brooklyn must haves and fun areas

[daffyduck]

I'm thinking about heading down to Brooklyn for a date of exploration? Any ideas on must have food items or nice areas to walk? I was thinking of checking out Coney Island, trying some bahn mi (I heard Sunset Park has the best), heading to Difara and maybe the Chocolate Room. I have a car so don't mind driving around.

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Chocolate Room
269 Court St, Brooklyn, NY 11231

[Miss Needle]

If you are going to Ba Xuyen for their banh mi, make sure they heat it thoroughly. After hearing all of its praises, I was pretty disappointed. The bread was nice, but they didn't heat it properly where the innards were stone cold -- not room temperature, but just out of the fridge cold. Nothing melded together and you couldn't really taste the meats as the cold blunted the flavors. There was hardly any mayo to be found. I think they were working on a large order and just didn't put any care into mine. I'll give it another go, but if I have another bad experience, I probably won't return. If you're in the Sunset Park area, you may want to check out Yun Nan Flavour Snack for food from the Yunnan region of China. I especially enjoyed the dumplings in hot and sour sauce (which was more like a soup). Vinegary, a bit spicy with a tinge of Szechuan peppercorn. Just wanted to let you know that it's very bare bones.

You may also want to check out the Atlantic Ave scene for Middle Eastern food. Sahadi's is great to do some shopping and browsing. And I love Damascus for their pita and meat and spinach pies.

Dumbo is a really nice to walk around, especially if you're on a romantic date. Stunning views of the Manhattan skyline. Some decent eateries around there are Almondine Bakery and Jacques Torres chocolate shop.

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Ba Xuyen
4222 8th Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11232

Sahadi's
187 Atlantic Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11201

Almondine
85 Water St, Brooklyn, NY 11201

Jacques Torres
66 Water St, Brooklyn, NY 11201

[JFores]

I whole heatedly second Yunnan Flavour Snack

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Yunnan Flavour Snack Shop
775 49th St, Brooklyn, NY 11220

[daffyduck]

my gf's favorite food is actually pho, how is the pho scene in Sunset Park? thanks for all the suggestions everybody!

[funniduck]

daffyduck, don't know if you guys already went, but Nha Trang Palace (8th Av & 59th St) has good pho as so does Gia Lam (on 8th between 48&49) has good pho and bahn mi. Don't know if I'd consider it great.

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Gia Lam
4810 8th Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11220

Nha Trang Palace
5906 8th Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11220

[daffyduck]

thanks, we went into brooklyn but didn't do much in terms of food because we had to be back in Queens by 7 to ice skate. but well definitely be back in Brooklyn sometime soon so these recs dont have to stop. thanks for the pho rec!

[JFores]

I've had decent and good pho there, but nothing great. TBH I haven't had great pho in NYC yet.

[Miss Needle]

I thought the pho at Nha Trang Palace was OK, but that's about it. I was more upset that I only received bean sprouts and a wedge of lemon with the pho. When I asked them why there was no holy basil, they said they ran out. I asked them if they had any cilantro or mint then -- they said they ran out.

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Nha Trang Palace
5906 8th Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11220

[Bob Martinez]

i have gone to Ba Xuyen between 30 and 40 times. I've never had a cold sandwich there. Not once. Obviously it happened to you - my only point is that your first experience wasn't typical. (Since people have been posting about this place for years this type of issue would have surfaced before. It hasn't.)

People going for the first time don't need to say "Give it to me hot!" in order to get a decent sandwich.

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Ba Xuyen
4222 8th Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11232

[Miss Needle]

I'm glad to hear that my experience was atypical. Hopefully next time the sandwich will be properly prepared.

[Miss Needle]

I must have the crappiest luck in that place because my 2nd sandwich was also cold. That's 2 for 2. I thought about telling her to make sure it's hot, but remembered what Bob Martinez said. So I gave her the benefit of the doubt. I was kind of suspicious because I received my sandwich literally a minute to a minute and a half after I placed the order. At other places, I'm usually waiting for a minimum of five minutes, even if there's nobody else in line. But I thought that maybe she already one heating up before I got there. I gave her the benefit of the doubt again. Once I bit into it, I realized that the bread was warm but the innards were cold again! I asked her to heat the other half that I didn't bite into. Of course she heated it up without taking out the pickled veggies and cilantro. The meats were warm but the sandwich wasn't the same because the veggies were limp and warm as well.

So I really don't think I'll be going out of my way to go there anymore. If I'm in the hood, perhaps I'll stop by again and insist that my sandwich be heated up fully when I place the order.

[deabot]

I have also never had a cold sandwich yet in my ten visits there but I've always caught them during the afternoon lull around 2-3. Sorry to hear about your experience!

I also recommend Yunnan Flavor Snack-great flavors.

If you like sweets I recommend Villabate in Bensonhurst for a cannoli, very fresh.

[Motosport]

I love Coney Island!! Get a hot dog at Nathan's and eat it on the boardwalk if the weather permits. Take a walk out on the fishing pier. It's a great experience.
Nearby is Totonno's for fabulous Neapolitan pizza or L&B Spumoni Gardens for unusual Sicilian pizza. They put the cheese on first with sauce on top.
Check out the Sheepshead Bay area where fishing boats go out every day. Nearby is Brennan and Carr for fantastic roast beef sammiches. Make sure you get the sammich with sauteed onions and have it triple dipped.
Junior's on Flatbush Av and DeKalb Av for out of this world strawberry cheese pie.
Atlantic Av near Court St for Middle Eastern fare, Malko, Sahadi and Damascus bakery are superb along with several Middle Eastern Restaurants in the area.

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Sahadi's
187 Atlantic Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11201

L&B Spumoni Gardens
2725 86th St, Brooklyn, NY 11223

[Tay]

"Junior's on Flatbush Av and DeKalb Av for out of this world strawberry cheese pie"

Motosport... Hmm.. first Nathan's , Brennan & Carr L&B and now this?... I dunno :-)
Tsk, tsk, Junior's... It's cheesecake is overpriced, salty and deadly.

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Brennan & Carr
3432 Nostrand Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11229

[Motosport]

The O.P. asked for Brooklyn Must haves and Fun! All of the places I recommended are fun and unique Brooklyn experiences. Does Nathan's have the best hot dog ever? No, but eating a Nathan dog with french fries and a Root Beer on the Boardwalk while people watching is a blast. B&C, L&B and Junior's are all fun unique Brooklyn experiences.
Have you had the Junior's Strawberry cheese pie? Salty and deadly? NOT!! Pricey, maybe, but it is a nice hunk of heaven that can easily satisfy two Chowhounders.
F.Y.I. I have been enjoying Junior's Strawberry cheese pie for 55 years. Proposed to my wife while sharing a slice and had the Junior's bakers make a super large Strawberry cheese pie for our wedding cake. Am I a rabid fan, or what?

[JFores]

I can live with all of the above recs except that Junior's one. Living in Brooklyn means that you're pretty much guaranteed to be given one of those by someone for some holiday at least once every two years and I've been giving the ones I get away for a long time now. Not a fan. You can get much better cheesecake elsewhere for literally half the price.

[Motosport]

I am talking about Junior's Strawberry Cheese Pie. Have you ever tried it?
Not their cheese cake.

[erica]

Maybe this thread will help:

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/737915

[funniduck]

Since it's the holidays, I would also consider going to see the Dyker Heights Christmas lights (at night, walk through the nabe) and then pop over to Mona Lisa bakery on 86th & 14 for a cannoli. Or possibly take home a lard bread; I think they still make them.