Showing posts with label cortelyou road. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cortelyou road. Show all posts

Monday, June 1, 2009

Another good meal on Cortelyou Road

Cinco de Mayo Taqueria
1202 Cortelyou Road
Brooklyn, NY 11218
718 693 – 1022


There are now several good restaurants on Cortelyou Road., but perhaps the most underrated is Cinco de Mayo.

This Taqueria appears as a simple working mans formica counter top dinner, but some one in the kitchen knows what they are doing. Perhaps, the true test of a great cook is that they can produce a variety of dishes at the same time and have all of them taste very good and very distinctive.

Mexican sauces are acknowledged to be among the most complex in the world. A mole sauce containing chocolate can have over thirty ingredients. Pepian is a green sauce made from the seeds of a Calabasa Squash, Green and Red Salsas can take all day to get right .Adobo sauces with a vinegar base can destroy a meal if not made right, but a Tingua with onions can bring even boiled till dead chicken back to life. I have many dishes at Cinco de Mayo and each sauce has been amazingly good, consistent and distinct.

Open seven days from 9:00 a.m. to 10:p.m. Don’t expect great service, but with great food comes prices that are almost embarrassingly cheap. Two main courses with a Guacamole appetizer and beers cost less than $ 40.00

for more see www.ditmasestates.com

Friday, February 13, 2009

Who Knew?!? San Remo Pizzeria, a Restaurant Review

Who Knew?!? San Remo Pizzeria, a Restaurant Review

1408 Cortelyou Rd, Brooklyn, NY 11226

In Italy, practically every pizzeria has a sit down restaurant in the back room. They all serve pasta and they almost all are great places for dinner. The food is carefully cooked, the portions large and the prices much lower than the Restorante’s or the Trattoria’s.
San Remo has been a fixture on Cortelyou road for decades and they always made good pizza, but no one would take a date or a spouse there. It was certainly not a place for making a good first impression or quiet conversation with the kids screaming for their slices and sodas.
But things have changed!!!
Cortelyou is now a hot spot with several good restaurants and this marvelous evolution has now spread to San Remo. San Remo has opened up its mysterious back room and is serving beer and wine. While the restaurant room is not elegant, it is clean and homey.
The first three rules about restaurants are The FOOD, The VALUE and The PORTIONS and San Remo wins on all three.
Real standouts are Caveletti with sausage, broccoli rabe, white beans and garlic and the Lassagna, real plate fillers and done with care. The service is friendly and prompt. There are many wines under $30 and a dinner for two, appetizer, pasta, dessert and tip is easily under $40.

for more see www.ditmasestates.com

Friday, November 21, 2008

A New Old Restaurant in Ditmas park

A Vision of Cortelyou

Alerted to a Friends and Family night at Visions, 752 Coney Island Avenue on Friday night and were pleasantly surprised. I remember 752 a dark and dirty bar you tried not to remember, because you went into it in order to forget. But today’s Visions is a bright and sometimes loud café that’s is full of laughter and good times. The décor while unimpressive is nevertheless pleasant and even inviting.
The owner, Marack, is attentive and eager to please. And the service although not professional was very good. For example, someone dropped a fork and without being told our waiter was there promptly with fork in hand. We started with a Romaine salad, fresh, large and nicely topped with grated Parmesan cheese. For an appetizer we had the Mozzarella in Corozza, a grilled white bread sandwich of Mozzarella, topped with a cream of tomato sauce, o.k., but a zestier sauce might have helped. A rather plebian, but fresh lightly breaded fillet of sole was made a little special by a sweet glaze and a nice mesclun avocado salad. The star of the night was the fettuccini scampi with a wonderful strong but not overpowering sauce of garlic, wild mushrooms and olive oil, worth the trip. A nice Crème Brule finished the dinner nicely. Cost $ 60 with a beer and tip (there was an approximately $ 10 discount). The only downer, Marack needs a better selection of beers, there is no draft beer and Brooklyn Beer does not do it for me.
The menu at Visions is limited, one chicken, one pork dish, one steak, and a few fish dishes along with the usual wraps and burgers. As they say---The cook doesn’t do much, but what he does do, he does very well. Come hungry as the portions are large and expect to meet friends.
As we walked home, across Cortelyou we noticed is that we now had was a real choice of restaurants and places to go--- Indeed a good Vision of Cortelyou.