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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I’m not really keeping up with my food news. I had no idea Mile End, a Montreal Jewish Delicatessen on Hoyt St, was even there AND I live so close to it! So last week I bumped into a friend at Union Hall while at the Via Audio show and he told me he had just reserved a dozen Montreal bagels from Mile End for $20. I asked him…”Huh? Where?” He told me where and that I have till noon on Friday to get them.

Now I know next to nothing about bagels from Montreal except there are big debates on the web comparing bagels from NYC and Montreal. I do know that a fresh baked bagel with veggie cream cheese is a pretty damn good thing. But a not so fresh bagel tires my jaw so quickly.

On Saturday after lazily waking up and got dressed, I walked over to Mile End to pick up my dozen bagels, half poppy seed and half sesame seed. At 10:30am the place was packed, though the place was tiny. I would like to go there, grab a seat at the counter and have a proper meal there.

Anyways back to the bagels. People from Montreal rave about how good their bagels are. I do agree with them on some points. The St-Viateur bagels were denser which made it very easy to slice in half. Plus. The bagels were smaller and thinner which meant less room for cream cheese. But here’s the 1 reason why I still prefer NYC bagels over Montreal bagels, taste. After having eaten 2 on Saturday and 1 on Sunday I have concluded that there was no flavors in the Montreal bagels at all. I can’t even say it was bland, it had no flavors whatsoever. Even after toasting it a bit, there was just nothing. The sesame seeds had no flavors in them as well! WTF? Both Mo and Matt agreed that these bagels weren’t that great, so it wasn’t just me. BUT my friend that told me about these bagels loved them and found the bagels to have great flavors. So…..I don’t know.

I’m not gonna give up on these bagels just yet, not until I had a proper 1 from Montreal in Montreal.

But if you REALLY want a dozen St-Viateur bagels go and order from Mile End.

- Mile End 97 Hoyt Street Brooklyn

I can hear you out there, reader, complaining. The first Market Watch column in over a month, and I give you eggs? Indeed I do. Two weeks ago I picked up a dozen eggs from Bradley Farm, and they were the best eggs I’ve ever had. Rich, vibrant yolks, and clear whites that whipped up into meringue in no time flat.

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

So previously I wrote about my trip to north Brooklyn for brunch at Five Leaves with my friend Shaina. Well after having that wonderful brunch we wanted to walk it off so we went around Greenpoint and later crossed over to Williamsburg. First we walked up on Manhattan Ave. You can pretty much say that that is the main street of Greenpoint. The whole time during brunch Shaina couldn’t stop talking about the donuts from Peter Pan. So obviously our first stop on Manhattan Ave was to Peter Pan followed by an impromptu trip into a laundromat for empanadas then to end the trip with a trip to the Meat Hook inside The Brooklyn Kitchen.

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