Boswijk

Restaurant Abidjan

1136 Broadway, Bushwick

Gotham City Lounge

1293 Myrtle Avenue, Bushwick

After Complex.com released a slide show article a few years ago highlighting their picks of the top 50 dive bars in New York City, one in particular stood out from the pack. Gotham City Lounge in the northern reaches of Brooklyn. One of the few in the list not located in Manhattan nor near other relatively high traffic areas, it is themed after superheroes and comics, more or less a public exhibit of the owner's collections. Jon and I had been talking about going there for a while, and so we finally acted on our plans. Considering this part of Bushwick, Brooklyn is over an hour by subway, I wanted to capitalize on the time spent out there, so I added a visit to Restaurant Abidjan to the day. Gotham City Lounge does not open until 6pm, so we figured to grab dinner Abidjan before, which is only 10 minutes away by foot. We got off the Kosciuszko stop on the J train which we had picked up from Canal Street in lower Manhattan, and walked a few storefronts up on Broadway until we came to number 1136.  A colorful and patriotic awning reads "Bon Manger, Le Bon Gout", which translates literally from French to mean "Good Eating, Good Taste." Abidjan's menu covers West African cuisine, specifically the country and former French colony of Cote d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast). The neon-rimmed windows present pictorials of the dishes available, stews, fishes, and meats. We found the door locked when we got there so we had to ring the buzzer. After you're let inside, you'll find a spacious, bright dining room with vinyl-covered tables. Near the windows is an ancient but huge TV that happened to having some Gospel and Praise programs blaring. Then we went up to the counter to check out the menu with all the pictures.When we sat down, there was no one in the restaurant, but by the time we left it was more than half-full. We ordered with the cashier and ended up with 2 barbecued fish and attieke combos and 1 chicken in peanut stew with foutou on the side. I also ordered the ginger juice, which was just ok. We did encounter one thing they did not have available on the menu: lamb. We were also brought a gallon jug of water. And from the sign on the window, the water is specially Kangen ionized and alkalized water, whatever that means. The grilled whole fish was excellent, dressed in onions, cucumbers, tomatoes, and including a spicy tomato-based sauce, with the rice/couscous hybrid side. To use Jon's words, the chicken in peanut sauce was like having "peanut butter soup" and there was a certain sweetness to it. The attieke is an Ivorian side dish made of cassava, while the foutou, is like a gooey mashed potato, a thick paste made of starchy root vegetables boiled, pounded, and molded into a soft mound resembling Play-Doh. After a couple more of our group who had come to the area just for the bar met us at Abidjan, we paid the extremely reasonable bill (less than $40 for 3 of us), and piled into the car (instead of walking 10 minutes) over to Myrtle Avenue from Broadway. Upon arriving to the entrance of the Gotham City Lounge, with 3D murals of Batman and Superman on the exterior wall, we were left to buzz yet again in Bushwick to be allowed entry. Graciously we were let in, and we were all quite surprised to find out how small the interior of the bar really is. A pool table pretty much right when you step foot in, with small circular tables along the wall and a few random bar stool chairs scattered about, then a projector screen on the left and a projector on the right, which was showing the pre-game festivities of the NBA All-Star game not before the owner switched the channel to AMC in time to declare that Sunday nights are Walking Dead nights. Fortunately it was not at all crowded, actually there were maybe just 5 people, occupied primarily by the pool table so we moseyed our way up to the bar and took some seats while figuring out what to order. I'd read about their superhero-tribute mixed drinks, and was particularly excited for the Green Lantern (Zubrowka vodka, apple schnapps, and sprite). At $8 a pop, mixed drinks here are not out of the ordinary for New York, but the beer prices really make GCL stand out. With no draughts and soda in plastic liter bottles, PBR cans are available for $2 and their special is PBR and a shot of whiskey for $3. I also tried the Harley Quinn (raspberry vodka, gin, and lemonade), and we chatted with the bartender awhile, who was telling us it had been a while since he had made some of the drinks because most people just go for the PBR special, not surprisingly. After the drinks were downed, we piled in the car again and drove back to Queens to watch the rest of the All-Star game on my flat-screen TV that is "too small" according to IG. Pressing 2 buzzers in Bushwick revealed a great and unique Sunday night experience.

