I was wandering around hungry last night and poked my head in at the Bounty in Greenpoint. I’m glad I did.
I had the Lamb Ribs (slow roasted with black garlic. cauliflower, radicchio, arugula, pickled raisins, polenta $26). So good. I was warned that it was heavy/fatty. But very moist and flavorful.
Good choice. “Job well done,” I said to myself.
The Bounty – 131 Greenpoint Ave (b/t Franklin St & Manhattan Ave) Brooklyn, NY 11222
We went to Prospect Bar & Grill in Park Slope for Shonali’s birthday. I ordered the Prospect Pot Pie –a whole lamb shank (bone and all) with a puff pastry sitting on top. I usually don’t like pot pies that aren’t true pies, but this was pretty awesome. I love whole lamb shanks. $15.
Prospect Bar & Grill – 545 5th Ave (btwn 7th Ave & 8th Ave) Brooklyn, NY 11215
Here’s Shonali interviewed by Bloomberg.
Justin and I had a late dinner here at Moto in Williamsburg, right off the Hewes J/M stop. In fact, you can see it from the subway on the other side of the bars. This is my first time here. I feel like every time I said I’ve never been there, people seem so surprised.
We got the Lamb Ribs ($12) and Stuffed Quail with Chorizo ($12) entrees. Really nice meals. Feels like on the fancy side. I really dug the ribs –crispy edges and tender falling off the bone meat, dripping in its own grease. Delicious.
We ran into my friend Ally and her sister. They were kind of enough to let us take a photo of their Octopus and Chicken Leg plates. The Octopus was pretty good.
Cafe Moto - 394 Broadway (btwn Keap & Hooper) Brooklyn, NY 11211
Pretty photos by Justin Hall
We went to Khyber Pass, one of my favorite East Village restaurants that I never ever go to. It’s surprisingly never crowded at this place. I don’t know why. The food is great.
I ordered the special of the day Mahicha Palow (Lamb Shank) $18. It came with two big shanks. Very tender meat. I love the Harissa spicy sauce on the table to go with it.
Vegetable soup came with the entree. There was a dollop of sour cream in it. I liked it.
Justin got the Mantoo dumplings $11. Dang, these were good. Why doesn’t anyone eat here?
I remember leaving a large umbrella there years ago. I came back a week later and they still had it. I think one of the chefs was using it. But they still had it!
Their sign used to say “Afghani Restaurant” a long time ago. I wonder if they took that down because tourists are scared of terrorists?
Justin told the waitress she had a cute smile. I think I was a little drunk. Â But that doesn’t really explain anything.
Khyber Pass Restaurant – 34 St. Marks Pl (btwn 3rd Ave & Astor Pl) New York, NY 10003
I ate Lamb Testicles with Ramen and Friends …along with Fried Beef Brains and Lamb Heart. This restaurant serves other things too.
Here’s the post of other stuff we ate.
I started last night off at the Orchard CMJ party at Brooklyn Bowl. Ted Leo and Royce da 5’9 were playing. There was a British band called the Scoundrels (think Spoon meets John Mayer) that sang a song that goes “Makes Me Horny”. I was wondering if it was for real, because they didn’t look like a joke band. But then they played a song called “Sexy Weekend” and then I kinda liked them.
I ditched the show and headed off in the rain to the Knitting Factory to see my friends’ band play. Dinner first at St. Anselm next door. I’ve heard this place is the big shit now revamped as a steakhouse. I came here for a year ago for the Boar Belly Sandwich and Fried Pickles. There was no one in there that last time. Now it was packed.
Prices seemed reasonable. The Butcher’s Steak everyone was getting was $15 and looked pretty good.
I asked if they had a Ribeye for one (noted for two on the menu). The waiter asked and came back to tell me the smallest they could give me was 53 ounces. He kinda egged me on to be that guy everyone would be talking about. I’m into that, but I can only handle doing two or three stupid things a week.
I saw the Bone-in Ribeye on the grill. It was insane. I can understand why the smallest was 53 ounces …and meant for 2+.
The waiter led me to the Lamb Saddle. Fuck. He didn’t do me wrong. That Lamb Saddle was amazing. Better than the lamb saddle (Mutton Chop) at Keens. Having a bite on the fatty end was some of the best meat I’ve ever put in my mouth.
The Lamb Saddle ended up costing $40.25, which is a pretty decent price for what it was. Spinach Gratin was good too.
St. Anselm – 355 Metropolitan Ave. Brooklyn, NY 11211
Afterwards I had a blast at the Knitting Factory with The Berreracudas and my favorite band from the 4Knots Festival, Davila 666.
Does anyone else have this problem where you can’t decide what to eat for lunch and end up walking around for an hour? I guess with so many choices, it’s a good problem to have.
I ended up trying this halal truck on the southeast corner of 32nd Street and Park Ave, Manhattan. There’s a couple of halal carts in that area that seem to competing with the whole Rafiqi style toppings bar. I asked for everything on my lamb over spicy rice platter, which included chickpeas, black beans, corn, olives, cilantro, both grilled and raw onions, lettuce, tomato, a slice of pickle, white sauce, hot sauce. That hot sauce is the spiciest I’ve ever had from a cart or truck. Crazy good if you’re into the heat. Make sure you get the spicy rice too. I was sweating so much eating it in the park, I had to take it back to my cold AC office to finish up.
Only thing was that the lamb tasted like a salty hot dog. But pluses go to the two older guys in the truck. One of them smiled and thanked me genuinely. I’m not sure if he had teeth.
R&Z Halal Truck – southeast corner of 32nd Street & Park Ave, NYCÂ 10016
I finally tried Xi’an Famous Foods’ Spicy & Tingly Lamb Face Salad and Stewed Spine & Rib. Brought it to Columbus Park with Yasmin, who is probably the only person I know willing to eat lamb face and spine with me. I’m not sure what was tingly about the lamb face, but the roof mouth bits were crunchy and the meaty parts were tender and tasty. It’s the most expensive thing on the menu at $8.75. It’s a good dish, but I only ate it because there was lamb face in it.
We ordered the Stewed Spine & Rib with the noodles ($5). There wasn’t much meat on the bones, but whatever was there was very tender. I was looking back at my photos and thought there was a photo of me attacking the spine bone, but dang I realized it was Yasmin. The hand-pulled noodles are good as usual.
I practiced with my new camera and new lens (Canon 50mm f/1.4). Hard to shoot the food up close, but easy to shoot the old Chinese people in the park. Those umbrellas in the tree are for shade I think? An old man laughed at me when he saw me taking photos of food. Another man hocked up a mean loogie when we ate said food. No Senior Citizens Chinese Opera this time, but I still love this park. I still have crunchy mouth bits stuck in my teeth.
Xi’an Famous Foods (Manhattan Chinatown) – 88 East Broadway #106 (but really on the corner of Forsyth) New York, NY 10002
