain’t that bad.
Miriam
Ariel and I discussed about going to Miriam many moons ago. I think six plus months at least since he brought up the idea of eating out to an Israeli restaurant. I’ve told in a melodramatic fashion that we have to eat there for brunch after he comes back from his three week Western European vacation before this idea will collect dust and it will be totally forgotten. So, he set it to this date and I’ve brought along Giulia and Helen.
Burekas
Giulia ordered the bureka just because it’s something she (or I) ever had since it’s not within our culture. The bureka was basically a dense pastry filled with feta cheese, sesame seeds, and seasonings. Tastes good but I wish I had better descriptions despite the fact it’s technically my first bureka. The sides that came with this was two eggs with a tart, creamy pool of labneh.
Croque Madame
Helen ordered the croque madame, as you know it’s different from the traditional version. What they made it a bit more Israeli-like is the use of egg-rich challah bread and topping it with eggs that Helen likes it done – scrambled.
This is a bit more decadent and, in my personal opinion, tastes pretty damn good. I love the stringy, gooey Swiss cheese that stretches out from its former, larger self. Nom.
Mediterranean Crispy Dough
I ordered the Mediterranean crispy dough just because I was thinking how can anyone go wrong with something that’s fried? Except the thing is, the dough was quite dense, greasy, and a bit bland for my liking until I slather on the spicy za’atar to cut the greasiness and make it a bit more interesting. What I do like the most is the fact my eggs are yolky that just adds on to the fat and cholesterol content a bit more. Yes, I did have a slight intention to spike up my cholesterol and triglycerides count that day.
Israeli Breakfast
As for Ariel, he ordered the Israeli breakfast since the waitress did say it was the an Israeli breakfast with a twist. Whatever that meant, he ended up with two eggs with labneh, home fries, Israeli salad and pita. I didn’t try his food since he was voracious and inhaled his food, so I didn’t have a chance to get a bite but it looked good.
The Chocolate Room
After we finished our late brunch (it ended around 4 PM), we walked across the street to The Chocolate Room for dessert.
Chocolate stuff!
I don’t think I have ever seen that much chocolate coated, filled, or just plain chocolate in a while. It was a bit overwhelming that everyone, including myself, was indecisive about what to get. Eventually, Giulia gotten herself a small box of Knipschildt Chocolatier‘s bonbons for herself and her mom when she gets back home, since she had to leave early. As for the rest of us (as in Ariel, Helen, and I), we decided to stay and eat-in our desserts.
A spoon of deliciousness
When we helped ourselves to a table, our waitress gave us a small sampling served, in a demitasse spoon, of chocolate sorbet. This little sampler whetted our appetites since it was so smooth, intensely chocolate-y, and deceptively creamy like ice cream that Helen thought it was chocolate ice cream.
The Not Hot
Due to the sweltering, humid heat, Helen wanted the Not Hot, which is their version of an iced hot chocolate. This drink was quite good – not too sweet, not terribly icy, and the acidic aftertaste of the chocolate was an unexpected but welcoming flavor from something that was quite decadent.
Chocolate éclair & Innards
Since none of us wanted the traditional desserts they have (think sundaes and chocolate cakes), Ariel wanted the day’s special – chocolate éclair with orange caramel sauce. I had no preference since I didn’t feel that hungry. The éclair was fine, nothing spectacular since the choux pastry was cold, like it just came out of the refrigerator but not soggy at least, and the vanilla custard filling was a bit lacking in the flavor department. The orange caramel was good, nothing much to write about. I do like it, but not as much as I would like to.
Baked goods in Trios Pommes
Just because we’re in Park Slope, I demanded proposed to Ariel and Helen that I want to go Trois Pommes Patisserie and they obliged to walk with me. I will never know when I’ll come back here so I might as well stuff myself to the gills with whatever Park Slope can offer and remembering what I’ve read from Ed’s review on their baked goods a while ago, this bakery sounded promising. Perusing whatever remains in their pastry cases during this late time of 6 PM, Ariel and I decided on the lemon meringue tart.
Lemon Meringue Tart
I have to say this lemon meringue tart was quite phenomenal. The crust was buttery, just sweet and not at all soggy (maybe a bit tough cutting through it with a plastic fork but it’s doable). The lemon filling was refreshingly tart and lemony with little touches of of sweetness from the torched meringue.
Maple Latte & Iced Coffee
After eating all of this, we’re all either sleepy from food coma or from the relentless heat or possibly a combination of both. Anyway, we walked back to practically to where we started from to Gorilla Coffee, which is a few doors away from Miriam. I needed an iced coffee, while Ariel was interested in their maple latte. The iced coffee tasted like a coffee version of Adderall. In other words, it’s over-roasted coffee beans and it totally awaken my brain cells. As for Ariel’s latte, he said it’s pretty tasty from the maple flavor. Despite the fact I haven’t tasted it, the looks of the latte is disappointing.
Wide open (green) spaces in Prospect Park
Our guts are feeling pretty disgusting by now after eating brunch and dropping into two different desert spots, Ariel demanded insisted we walk from Park Slope all the way to Prospect Park in this intolerable heat when the heat index that day felt like 100+ degrees! But it was a good work out, not doubt about that…
Addresses:
Miriam
79 5th Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11217
The Chocolate Room
86 5th Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11217
Trois Pommes Patisserie
260 5th Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11215
Gorilla Coffee
97 5th Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11217