 Restaurant Abidjan

Picture Menu

Grilled Whole Fish with Cucumbers, Tomatoes, and Onions

 Grilled Whole Fish with Attieke Side

Ginger Juice

 No More Grilled Whole Fish

 Foutou

Chicken "Peanut Butter Soup" and Foutou

3D Superman/Batman Mural outside Gotham City Lounge

 What It Really Looks Like Inside GCL - pitch black, the only illumination being a neon sign

 2 Shots of What GCL Does Not Look Like Inside - Light

 Harley Quinn (Raspberry Vodka, Gin, Lemonade)

Green Lantern (Zubrowka, Apple Schnapps, Sprite)

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Caribbean South America

Sybil's Bakery
128-12 Liberty Avenue, South Richmond Hill

Presidents' Day was a brisk one in New York in 2013. However, this did not stop Jon and I from heading to South Richmond Hill in Queens in search of food from one of the only non-Spanish speaking countries in South America. After dropping our friend off at Grand Central, we circled around, and headed into the Midtown Tunnel and then the L.I.E. to the Van Wyck to the exit for Liberty Avenue. At number 128-12, I was hoping to find Warung Kario, a halal Surinamese restaurant run by sisters of Javanese Indonesian descent ("warung" translates literally from Indonesian as "shop" or "cafe"). After driving by the block a couple times, I realized it was a shuttered storefront with a security gate down and no awning. Having studied abroad in the Netherlands in 2010, I've since been interested in anything I can find in the USA related to Dutch culture. While New York was originally New Amsterdam, the Dutch influences live on basically only in name at this point (towns in the Hudson Valley, the 8th President Van Buren, Brooklyn/Breukelen etc.) Trader Joe's sells mini stroopwafels, but I wanted the regular-sized ones, for which Holland American Bakery in Sussex County, NJ filled that void as well with their delicious speculaas cookies. Danku was a Dutch-style "fast food" place in Midtown for a few years that closed before I learned about it, and Vandaag was an artsy East Village spot, that aside from its obvious name, served a couple Dutch snacks like croquettes and pancakes, which also closed too soon. Anyway, we pulled up in front of 128-12 Liberty Avenue to read a sign in the window that said "Coming Soon Caribbean Suriname Restaurant" which I can only hope is true. Thankfully, not all was to be lost as there are other good things in the neighborhood, and I'd done my homework. I told Jon we could go for Portuguese, but I thought it wasn't unique enough for the destination we had set out for this day, so I then proposed Liberian, but after eating Cote D'Ivoirean the night before, we decided otherwise. That left the food of one of the more visible populations of South Richmond Hill: Guyanese. Located in northeastern South America bordering Brazil, Venezuela, and Suriname, Guyana is a true melting pot, with significant presence of Indo-Guyanese and Afro-Guyanese. (In my lunch/dinner, the East Indian flavor could definitely be found.) After rounding the block a few down from 128-12, we pulled in front of Sybil's Bakery, a small chain with other locations in Jamaica and East Flatbush. After debating about whether they check parking meters on a holiday (the sign said the only exception was Sunday), we threw in some quarters and walked into the flamboyantly-designed eatery. From the outside, it appears to be very large as the logo and colors consume almost the entirety of the block and full 2-story building. However, when we walk in, the steam table behind glass is right in front of us despite 3 separate entrances to the place. The only seats inside are stool chairs for a window counter. We have no idea what to order right away because of course the time I spent looking at the menu of Warung Kario proved to be a waste and didn't bother looking at this one. It was a busy scene with people going in and out with orders and the kitchen seemingly cooking up a storm. When were up to order, I told the girl behind the counter we had never had Guyanese food and asked her to recommend some things. We ended up first with a boneless fish filet over spinach rice (called banga or banga mary, apparently a very popular fish in Guyanese cuisine, which I later researched to find is commonly known as a king weakfish), and I had a chicken curry also over the spinach rice. Feeling as though something was missing, I asked about the roti, which the girl showed me and then I asked for an order so we could try it. It turned out to be a heavy kind of pita. Roti is also common in South Asian cuisine, which is where it originated, evidential among the East Indians who came to the Caribbean, but the styles vary greatly from one side of the world to the other. While Indian roti is usually flat and unleavened, Caribbean-style roti is soft, moist, and flaky, almost like a doughy blanket. Since they seem to run mostly a to-go operation, we got our meals in disposable containers: aluminum pans in plastic and paper bags with plastic fork and paper plate. The tray was packed with the curry and rice and was not stable so I thought it would spill all over the bag. Finally, I was able to take some out and put it onto the plate, but the chicken in the curry must have had extra bones in it because every bite I took had bones in it. After a short while, since it was heavy with spicy sauce, the place was getting busy, we were sitting directly under the heating ducts, and the sun was shining right through the window, I'd had enough so we packed everything up to go and left. I figured I'd eat the rest (pretty much all of it) for dinner anyway. Since we were already in southern Queens, I decided to show Jon a strange area out in the Rockaways that is undeveloped waterfront property with direct public transit access (the A train goes the length of the street). It is truly the final frontier within New York City confines: Edgemere and Arverne. A completely desolate beach (boardwalk damaged by Hurricane Sandy) with just the sounds of waves and birds, with Long Beach and the 5 Towns out in the distance one direction and public housing projects in the other. It's what Asbury Park was like before gentrification, a pristine and undisturbed white sand beach with a boardwalk in an area that had seen better days. Of course, just like Asbury Park today, in the Rockaways, there is Arverne-by-the-Sea, a brand new real estate development attempting to pitch the area as a beach town; there is even huge a new Stop N Shop and a surfing store down the block. I'm curious to know if this beach is popular in the summer  at all. We did not see any parking restriction signs on the pothole-pocked streets. Later, after being home for a while, I took the food from Sybil's out of the refrigerator and warmed it up in a bowl, using the roti as a cover to retain the heat. After sitting in the fridge for some time, the curry and rice and formed to the shape of the aluminum container and was somewhat more enjoyable than the saucy sop it was when we were at Sybil's. The spinach rice was very good, with the chickpeas being one of the best parts.

