I’m addicted to free hot sake. We went to Sakura 6 in Greenpoint, where I first learned that free sake existed. There’s no real minimum to spend on food to get free sake. I think just have to buy enough, like an entree.
Todd and I split a sushi boat for two, which was a little cheaper than Sapporo Haru per person. It was good. But honestly, I don’t know if I really paid attention because of all the free sake. And they were super generous. You didn’t have to ask them for more sake. They came by to check the bottle themselves.
This place is so awesome, we came back the next week with friends. We meant to keep track of how many free sakes, but we kept forgetting to count. Too many sakes to remember.
We went out to Sapporo Haru for sushi and their free unlimited hot sake. You just have to buy a minimum of $10 of food per person to get the deal. That’s pretty easy.
While waiting for Todd and Elissa, they asked us if we wanted something to drink while we waited. We said, nah, that’s fine… We were going to get the free sake. And they brought it out while we waited.
Then we ordered a Sapporo Haru specialty roll. It’s their namesake. Shrimp tempura fish roe cucumber inside eel avocado on top $12.95. I liked it a lot.
When the whole party got there, we decided on the Love Boat Sushi for Four $75 –A huge boat with lots of different sushi, sashimi and rolls (see pics!). It came with miso soup or salad. Even though we were five, it was a lot of food. Well I guess we also had that roll earlier too.
And we did get plenty of free hot sake. It came out to $25 per person after tax and tip. Such a good deal. And I guess you can even get cheaper as long as you hit the $10 minimum. It’s like why do people go to bars when they can do this? You also get free oranges for dessert.
Afterwards, we went home and drank free unlimited soju and then went to a party where there was unlimited tequila. That’s a good deal too.
Sapporo Haru – 622 Manhattan Ave (between Driggs & Nassau) Brooklyn, NY 11222
Sometimes you want a lite meal, even if it’s a cold night. Soup could suffice. Dude, White Borscht with a side of half cucumber salad and half sauerkraut ($3 each). That works out great. I was satisfied. Why is it so damn cold outside?
Lomzynianka – 646 Manhattan Ave (btwn Bedford & Norman Ave) Brooklyn, NY 11222
We went to Red Star Bar in Greenpoint for a Sunday night comedy show. This is when we saw Reggie Watts three times in one week.
I’ve been curious about the wings here since they hold the annual Best Wings In Brooklyn Competition here. So I was glad to see that Elissa ordered the wings. Their Raspberry Wings won a People’s Choice last year. I don’t know. They were okay and sweet. I think I like their regular wings better though.
The Pub Fries look cool with a heavy load of melted cheddar cheese, bacon, scallions and sour cream. I think it needed some sauce though. Like gravy. Amirite?
The sliders were the best of the order. I liked dipping the slider in the cheese sauce.
We were watching some Gator football at Jody & Christa’s in Greenpoint. I asked about the Yummy Taco (Chinese run Tex-Mex) around the corner. Jody said it was yummy and mentioned that they have a Super Burrito that includes chicken, steak and shrimp ($6.99). That sound weird. So I had to try it.
I went in and it was like any other Chinese run Tex-Mex like Fresco Tortilla Grill or Super Taco Express in the city. They make their own flour tortillas fresh. This place, their machine looked pretty cool. A manual hand cranked squashing machine. I was nervous of taking a photo of it, because they looked nervous of me being in there.
I brought back a big bag of food –the Super Burrito, Nachos, and a Veggie Taco. They included those small red liquidy hot sauce containers like the other places. How did they all coordinate to do that? If I was them, I just put in hot sauce packets like at Chinese takeouts, since it seems easier. Oh! They should also do Chinese homemade hot mustard. That would be sick on that food …sick as in awesome.
The food tasted alright. Just like what you expect from Chinese Tex-Mex. Not amazing, but affordable and good enough. I love the fresh flour tortillas. The Super Burrito had huge ass  fried shrimp in there. Several of them. Pretty good deal with it packed with so much big shrimp.
I headed out to House of Vans this past Thursday to see King Kahn and the Shrines. I ran through the crazy derecho storm to get to the subway. You gotta check out the crazy sky in this photo. It’s like Gozer.
Then when I got out in Greenpoint, I figured I should grab a bite at Lollipop. Jody told me they have really good Banh Mi Vietnamese Sandwiches, but they always take a long time to make. It’s true. I got the Classic ($4.75 plus tax) and it was great, but did take longer than I’d expect. The ground pork was really good in it. They spice it up and I loved it. It’s possibly the best Banh Mi in Greenpoint …although it might be the only Banh Mi in Greenpoint?
