Streets

A few months ago, KJ attended an event and sampled food from a chef that she said was incredible. She looked up the restaurant he was representing, and we added it to our list. Unfortunately, by the time we got there last weekend, the chef had already moved to other pastures! These things happen…

First order of business: after a long day of exploring Brooklyn and our Coney Island Coaster Conquest, we needed drinks! KJ and I ordered the Concord French 75, which boasted a thick foam on top that was perfumed with concord grape essence. It was unique and wonderful… for the first few sips. Eventually it became a little off putting as the foam thinned and the drink itself was just okay, perhaps a touch cloying. The novelty wore off.

KJ and I had eaten a little too much earlier, so we split a few snacks. First: Mexican corn! this was tasty, prepared appropriately, enough cheese, enough spice, I was happy. I liked that there was a stick in the corn to help me eat it without getting it all over my hands. The little things…

Piri piri “South African” wings: KJ and I agreed that the spice profile tasted more Caribbean than South African. While I enjoyed them and found the heat level to be suitable, she was disappointed and thought they could use a little more heat and a little less cooking.

Our final choice was the chicharrons, which were deep fried chunks of pork belly. Ummm, yes please! The thing about such a dish is that fried properly, it’s a thing of beauty: crispy exterior, melting fat, and tender meat. No matter what, though, you need some acidity to cut through the fat. On the side was a chili vinegar, or so we thought, but consulting two different servers yielded two different answers. One thought it was soy sauce mixed with something else, and another said it was chili vinaigrette, but mentioned something about beef stock in it. What the what – there’s no beef stock in vinaigrette. The most reliable source, though, was our own taste buds. It tasted like nothing, but if you caught a chili flake, you got the slightest hint of heat on the tongue. We were so convinced that we’d been given the wrong sauce that I insisted our server try it before we politely asked him to just bring us some vinegar. He brought us apple cider vinegar with some chili flakes mixed in, and it was leaps and bounds better than what we’d received. I mean, truly, it was flavorless. Completely bizarre – you want something to brighten the fatty pork belly, and whatever it was they gave us did not do it.

Once righted, though, it was much better.

JW ordered on her own – I didn’t snap a photo of her glorious skirt steak that she thoroughly loved, along with her very potato-y potatoes and chimichurri sauce. Ironically, her chimichurri was very vinegary (in a good way), more than either of the girls was used to. I think she was the happiest with what she’d ordered.

Honestly, I enjoyed our meal and the experience – very friendly service, we had a great time gabbing away – though it was quite loud in there – and didn’t think the food was that bad. I wouldn’t mind going back to explore other things on the menu, though I can’t say it’ll be anytime soon as it’s inconveniently located for me unless I very intentionally make a trip there. I guess I’ll see if life takes me back into Brooklyn shortly…

Oh, also, not pictured: the kitchen sent out a few desserts for us to try, reasons for which we are unclear. We tried their newest dessert, a tres leches pudding that wasn’t too sweet (which is a good thing), and an Irish car bomb pudding in a jar that was interesting and tasty.

Chef came out to chat with us for a bit as well (which he did at several tables). He became a little defensive when I mentioned the sauce for the chicharrons perhaps not being acidic enough, but this was a combination of things – he asked if everything was to our liking, and I mistakenly thought he’d come over to see if we were OK since we asked about the sauce for the chicharrons. I didn’t want to lie or give my normal very polite response of yes, so I explained – but apparently he had no idea that we’d asked for straight vinegar instead, so the conversation was a little confusing. Oops. My bad.

Regardless, I think I’d like to see more from the Streets team and watch how things progress and develop as time goes on with the new chef at the helm.