Warung Kario (RIP), 128-12 Liberty Avenue, South Richmond Hill, Queens (Closed)

Sybil's Bakery, 132-17 Liberty Avenue, South Richmond Hill, Queens

Banga Mary with spinach rice and salad

Chicken curry with spinach rice and salad

Roti

Edgemere Beach, Queens

Persian Sides

Ravagh Persian Grill
11 East 30th Street (btwn 5th and Madison Ave), NoMad

This one will be a short one because I'm reflecting on a forgotten meal had several weeks ago. My sister was home in New Jersey during the winter vacation, so I arranged with my mom and her to meet in Manhattan for dinner one night. Looking for somewhere close to Penn Station, I chose Ravagh Persian Grill on 30th Street, one of a small chain throughout the city, New Jersey, and Long Island. Situated in rather nondescript NoMad (NOrth of MADison Square Park) neighborhood in Midtown on an even more nondescript side street with multiple rug stores, Ravagh is identified by a swinging yellow sign announcing the presence of "Persian Grill." The day we went their front door was broken so that if you did not hold it while closing, it would slam shut behind you. That startling noise occurred more than a few times while dining. Whenever I go to Mediterranean or Middle Eastern restaurants, I get stuffed grape leaves, so here we ordered the dolmeh, which were a good enough appetizer. The signature specialties at Ravagh are definitely the stews and kabobs. Other dishes ordered included a salad, chicken strip kabob, vegetarian kabob, and chicken stew. Pretty much everything here comes with some kind of rice. There is one particular dish, however, that stands out from among the rest at this Persian post. That is the base of the khoresh fesenjan, a stew consisting of crushed walnuts with boneless chicken. What the walnuts and chicken become immersed in is a pomegranate paste that lends to the palate one of the most unique tastes of sweet and tangy. Resembling a Mexican mole sauce, we ordered this in combination with tadiq, a Persian specialty of cooked crunch rice that turns into something like a hard pancake. Just this pomegranate fesenjan sauce alone made this meal worthwhile.

 Yellow sign on street with rug stores.

Amazing pomegranate-based fesenjan sauce.