After the nice sandwich, I went to House of Vans –the sneaker company’s private skate park built in a old industrial warehouse in Greenpoint. They’ve been having free summer shows the past two years with some cool bands. Lots of people, but huge space with a gigantic fan on the ceiling. This night, the bass was booming for Nicky Da B, which felt like a gay club rager, with people booty shaking on stage. It was cool.
Apparently, it was an all-ages show and the Heineken Light all free. I’ve never seen so many drunk middle-schoolers. One girl was making out with her boyfriend and asking my friends about an umbrella, then tried to make out with another dude. There was almost a fight. But I think they were all 13-15 years old. I remember we used to be able to do dumb shit when we were young, but I always thought it was harder to that stuff now, since everywhere I go is usually 21+. I guess it’s good to know that kids can still be dumb if they want.
My friends were out shooting a music video for Shonali and we noticed a sign for free Corn Cakes at the Greenpoint Renaissance Center across the street from me. I never really knew what this place was. When I first moved here six years ago, I thought it was an abandoned insane asylum. The front entrance was boarded up with concrete blocks. I’d tell people that it’s to lock the insane people in. The windows were all smashed at top and sometimes you would see a shadow move by. Probably just a bird or ghost.
It was actually a hospital (Greenpoint Hospital), where a friend’s mother was born. What if that’s her in the photo? That’d be freaky. Later it became a homeless shelter and then a haunted house by the time I moved into the neighborhood. A couple of years ago, it turned into Greenpoint Renaissance Center –mostly an office building for the St. Nick’s Alliance, but the basement is used for community arts …where the free corn cakes happened.
It was a little intimidating following the signs around the quiet building and into a basement, just because there was a sign for free corn cakes. But once we got there, it was a room of kids and adults grinding corn on tree logs. They made us some corn cakes on the hot plates. Tasted great with the sage butter and goat cheese.
We got to talking to them. Their art collective Round Robin Brooklyn is doing a residency there. They have several events coming up soon, like this Wednesday where they are drinking some beers and showing some videos that have to do with Bob Ross and Disney Cinderella romances.
I was telling them that I always wondered about this building because I always thought it was creepy. Then she showed us some real creepy shit by taking us on a tour of the old public showers. The first one I poked my head in, there was a girl dancing on the window ledge. That was unexpected.
I was reading that a lot of modern day grocery store sauerkraut is pasteurized, killing the good bacteria for your stomach. So I headed off the Polish neighborhood in Greenpoint to find some real fermented sauerkraut. I always wanted to try Polonia. It’s an old school cafeteria style restaurant, similar to Pyza nearby.
The lady was super nice to me. She surprised me by speaking English. I couldn’t tell what any of the stuff in the stream trays were. They were all covered in different colored gravies …but still looked good. I picked the Pork Goulash and Dumplings with Beets and Sauerkraut that looked all homemade –$8.50
I really liked the Pork Goulash. Nice and tender and good gravy. I’ve never had dumplings like that. Bland dimpled boiled balls of dough. Springy, like mochi. It needed help from the gravy and the Polish soy-like sauce on table. The Beets and Sauerkraut were good.
I think the sauerkraut/kimchi probiotic diet is working …that and kefir drinks. My skin is really clearing up. I look like a young boy.
This restaurant has a lot of character. That’s why I like it. There was a pay phone in there. Old school.
I was also a little nervous going to Greenpoint. I was thinking I would run into this awesome girl I met a week earlier playing foosball at Matchless nearby (the same place where I got fries and a vagina walked into my hand). Well, this foosball girl was really cool and when she came over to say bye, I was going to give her my food blog card, but just realized that I was out and was supposed to refill my wallet that very day. So nothing was exchanged except a handshake. My friends thought there was some connection, but I missed my chance.
My friend told me to write a Missed Connection on Craigslist. So I did. It went something like “Hey, I was the guy with hair that tries be Farrah Fawcett, with a cold sore on my lip and shoes that are actually banned in the NBA.” I didn’t hear back from that except from a dude.
A few days later, I was telling Bonnie about my Missed Connection and she suggested finding her on Facebook. We found her, but I was too drunk to message so Bonnie wrote it. I think she was drunk too. I woke up the next morning hoping what Bonnie wrote wasn’t too bad. It went something like “Thanks for being the best foosball partner. Hope we can go up against each other soon. You around next week?” Shit. It wasn’t too bad.
These are the new shoes I got that are banned in the NBA.
