Olive Vine January 29, 2009

For lunch the other day, I had a craving for falafel!  Now, why the sudden craving?  The boyfriend and I were watching Throwdown with Bobby Flay.  He was doing a falafel throwdown against the owner of Taim.  It was painful to watch.  After watching falafels being made for a half an hour, I was ready to ask the boyfriend to drive me to Mamouns on MacDougal to get me a falafel (They’re open till 3AM).  Why painful?  I was having hunger pains since I wanted falafels that bad.   But we waited till the next day.  It must have been cold, because that’s the only reason why I wouldn’t go and get food. 

 

So the next day, I woke up…and off to get falafels we went.  The boyfriend and I headed over to Olive Vine on 7th Ave and 15th St. Yum! The last time I was there I had ordered the salad platter to go and went to Prospect Park to watch a rendition of Fahrenheit 151.  I wasn’t too big a fan of the show, but the salad platter paired with a nice red wine and I was in heaven. 

 

The nice thing about the salad platter is you get to choose five items from a list of about ten that you want.  This time I opted for the tabbouleh, a double babbaganoush, rice wrapped in grape leaves, and hummus.  This was shared between the boyfriend and me. 

 

 

For our mains, he ordered a grilled chicken gyro and I ordered a falafel sandwich.  I ate half of it already before I remembered to take a picture.

 

 

All was yummy.  The owner was kind enough to give us a free slice of an almond type cake.  It was very rich but delicious.  I’ve been here a few times, and I’ve always been happy with the food.  The restaurant is also BYOB, and conveniently enough there is a wine store right across the street. 🙂  Although, it was 11 o’clock when we went, so I didn’t want to seem like a lush.  Also, I love, love the pita bread.  They arn’t the kind that come in a package.  They are made to order pita.  So pillowy and soft.  They are a must have. What a delicious way to start the day. 😀

 

Bar Toto January 5, 2009

We went there for New Year Day brunch and it was quite delish. I had been there a few times and always enjoyed my food every time I was there. I’ve eaten dinner there once, but I find their brunch menu to be much better. Although, I might be remembering the dinner as less than favorable because of the company I was with. Another reason I love the place is the proximity. Its only two streets (not avenues) away.

When we got there, we had to wait for a table. The boyfriend even commented that from the outside it doesn’t look that busy. I guess one of the reasons why I like the place. Quiet, unassuming delicious food. Seems everyone had the right idea for their first New Year meal. If you do frequent the place, make sure to close the curtain after you enter or ensure they are closed when you leave. Those inside will appreciate it.

I ordered myself a Bloody Mary and the Rigatoni with Roasted Eggplant & Smoked Mozzarella. The boyfriend ordered the Chicken Mozzarella Panini topped with Onions and Prosciutto and a side of the fries. Both were delicious. I love eggplant and I love pasta with eggplant. I ate up every little drop. The boyfriend also loved his sandwich and the fries. I don’t know why I ordered the Bloody Mary, given that I never really had one. But it was tasty. It had fresh horseradish in it with green olives and a peppercino pepper. We left the restaurant full and satisfied.

Then Saturday came around, we woke up, we were hungry. The boyfriend was so happy with his sandwich we went back for lunch. He wanted to try the Panini Burger, and that he did. He ordered the Brooklyn Panini Burger, substituted with Mozzarella instead of American, and I ordered the Eggs De Parma. The Eggs De Parma, are two eggs stacked and baked on a piece of flatbread with onion, prosciutto, and provolone cheese served with a side of fries. Yum, yum, yum. The burger did not disappoint as the boyfriend was almost licking his fingers and I was scraping up all the yummy eggs.

The place was still decorated with the New Year’s decoration of simple bunches of streamers hanging from the ceiling. One of the employees said it only took him an hour to put them up. The boyfriend thought if it was him, it would take him six.

I love this place and is one of my favorites. I have yet to leave there unsatisfied. I highly recommend the place.

Bar Toto
411 11th St
Brooklyn, NY 11215
http://www.bartoto.com/

Brooklyn Flipster’s Burgers

After helping the boyfriend’s brother paint his house all day, the boyfriend and I were both famished. Well at least I was. I had paint all over me, my body was achy, and all I wanted to do is eat, take a hot shower and go to bed. Originally we had planned to go to Bonnie’s Grill and get a burger with some buffalo chicken wings. Unfortunately Bonnie’s closes at 10 on Sundays. I was hungry. I was tired. Flipster’s is up the block. Although I only live down the block from Flipster’s I’ve never tried it. The boyfriend wanted to try. So that was the place we were going to eat.