Milchig, Fleishig

Town & Village Synagogue
334 East 14th Street, East Village

Fernandes Steakhouse
158 Fleming Avenue, Ironbound, Newark

While out at Balade a couple weeks prior after going to the service at T&V in their basement social hall, we got to talking about ideas for the coming weeks. As we had learned of the Chocolate Heaven 20s and 30s Shabbat dinner to happen in another 2 weeks, we resolved to go as we had been searching for some sort of young social Jewish event to go to for some time. We'd buy the tickets in the coming week, though of course I waited until the absolute last minute to buy mine and just by strokes of luck of weather and cancellations I was able to get it in time. So we were all set for Friday night, and then on the topic of ethnic cuisines, either Julia or Neal had mentioned Newark's Spanish, Portuguese, and Brazilian population and their assorted eateries. One particular came up in discussion, and that is Fernandes Steakhouse in the most northern reaches of the Ironbound, not far from the Passaic River and the NJ Turnpike. This restaurant is at least locally known due to its satisfying rodizio experience. For those who don't know (and I didn't prior to this conversation), rodizio is a style of service in Brazilian restaurants involving an unlimited variety of meats, mostly beef, coming around straight from the kitchen and cut right at the table in front of you. Upon hearing of its sampling nature, I likened it to a Brazilian form of dim sum, which strangely enough of hearing about it often enough I have never had in a complete setting (just once downtown in a pretty rushed experience). It sounded good so we pieced together a group of 8 and made a reservation at Fernandes for Saturday night. As for the dinner after Shabbat, if it was going to revolve around Chocolate, it would thus have to be dairy in order to comply with kashruth in the synagogue. So our 2nd time at the T&V Synagogue. This time Meryl would be able to join us but because of the impending snow, Julia decided to stay put in NJ. Once again the subways let me down and I rushed this time from Union Square to get to the service on time. It is a personal peeve of mine to miss the first prayer of the service, Yedid Nefesh, thankfully I got there with 2 verses left to go. It sets the scene like none other, the pace at which it moves and the opportunities for harmony are unequaled. This time because the dinner was set up in the social hall the service was actually in the real sanctuary. Funny enough when I walked in there were a few people in the lobby and asked if I was there for the dinner, and I said yes and the service, mostly I was just trying to get to the coatroom and throw my stuff in and head upstairs. Well one of the greeters was none other than my Resident Advisor from senior year of college. So a lightning quick reunion and I got upstairs and searched the room for Neal and Meryl and fortunately they looked back so I saw them. The room was not very crowded but much of the congregation was on the younger side, undoubtedly due to the dinner afterwards. Upon sitting down and opening the siddur to page 252, I noticed around that the sanctuary was quite cavernous but strangely plain. I could very well imagine some 13 year old named Elliott Goldberg getting bar mitzvah in this room in like 1985. It had that stuck in time look to it, the way I would imagine the background of a photo from that time to look, except this was the present in 2013, nearly 30 years later. Most of the walls were just a simple white and aside from some designs on the wooden ark wall, it was a very modest worship area. So once again the service was nice, and there was no sermon except some words towards the end. Probably after 7 or so we all shuffled downstairs to the "cocktail hour" which was separate from the seating for the meal. There was a long table set up with plastic cups of what looked like nice rich chocolate milk with a straw peaking out. However, I, though I should say we, found out unfortunately this was not quite the case. The organizers had mentioned the presence of adult beverages, and this is exactly what these were. And then my suspicions were confirmed upon seeing the empty (plastic) vodka bottle on the table. And it was not just regular chocolate milk but DOUBLE chocolate milk, whatever that means. Case in point these drinks were quite awful. Chocolate milk and vodka? That's probably worse than the concoction I grew up drinking of milk and soda. I still to this day hold that part of the contribution of that not so pleasant taste was that my mom always put in a reusable plastic cup. Everyone knows nothing tastes as good in plastic as in glasses. There were also assortments of some other chocolatey things on the table. Then the dividers were open and everyone was asked to sit at the tables, the Rabbi talked about the week's parashah a few minutes while acknowledging everyone's desire to get food and then all tables were told to up to the buffet one by one. In keeping with the edict, the dinner was dairy, and Italian was chosen for cuisine. So we had our pick of salads, slices of cheese with oil, garlic, and tomato slices, lasagna, and raviolis. The dressing provided for the salad was a balsamic vinegarette but was brown and thick-looking so we thought perhaps they had supplied chocolate to put on the salads. A quick sniff proved it was indeed non-chocolate salad dressing.  