Meat and whiskey! Thats all you need to know about Char No.4. Oh and I guess their shrimp and grits are pretty good too oh and fried cheese curds. And that pretty much the reasons what brought me, Howard, Matt and Anh to Char No.4 or at least for me. I have heard many good things about their shrimp and grits but what I really wanted was MEAT. Howard showed interest when he found out they served fried cheese curds. He had some amazing ones in his Wisconsin trip.

So we went on a Thursday night and surprisingly we were all on time! Really rare that happens, eh I guess I’m always 30mins late to everything. We went in and got seated right away. The waiter quickly told us that they were out of the smoked half chicken and it was only 8:15pm. I took a lot longer than usual to finally decide what I wanted. But here’s what we all got.

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This was a great meal. Like I said in many previous posts what makes up a great meal is going to be different for you. Zuzu Ramen is one of those places where they’re going to make you spend $14 on a bowl of ramen. $14!! On ramen!!! And it wasn’t even amazing ramen, it was only okay. But I am glad that it is there. We need more ramen shops in Brooklyn!

So if the ramen was only okay, why did I think it was a great meal? That whole day I was craving for some Japanese curry but I rarely go into the city during weekends and heck I’m not going to go into the city just for curry. Then after a drink fest at Draft Barn with Mr.Matt, I had my mind set on grabbing dinner at Zuzu. It was a chilly night and at that moment I wanted ramen. I walked into a near empty place and grabbed a seat along the wall. I looked through the menu and saw a curry ramen, hello! I was able to satisfy 2 cravings in 1 night with 1 meal. I think that was pretty great.

Also the place was kinda quiet and cozy which was what I needed after few hours at the Draft Barn.

- Zuzu Ramen 173 4th Avenue Brooklyn

I used to live on the corner of E 3rd St and Avenue A, and I loved the neighborhood. This was before this blog existed, but I still was excited about the many food options available to me: Nicky’s Vietnamese Sandwiches, Mama’s, and a 24-hour Key Food, among others. I was not, however, aware of the existence of Perbacco, an Italian restaurant that blends tradition and the avant-garde. Lucky for me my friends Jess & Garrett knew about it, and the three of us met there for dinner last week. Lucky for you also, because their photos came out much better than mine (click the link to their blog if you don’t believe me).

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First there was Hanco’s, then Henry’s, and now there’s Home, the newest banh mi shop in Park Slope. Home opened in the space formerly occupied by Earth Tonez, and it’s been open for about two months. I visited on a chilly winter night a couple of weeks ago. Home makes sandwiches in the mold of those two other places, but not nearly as well crafted. My tofu sandwich, though a bit cheaper than even Henry’s, had way too much mayonnaise, not enough spice, and some limp-looking cilantro. If you’re down on 5th Avenue and you just have to have a Vietnamese sandwich it’ll do in a pinch, but I’d stick with the two places on 7th Avenue.

Home — 349 5th Ave, Brooklyn

At this point I think that Stone Park Cafe is the best restaurant in Park Slope. I’ve had three great meals there now, while I had one mediocre meal at the restaurant most people consider the best in the Slop, Al Di La. And to all of you thinking that I can’t judge based on just one meal, consider this: my meal at Al Di La was so thoroughly disappointing that I don’t really want to go back. On the other hand, I want to go back to Stone Park Cafe again, and again, and again.

On my most recent visit I brought my parents there for lunch, a time of day I hadn’t experienced at Stone Park Cafe before. My dad got the steak sandwich and my mom got the chicken paillard (minus the bacon), both deemed excellent. I got the brioche french toast, which was also great — flavorful but not too sweet, to make room for the warm berry compote served along with it. No syrup needed. We did have to wait a lot longer for everything than seemed normal, but when the food came out it was good enough to make us forgive them the delay.

Stone Park Cafe — 324 5th Ave, Brooklyn

I would like to start off by saying that it gives me no pleasure to talk about bad food at restaurants. I do feel, however, that it’s important so speak truthfully about the experiences I had in Egypt, both good and bad. Unfortunately, the restaurant food I had in Luxor was, for the most part, pretty lousy.

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