Given the amount of burger places in Park Slope, I thought the prices to be quite high. A standard burger, with lettuce, tomato, onion, and pickle was $8.00. You want cheese? Add a dollar. You want fries with that? Add another $4.00. When all is said and done, your cheese burger with fries comes out to $13.00. I always see a fair number of people in there. Usually late at night. Looking at the menu, I see why. Some of the burgers are $5.00, 11PM to close, Monday to Friday. It was 10 o’clock when we went there. I couldn’t hold out. I was hungry.

For starters, the boyfriend ordered a chocolate shake, $5.00, and a chicken quesadilla to share. I ordered the Brooklyn Flipster burger which a 7 oz. burger topped with mozzarella, lettuce, tomato, raw red onion, pickle, bacon and caramelized onions, $10.00. The boyfriend ordered a double stacker (2 3.5 oz burgers), $8.00. I also ordered a side of zucchini sticks for $4.00.

I was quite content with the quesadilla, expecting the burger to be just as good. But then, I was hungry so anything may have been good to me at that point. So after my initial hunger was satiated, the burgers arrived. The burgers seemed tiny to me. For $10.00, I was expecting something that I would get at the Dram Shop or Bonnie’s Grill (Both come with fries BTW and Bonnie’s lets you opt out of the fries for a choice of Cole Slaw, Chili, or Salad at no extra charge). The boyfriend saw double stacker and assumed it would be double the burger. Its just the same 7 oz. burger halved and stacked. Sorry boyfriend. They were tasty, but for $10.00 it better be. The zucchini sticks left little be desired. They were over fried. Close to being burnt, but not close enough to be called burnt. The batter was heavy. The only saving grace was the marinara sauce to soften the thick batter crust with. Boyfriend said the shake was okay. For $5.00, I rather get the Johnny Rocket’s Shake.

All in all, I’m glad we tried it since its really close by. However, I don’t think I’d go back unless I was there for one of their late night specials or Wednesday Happy Hour. For the price, you can go to Dram Shop or Bonnie’s, get a burger with fries with enough to get a few rounds of beers.

Brooklyn Flipster’s
440 9th St
Brooklyn NY 11215
718-832-5500

Rachel’s Taqueria December 17, 2008

This place has decent food. I come here every so often for a quick bite. However…

My bf was in the mood for some tacos so we went over to Rachel’s. It was a Tuesday and we noticed they have a Tuesday “Buy one taco platter get the second free” night.

We sat down and was looking at the little sign advertising the special on the table to see if there were any restrictions. The waitress saw we were looking at it and added that the special only applies to the Titos Taco Platter (Ground beef tacos) or the Lupe Taco Platter (Choice of meat or vegetable).

So fine, that was what we wanted to order anyway. It comes down to ordering, and I decided I wanted a California burrito and the boyfriend was going to get the special. Waitress comes over and I started first. The burrito comes with two choices of meat and/or vegetable so I opted for the pork and the corn. Then she asks the bf what he wanted. He says I want one Lupe Platter and one Tito Platter. The waitress then informs us that he can’t get the second platter free since I ordered my California burrito.

So bear with me a second. According to the waitress, I ordered my entree already, said burrito, and the special only works if I ordered a taco platter and then he orders a taco platter, and then one of them is free. I gave her a really confused face, so she says, “Let me go ask the manager”. OK. She comes back and reaffirms her position. I say, “But I’m ordering another entree, arn’t you losing money this way?”.

Think about it:

one taco platter + one taco platter + one Tuesday Special = one taco platter

OR

one taco platter + one taco platter + one Tuesday Special + one California Burrito = one taco platter + one California Burrito

So what happens if I was by myself and I wanted to order the special. Okay, I’m starting to get facetious now, let me stop.

Since I was starving at that point and I was irritated at this whole thing, I change my order to the Tito tacos and the boyfriend orders the Lupes tacos and peace is restored. (It should be noted, Lupes tacos typically comes with a choice of meat. The boyfriend wanted steak, but was told he could only get chicken or pork for the special.)

Overall this place is okay but what silly special restrictions.

Rachel’s Taqueria
408 5th Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11215
718-788-1137