Tabaré

Going to go straight to the pics..

I enjoyed this bottle of rosato.

Complimentary Bread

1 Cheese and 1 Chicken Empanadas - $7

The cheese empanada was great. The chicken, not so much. I remember it lacking flavor.

Churrasco - Grass-fat skirt steak, chimichurri sauce, potato confit, market salad - $19

The steak was good. They cooked it to my likely and the meat just tasted good. The chimichurri sauce on top of it was excellent too. The potato confit was okay. I don't like thick pieces of potato because there is usually not enough flavor to go around. It would have been better if this came with small pieces like potato wedges. The salad could have been good. It would have went well with the dish except that it was pretty salty. I think the guy coming around with the pepper mill actually had a salt mill instead...

I believe this was their flan de leche? Personally, I'm not a big fan of flan because I find it too sweet. I think the others at my table enjoyed it though.

Anyway, this is a good place for skirt steak. We got there at 6 on a Saturday evening and surprisingly, it wasn't that crowded at all. I guess 6 is a bit early for some people.

Tabaré
221 S 1st St (between Driggs Ave & Roebling St)
Brooklyn, NY 11211

(347) 335-0187
tabarenyc.com

Cafe Mogador

Dinner pics from a friend's bday dinner. Limited commentary this time. 

I love this menu cover.

I discovered that Malbec is my least favorite red wine.

I believe this is the Mixed Platter appetizer.

Mixed Grill - $19.50

I along with a few others got this dish. I personally didn't think it was great. Since I was somewhat already full from the soup and appetizer, I ate only the chicken. The other meats didn't appeal to me. The afghan place in queens (Bakhtar Afghan) has much better kabobs.

Hmm...I think this was the lamb dish on the menu.

...chicken dish.

Sea bass

Salad that came with most of the entrees.

Overall, I didn't think anything was outstanding in this restaurant. The grilled meats combo was not very good. The meat was a bit on the dry and bland side. The rice was decent. I think it could have been more moist and flavorful. The soup was good but not really my style.

Birthday cake (from a Bakery in Gravesend, Brooklyn)

Cafe Mogador
133 Wythe Ave (between 7th St & 8th St)
Brooklyn, NY 11211

(718) 486-9222
http://www.cafemogador.com/williamsburg/

Peter Luger Steak House

Finally went to Peter Luger this past weekend.

I made reservations about a month in advance but I'm not sure if that's needed if you are flexible with when you want to dine there. I got the feeling that there were some openings in the near future when I made my reservation.

Our party of 6 was seated within 10 or so mins after our arrival. It was a Sunday afternoon (1:45) and the place was decently populated.

Bread...Although the taste was not bad, the fact that I had to use a good amount of muscle to pull it apart made me not like it. It was also not warm when it came out. I was disappointed.

Damn my headache for preventing me from drinking too much of this

Ah, the famous Peter Luger steak sauce. What's funny is that I remember liking it in the past (the bottled ones) but for whatever reason, I didn't like it that day. I found it too tangy for the steak. I know it's laughable but I think I prefer A1 sauce. I will make a note to try these two sauces one day, side by side, and see which one I really like.

Luger's Sizzling Bacon

Omg, this bacon appetizer was so good, I put three pics of it up. The best part of this slice is the meat to fat ratio. It was just perfect. It was crisp yet I felt like it melted in my mouth. The flavor was also great. Salty but not too salty. Best thing I had there!!!

Onion Rings

I thought this was pretty good onion rings. I love onion rings but in the past few years, I haven't found a decent place that made really good onion rings. It was always usually either too fried, too crisp, too oily or too bland. I actually enjoyed these rings though. I thought the flavor was good. Great onion to batter ratio, wasn't too oily and went well with my meal. It was nice to take a few bites of it every once in awhile.

We ordered a steak for two and a steak for three. The steak comes out in a big dish, all pre-cut. The waiter puts it on the table and then puts a few slices on everyone's plate. I'm still learning how to eat steak so I'm still scared of the pinkness. As a result, I ordered it medium well (don't shake your head at me!)...