This food overall was nothing to write home about, and deemed overly salty by most people at the table. The dessert, however, was another story, with several different types of chocolate cake, including cheesecake, mousse cake, and layer cake. If only they had brought out the chocolate milk then. This was the night of the blizzard so after done eating, we all made a quick exit in order to get home. However, the next day would be even better, with our reservation at Fernandes in the Ironbound section of Newark. Of our group of 8, four were already in NJ and four were in the city so Neal proposed that the 4 of us in the city meet up to take the PATH train. Unfortunately, since Hurricane Sandy the WTC PATH line has not operated on the weekends so we were stuck taking the 33rd St line which stops in Hoboken before it winds its way to Journal Square where you then have to switch across the platform for the train bound for Newark, a trip which takes about 45 minutes. Of course, right on schedule, subways were fickle and Alisa and I did not get to 33rd Street in time to make the departing PATH train we had discussed earlier in the day with Neal. So half the group went to show up for the reservation at 7, while Jon and Dana waited in the car at Harrison to pick us up. Supposed to arrive at 6:57, I think we got in the car about 7:05, and with the steakhouse just over a mile away, we were parked, walked through their one, two, three, and four entrance doors, up the stairs, around the half-wall, and seated before 7:15 so no loss to be had. They had already ordered a pitcher of sangria, which had a rather calm and behaved taste. Having seen the menu online before leaving, I was overwhelmed but not for long as there is essentially one reason why people go to Fernandes and that is for their rodizio, as mentioned previously like a Brazilian dim sum with all kinds of meat straight out the kitchen seared and then cut at the table. Most of the table opted for rodizio, and for $30, it was no wrong way to go. Also with a salad bar included, which I consciously limited myself with, in order to have room for the meat. Some peppers, a little bit of lettuce, and tomatoes, and onions. It kind of reminded me of the pickle bar at Harold's, the home of the world's best OVERsized sandwiches. Don't overload, because you know you want the pastrami and corned beef and rye. Same concept here, except no bread, well the kind in the basket only. Probably one of the only disappointments I had was that they gave butter that comes in little packets like at a diner. They could have just solved that problem by giving oil to dip the bread into. So another pitcher of sangria and finally the meat servers started rolling in. For some of the cuts, like the roast beef, it was a joint effort with the server who would be cutting a slice and there were tongs on the table you were supposed to grab part of the slice so that when the cut was finished, it wouldn't fall on the table or the floor. This practice took a few separate trials before I caught on as to what you were supposed to do. The first 2 or 3 times I would forget and just continue eating my food while the guy was trying to cut the meat. Some of the meats were so incredibly delicious, and some were just way too rare, and some had too much fat. Roast beef, flanken, prime rib, bottom sirloin, tenderloin, and filet mignon, not to mention kebabs. As is customary in rodizio, they also had chicken hearts which we mischievously loaded onto Jon's plate when he was in the bathroom. And without asking questions, he ate them, but then when we told him what they were he swore he wouldn't eat them again, citing them as being tart. Those and the pork are essentially the only things I did not consume on this feastly night. When I was finally satisfied with the amount of meat I had ingested, the servers brought around the rodizio dessert: grilled pineapples, a fine topping to the meal. But some of us dared to go further, especially tempted when a tray of luscious-looking desserts was brought around, so a couple cakes were ordered to finish everything off, though I opted out at this point. One of the great things about eating so much meat alone is that it is pure protein, as opposed to sushi which has a good amount of carbs, so you eat a lot and feel pleasantly full as opposed to feeling too full. And also we circulated the discussion of Spanish Tavern since we were in the neighborhood. I think a long time ago I've been to the one on Route 22 across the road from Arirang Steakhouse but never to the more authentic one in Newark itself. That appears to be our next destination in the Ironbound. So we got a ride back to the Harrison PATH station, Meryl, Alisa, and I and the ride back was quite more smooth than the ride going into Newark.

Yes, we went here--again.

No, it was not this full.

Chocolate syrup or balsamic vinegarette?

 Downtown Newark skyline

 Five Corners in Ironbound, about a mile away

Fernandes Steakhouse, corner of Fleming and Chapel

Inside Fernandes, deceptively fancy-looking

Sangria

Disappointing butter packets

Rodizio grill, mmmm

 Chicken hearts!

Rodizio sides spread: beans, rice, fried bananas, and more

Grilled pineapple!