Personally, I didn't care too much for the steak. I guess I just can't appreciate a good piece of steak, eh? I found it a bit on the bland side and the first piece that I had was a bit chewy. That's what I get for getting it medium well? I don't know. It was chewy yet it was still a bit pinkish. I ended up eating three pieces and I was done.

The sides here are their Luger's Special German Fried Potatoes and Creamed Spinach. The creamed spinach as alright. Not my style (I don't get it often so I can't tell you if it tasted good or not). The potatoes were awesome. Flavor was good and the potatoes were not too mushy. I think this was the second best thing ;P

Complimentary chocolate coins

So would I recommend going to Peter Luger? Yes, I would. I would go for the experience. I think if you are somewhat into steaks, definitely come here and form your own opinion. I gotta warn you though, the ambience itself is nothing special . If you didn't know any better, it just looks like a ordinary restaurant. The tables are wood with some clear coating. The chairs are your standard cushion chairs and the plates look like plates that your mom would have in her house.

I'm going back but only to go with someone who hasn't been there and for the bacon and potatoes!


Peter Luger Steak House
178 Broadway (between 6th St & Driggs Ave)
Brooklyn, NY 11211

(718) 387-7400
http://www.peterluger.com

Cubana Social

Sis's bday was right around the corner so I took her out to dinner tonight. She felt like cuban so she looked online and found this place.

Got here around 7:15 and was seated right away. Place wasn't packed yet. Around 8pm, a live band started playing Jazz music.

Two of my sisters ordered a mojito...I couldn't since I was driving ;/

So...I got this instead.

Mexican Coke Cola! (not sure what the difference is)

Chili Potato Fries

Omg, these were pretty good. The dipping sauce was awesome. It kinda reminded me of cajun fries from 5 guys but way less saltier.

I believe this is the "Ropa Vieja"

Not bad. Meat was a bit moist. I don't think I would have been happy if this was my main dish though. I would get bored of the meat.

Lechon Asado

 I liked this better. The roast pork had a better flavor.

Poncho Pollo

This was my dish. This was pretty good. The dark meat pieces were very moist and the skin was delicious. The white meat was a bit dry but I think that's normal. The hot sauce that came with it was kinda weird. Didn't really like it but I kept dipping my chicken in it. The plantains were okay. Not as sweet and soft as I liked. There was a piece of crispy pork and that was yummy! Pickles were eh.

Chocolate Rum Cake

Omg, this was really good. It was warm and very moist. I didn't taste any rum though. I think that was good for me ;)

Cortadito

I like coffee with my desserts so I ordered myself this. I slipped the top of this thing in the beginning and it was mad bitter so I put in a packet of brown sugar. After that, I drank a bit more of the coffee under it and it tasted pretty decent. Not sure if it was because of the sugar or not.

Capuchino

Sis got this. Not sure if she liked it or not.

So overall, it was as pretty good dinner. Not the best but I don't have that much to complain about. Actually, I do have one comment. The service here was pretty slow. Our waiter didn't really give us much attention. It took like 45 mins for the food to come out, which wasn't the worst thing in the world but still. I think we were in this restaurant for about an hour and 45 mins.

The restaurant is like a block away from the water. Pretty nice view.


Cubana Socíal
70 N 6th St (between Wythe Ave & Kent Ave)
Brooklyn, NY 11211
(718) 782-3334

www.cubanasocial.com

Carmine's Pizzeria II

Here's another set of pictures from last year (Sept to be exact). So ya, there probably won't be much to read in this post.

 I wasn't feeling the sauce that came with the Calamari.

 

My order...

The pictures look really good imo but I don't remember it tasting that good. I'll give the hero another try one day.

Cute mug;)

Carmine's Pizzeria II
436 Union Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11211
718 218 8770
http://www.carminespizzeria.com/